Columbiana County 10 - Marcellus Drilling News

Columbiana Port Authority Close to Final Deal with Marathon

January 22, 2013January 22, 2013

Back in July MDN told you about a deal the Columbiana County Port Authority hoped to do with Marathon Petroleum to sell Marathon 3.6 acres in along the riverfront in Wellsville, OH so they can build a transfer station (truck terminal) to accept natural gas liquids and oil from local shale drilling by truck and, load it onto barges which would then float downriver for refining (see Columbiana Port Authority Helps Shale Industry).

Two actions taken on Monday by the Port Authority significantly advanced the ball down the field toward making the deal a reality:

Utica Shale Drilling Heats up in Middleton Twp, OH

January 14, 2013January 14, 2013

Utica Shale drilling is heating up in Middleton Township (Columbiana County), Ohio.

Here’s the details on the one Utica Shale well now drilled in Middleton, the four coming soon, and how much the town was paid by Chesapeake Energy to lease six acres of town land:

Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Columbiana County | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH

OH Land Conservancies Try to Prevent Utica Drilling

December 31, 2012December 31, 2012

In an article about the merger of a local land conservancy group with a larger, regional conservancy group in Ohio—the Western Reserve Land Conservancy (WRLC)—MDN spotted remarks that indicate land conservancies have an anti-drilling philosophy, which raises the issue of whether or not you should support them or sign an agreement with them if you’re a landowner.

Remarks from the president of Little Beaver Creek Land Foundation (LBCLF), the local land conservancy group that merged with the WRLC:

11 New Utica Shale Drilling Permits in OH, as of Dec 12

December 28, 2012December 28, 2012

The latest round of permits to drill new Utica Shale wells from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) includes 11 new permits, 8 of which went to Chesapeake Energy.

Here’s the latest Ohio Utica permit report (with grand totals by county) as of Dec. 12:

OH Municipality to Sell Treated Sewage Water for Fracking

December 21, 2012December 21, 2012

The Buckeye Water District, a municipal sewer and water authority in Wellsville (Columbiana County), OH, voted yesterday to sell treated sewage water for use in fracking Utica Shale wells. MDN would call that a win/win and smart.

Just how much are companies willing to pay for treated sewage water to use in fracking?

Columbiana County NGL Plant On Track for May Opening

December 17, 2012December 17, 2012

An update on the excellent progress being made with the construction of a new $400 million natural gas liquids collection and processing plant being built in Hanoverton (Columbiana County), Ohio by M3 Midstream:

Judge Tells Ohio Landowners They Can’t Break Lease

December 14, 2012December 14, 2012

A lawsuit filed by 95 landowners in Carroll and Columbiana counties (Ohio) has been decided in favor of Chesapeake Energy and against the landowners. Last month, Judge Richard Markus (Common Pleas Court) issued his decision that the landowners in the case could not break their lease if they received a better offer—something they thought they could do according to a provision in the lease.

Here’s the details of the case and the decision:

BP | Columbiana County | Energy Companies | Ohio | Utica Shale

BP Continues to Expand in Ohio’s Utica Shale

December 12, 2012December 12, 2012

BP continues to expand its footprint in Ohio’s Utica Shale. Lately, the company has been purchasing leases in Columbiana County:

Chesapeake Energy | Columbiana County | Energy Companies | Ohio | Utica Shale

Utica Shale Drilling in Columbiana County, OH Slows

December 10, 2012December 10, 2012

Is Columbiana County, Ohio’s Utica Shale drilling cooling down? That’s what a recent article seems to indicate. There were only two new permits sought in the past month, both from Chesapeake Energy.

Here’s the lowdown on Columbiana’s drilling activity since 2010:

Columbiana County | Energy Companies | Hilcorp Energy | Ohio | Utica Shale

Hilcorp Energy Plans New Utica Well in Salem Township, OH

November 29, 2012November 29, 2012

Hilcorp Energy plans to drill a Utica Shale well in Salem Township (Columbiana County), Ohio. Last night at the Salem Township trustee meeting a Hilcorp rep requested information about certain roads and made the comment that they plan to drill soon.

Some Brinker Field (OH) Leases Revised, Others in Lawsuit

November 23, 2012November 23, 2012

Hilcorp Energy was hired by Columbia Gas’ parent company NiSouce to drill Utica Shale wells in the Brinker Storage Field, a 35,000 acre area in Columbiana County, Ohio that Columbia has used to store natural gas going back more than 50 years. The original leases with landowners in the Brinker, leases passed down to new landowners over the decades, mean that landowners get zippo from any drilling—no lease payments and no royalties (see this MDN story for background).

Since the MDN story that first appeared in September, about 100 landowners have signed on to a lawsuit against Columbia and Hilcorp over the lease issue. But also since September, Columbia and Hilcorp have cut new leases with landowners not party to the lawsuit. We get the details of the lease terms from a story that talks about Hilcorp setting up a new office in Columbiana to work on land deals:

CNX Resources | Columbiana County | CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Ohio

CONSOL/CNX Expands Presence in Ohio Utica Shale

November 23, 2012November 23, 2012

CONSOL Energy’s CNX Gas subsidiary is expanding its presence at the Columbiana County Port Authority’s industrial park in Leetonia, Ohio. It’s an indicator of CNX/CONSOL’s commitment to the Ohio Utica Shale.

Although headline stories usually talk about the 1.3 million acres owned by Chesapeake in the Utica Shale, you don’t often hear about the large and growing stake owned by CNX:

Chesapeake Says 3 OH Counties are “Core of the Core” in Utica

November 21, 2012November 21, 2012

On the third quarter earnings call with analysts earlier this month, Chesapeake Energy officials were asked about the Utica Shale and their thoughts, now more than a year in, of how the Utica stacks up against the Eagle Ford, and how Chesapeake’s “core of the core” strategy is working in the Utica. Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon answered the question this way, identifying the three counties in Ohio that are “the core of the core” for the company:

The Best (and Not So Best) Utica Drilling Locations in Ohio

November 13, 2012November 13, 2012

choosing the best A recent shale gas conference held in Cambridge, Ohio on Nov. 10 turned up some surprising and interesting facts. One of those facts: Almost 100 percent of the land in Carroll County has been leased for possible Utica shale drilling, or is being held by production.

Here’s a few more interesting items from the conference, shared by a team from Ohio State University Extension (including where drilling is producing good results, and where it’s not):

Drilling Mud Manufacturer Opens Plant in Wellsville, OH

November 13, 2012November 13, 2012

Drilling mud manufacturer Anchor Drilling Fluids USA has just opened a new facility in Wellsville, Ohio—the first such facility in Ohio’s Utica Shale region. Anchor sited the plant next to a barite processing plant which they’ve invested in. Barite is one of the compounds used to make drilling mud.

From the press announcement about the new plant opening:

Hanoverton, OH NGL Processing Plant on Track for May 2013

November 12, 2012November 12, 2012

In May 2012, MDN told you about a new $400 million cryogenic processing plant to be built in Hanoverton (Columbiana County), Ohio by a joint venture between Chesapeake Energy, M3 Midstream and EV Energy Partners (see this MDN story). The plant will collect and process shale gas, separating out natural gas liquids like propane, butane and ethane. In early October we told you construction had begun and the first phase of the new plant is due to come online in May 2013 (see this MDN story).

Last week an official for M3 Midstream, one of the partners in the project, visited the construction site and said things are track to meet the “very aggressive” May 2013 opening date: