Ohio

Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Cuyahoga County | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio | Regulation | Statewide OH

OH Antis Handed Crushing Defeat in Broadview Hghts Home Rule Case
March 18, 2015March 18, 2015

We’ve commented before on the lawless tendencies of anti-drillers, particularly in Ohio where, when they lose a court case, they declare the government is illegitimate (see OH Anti-Drillers on Rampage after Supreme Court Home Rule Decision). It hasn’t been a full month since the Ohio Supreme Court ruling and now a second, crushing defeat for anti-fossil fuelers. Last week a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court judge struck down the Cleveland suburb of Broadview Heights’ so-called community bill of rights that bans all, including shale drilling. Once again, as with the Supreme Court “Munroe Falls” case, we see what sore losers anti-drillers are. If a court case like Broadview Heights doesn’t go their way, they immediately start talking about anarchy–that the government has “ceased to be legitimate.” These are not only stupid people, they’re dangerous too…
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Belmont County | Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio | Rice Energy | Utica Shale

Rice Energy Pays St Clairsville, OH $8,700/Acre Signing Bonus
March 16, 2015March 16, 2015

In March 2014, St. Clairsville (Belmont County), OH put out a request for bids on 195 acres of city-owned land. The request for proposal (RFP) came and went with no bids (see St Clairsville RFP to Lease 195 Utica Acres Comes & Goes, No Bids). But don’t let that fool you. Drillers were keenly interested in leasing the property. The initial RFP served a legal purpose. After the period for bids closed, the real negotiations began. St. Clairsville was looking for $7,300 per acre signing bonus and 20% royalties. They got an even better deal. In January, Rice Energy handed St. Clairsville with a check for $1,479,251.84 to lease 170 out of the 195 acres–or $8,700 per acre as a signing bonus…
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Ohio | Statewide OH

Ohio 4Q14 Natgas Production Up 25% Over 3Q14, Up 281% Over 4Q13
March 16, 2015March 16, 2015

We didn’t mean to ignore it, but somehow we let slide the fact that Ohio recently (end of February) released their now quarterly production numbers. We have the full list below, embedded as a spreadsheet. The really good news: Ohio’s natural gas production from shale (almost all Utica Shale) rose 25% in a single quarter over the previous third quarter. It rose an amazing 281% over fourth quarter of 2013. Oil and gas together rose 15% from 3Q14 to 4Q14. Here’s the details…
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Belmont County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Greene County (PA) | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Rice Energy | Rice Midstream | Washington County

Rice Energy Turns Profitable in 2014; Strong 2015 in View
March 13, 2015March 13, 2015

Rice Energy, a “pure play” energy company focused on drilling in the Utica and Marcellus, issued their full year and fourth quarter 2014 update yesterday. Wow, what an update! Rice had a big year in 2014. The parent company, focused on drilling, went public. They also launched an IPO for their midstream (pipelines) subsidiary. Compared to 2013 which saw a loss on the books, 2014 reversed it. In 2014, Rice’s profit was $218.5 million (out of $390.9 million). That’s an increase over a 2013 loss of $35.8 million (out of $88.7 million in revenue). In 2014, Rice produced 97.7 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas, up from 23 Bcf in 2013. Aside from the company growing and hitting its stride, what was different about 2014? Last year Rice concentrated on the Utica Shale…
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Belmont County | Energy Companies | Greene County (PA) | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Rice Energy | Washington County

Rice Energy CEO Dan Rice Says 5 Utica Wells Producing 80Mmcf/Day
March 13, 2015March 13, 2015

CORRECTION: In the original version of this story MDN incorrectly stated Rice’s 5 Utica wells were producing $80 million per day instead of 80 million cubic feet of natural gas. A dumb mistake. We relied on an inaccurate transcription of what was said (see it below). The transcription lists the quantities as dollars–the person transcribing got it wrong. We should have known! Our apologies. The 5 wells are still awesome in producing 80 Mmcf/d–but not as awesome as $80 million per day! 🙂

