Industrywide Issues

Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Penn Virginia Corporation

Major Investor Tells Penn Virginia to Take BP’s Money and Run
June 30, 2015June 30, 2015

Last week MDN told you that vile big money investor George Soros has finally forced Penn Virginia Corp.–a driller for which he owns 9.1% of the shares, likely the biggest single outside investor–to consider offers to sell itself. BP has made such an offer (see BP Makes Offer to Buy Penn Virginia, Other Majors Interested Too). Rumor has it that Penn Virginia rejected BP’s offer as too low and is holding out for more. That doesn’t sit well with another shark, er a, big money investor in the company, Lone Star Value Management, which owns 2 million shares of Penn Virginia (2.8%). In a press release, Lone Star essentially asks Penn Virginia if they’re nuts. Lone Star points out the BP offer, if it is what is rumored, is 80% above where the stock has been bumping along. Cha-ching! Lone Star is seeing big bucks swimming before their eyes and they’re hungry for it…
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CNG/LNG | Commodity Price | Crude Oil | Decline/Depletion Rates | Economic Impact | Education | Ethane | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | M&A | NGLs | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Regulation | Research | Reserves (Proved and Unproved)

Join MDN at RBN Energy’s “Summer in the City” Event July 23 – NYC
June 30, 2015July 9, 2015

MDN invites you to join us in attending RBN Energy’s “State of the Energy Markets” one-day event in New York City on July 23. Before you hurry to say “yes,” a few caveats. It costs money (a lot of it). It’s aimed at executives working in the industry, as well as traders and investors. If that describes you (and we know that many of you read MDN), you may be interested in attending. We guarantee it will be a great event. Rusty Braziel & company will provide an overview of the key issues facing natural gas, NGLs and the crude oil market. They will explain how the markets for those three commodities interact and affect each other. They will also take a look at prices, where they may be heading, and how infrastructure affects price. If you are really “into energy” as we are, this is a must attend event. Details are below, along with a link to register…
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Blair County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Marcellus GTL | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants

Altoona’s Marcellus Gas-to-Liquids Plant Gets Canceled, For Now
June 29, 2015June 29, 2015

While most Pennsylvania supply chain businesses are hanging tough during the current down cycle in drilling–the downturn has claimed at least one potential project in the Keystone State. It was with much fanfare and great hope in March 2013 that Marcellus GTL of Gilberton, Schuylkill County, announced it would build its first Clean Energy Center in Blair County, PA. The “gas to liquids” (GTL) project would cost $200 million to build and would convert PA Marcellus Shale gas into 84,000 gallons per day of regular gasoline and propane to be marketed locally as transportation fuel and for heating uses (see Altoona Area Getting $200M Marcellus Gas-to-Liquids Plant). The project was even promised a 7-year tax break (see Altoona Gas to Liquids Plant Will Qualify for 7-Year Tax Break). But sadly, Marcellus GTL recently told the Altoona-Blair County Development Corp the project has been “tabled” due to the low price of oil and the volatility of the market right now…
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Blair County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Supply Chain

PA Supply Chain Firms Hang Tough in Drilling Downturn
June 29, 2015June 29, 2015

Businesses that part of the Marcellus Shale supply chain–providing goods and services to the drilling industry–have been impacted by the drop-off in drilling activity. However, the supply chain businesses located in the Altoona area of Pennsylvania have proved pretty resilient. Some are willing to “ride the wave” until the cyclical oil and gas industry picks up again, laying off very few if any workers. Some are branching out into other markets. And some provide goods and services that are still very much in demand, even in a “down” cycle for drilling. Some are even adding workers! Here’s a few examples of resilient south central PA businesses hanging tough in the current downturn, and how they do it…
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Commodity Price | Industrywide Issues | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WVONGA Says Rogersville Shale Drilling in WV is “When” not “If”
June 29, 2015June 29, 2015

