Ohio

Energy Companies | Ohio | PDC Energy | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

PDC May Un-pause OH Utica Shale Drilling Earlier than Expected
May 26, 2015May 26, 2015

PDC Energy announced at the end of 2014 they would not drill any new wells in the Ohio Utica Shale in 2015 (see PDC Energy Pushes Pause Button on OH Utica Drilling for 2015). Not long after that, PDC announced early results from an Ohio Utica well pad they named (we kid you not) “Dynamite” (see PDC Energy’s Interesting 2014 – “Dynamite” in the Utica). Kind of a twisted sense of humor, no? Because of the results PDC continues to get from the Dynamite well pad, they told analysts on an earnings call earlier this month they may un-pause drilling in the Utica sooner than anticipated. When? If the price of crude oil hits $70 per barrel (right now it’s just shy of $60/barrel), PDC has said it will likely begin drilling again in the Utica. However, even if the price is in the mid- to high-sixties, that may be enough to tempt them to re-enter the Utica, given their “Dynamite” results…
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Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Meigs County | Ohio | Regulation

GreenHunter Says OH River Wastewater Barging to Begin September
May 19, 2015May 19, 2015

The centerpiece of GreenHunter Resources strategy is to quickly ramp up, and start producing revenue from, a series of wastewater injection wells in Meigs County, OH (see GreenHunter Resources 1Q15: Bets the Ranch on OH Injection Wells). There are two ways wastewater, both flowback and brine, will get to the Meigs County wells (called the Mills Hunter facility): 1. trucking, 2. barging. For years MDN has covered the controversy about barging brine (and possibly flowback) down the Ohio River to injection wells in Ohio. The holdup–frankly the problem–has been that the Obama administration has been pressuring the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) to withhold such approval. Never mind that substances far more toxic than shale wastewater are currently (right now) barged up and down the Ohio River every single day. That makes no difference. It’s public perception and how anti-drillers are able to warp and mold public opinion that is at issue here. After having their fill of waiting, GreenHunter made a brilliant move on the chessboard to break the stalemate. Using the USCG’s own rules and regulations against them, GreenHunter said current regulations issued in 1987 give them the right to barge brine–right now. And they intend to do so as soon as they have a facility built to load the barges. This is a little-covered aspect of this story and MDN, if we may immodestly say so, was the first and one of the few to figure it out (see GreenHunter/Coast Guard War of Words — MDN Explains It). Although a war of words has gone back and forth, GreenHunter has not backed down. During the 1Q15 earnings call we got an update on where things stand and a time frame for when GreenHunter plans to begin barging wastewater down the Ohio River…
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Belmont County | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Processing Plants

Belmont County, OH Ethane Cracker to Get 3rd Partner
May 19, 2015May 19, 2015

More movement on the recently announced $5 billion ethane cracker in Belmont County, OH being planned by two companies from Thailand and Japan (see It’s Official: Belmont County Chosen as POSSIBLE Cracker Plant Site). The new news is that the two companies are seeking a third company to become a partner (i.e. contribute cash) to help them build it. PTT Global Chemical from Thailand will be the majority owner with a 51% stake. Japan’s Marubeni Corp is the money manager/investor for the project. According to PTT, five other companies are interested in becoming the third partner…
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Accidents | Chesapeake Energy | Columbiana County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Utica Shale

Utica Rig Being Moved Leaked Drilling Oil for 27 Miles on OH Roads
May 18, 2015May 18, 2015

Traffic along an extended stretch of two Ohio highways in Columbiana County, OH was closed for nearly five hours on April 23 because a drilling rig that was moved leaked “a mineral-based synthetic, a non-hazardous drilling oil compound” for 27 miles as it was moved. Ouch. Somebody’s head will roll. The rig was being moved by a contractor for Chesapeake Energy. You might think somebody would notice something leaking over the course of 27 bloody miles! But apparently not. Fortunately the fluid/oil was not toxic or dangerous in any way, other than perhaps slipping on it…
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Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Meigs County | Ohio | Regulation | Ritchie County | Wastewater | West Virginia

GreenHunter Resources 1Q15: Bets the Ranch on OH Injection Wells
May 18, 2015May 18, 2015

A lot of news to report about GreenHunter Resources, the fresh water and wastewater subsidiary of Magnum Hunter Resources, focused totally on the Marcellus and Utica Shale region. On Friday GreenHunter released their first quarter 2015 update and held an earnings call with analysts. If we could sum it up in our own layman’s terms–we’d say GreenHunter is currently treading water (pun intended) as they wait to turn around their lack of revenue by bringing online a series of wastewater injection wells in both Ohio and West Virginia. Although GreenHunter’s COO Kirk Trosclair rightly pointed out the company has gotten much more efficient–driving down costs–there’s no papering over the fact that GreenHunter’s revenues for 1Q15 were down 39% from the same quarter in 2014 ($5.1 million in 1Q15 vs. $8.5 million in 1Q14). Which seems odd as GreenHunter’s CEO, Gary Evans, said that the company currently turns down 20 to 25,000 barrels a day of water that they can’t handle because they are currently “full.” GreenHunter currently has two operating injection wells at their Mills Hunter facility, located in Meigs County, OH and one injection well operating in Ritchie County, WV. By the end of June they plan to have six wells operating at the Mills facility and a second well at the Ritchie location…
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Chesapeake Energy | Columbiana County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Roads

