Monroe County

Eclipse Resources | Energy Companies | Harrison County | Monroe County | Ohio | Utica Shale

Eclipse Resources: Production Results for 7 OH Utica Wells
September 4, 2014September 4, 2014

Eclipse Resources, a small but rapidly growing independent driller focused on the Marcellus and Utica Shale region, released the initial production results for their two most recent well pads in the Utica Shale–one pad in Monroe County, the other in Harrison County. Eclipse drilled seven wells across the two pads, and if you combine them, the seven wells are producing (initial production or IP) 52.6 million cubic feet of natural gas per day, and 1,800 barrels of condensate per day. Very respectable numbers. Here’s the full details, along with a copy of an investor presentation (lots of great maps and charts) just released…
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Appalachian Resins | Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Monroe County | Ohio | Processing Plants

Ohio to Get “Baby” Ethane Cracker Originally Slated for WV
September 3, 2014September 3, 2014

In February 2013 MDN told you about plans from Appalachian Resins (AR) to build a polyethelene (PE) manufacturing plant complete with a baby ethane cracker (see “Small” Ethane Cracker Plant Coming to Wheeling, WV). The company, at that point, said they would begin construction somewhere south of the Wheeling, WV area by the end of 2013. That didn’t happen. Now we know why. Last week, AR’s CEO Jim Cutler announced he had signed a letter of intent with the Monroe County (OH) Port Authority to build the plant in Monroe County instead. The location for the plant moved just across the Ohio River, from the WV side to the OH side of the river. The cost to build the new facility is a cool $1 billion. No doubt both sides of the border will benefit, but this is definitely a loss for WV and a big gain for OH…
Read More “Ohio to Get “Baby” Ethane Cracker Originally Slated for WV”
American Energy Partners | Belmont County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | Jefferson County (OH) | Marshall County | Monroe County | Ohio | Pipelines | Regency Energy Partners | Utica Shale | West Virginia

McClendon Invests in New Utica Pipeline Project, JV with Regency
August 8, 2014August 8, 2014

It was only in June, less than two months ago, that MDN brought you the news that it sure seems like Aubrey McClendon is building a new company that looks a lot like the first company he built, Chesapeake Energy (see Aubrey McClendon Gets Back into the Midstream Business). McClendon is not only high on Utica and Marcellus drilling with his newly formed American Energy Partners company, he’s also high on building the pipelines needed to conduct the gas out of the borehole. His new midstream division was set up to work on such projects. And less than two months later, we have the first of those projects. Yesterday McClendon’s new midstream division and Regency Energy Partners announced a joint venture to build the Utica Ohio River Project for $500 million…
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Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Monroe County | Ohio | Sand/Proppant | Trucking | Wastewater

New Ormet Aluminum Plant Owner Shops Barge Facility to Shalers
August 4, 2014August 4, 2014

Three weeks ago MDN highlighted news from NGI’s Shale Daily that Magnum Hunter Resources had purchased the mineral rights for two former Ormet properties in Ohio and West Virginia (see Magnum Hunter Buys Ormet Property in OH/WV, More Wells Coming?). Ormet, you may recall, had a big aluminum plant in Hannibal (Monroe County), OH that sits on the Ohio River (complete with a big barge facility) that was bankrupted because they couldn’t get Ohio to lower the electricity bills long enough for them to convert their own coal-burning electric generation plant into using natural gas mined from under the property (see Final Chapter of Ormet Plant Closing – Utica Could have Saved It). It was a big fail on the part of Gov. John “foreigner hunter” Kasich’s administration and the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO). Magnum now owns the mineral rights, and Niagara Worldwide LLC now owns the real estate and plant itself in OH. Niagara issued a press release today advertising that they’re looking to re-open the Hannibal site for business. The announcement has a big tie-in with the shale drilling industry…
Read More “New Ormet Aluminum Plant Owner Shops Barge Facility to Shalers”
Belmont County | Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Industrywide Issues | Monroe County | Ohio | Pipelines | Rice Energy | Utica Shale

Gulfport Cuts Deal with Competitor Rice Energy to Build Pipeline
August 1, 2014August 1, 2014

An interesting announcement from Gulfport Energy earlier this week. The company issued a “midstream update” and a production numbers for 2Q14 going back one year. What’s interesting is that Gulfport has cut midstream (i.e. pipeline) deals to get its production out of the Utica Shale basin in eastern Ohio. One deal is with Rice Energy, a competitor who also drills in the Utica. Rice will construct and operate gathering pipelines for Gulfport in several townships in Belmont County, OH. (Interesting that Rice is becoming a midstream company as well as a driller.) The second deal is with midstreamer MarkWest Energy to construct pipelines to Gulfport wells in other parts of Belmont County, and in parts of Monroe County, OH…
Read More “Gulfport Cuts Deal with Competitor Rice Energy to Build Pipeline”
Accidents | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Equinor/Statoil | Halliburton | Industrywide Issues | Monroe County | Ohio

