Ohio Dormant Minerals Act – Rights Do Not Automatically Transer
MDN has highlighted the importance of the Ohio Supreme Court’s decision with regard to the Ohio Dormant Mineral Act (DMA). In September the OH Supreme Court ruled in three DMA cases, saying all of the other cases come under those three (see Important: OH Supreme Court Finally Rules on Dormant Mineral Act). Following that ruling, we brought you insights on what it means from international law firm Jones Day (see One More Look at Important OH Supreme Court DMA Decision). We later ran a copy of an analysis done by attorney David Wigham, who commented that title and ownership to mineral interests in Ohio has “significantly changed” (see Expert Says OH DMA Decision “Significantly Changed” Mineral Rights). Below we have yet another analysis. This one does a great job of summarizing the three cases and what they mean. The bottom line takeaway: the Ohio Dormant Mineral Act does not automatically transfer oil and gas mineral rights to surface owners…
Read More “Ohio Dormant Minerals Act – Rights Do Not Automatically Transer”
A “boost” from the oil and gas industry, specifically the Utica industry, is beginning to “trickle” through Muskingum County once again, says the director of the Zanesville-Muskingum County Port Authority. No, we’re not talking about drilling Utica wells–not in Muskingum, anyway. What we are talking about are companies that work in the industry. Oilfield services companies like Halliburton and Producers Service Corporation are, once again, expanding their businesses and adding new jobs. Muskingum is located next to four of the best counties in which to drill a Utica well–Guernsey, Belmont, Noble and Monroe. Belmont has the bonus of being the likely location of the next ethane cracker to commit to the region–PTT Global Chemical’s cracker plant. With an uptick in Utica drilling, and activity around the coming cracker plant, Muskingum County is in the catbird seat for economic expansion…
On Friday, Feb. 3, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) gave a final approval for Energy Transfer’s Rover Pipeline project–a $3.7 billion, 711-mile Marcellus/Utica natural gas pipeline that will run from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and eventually into Canada (see 
Rice Energy turned in it’s 2016 update this week, along with a look at what’s coming in 2017. As for top line financial numbers, Rice lost about the same in 2016 as they did in 2015: A loss off $298 million in 2016 vs. a loss of $291 million in 2015. Although Rice owns and drills on a small acreage position in the Texas Barnett Shale, the vast majority of their focus continues to be in the Marcellus/Utica. The company plans to spend $1.5 billion in 2017, broken out as follows: $1.035 billion for drilling and completion activity in the Marcellus/Utica shale plays; $225 million for land purchases; and $315 million spent by Rice Midstream ($255 million for gas gathering and compression and $60 million on water services). With that money, Rice expects to drill 75 new wells and complete another 55 wells in the Marcellus in 2017. In the Utica, Rice plans to drill 20 new wells and complete 20 wells in 2017. Land acquisition will happen in three counties: Greene and Washington Counties (in PA), and Belmont County (in OH). How much will they pay, on average, to lease new acreage? We have an answer for that…
In January we brought to your attention a developing situation–a fight, really–by a few large regulated electric utilities that seek to have Ohio re-regulate the electric industry (see 
A. Schulman, Inc., headquartered in Fairlawn, OH, supplies plastic compounds and resins which are used as raw materials in a variety of markets. Yesterday the company announced that they will join several other companies in a joint effort to develop and produce the world’s first commercially viable low pressure natural gas storage tank for motor vehicles. A year ago MDN brought you news about a breakthrough in CNG (compressed natural gas) tanks for passenger vehicles (see 
Ohio Gov. John “severance tax” Kasich is Johnny One Note when it comes to his desire to tax the Utica Shale industry and transfer their hard-earned money away to other people who didn’t earn it. In January, Kasich announced he would obstinately include a nosebleed-high Utica Shale severance tax (6.5%) in his biennium budget–again (see 
PTT Global Chemical, based in Thailand, announced in April 2015 they are interested in building a $5 billion ethane cracker plant complex in Belmont County, OH (see 