Chesapeake Refuses to Fix OH Road, Town Terminates RUMA
May 18, 2015May 18, 2015

Chesapeake Energy has told Franklin Township (Columbiana County), OH to stuff their RUMA where the sun doesn’t shine, in so many words. A RUMA is a Road Use Maintenance Agreement under which a driller agrees to maintain certain roadways in a town or county that they’re using to access drill pads. When you run heavy trucks over roads constantly, it damages the roads. Chessy had such an agreement with Franklin Township and since they aren’t drilling right now (any more?) in the town, they refused to fix a road Franklin thought they should fix. So Franklin has terminated the RUMA. Next step–lower the weight limit for trucks on the roads and bar Chesapeake trucks from using them. We wonder if Chessy has ever heard the phrase “cutting off your nose to spite your face”…
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Air Quality | Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Carroll County | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Research

Sham Air Study: “Unsafe Exposure” for Those Near OH Frack Sites
May 14, 2015May 14, 2015

We frankly don’t believe the studies being published in so-called peer reviewed journals anymore. These journals have proven, repeatedly, that they are biased and frankly have prostituted themselves out to Big Green causes. It’s not science that gets published–it’s propaganda and advocacy that’s now published. Here’s the latest example: a so-called study of air samples near shale drilling in Carroll County, OH finds that air pollution from fracking operations is deadly. It sneaks in the “c” word–cancer–implying those who live close to fracking operations “may have” an increased chance of getting cancer. The published paper is titled “Impact of Natural Gas Extraction on PAH Levels in Ambient Air” published in Environmental Science & Technology and written by researchers from Oregon State University. Yes, Oregon–a long way from home, no? There was also a single researcher on the team from the University of Cincinnati. Here’s what the authors themselves admit about their “research”: They hung a “small number” of air samplers (23 total) in “non-random” locations, and had homeowner “volunteers” pack up the samples and ship them to Oregon for study. Was there any science involved at all here? If there was, we sure can’t find it…
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Belmont County | Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio

Barnesville, OH Hires Costly Columbus Lawyers in Gulfport Lawsuit
May 13, 2015May 13, 2015

In 2012, Barnesville (Belmont County), OH signed a contract with Gulfport Energy to sell Gulfport water from the Slope Creek Reservoir for 1 penny per gallon. Gulfport now wants to begin drilling in the area, following a joint venture agreement with Antero Resources. But Barnesville says the water level in the reservoir is too low and won’t sell. Gulfport sued and the whole matter has ended up in federal court (see Gulfport Energy Sues Barnesville, OH for Access to Water in Reservoir). As we later pointed out, the cost to Barnesville taxpayers because their political leaders “didn’t think” when they signed on the dotted line will now be very expensive (see Barnesville Officials “Didn’t Think” When Signing Gulfport Water Deal). Barnesville has just hired a high priced law firm from Columbus to represent them in court. How will Barnesville pay the new high priced lawyers? From money the town received from (yes) selling water from the reservoir to someone else…
Read More “Barnesville, OH Hires Costly Columbus Lawyers in Gulfport Lawsuit”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Medina County | NEXUS Pipeline | Ohio | Pipelines

Medina, OH Landowner Says He’ll Meet NEXUS Surveyors Packing Heat
May 13, 2015May 13, 2015

Landowners in Medina County, OH received a letter from the NEXUS Pipeline a few weeks ago telling them that surveyors have the right to enter their property and conduct surveying–whether the landowner has granted permission or not. The letter said that landowners had until May 1 to sign a permission letter, and after that date surveyors would show up. A word of caution for NEXUS surveyors: York Township resident Walter Giebeler says he has a big gun collection with some nasty looking firearms and if surveyors show up on his property, the 80 year-old Giebeler is going to pay them a visit carrying several firearms as a means of threatening them…
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Blue Racer Midstream | Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH

Dominion Says Their Pipelines Gather 80% of All Ohio Natural Gas
May 13, 2015May 13, 2015

The Guernsey County Energy Coalition heard from utility and midstream giant Dominion last week at their regular meeting in Cambridge, OH. Mack Smith Jr., Dominion’s manager of commercial gas services, had some fascinating things to say. One of them was this: “Dominion gathers about 80 percent of all Ohio gas and interconnects with seven major pipelines to distribute gas to markets, and to sell storage services to marketers and end users.” Did you know that Dominion gathers 80% of all Ohio natural gas? We sure didn’t! Here’s some more pickings from what Smith said last Thursday…
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Energy Companies | Energy Services | EV Energy Partners | GASFRAC | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Tuscarawas County