To date, the shale revolution in West Virginia has been largely confined to the northern panhandle and north/central parts of the state, where first the Marcellus and increasingly the Utica Shale layers are targeted. Left out of the shale revolution has been southern WV. But that will one day change, according to Corky DeMarco, executive director of the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association. No, the Marcellus/Utica are not the focus in the southern part of the state. In the south it will be the Rogersville Shale, and according to DeMarco, it’s more of a “when” rather than an “if” drilling will happen in the Rogersville Shale in WV. When will it happen? The southern part of the state will experience the economic bonanza being experienced in the northern part of the state. What will it take for Rogersville drilling to begin? Higher natgas prices…
Read More “WVONGA Says Rogersville Shale Drilling in WV is “When” not “If””
Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Halliburton | Industrywide Issues | Range Resources Corp | Sand/Proppant | Schlumberger

DUG East Panelists Discuss the Critical Role of Sand in Drilling
June 29, 2015June 29, 2015

Some interesting tidbits from a roundtable discussion at last week’s Hart Energy DUG East conference. The panelists included reps from Chesapeake Energy, Range Resources, Halliburton and Schlumberger. Really, the biggest of the bigs when it comes to producers and oilfield services companies in the Marcellus Shale. A lot of the discussion seemed to revolve around the lowly grain of sand. It may surprise you (as it did us) to learn just how much sand is now being used per well in the Marcellus/Utica…
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Education | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Monongalia County | Research | West Virginia

Drilling for WVU/OSU’s $11M Study Gets Underway in Morgantown
June 29, 2015June 29, 2015

In November 2014 MDN told you that West Virginia University and Ohio State University received an $11 million grant from the U.S. Dept. of Energy for a joint five-year study of Marcellus/Utica fracking and shale drilling (see WVU/OSU Get $11M Grant to Study Shale Energy Best Practices). The research project promptly got under way with baseline measurements and monitoring at the Morgantown (WV) Industrial Park where a new first-of-its-kind Marcellus Shale Energy and Environment Laboratory will be located. With baseline measurements for air, noise, light and water at the site complete, it’s now time for the drill bit to start chewing away at rock and dirt…
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Boardwalk Pipeline Partners | CNG/LNG | Energy Services | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Sabine Pass LNG Export Expansion Approved, Utica Gas Heading There?
June 29, 2015June 29, 2015

Good news for Marcellus/Utica drillers–especially those in the Ohio Utica. Last Friday the U.S. Dept. of Energy issued a final authorization for an expansion to Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass Liquefaction LNG export facility in Cameron Parish, Louisiana. The approval means Sabine Pass can now export domestically produced liquefied natural gas (LNG) to countries that do not have a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States. The approval expands export capacity at the facility by an extra 1.38 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day (Bcf/d), to a new total of 3.58 Bcf/d. Why is it good for Utica drillers? Because at least one pipeline project will connect from Ohio all the way to the Sabine Pass facility (see Texas Gas Seeks to Reverse Flow of Pipeline from OH to LA), meaning some Utica and Marcellus Shale gas will get exported from the Gulf Coast…
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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA

The Facts on Pipelines and Their Impacts on PA Landowners
June 29, 2015June 29, 2015

Pipelines, and opposition to them from shrill anti-fossil fuel kooks, seems to be the primary battlefield in the ongoing war against fossil energy. If we had a nickle for every time we’ve heard antis talk about pipelines exploding and other scare tactics, we’d be shaleionaires. When it comes to pipelines in Pennsylvania, where a number of projects are on the books, it helps to have the facts. Dave Messersmith, an educator and member of Penn State’s Marcellus Shale Education team, is a man with the facts when it comes to drilling and pipelines. Messersmith recently did a Q&A with the Allentown Morning Call newspaper and he shares important, impartial facts about pipelines and how they impact landowners…
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Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Research | Statewide PA

