Survey Indicates O&G Investing in WV More Attractive than PA or OH
Each year (for the 11th year running) the Canadian-based Fraser Institute surveys petroleum industry executives and managers (333 of them for 2017) asking them their opinions on the barriers to investing in exploration and production in various geographies across the globe. That is, what makes them more likely or less likely to spend money drilling in a particular location? The Global Petroleum Survey (full copy below), tallies the survey responses and ranks each geography from most desirable place to invest, to least desirable. The rankings for this year are interesting and illustrative that politicians’ words and regulatory environment have a direct bearing on where, and how much, drilling companies are willing to spend. No money spent, no drilling. The barriers to spending in a given geography include: high tax rates, costly regulatory schemes, uncertainty over environmental regulations and the interpretation and administration of regulations governing the petroleum industry, and security threats. Only one state in the Marcellus/Utica ranked in the Top 10 “most attractive” jurisdictions for oil and gas investment–West Virginia…
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The ultra-radical group from Pennsylvania called the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) is devoted to stirring up anarchy and lawlessness, not only in Pennsylvania but elsewhere, like Ohio. CELDF has launched a campaign to amend the Ohio State Constitution. Two CELDF ballot initiatives (full text below) would amend the Constitution to make it legal for local communities to usurp the state’s role in regulating oil and gas. We’ve written plenty about the CELDF, which is behind a number of bizarre lawsuits like the one claiming that an ecosystem is a “person” with rights (see 
If you are unemployed–particularly if you once worked in the coal industry–and you’re interested in getting your foot in the door of a rewarding job in the Marcellus/Utica industry, LISTEN UP! For those who live in southwestern PA and eastern OH, the Washington Greene County Job Training Agency and the Gas Technology Institute have teamed up to provide a FREE 4-week training program just for you (
Who says you can’t buy a court decision–at least a temporary one? Back in May MDN told you about the antis running the City of Green, Ohio hellbent on stopping the NEXUS Pipeline, all of it (see 
The FBI has been drawn into what was once a civil case in Ohio. EnerVest once owned nearly one million acres in the Ohio Utica Shale. It was unintentional. Most of the acreage came from owning old conventional/vertical oil and gas wells in the state. Belmont County, OH landowner, Matt Crislip, says EnerVest perpetrated a fraud on him by pretending his long inactive/dead conventional well was once again producing. The practice is known as “back-fed”–running gas from a pipeline back to the well, so it appears the well is still producing gas. Why do something crazy like that? So the driller can claim the well is producing and is “held by production”–allowing that driller to turn around and sell the lease to someone else (Ascent Resources, in this case) for “millions” according to Crislip. The result is Crislip didn’t see a penny in new lease-signing bonuses, and he didn’t get the opportunity to negotiate a new royalty rate. EnerVest flatly denies the back-fed charge and said they will defend themselves “vigorously.” So far the FBI has only investigated Crislip’s claim, and no charges have been filed. Yet. Here’s a look at Crislip’s claim and the FBI’s ongoing investigation, which may expand beyond Belmont County…
Since Aubrey McClendon and Chesapeake Energy first burst on the scene to announce the Utica Shale is “the best thing to hit the state of Ohio economically since maybe the plow” and Chesapeake leased and drilled in Carroll County, OH, Carroll has been the single most Utica drilled county in the state. Activity in Carroll remains strong, but as the play has matured and drillers have experimented in other counties, the “sweet spot” for Utica drilling moved south, to places like Belmont, Monroe and Guernsey counties. The most productive Utica wells drilled are in those southern counties. So it was not all that big a surprise, but certainly noteworthy, to read that Belmont County has now passed Carroll for total number of permits issued to drill Utica wells. A “changing of the guard.” We hasten to add Carroll still has more drilled and producing Utica wells than Belmont–at this point in time. At some point that dynamic will change. Below we have the latest numbers, and a special sneak preview of MDN’s forthcoming Marcellus & Utica Shale Almanac showing a breakdown of numbers for Carroll County, still (for now) the most drilled Utica Shale county in the Buckeye State…
The Ohio Oil and Gas Association (OOGA) and Energy In Depth (EID) Ohio recently published a new report that shows Utica drillers have spent more than $300 million in eight Ohio counties from 2011 until earlier this year improving and fixing 630 miles of Ohio’s roadways. The study, titled “Ohio’s Oil & Gas Industry Road Improvement Payments” (full copy below) takes a close look at Road Usage Maintenance Agreements (RUMAs) in eight counties. You read that right. The O&G industry has spent over $300 million in eight counties over the past seven years. That’s $300 million in PRIVATE (not government-confiscated-via-taxes) money to fix up roads. Those living in eastern Ohio are lucky dogs…
