Ohio

American Energy Partners | EMG | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Ohio | Ohio Gathering | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Statewide OH | Summit Midstream

MarkWest Signs Up McClendon’s New Company as Utica Customer
September 23, 2014September 23, 2014

Yesterday MarkWest Energy and their partners The Energy & Minerals Group and Ohio Gathering Company announced they’ve signed up Aubrey McClendon’s new company American Energy Partners (AEP) as a major new customer in the Utica Shale. Ohio Gathering will hook up their pipelines to AEP’s drilled Utica wells and pump natural gas and liquids, and MarkWest will process it all. The natural gas part will be processed in MarkWest’s Cadiz complex in Harrison County, OH and its Seneca complex in Noble County, OH. AEP’s NGLs will be fractionated (separated) at MarkWest’s Hopedale complex…
Read More “MarkWest Signs Up McClendon’s New Company as Utica Customer”
Columbiana County | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Trucking | Wastewater

Frack Truck Washing Facility Shut Down Until ODNR Permit Issued
September 23, 2014September 23, 2014

Clear Creek is a division of Dynamic Structures Inc., a company based in New Waterford (Columbiana County), OH that hauls drilling mud, fresh water and yes, frack wastewater for oil and gas companies throughout Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Clear Creek had constructed a truck washing facility in the city of Columbiana–population 6,384–to clean the trucks that haul the mud and wastewater. Columbiana’s planning commission has shut down the facility until they obtain a permit from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR). Once that happens, it appears they can reopen. The problem is, the Mayor of Columbiana lives nearby to where the facility is located and he opposes it. Oops…
Read More “Frack Truck Washing Facility Shut Down Until ODNR Permit Issued”
Ohio | Statewide OH | Upper Devonian Shale

OH State Geologist: Upper Devonian Second Look, CO2 May Coax Oil
September 22, 2014September 22, 2014

We have a couple of new names to throw at you when it comes to Ohio shale drilling: Huron and Rhinestreet. You may recognize another name instead: Upper Devonian (UD). Both the Huron and Rhinestreet are layers within the larger grouping called the UD. MDN has been talking about the UD for oh, maybe going on two years now. A number of drillers in the PA Marcellus are experimenting with the UD. Ohio drillers, a year ago, seemed pretty cool to the idea of drilling in the UD (see Ohio Drillers Not So Excited About Upper Devonian Shale). However, that now appears to be changing according to Ohio’s chief state geologist, Tom Serenko…
Read More “OH State Geologist: Upper Devonian Second Look, CO2 May Coax Oil”
American Water Management | Earthquakes | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Regulation | Trumbull County

ODNR Clears Trumbull Co. Injection Well in August Quake
September 22, 2014September 22, 2014

An earthquake nobody felt on August 31 caused the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) to shut two frack wastewater injection wells in Weathersfield (Trumbull County), OH operated by American Water Management Services (see ODNR Temporarily Shuts Down Injection Wells After Low-Level Quake). ODNR has been hard at work trying to determine whether or not either of the wells may have caused the low-level (nobody could feel) quake. Last Thursday they gave the shallower of the two wells, the AWMS #1, the all-clear sign. American Water can restart that well at any time (and likely already has). However, they’re not quite ready to restart the deeper AWMS #2…
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Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Ohio | Statewide OH

Video: OH Lawyers Explain Dormant Minerals Act & Impact on Utica
September 19, 2014September 19, 2014

An issue MDN has not previously tackled (until now) that is coming to the fore in Ohio is “the Dormant Minerals Right Act” (DMA) in that state. In a nutshell, there are two DMAs in Ohio–one passed in 1989 that went into effect in 1992, and another in 2006 which added certain additional procedural requirements to the 1989 version. The DMA in its various versions provides for mineral rights that had previously been separated from surface rights to transfer to the surface owner under certain conditions. The problem–for drillers and for landowners in Ohio–is in knowing which set of DMA rules to use (1989 or 2006) in determining who owns the mineral rights. It’s a big problem when drillers are spending sometimes up to $10,000-$12,000 per acre in lease bonuses–to say nothing of where to send the royalty check. Some drillers are holding back on leasing because of this issue. A case now sits with the Ohio Supreme Court, Walker v Noon, that will sort out these important issues. The very sharp lawyers at Ohio law firm Bricker & Eckler have done a masterful job of explaining the case before the Supreme Court, a case brought by their firm…
Read More “Video: OH Lawyers Explain Dormant Minerals Act & Impact on Utica”
Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Meigs County | Ohio | Wastewater

GreenHunter Gets Green Light for 4 New OH Injection Wells
September 18, 2014September 18, 2014

This one won’t please the anti-drilling nutters in Ohio. GreenHunter Resources (division of Magnum Hunter) announced on Tuesday they have received permits and have concluded successful testing to bring four new Utica/Marcellus wastewater injection wells online in Meigs County, OH. With the addition of these four new injection wells, GreenHunter will be operating a total of 13 such wells. Each of the new wells can handle 3,000-5,000 barrels of brine/wastewater per day. According to GreenHunter, most of that new capacity coming online is already spoken for. They already have major drillers locked up as customers for the new capacity because the need is so great. The company also says the wells are ready to be begin accepting wastewater that’s barged down the Ohio River (hint hint U.S. Coast Guard)…
Read More “GreenHunter Gets Green Light for 4 New OH Injection Wells”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Portage County | Research | Utica Shale

OH Village Water Study Finds Utica Drilling Doesn’t Pollute
September 17, 2014September 17, 2014