EVEP Reports Waterless Fracked OH Well is a Bust
May 12, 2015May 12, 2015

Reading through earnings calls transcripts (hey, somebody has to do it), we discovered what we believe no one else has (yet) discovered or reported. On an earnings call yesterday, top management from EV Energy Partners, one of the largest acreage holders in the Utica Shale, shared interesting initial results from the test Utica well they drilled in Tuscarawas County, OH–a well drilled using waterless fracking technology from GASFRAC (see Details on GASFRAC’s Waterless Frack Test in OH Utica). The theory being tested by EVEP is that using water during fracking of a well targeted for oil recovery somehow damages the chances of oil recovery. GASFRAC used a mix of 75% butane and 25% mineral oil to frack EVEP’s “Nettles” well. The results? On yesterday’s earnings call EVEP Chairman John Walker revealed that after 90 days in production, the Nettles well is producing about half the production of a similar nearby well fracked using water. That is–the waterless frack job was a big disappointment…
Read More “EVEP Reports Waterless Fracked OH Well is a Bust”
Belmont County | Energy Companies | Greene County (PA) | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Rice Energy | Washington County

Rice Energy 1Q15 Earnings Call: 100% Focused on 3 Counties
May 11, 2015May 11, 2015

Last Friday MDN brought you the Rice Energy first quarter 2015 update (see Rice Energy Doubles Production 1Q15; Utica Flows; Ekes Out a Profit). On Friday, Rice’s upper management held an earnings call with analysts and as always, quite a bit more comes out in the call than in the official press release. Below is Rice Energy CEO Dan Rice’s prepared remarks on that call with some interesting details on both their Marcellus and Utica operations. Among the interesting comments: Rice is 100% focused on just three counties in the Marcellus/Utica…
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Butler County | Carroll County | Energy Companies | Lawrence County | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Rex Energy

Rex Energy to Sell Acreage in OH & PA, Focus on 3 Counties
May 11, 2015May 11, 2015

Last week MDN brought you the first quarter 2015 update for State College, PA-based Rex Energy (see Rex Energy 1Q15: Production Up 61%, Revenue Down 33%, Gulf Coast Deal). Rex’s management held an earnings call later that day, and as is typical, a some important news was revealed on that call that was not included in the press release update. Namely, Rex is looking to sell it’s leased Utica Shale property in Belmont, Guernsey and Noble counties in Ohio. They also plan to sell leases in Westmoreland, Clearfield, and Centre counties in PA. When it’s all over and done, Rex will be concentrating on just three counties…
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American Energy Partners | Belmont County | Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio | XTO

Another Belmont County Landowner Threatened with Forced Pooling
May 11, 2015May 11, 2015

In April MDN told you about a landowner in Belmont County, OH who had questions and objections to phrasing in a proposed lease agreement from XTO Energy that talks about “nuisance oil” (see XTO Threatens Belmont County, OH Landowner with Forced Pooling). NEVER sign a lease without running it by a competent oil & gas attorney, and ALWAYS get the sometimes obscure terminology in a lease explained before you sign it. That’s our advice. We have another story along the same lines as the “nuisance oil” story–language that energy companies can’t or won’t explain to landowners. This one also comes from Belmont County, OH–perhaps the hottest of the hot places for drilling right now in the Utica Shale. A landowner from Martins Ferry, OH says XTO offered him an eye-popping $8,000 per acre signing bonus with 20% royalties, and Aubrey McClendon’s American Energy Partners offered $6,000 per acre with 20% royalties. Both have a “market enhancement clause” in the lease. The landowner didn’t like the clause, fearing it would reduce his royalties. The landowner was told by either XTO or AEP or both (we’re not sure), that they would force pool him if he didn’t sign. By force pooling him he would not get a signing bonus at all and only a 12.5% royalty. These kinds of strong-arm tactics give the industry a black eye in our opinion…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Athens County | Columbia Pipeline Group | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines

Ohio Univ to Get New Natgas Pipeline from Columbia Gas This Year
May 11, 2015May 11, 2015

Here’s a fact: So-called “sustainable” forms of energy like solar, wind and geothermal cannot, by themselves, provide all of the electric needs for a huge university like Ohio University, situated on an 1,850 acre campus in Athens, OH. Right now OU uses coal to meet its electric generating needs. They want to replace it with natural gas. But get this, ninny nanny “environmentalists” don’t like that idea. They’d rather have OU continue to burn dirty coal rather than build a pipeline to the campus and have the campus change over to natural gas. Which perfectly illustrates another fact: “environmentalist” opposition to natural gas springs from a twisted ideology and irrational hatred of fossil fuels, rather than concern for the environment or concern for the air people breathe…
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Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Rig Counts Continue Big Decline in April, NE May Have Bottomed
May 8, 2015May 8, 2015

The rotary rig count tabulated by Baker Hughes continued to slide in April. The latest monthly rig count report shows another 134 land-based rigs in the U.S. were laid down between March and April. As of April there were 943 active rigs drilling on land in the U.S., down from 1,067 rigs in March. Ouch. What about the Marcellus and Utica region? MDN has done some analysis and we have reason to hope that we may have hit the bottom in the northeast as far as declining rig counts…
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