60 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Dec 1 – 7
After a pathetic showing two weeks ago (just 8 permits), last week was a barnstormer—the most permits we’ve seen issued in a single week since we’ve been chronicling permits here on MDN. But, there’s a catch. Last week’s report for the combined three states shows 60 (!) permits issued, with 22 going to Pennsylvania, 24 to Ohio, and 14 to West Virginia. However, Ohio’s numbers are inflated because the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) reported numbers last week that stretch back three weeks in time. You may recall Ohio didn’t issue permits for two weeks in a row. They actually issued permits but didn’t report them. So, this report includes 6 permits for the two missing weeks. Still, removing six from the total means 54 permits were issued last week, which remains a record high. Could the spike in the spot price for natural gas in the M-U be the reason? Read More “60 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Dec 1 – 7”
The second round of big news coming from Antero Resources today is the sale of the company’s Utica Shale assets. We told you in November that Antero, the largest Marcellus/Utica (M-U) driller in West Virginia, officially began to market its Ohio Utica assets for sale (see 
In July, MDN told you that Talen Energy, a leading energy producer in the U.S., which owns and operates approximately 10.7 gigawatts (GW) of power infrastructure, had announced the acquisition of two gas-fired power plants: one located near Wilkes-Barre in northeastern Pennsylvania, and the other in Guernsey County, in eastern Ohio (see 
In July, MDN told you that Talen Energy, a leading energy producer in the U.S., which owns and operates approximately 10.7 gigawatts (GW) of power infrastructure, had announced the acquisition of two gas-fired power plants: one located near Wilkes-Barre in northeastern Pennsylvania, and the other in Guernsey County, in eastern Ohio (see 
Talen Energy, a leading energy producer in the U.S., which owns and operates approximately 10.7 gigawatts (GW) of power infrastructure, has announced the acquisition of two gas-fired power plants: one located near Wilkes-Barre in northeastern Pennsylvania, and the other in Guernsey County, in eastern Ohio, for $3.8 billion. The PA plant is fed by Marcellus molecules, and the OH plant is fed by Utica molecules. We have followed both projects from inception through commissioning and operation. 
A series of earthquakes (low level, sometimes felt, most of the time not felt) have hit Guernsey and Noble counties in eastern Ohio. According to the latest news we can find, some five quakes have hit since April 22, and another couple of quakes hit earlier in the year, in January/February. There is an existing fault line in the area, near Cambridge, known as the Burning Springs-Cambridge fault zone, formed more than 4.6 million years ago. So, earthquakes in the region are not unknown. The question is, why this most recent flurry? The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) claims it’s tied to oil and gas activity in the area.