EPA Reports on Enviro Damage from Statoil Well Fire in OH
July 23, 2014July 23, 2014

On June 28 a fire at Statoil’s Eisenbarth eight-well pad in Monroe County, OH quickly spread and engulfed some 20 trucks on the pad site, along with other equipment, chemicals and supplies stored at the site. It was a devastating fire (see Statoil Frack Trucks Catch Fire in Monroe County, OH). Local, state and even federal agencies quickly responded to the incident and fortunately no one was injured. One of the responding agencies was the federal Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA recently released their initial response report covering the period June 28 – July 5–a chronicle of actions taken, the facts known, and the EPA’s initial view on environmental damage caused by liquids escaping from the pad. We have the full EPA report (below), along with an update on the continuing fallout from that accident…
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Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Monroe County | Ohio | West Virginia | Wetzel County

Magnum Hunter Buys Ormet Property in OH/WV, More Wells Coming?
July 11, 2014July 11, 2014

MDN has chronicled the sad story of the Ormet aluminum smelting plant in Monroe County, OH. The short version is that the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) played a high-stakes game of chicken with Ormet and denied them permission to continuing burning coal to produce their own electricity while they got three Utica Shale wells on their property up and running (Magnum Hunter is the driller). Then PUCO denied Ormet’s request to get a reduced electric rate from the local utility company. Bottom line, more than 900 people are out of work (see Final Chapter of Ormet Plant Closing – Utica Could have Saved It). A reporter from NGI’s Shale Daily has a sharp eye and discovered that Magnum Hunter, the driller of the three Utica wells still operating on the Ormet property, has just purchased Ormet’s property in OH and WV…
Read More “Magnum Hunter Buys Ormet Property in OH/WV, More Wells Coming?”
Accidents | Energy Companies | Equinor/Statoil | Industrywide Issues | Monroe County | Ohio

Statoil Frack Trucks Catch Fire in Monroe County, OH
June 30, 2014June 30, 2014

Crews were working to frack a Utica Shale well at a Statoil drill pad in Monroe County, OH around 9 am on Saturday when hydraulic tubing (not to be confused with the process called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking) from some of the equipment caught fire. The fire quickly spread to 20 trucks lined up at the pad, burning the trucks (some of them exploding) and creating thick, black smoke that billowed for hours. Fortunately no one was injured, although 20-25 families living within a mile of the well were evacuated…
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Belmont County | Eclipse Resources | Energy Companies | Guernsey County | Harrison County | Monroe County | Noble County | Ohio | Utica Shale

Marcellus/Utica Driller Eclipse Resources IPO Seeks $864M+
June 19, 2014June 19, 2014

Just over a month ago MDN brought you the news that PA-based Marcellus/Utica driller Eclipse Resources would soon float an initial public offering (IPO) hoping to raise $100 million (see Utica Driller Eclipse Resources Files IPO – Wants to Raise $100M). It now appears the information in that story was off–way off. Earlier this month Eclipse launched their IPO by announcing they want to sell 30.3 million shares of common stock for $27-$30 per share. If you calculate they get $28.50, that would raise $864 million!…
Read More “Marcellus/Utica Driller Eclipse Resources IPO Seeks $864M+”
American Energy Partners | Doddridge County | East Resources | Energy Companies | Harrison County | Marion County | Monroe County | Ohio | Shell | SWEPI | Tyler County | West Virginia | Wetzel County

McClendon Buys 48K WV Marcellus Acres, 27K More OH Utica Acres
June 10, 2014June 10, 2014

Yet another major announcement yesterday from Aubrey McClendon, former CEO of Chesapeake Energy and current CEO of a new company he founded, American Energy Partners (AEP). Aubrey is spending another $1.75 billion to buy more acreage (and functioning wells) in both the Ohio Utica and now, for the first time, in the West Virginia Marcellus Shale. The WV acreage is in the wet gas areas of the state. According to the AEP press announcement, East Resources is the seller. Which is interesting to MDN since Shell bought all (or nearly all) of East’s northeast shale acreage in 2010 (see East Resources Sells to Royal Dutch Shell for $4.7 Billion, Deal Includes All of East’s Marcellus Shale Operations). So was the deal actually with Shell using the East name on paper? Or leftover vestiges of the old East Resources?…
Read More “McClendon Buys 48K WV Marcellus Acres, 27K More OH Utica Acres”
Belmont County | Energy Companies | Guernsey County | Gulfport Energy | Harrison County | Monroe County | Ohio

Kudos: Gulfport Energy Donates $400K to OH Non-Profits
May 28, 2014May 28, 2014

Gulfport Energy has just done a very nice thing for the residents of eastern Ohio. Last Thursday Gulfport’s CEO Michael Moore was on hand in Cambridge (Guernsey County), OH to bestow a $400,000 gift to the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio. The gift is called the Gulfport Energy Fund and will be used for non-profits and educational institutions in those communities where Gulfport is actively drilling: Belmont, Guernsey, Harrison, or Monroe counties…
Read More “Kudos: Gulfport Energy Donates $400K to OH Non-Profits”
Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Monroe County | Ohio | Tyler County | Utica Shale | West Virginia