PA Gas Outlook Report 2015 – Electric Plants Changing to Natgas
June 29, 2015June 29, 2015

Last week the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) released its annual Pennsylvania Gas Outlook Report, which provides insight into trends in the natural gas market, both nationwide and within Pennsylvania (full copy below). The report summarizes the financial and supply data for PA’s natural gas distribution companies (NGDCs) and looks at changes and trends in the natural gas market, including usage, financial status of utilities, and market pricing. The report is prepared to provide data about the regulated gas industry in Pennsylvania and the broader natural gas markets in the region and nationally. There’s lots of good information in the report. In particular we like the EIA list of pipelines due to be “in service” sometime in 2015 in the Marcellus/Utica region, included on page 6 of the report. The big news in the report is the dramatic increase in the change from coal to natgas for electric power generation–a trend that will continue to expand into the foreseeable future…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | CNG/LNG | Crestwood Midstream | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | NGLs | Schuyler County | Statewide NY

Binghamton Newspaper Runs Anti-LPG Propaganda as “News”
June 29, 2015June 29, 2015

A well-known activist and anti-driller flying under the label of “reporter”–Tom Wilber–was actually paid to write six, possibly seven articles for the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin appearing in the print edition on Sunday. The so-called “Watchdog Report” in the P&SB takes aim at an underground liquefied propane storage facility proposed by Crestwood Midstream along the shore of Seneca Lake (in a depleted salt cavern) and is what laughably passes as “news” these days in the People’s Republic of New York–where the only “news” allowed in Democrat rags like the P&SN is bad news when it comes to the shale industry. In most newspapers the entire section appearing in the P&SB, which amounts to free advertising for the virulent anti-drilling group Gas Free Seneca, would properly be labeled as an “Advertisement” or “Advertising Supplement.” But not in the P&SB. Unsuspecting readers of the P&SB are treated to a couple of front page stories about “environmental concerns” about the very safe underground storage facility planned near Seneca Lake. When you look further in, the entire first section of the newspaper is jammed with more stories–six in all–plus a seventh that was almost certainly written by Wilber labeled as an “editorial” from the newspaper itself. Example of the extreme bias: one of the stories is about railroads, tossed in to create FUD–fear, uncertainty and doubt–about the LPG facility by stating that LPG from the Crestwood facility will be hauled by railroad over a creaky old railroad bridge through historic Watkins Glen State Park with its beautiful gorges and waterfalls. The image is what would happen if there was an accident and the train fell into the gorge. Of course Wilber doesn’t bother to report that carloads of really nasty, toxic chemicals traverse that same railroad bridge each week–it’s only LPG (simple propane that would evaporate) that has him concerned. Wilber calls it a potentially “epic hazard.” What a joke…
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BP | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Penn Virginia Corporation

BP Makes Offer to Buy Penn Virginia, Other Majors Interested Too
June 26, 2015June 26, 2015

Although headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania (near Philadelphia), Penn Virginia Corporation is an oil and gas driller (i.e. “producer”, i.e., E&P company) with only a small presence in the Marcellus Shale: 21,700 net acres with no drilled wells. They concentrate on oil drilling the Texas Eagle Ford Shale play. MDN told you in March that Democrat billionaire corporate raider George Soros, one of the most vile big money investors in the world who has repeatedly damaged not only corporations but entire country’s economies, had taken a 9.1% ownership position in Penn Virginia in order to force it to sell and was doing exactly that (see George Soros Finally Bullies Penn Virginia into Selling Itself). Since March all has been quiet, until yesterday when somebody leaked the rumor that oil and gas giant BP has made an offer to buy Penn Virginia, driving the stock price up over 20% at one point. However, another rumor says Penn Virginia rejected BP’s offer as too low and is holding out for more. In addition to BP, Exxon Mobil and Chevron are also said to be interested in buying Penn Virginia. All of this buyout talk is driving Penn Virginia’s stock price up, putting a big smile on George Soros’ face…
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Accidents | Allegheny County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Sunoco Logistics | Washington County