In addition to releasing their fourth quarter and full year 2014 update yesterday, Rice Energy also held an analyst phone call to share the results. Rice’s top management was on the call and shared some fascinating insights. Among them: In 2014 and early 2015 Rice brought five Utica Shale wells online–Bigfoot 9H, Blue Thunder 10H and 12H, and Gold Digger 1H and 3H. (Just an aside, we love how Rice names their wells. Their newest well pad just completed in Belmont County, OH is the “Son-Uva-Digger” pad. Love it!) Anywho, the five Utica wells completed in 2014 and early 2015 collectively are producing, according to CEO Dan Rice, 80 million cubic feet of gas PER DAY. Truly astonishing. In addition to the Utica in Belmont County, Rice is eyeing the Utica underneath their Marcellus assets in southwestern PA–in Washington and Greene counties. This company is smart and focused and one to keep an eye on. Below is a transcript of the comments from yesterday’s analyst call. We’ve added our yellow highlighter to point out some items that caught our attention…
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Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Taxation

More on OH Gov Kasich’s Threat to O&G Industry re Severance Tax
March 13, 2015March 13, 2015

Two days ago we told you about OH Gov. John Kasich’s threat against the oil and gas industry in Ohio: You accept my high 6.5% severance tax or else (see OH Gov Kasich the Bully: Accept My 6.5% Tax or Risk a 10%+ Tax). His comments were made last Friday. We spotted another article about that session with reporters which contains a bit more of the context of Kasich’s threatening language…
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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Energy Services | GASFRAC | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Tuscarawas County | Utica Shale

Chesapeake Tries Waterless Fracking at OH Utica Shale Well
March 12, 2015March 12, 2015

Something we consider pretty big news: Chesapeake Energy is running an experiment with waterless fracking. They’ve contracted with Canadian waterless fracking company GASFRAC to attempt what is the second (that we’re aware of) waterless frack job on a Utica Shale well–in Tuscarawas County, OH. The first waterless frack job done by GASFRAC was for EV Energy Partners on a Utica well also in Tuscarawas County (see Details on GASFRAC’s Waterless Frack Test in OH Utica). We consider it a good sign that Chessy thinks its worth a few million bucks to try it out for themselves. Chessy stresses this is still very preliminary…
Read More “Chesapeake Tries Waterless Fracking at OH Utica Shale Well”
Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Taxation

OH Gov Kasich the Bully: Accept My 6.5% Tax or Risk a 10%+ Tax
March 11, 2015March 11, 2015

Wow. We’re kind of speechless. Ohio Gov. John Kasich (RINO) sure is a sore loser. And a vicious one too. Get this: Kasich is now saying if the oil and gas industry doesn’t lay down and take the high severance tax he’s proposing, some “citizen group or aspiring politician” will probably (wink wink nod nod) push for a ballot measure in the state to create such a tax. And if that happens, his measly 6.5% severance tax will look darned good compared to the 10% or more those wild citizen groups will no doubt push for (see OH Gov. Kasich Increases Proposed Severance Tax Rate by 236%). That is, Kasich just threatened the oil and gas industry with a 10%+ severance tax if they don’t accept his tax in this year’s budget. Talk about a bully! We’re used to this from Democrats, but not from so-called Republicans…
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Chesapeake Energy | Columbiana County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Ohio

Columbiana Landowners Win Right to Renegotiate Some Lease Terms
March 11, 2015March 11, 2015

In 2008, before the word “Utica Shale” was on people’s lips and in their consciousness, landmen from Patriot Energy Partners “smiled and dialed” calling up landowners in Columbiana County, offering them a whopping $10 (yes 10 bucks) an acre to sign gas and oil exploration leases. Patriot mailed them the contracts, the landowners signed and sent them back, and then got pennies on the dollar for what those leases were actually worth. Patriot then flipped the leases, selling the deep exploration rights to Chesapeake Energy–for $1,100 an acre. Patriot claimed the practice (of hoodwinking landowners and flipping leases) is legal. The landowners wised up and in 2011, 25 landowner families sued to have their leases dissolved. Four years later the case, after going to arbitration, is resolved…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide OH