Magnum Hunter 3rd Driller to Target the Utica in WV
May 27, 2014May 27, 2014

Magnum Hunter Resources, a driller with a big presence in the West Virginia Marcellus Shale and increasingly in the Ohio Utica Shale, is now the third driller to tap the Utica Shale in West Virginia. The lucky WV county where Magnum Hunter is drilling its first Utica well in the Mountain State? Tyler County…
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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Monroe County | Ohio | Regulation

Final Chapter of Ormet Plant Closing – Utica Could have Saved It
May 20, 2014May 20, 2014

A sad footnote to a sad story. The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) played a high stakes game of chicken with Monroe County, OH’s largest employer–the Ormet aluminum smelter plant that at one time employed 900 people–and lost…
Read More “Final Chapter of Ormet Plant Closing – Utica Could have Saved It”
Blue Racer Midstream | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Monroe County | Ohio | Processing Plants | Regulation

Blue Racer Berne Processing Facility Construction Set to Begin
May 6, 2014May 5, 2014

Blue Racer Midstream is asking Monroe County, OH to approve a new, large electric transmission line that will run about 2,000 feet from a mainline to its Berne processing complex site. When the first phase of the Berne site is complete it will process 200 million cubic feet per day of natural gas. If all goes according to the new plan, construction will begin in early June and be completed in late August. Blue Racer has asked for approval of the new 138 kV transmission line, which will power some really big compressor engines, to be “expedited” by the county.

Here’s more on the Berne facility…
Read More “Blue Racer Berne Processing Facility Construction Set to Begin”
Belmont County | Carroll County | Columbiana County | Guernsey County | Harrison County | Lease & Royalty Payments | Monroe County | Noble County | Ohio | Utica Shale | Washington County (OH)

Company Targets OH Landowners – Buy Future Royalties for Cash Now
March 26, 2014March 26, 2014

Gateway Royalty is back and has $58.5 million on the bank they can’t wait to give landowners in the Ohio Utica Shale in return for future royalty payments. MDN told you about Gateway last summer. They were the company that the town of Carrollton, OH sold 1/4 of their royalty rights to (see OH Town Votes to Give Up 1/4 Royalties for Cash Payment Now). The way it works, in brief: Gateway pays landowners a lump sum now in return for the right to receive that landowner’s future royalty payments for years to come. You (the landowner) get your money now, they (Gateway) get the money you would have gotten dribbled out over time. Of course the money you receive now is discounted and in all likelihood far less than you would have gotten if you had waited just a few years (the bulk of royalty payments come in the first four years). It’s a bit of a gamble by both parties because no one really knows how much a well will produce.

Still, there are reasons why someone may want to get cash up front–pay off debt, ill health, etc. So in that vein, we bring you the latest press release from Gateway announcing they are ready, willing and waiting to give Ohio Utica Shale landowners money now. Specifically they are targeting landowners in Washington, Noble, Guernsey, Monroe, Belmont, Harrison, Carroll and Columbiana counties…
Read More “Company Targets OH Landowners – Buy Future Royalties for Cash Now”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Belmont County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Monroe County | Noble County | Ohio | Public Opinion | Regulation | Statewide OH | Utica Shale | Violence

ODNR Ticks Off Anti-Drilling Sierra Club with Drilling PR Plan
February 18, 2014February 18, 2014

In August of 2012 staffers at the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) made a boo-boo. They put into writing (in the form of a 13-page memo, embedded below) a draft plan to promote Utica Shale drilling under (not on) Sunfish Creek State Forest (in Monroe County), under (not on) Barkcamp State Park (in Belmont County), and under (not on) Wolf Run State Park (Noble County). The memo begins by saying there will be a communications problem to solve: “An initiative to proactively open state park and forest land to horizontal drilling/hydraulic fracturing will be met with zealous resistance by environmental activist opponents, who are skilled propagandists. Neutral parties in particular — such as ordinary citizens concerned about their families’ health — will be vulnerable to messaging by opponents that the initiative represents dangerous and radical state policy by Gov. Kasich.” (emphasis original) The memo states later on that, “Anti-fracking activists will attempt to legally and physically disrupt or halt the drilling projects, including staging dangerous protests on state lands. (This will require sustained legal countermeasures and crisis readiness by ODNR.)”

May we translate? Groups like the Sierra Club lie to people about the drilling issue–and they sometimes engage in bullying (and violent) behavior. Of course the Sierra Club liars are just a bit miffed at being called out as liars and bullies–by no less than a state agency charged with regulating oil and gas. So they are on the offensive. The first thing the Sierra Club and similar groups will do (are doing) is to get their buddies in the slavishly devoted mainstream media to pick up their “ODNR are scumbags” meme and run with it. The second thing is they will use the ODNR memo in fundraising letters, which is really what the shale drilling issue is for them–a big, fat fundraiser…
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