Yesterday Chesapeake Energy provided a glimpse into their plans for 2017. In Chessy’s “gudiance” for 2017, we learn that the company plans to up the number of active drilling rigs (nationwide) from 10 to 17. We also learn that last year Chessy spent ~$1.75 billion to drill 213 new wells, and place 428 wells into production–the difference between the two numbers being they finished up already-drilled wells, or DUCs. This year? They will spend ~$2.5 billion to drill ~400 new wells–essentially doubling the number of wells drilled–and place ~450 into production. The only problem (from our perspective) is that most of the drilling will happen in places other than the Marcellus/Utica. Of the new wells they plan to drill, only 10-15 new wells will get drilled in the Marcellus, and 40-50 new wells in the Utica. Chessy says they will complete and turn into production 50-60 Marcellus wells in 2017, and 70-80 Utica wells. Translation: Not a lot of new drilling in our neighborhood, with more of an emphasis on completing already-drilled wells…
Some farms not only produce products like milk, meat, eggs and/or crops–some farms produce energy. Would it surprise you to learn that in 2014 (the most recent year with stats available), energy companies paid farmers a staggering $2.9 billion for the energy extracted from private farms? The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture posted a brief blurb from their Amber Waves magazine yesterday, recounting stats from a report released last November. The report, “Trends in U.S. Agriculture’s Consumption and Production of Energy: Renewable Power, Shale Energy, and Cellulosic Biomass” (full copy below) points out it’s not just oil and gas extraction that farmers receive income from. Some farmers lease their land for solar and wind generation. Some biomass. However, it was one particular chart and stat that caught our attention: About 9.6% of Pennsylvania farms received energy income in 2014. The average amount received, per farm? $157,000! Almost all of that revenue came from the Marcellus Shale…
Last week we pointed out that of all the major pipeline projects we had hoped the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) would approve before Norman Bay quit the Commission in a huff, that NEXUS (runs through Ohio) did not get a go-ahead (see 
Artex Energy Group, a subsidiary (on paper) of Marietta, OH-based Artex Oil Company, is selling 14,885 Utica Shale acres located in Noble, Guernsey, Washington and Tuscarawas Counties (southeastern OH). On its website, Artex claims it is “one of the largest oil and gas producers in Ohio” pumping out “millions of dollars per year in royalties to landowners.” The company says it has drilled and operates “more than 600 operated wells in Ohio.” Some of those wells are Utica Shale wells. However, many of their wells are conventional (vertical only) non-shale wells. The auction notice says 87% of the leases being offered are held by production. Over 2,000 acres is part of a joint venture Artex has with Antero Resources on land in Noble and Washington Counties. Artex is accepting bids now and will accept bids through March 2nd, with a target closing date of March 31st. Here are the particulars of what is being offered for sale…
The clock just ran out for Ohio landowners who either thought Energy Transfer’s Rover Pipeline would not get authorized, or hoped to hold out and get higher rates of payment to agree to allow the pipeline to cross their land. As pipeline companies often say, the use of eminent domain to gain access to property is a “last resort.” The time of last resort has come. As soon as Rover received its final authorization from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Friday (see 
When reporting on the flurry of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approvals from last Friday, before Commissioner Norman Bay resigned in a huff over losing the chairmanship of the agency (and leaving the Commission with only two Commissioners, not enough to vote on more projects), we noticed there was one major Marcellus/Utica pipeline project that didn’t receive a final approval: the NEXUS Pipeline project. NEXUS is a $2 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that will run from Ohio through Michigan and eventually to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada. It is a critically needed pipeline to move Utica and Marcellus Shale gas from an over-saturated market in the northeast to markets in the Midwest and Canada. It is a joint venture between DTE Energy and Spectra Energy. In December FERC issued a positive final Environmental Impact Statement (see