PA DEP Fines Sunoco $95K for Mud Spills During Pipeline Drilling
June 26, 2015June 26, 2015

Although there’s been no publicly published notice, the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has fined Sunoco Logistics for spilling non-toxic drilling mud (bentonite) at several locations when they were drilling for the Mariner East I pipeline. One of those instances was last September when Precision Pipeline, hired by Sunoco, was drilling under the Little Mingo Creek (see Mariner East Pipeline Drilling Spills Mud in Local Creek). Bentonite is non-toxic and used in products from shampoo to deodorant and toothpaste. It’s also used to lubricate the drill bit and carry drill cuttings out of the ground. While non-toxic, a whole lot of bentonite in the water can, of course, suffocate fish and cause problems for wildlife that happen to drink it. In March of this year, we noted that the DEP was telegraphing that they were about to assess a “significant” fine for the mud spills at Mingo Creek and a few other locations (see PA DEP: Sunoco Facing “Significant” Fine for Non-Toxic Mud Spills). The fine has been levied. The “significant” fine ended up being $95,000. Clipping Sunoco $95K, compared to the $8.9 million fine the DEP recently slapped on Range Resources for methane leaks, seems somewhat trivial and rather insignificant. Which is perhaps why the DEP hasn’t published, as they usually do, an official notice on their website about the fine…
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CNG/LNG | Exporting | Industrywide Issues

Downeast Plans to Begin Building ME LNG Export Facility in 2017
June 26, 2015June 26, 2015

In April MDN told you about a potential second East Coast LNG export terminal project that stands a good chance of getting built–in Maine of all places (see 2nd LNG Export Terminal for Marcellus Gas Advances – in Maine!). Downeast LNG, as the project is called, was originally planned to be an import-only facility. But last year, after getting preliminary approval for the import project from FERC, Downeast amended its application to become both an import AND export LNG terminal. And yes, it is Marcellus Shale gas they have in mind to export. We have progress to report: Downeast LNG has contracted with one of the world’s largest energy engineering and construction companies, CB&I, to design and build the facility when and if they get the necessary approvals. Downeast is hoping construction may begin as early as spring of 2017…
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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

Partisan Gov Wolf Says He’ll Veto Any Budget Republicans Send Him
June 26, 2015June 26, 2015

Earlier this week Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s budget and policy secretary, John Hanger, said this with regard to Republicans refusing to go along with Wolf’s Marcellus-killing severance tax: “Frankly, the Republican leadership is saying it’s our way or the highway” (see PA Republicans Say No Severance Tax in Budget Heading to Gov. Wolf). Yet yesterday top Democrat lawmakers let slip that when the Republicans send a budget to Wolf today or tomorrow, Wolf says he will automatically veto it–without having seen or read it. Tell us John, who’s really saying “my way or the highway” when it comes to the budget?…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Medina County | NEXUS Pipeline | Ohio | Pipelines | Regulation

Medina County, OH Antis Trot Out Home Rule Ballot Measure
June 26, 2015June 26, 2015

In February the Ohio Supreme Court, once and for all, struck down so-called “home rule” legislation passed by local municipalities where anti-drillers are able to convince enough citizens to vote for it (see OH Supreme Court Strikes Down Home Rule in Gas Drilling Case). When it comes to creating local laws and zoning ordinances that prohibit or otherwise try to control oil and gas drilling, Ohio state law stipulates only the State regulates it–not towns and villages and cities. That’s the law, and that’s the law the Supreme Court upheld. So along comes Sustainable Medina County, a group of virulent anti-fossil fuelers, with a new petition to put yet another so-called home rule “bill of rights” measure on the ballot in November, this time in an attempt to stop the NEXUS pipeline. What would you call this new initiative in light of the Supreme Court’s decision? We’d call it stark, raving mad…
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