The uber-litigious Sierra Club and it’s vaunted stable of attorneys have been caught with their pants down–legally speaking. One of the (many) pipelines the Clubbers oppose is NEXUS, a $2 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that will run from Ohio through Michigan and eventually to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada. NEXUS got final approval for the project from FERC in August (see 
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last Thursday granted Rover Pipeline permission to resume horizontal directional drilling (HDD) at four more locations where it had been stopped. One of those locations is drilling under the Ohio River in the Majorsville area. Rover is a $3.7 billion, 711-mile natural gas pipeline that (will eventually) run from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and on to Canada. A large portion of the pipeline began flowing natural gas on Sept. 1st (see 
Rex Energy, a driller focused mainly on the Marcellus/Utica (headquartered in State College, PA), issued their third quarter 2017 update earlier this week. The company continues to bleed money, losing $47 million in 3Q17, versus losing $55 million in 3Q16. An improvement, but showing a profit would be a whole lot better than a loss at this point. Highlights for 3Q17: Rex placed the four-well Wilson pad into sales (Butler County, PA) with initial 24-hour average sales rate per well of ~10.9 million cubic feet equivalent per day (MMcfe/d). Total production averaged 182 MMcfe/d–with 38% of that liquids production. Rex drills in both western PA and eastern OH. Rex officials said they are currently working on 10 new wells in Carroll County, OH that will go online in 2018. So far Rex has drilled 30 wells in the Buckeye State. Below is the full 3Q17 update, along with excerpts from the analyst phone call and the latest Rex slide deck…
Honestly, the Sierra Club launches so many petitions with FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission), and so many lawsuits against FERC regarding pipelines, it’s hard to keep them all straight. One of the northeast pipelines the Clubbers oppose is NEXUS, a $2 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that will run from Ohio through Michigan and eventually to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada. NEXUS got final approval for the project from FERC in August, the first major pipeline to get approved following a newly restored quorum at FERC (see 
Last week Eclipse Resources, the “super-lateral” Marcellus/Utica driller, turned in its third quarter 2017 update. Eclipse is a Marcellus/Utica pure play driller headquartered in State College, PA that drills mostly in the Ohio Utica. Eclipse has drilled the top three longest onshore oil/gas wells in the world. What do we glean from the 3Q17 update? Two of their world’s longest onshore wells–the Great Scott 3H and Outlaw C11H–are now online and pumping. They are pumping record-setting amounts of condensate. Each is averaging 3,300 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) to date on a restricted choke, consisting of almost 50% condensate and 68% in total liquids. Gushers! During 3Q17 Eclipse drilled 10 wells in all, including four super-laterals with an average lateral length of over 17,500 feet. So far the company has drilled 11 super-lateral wells with an average lateral length of ~18,000 feet–averaging just 16 days from spud to total depth. Incredible! The company had average daily production of 353 million cubic feet equivalent per day (MMcfe/d). On an analyst phone call, Eclipse’s top brass said they are working to create a “reputable” super-lateral program, meaning (our words) building a successful program of long laterals that also makes big money. Here’s the 3Q17 update, along with portions of the analyst phone call and the latest slide deck…
Energy Transfer’s top brass delivered some bad news and some good news on yesterday’s analyst phone call to discuss third quarter 2017 performance. Two projects vital to the Marcellus/Utica are being built by ET–Mariner East 2 (ME2) and Rover Pipeline. The bad news is that ME2, a natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline project that stretches from eastern Ohio across the state of PA to the Marcus Hook refinery near Philadelphia, will be delayed an extra nine months. ME2 has a new in-service target date of “second quarter 2018.” Progress on ME2 is not as fast as it could be primarily due to an ongoing onslaught of lawsuits by Big Green organizations, coupled with delays from the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection. The good news for ME2 is that by Dec. 31st, 99% of the pipeline will be in the ground and buried. The news for Rover is all good. Rover is a $3.7 billion, 711-mile natural gas pipeline that will run from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and eventually into Canada. Rover had been dogged by problems with horizontal directional drilling (HDD), but those problems are now behind it. Yes, head of the Ohio EPA, Craig Butler, continues his Captain Ahab routine to try and stop the project (see