NE Wackos on a Rampage: Demand FERC Stop Approving Pipelines
March 11, 2015March 11, 2015

Here’s what passes for thinking in anti-drilling land: Fossil fuels, when burned, release carbon into the atmosphere. Carbon is bad (at least it is for anti-drillers), although you and all other animals breathe carbon out with every breath and plants breathe it in–it’s a requirement for all of life to exist. Still, play along, k? Because natural gas is a fossil fuel, it’s evil. By burning it you pollute Mother Earth and will cause Her to bake with mythical global warming (although we almost froze to death this winter in the northeast). So fracking is the ultimate rape of Mother Earth, as stated by none other than that towering intellect Yoko Ono when singing the song “Don’t Frack My Mother” (see Yoko Ono and Son Sean Lennon Go on Anti-Fracking Tirade). Fracked shale wells require pipelines. If you can stop pipelines, you can stop fracking. Who approves the big pipelines? The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). So who’s the latest target of anti-drilling wackos? You got it–FERC…
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Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide OH

OH Law Firm Asks FERC to Stop ET Rover Pipeline Eminent Domain
March 10, 2015March 10, 2015

Columbus, OH law firm has filed a motion with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) challenging Energy Transfer Partners’ ET Rover application before FERC. The issue at the heart of the motion is to prevent ET Rover from invoking eminent domain and steamrollering over landowners, building the pipeline without an agreement in place with each individual landowner first. When pipeline companies have the power of eminent domain, they hold all the cards. They can say, “Here’s the offer–take it or leave it–and if you leave it, we’ll build the pipeline through your land anyway at the price we want.” We’ve never been fans of eminent domain for pipelines. Far better for pipeline companies to work it out with landowners and pay them–or reroute it through someone else’s property who will play ball. We acknowledge it’s a thorny issue and not completely black and white. ET Rover is an 830-mile, $4.4 billion pipeline that will flow Marcellus and Utica Shale gas from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and eventually into Canada (see ET Rover Pipeline’s 800-Mile Journey Begins with FERC Filing). The bulk of the pipeline will run diagonally from southeast to northwest across Ohio. Just yesterday we told you about ET Rover’s program to help landowners (see ET Rover Pipeline Hires Land Stewards to Protect the Land in OH). The motion filed with FERC, from what we can tell in reading the press release and the motion itself (embedded below) is not an attempt to stop ET Rover–it’s an attempt to give landowners more negotiating power and leave them firmly in control of whether, and how much, they will accept to allow the pipeline through their property…
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Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Intl Rig Counts in Free Fall, What About Marcellus/Utica Counts?
March 9, 2015March 9, 2015

Rig counts are a closely watched measure as an indicator of future drilling and therefore future production. Over the past several years, rig counts have become a much less accurate method for predicting future production simply because so many wells have been drilled–in the Marcellus and now Utica–that connecting those wells to production will take years to complete. So if the number of rigs actively drilling goes down, it doesn’t correlate to a drop in production–not anymore. But rig counts are still important–the number of rigs actively drilling–because it’s an indicator of economic impact. When rigs are drilling, all sorts of goods and services and jobs are needed–which makes everybody happy. Baker Hughes, in the process of being gobbled up by Halliburton, has been for years the go-to source for rig counts. They issue counts on a weekly basis. MDN keeps track of rig counts in our 3x/year Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook. We decided it’s time to revisit rig counts–both globally and in the Marcellus/Utica–to see what the latest hullabaloo is all about. Are the counts going down in the northeast–and if so, where? The answer may surprise you…
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Ashtabula County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Processing Plants | Regulation | Utica Shale | Velocys | Wastewater

