The latest permits issued in Mahoning, Harrison, Portage and Monroe counties in Ohio:
Read More “ODNR Issues New Permits in Mahoning, Other OH Counties”
Youngstown, Ohio City Council members have delayed a vote to move forward with leasing city-owned land for natural gas drilling. A vote was planned for Wednesday, but council would not take a final vote, partly at the urging of state Rep. Bob Hagan (D). As frequently happens at government meetings when drilling is discussed, loud-mouthed protesters showed up to cheer, boo and in general make noise. One of the protesters was dragged out by police and charged with disorderly conduct.
Hagan and Democrat council members want the city to wait until the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) completes a study on fracking—which won’t be done until 2014—before moving forward with leasing.
Read More “Youngstown, OH Delays Vote to Lease City Land for Drilling”
The third Utica Shale well to be drilled in Mahoning County, Ohio is set to begin any day now. The well is being drilled by CNX Gas (subsidiary of CONSOL Energy). While the fact that a new well is being drilled may not seem like news (it’s the third well to be drilled in Mahoning County), where it’s being drilled in the county is big news: in the watershed of the Meander Reservoir, which provides drinking water to 300,000 people in the Mahoning Valley.
When completed, this will be a great example of the fact that drilling and fracking is safe—even in watershed areas (pay attention New York):
Read More “CNX Gas Starts Utica Well in Meander Reservoir Watershed”
It was grassroots, a phenomenon of social media sites like Facebook. The word went out to the anti-fracking faithful, and yesterday (trumpets blaring) was ta da da da: Freedom from Toxic Fracking Waste National Rally Day – a day when the masses would rise up and protest against the nasty, dirty, polluting practice of fracking. Wait, what? You didn’t know? You didn’t see any protests “across the nation” or even in your own city or town? That’s right—Freedom from Toxic Fracking Waste National Rally Day was a massive flop because no one protested.
Well, almost no one protested. We did find one media reference that “at least 30 protestors” gathered in Youngstown, Ohio (an area with a population of over a half million people). The keynote headliner for the rally? Former president of Pittsburgh City Council (and rabid anti-driller) Doug Shields, peddling his view that fracking should be banned everywhere and for everyone. He said he’s pursuing legal means to try and do just that:
Read More ““Nationwide” Day of Fracking Protest a Gigantic Flop”
CNX Gas, the wholly-owned subsidiary of CONSOL Energy, was just granted a second permit to drill a horizontal well in Mahoning County, Ohio:
Read More “CNX/CONSOL to Drill Second Well in Mahoning County, OH”
The Youngstown Ohio Utica and Natural Gas Conference and Expo (or the “YOUNG Expo” as it’s called), held yesterday and today at the Covelli Center in Youngstown, OH, has become a major regional event in the Utica Shale. With more than 1,500 people attending yesterday and more than 100 vendors, YOUNG is not only a great place for businesses to connect and job seekers to find work, it’s also a news generator.
The Youngstown Business Journal picked up on the following revelation during a presentation from Nisource that will interest landowners in Mahoning County:
Read More “Interesting News from YOUNG for OH Landowners, Job Seekers”
In July, Hilcorp Energy and NiSource announced a joint venture to combine their Utica shale acreage with Hilcorp doing the drilling. The jv also will build wet gas gathering pipelines in Ohio and Pennsylvania (see this MDN story). It looks like the pipeline part has begun. A Youngstown television station reported over the weekend that reps from Hilcorp and NiSource were going door to door in parts of Mahoning County asking landowners to sign waivers to allow the pipeline.
Read More “Hilcorp & NiSource Approach OH Landowners About Pipeline”
For those living in eastern Ohio and along the border in West Virginia, be on the lookout for a new free publication called Shale Play, published by the Warren (OH) Tribune Chronicle and its sister publications.
Hilcorp Energy is interested in drilling in Ohio’s Utica Shale. Specifically, they’re signing contracts and making offers in Mahoning County (northeastern Ohio).
Here are some of the lease offer deals they’ve recently made or signed:
Read More “Hilcorp Energy Leasing Utica Acreage in Mahoning County, OH”
[UPDATE BELOW] Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 396 won a competitive grant process to receive funds for job development in the Utica and Marcellus Shale plays. Local 396 craftsmen consist of plumbers, pipefitters, steamfitters, and HVAC/refrigeration fitters.
Read More “OH Union Wins Grant for Utica/Marcellus Job Development”
Bombshell: Halcon Resources Corp. is paying NCL Appalachian Partners $194 million (over $6,000 per acre) to take over land leases for drilling on 31,000 acres mostly in Trumbull County, OH (and about 3,000 acres in Mahoning County, OH). This is not money going to landowners but to the leaseholder, NCL. And it’s for old leases dating back to the 1960s.
By comparison, mass transfer of lease deals done by Chesapeake and others have been in the $1,000-$2,000 per acre range. But there is a difference: the lower-priced deals include a one or two percent royalty on anything produced going to the original leaseholder. Again, this is not landowner royalties, but leaseholder. It’s hard to follow the bouncing ball on this story.
The leases purchased by Halcon are not without potential problems (for Halcon) and opportunities (for landowners):
Read More “Halcon Resources Pays $194M for Old Leases in Trumbull County, OH”
MDN reported on Monday that Chesapeake Energy had purchased the rights to leases and had transferred ownership of those leases for more than 14,000 acres from two counties in Ohio—Trumbull and Mahoning (see this MDN story). We now know that’s only half of the number of acres they transferred. We now also know who they bought the rights from and how much they paid for those rights.
Read More “Chesapeake Buys 28K Acres of OH Leases from Everflow”
According to the Daily Jeffersonian, Ohio’s Utica Shale drilling shows no signs of diminishing based on the number of new permits issued for horizontal wells in June:
Read More “The Permits Keep Coming for New OH Utica Shale Wells”
An excellent story in today’s Youngstown (OH) Business Journal covers the massive number of lease transfers taking place in Ohio—specifically in Trumbull and Mahoning counties. At the end of June, both counties received an order to transfer more than 7,000 existing oil and gas leases to a single lease for Chesapeake Energy—and that’s in each county!
Read More “Chesapeake Transfers more than 14K Leases in 2 Ohio Counties”
The so-called “home rule” movement grants power to local town boards to ban hydraulic fracturing either by enacting laws or by the use of zoning. Two court cases challenging home rule in New York are winding their way through the system now. Home rule is also a controversy in Pennsylvania with seven townships taking the state to court over the new Act 13 provision that strips away most of their zoning rights when it comes to oil and gas drilling in favor of state zoning rules.
Home rule is now alive in Ohio too—in Beaver Township (Mahoning County). A group of Beaver Township residents are collecting signatures for a November ballot that would make Beaver a “home rule” township. And in so doing, would grant them the power to shut down drilling.
Read More “‘Home Rule’ Taking Root in NY, PA and now in OH Too”
The Campbell, Ohio council voted Monday to lease 167 owned by the town to Hilcorp Energy for $5,000 per acre and 20% royalties on any gas produced.
Read More “Campbell, OH Leases Town Land for $5K/20% to Hilcorp”