OH EPA Issues Draft Lake Erie Discharge Permit for Ashtabula GTL Plant
March 9, 2015March 9, 2015

The Ashtabula (OH) gas-to-liquids, or GTL, plant is ever-so-gradually making progress. In Sept. 2013 MDN first told you about this innovative plant coming to Ashtabula County (see Utica Shale Gas-to-Liquids Plant Planned for Ashtabula, OH). The plant will convert Marcellus and Utica Shale gas into diesel fuel, lubricants, solvents and waxes. The technology used for the plant is provided by a UK company called Velocys. In June 2014, Velocys bought out the Astabula operation and took up the reigns of the project (see UK-based Velocys Buys Ashtabula, OH GTL Plant). We didn’t hear anything about it until January of this year when Ashtabula Energy, a division of Velocys, has filed for a permit with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) that would allow the plant to discharge wastewater into Lake Erie (see New Life for Ashtabula Gas-to-Liquids Plant, Files for Permit). The new news is that the OEPA has issued a draft discharge permit for the plant and has scheduled a public hearing on it…
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Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH

ET Rover Pipeline Hires Land Stewards to Protect the Land in OH
March 9, 2015March 9, 2015

As we’ve been reporting for some time, Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) plans to build an 830-mile, $4.4 billion pipeline, called the ET Rover Pipeline, from PA and WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and eventually into Canada (see ET Rover Pipeline’s 800-Mile Journey Begins with FERC Filing). The pipeline will flow Marcellus and Utica Shale gas to Midwestern US markets and to Canadian markets. The longest stretch of pipeline will cross OH. In an effort to ensure Ohioans have an advocate to ensure their land is impacted as minimally as is possible, ETP is paying for the services of an ombudsman, a representative who will look out for the landowner’s best interest. It is Ohio-based firm Land Stewards–“a team of certified soil scientists, agricultural engineers, agronomists and conservation planners.” Does ETP get thanked taking this extraordinary over-and-above step? No. Instead, they get criticized…
Read More “ET Rover Pipeline Hires Land Stewards to Protect the Land in OH”
Eclipse Resources | Energy Companies | Ohio | Statewide OH

Eclipse Resources has “Transformative” 2014, Cutting Back in 2015
March 6, 2015March 6, 2015

Eclipse Resources released their full year and fourth quarter 2014 update on Wednesday. Eclipse is a small but rapidly growing driller headquartered in State College, PA but doing most of its drilling in eastern Ohio. The company reports last year they drilled 57 gross (41 net) operated wells, completed 36 gross (27 net) operated wells and placed 28 gross (22 net) operated wells into sales. The vast majority of wells they’ve drilled are condensate producers. Last year was, as CEO Ben Hulburt said, a transformative year for the company. They went from producing an average 4.5 million cubic feet equivalent per day (Mmcfe/d) in 2013 to producing 73.5 Mmcfe/d in 2014. The company spent $809 million last year–but this year they’re whacking that, perhaps in half. In December they planned to spend $640 million in 2015, down 38% from last year. On Wednesday they didn’t put a number to it, but Eclipse said they were lowering it even more. Ouch. Here’s the low down on what happened in 2014, and what Eclipse has planned for 2015…
Read More “Eclipse Resources has “Transformative” 2014, Cutting Back in 2015″
Carroll County | Chesapeake Energy | Columbiana County | Energy Companies | Hilcorp Energy | Jefferson County (OH) | Mercer County | Ohio | Pennsylvania

More Permits Issued for Drilling in (Yes) Northern Utica in OH/PA
March 5, 2015March 5, 2015

More evidence that drilling in the northern Ohio and Pennsylvania Utica is most definitely NOT dead. Both Chesapeake Energy and Hillcorp recently received permits to drill in the northern Utica on both sides of the border…
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