Smart people in Garrettsville, Ohio. Garrettsville is a small village (population 2,325) located in Portage County, OH. In 2011 there were five Utica Shale wells being drilled near the village. Some of the residents were concerned that the drilling may affect sources of public drinking water the village relies on. So the village Board of Public Affairs contacted and arranged to have the Natural Gas and Water Resources Institute at Youngstown State University monitor some 20 water wells in the area to see if Utica drilling affected any of them. The study began in 2012 and is “ongoing.” What has it found?…
Read More “OH Village Water Study Finds Utica Drilling Doesn’t Pollute”
Butler County | Carroll County | Energy Companies | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Rex Energy | Utica Shale

Rex Energy: Utica Wells Pump Liquids; New Rig in PA; LOC +$100M
September 16, 2014September 16, 2014

Rex Energy yesterday issued an interim third quarter 2014 update on results for their recently drilled and completed Utica Shale wells in Ohio, and on operations in Butler County, PA. Rex’s OH Utica wells coming online in Carroll County, OH showed low daily output for methane–2.1 million cubic feet per day–but more than made up for it with big output for condensate (“natural gasoline”) and natural gas liquids: one set of Rex’s Utica wells averaged 454 barrels per day of condensate and 433 barrels per day of NGLs. Rex also announced they are adding a third drilling rig in their Butler, PA area starting in early 2015 after picking up 208,000 acres from Shell (see Rex Energy Takes Shell to the Cleaners – Picks up 208K Acres). And, the company got a $100 million increase in their line of credit…
Read More “Rex Energy: Utica Wells Pump Liquids; New Rig in PA; LOC +$100M”
Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Taxation | Utica Shale

Kasich to Laser Focus on Hiking Utica Severance Tax
September 16, 2014September 16, 2014

Apparently Ohio’s RINO Gov. John Kasich–he who calls skilled gas field workers from Texas and Oklahoma “foreigners” (although he loves the money and jobs provided by companies headquartered there)–hasn’t been “focusing” on the issue of soaking Utica drillers with high taxes and apparently that’s why it hasn’t yet happened. So Gov. Kasich will center himself, hum a mantra and focus really hard on screwing the Utica Shale industry in the coming year and that, he hopes, will do the trick to raise the severance tax rate in his state…
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Fairmount Santrol | Geauga County | Ohio

OH Frack Sand Co Going Public, Seeks Big $ in IPO
September 15, 2014September 15, 2014

An Ohio-based frack sand company, Fairmount Santrol (formerly Fairmount Minerals), recently announced their intention to go public and sell shares of stock. Flying under the legal name FMSA Holdings, the company is headquartered in Chesterland (Geauga County), OH, in the northeastern corner of the state. Fairmount Santrol was founded in 1986 and last year reported $1.2 billion in revenue (or $1.6 billion, depending on the source you use) and $114 million in net income. How much money do they hope to raise?…
Read More “OH Frack Sand Co Going Public, Seeks Big $ in IPO”
Ohio | Statewide OH

ODNR Updates Utica Map Showing Permits & Wells Drilled, Producing
September 11, 2014September 11, 2014

Last December MDN brought you a very cool map produced by the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) that shows, with different colored dots, where permits have been issued, where wells have been drilled, and where wells have been drilled and are now producing for the Utica/Pt. Pleasant Shale formation (see Very Cool Map from ODNR Showing OH Utica Wells Permitted/Drilled). The ODNR updated that map and released a new version last week, which we have for you below. What does it show?…
Read More “ODNR Updates Utica Map Showing Permits & Wells Drilled, Producing”
Belmont County | Industrywide Issues | Jefferson County (OH) | Ohio | Supply Chain | Trucking

New Transportation Hub for Drillers Coming to Eastern Ohio
September 10, 2014September 10, 2014

A new tri-modal (rail/truck/barge) logistics and transportation hub serving the Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia shale drilling is coming to the former Ohio Cold Rolling Company steel finishing mill in Yorkville, Ohio, located on the border of Belmont and Jefferson counties–right in the thick of where shale drilling has recently heated up. Esmark, Inc., which purchased the old Ohio Cold Rolling Company two years ago, recently announced that they will close the mill. However, in its place they will create a new transportation hub where products like frack sand, steel pipes, heavy equipment and other goods used for Utica and Marcellus drilling will be loaded and unloaded and reloaded, heading to various destinations. Esmark is converting the 1 million square foot plant into a rail/truck/barge complex called the Yorkville Energy Services Terminal. Among the many services at the new facility will be sucking 3 million gallons of fresh water per day from the Ohio River–to be used in drilling and fracking…
Read More “New Transportation Hub for Drillers Coming to Eastern Ohio”
Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Research | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Latest OH Production Numbers: Utica Wells Change the Picture
September 9, 2014September 9, 2014

Yesterday, to much fanfare, the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) announced the results of Ohio’s second quarter oil and natural gas production for unconventional (mostly Utica Shale) wells. During 2Q14 Ohio’s oil wells produced 2.5 million barrels of oil and Ohio’s gas wells produced 88 billion cubic feet of natgas. The ODNR press release also includes a few other bits of trivia like average well production numbers. Below is the trumpet blowing (deservedly so) from the ODNR on the latest round of numbers. They point out that “Horizontal wells [i.e. Utica wells] produced more gas in 3 months than all Ohio wells produced in 2012.” How cool is that?!…
Read More “Latest OH Production Numbers: Utica Wells Change the Picture”
Carroll County | Health Impacts | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH

Is There a Link Between Fracking & STDs in Ohio?
September 9, 2014September 9, 2014

Does fracking cause sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)? It may sound like the beginning of a laugh line, but dedicated anti-drillers are deadly serious about trying to link an influx of “foreigners” (as OH Gov. John Kasich calls them) from other states into Ohio counties with shale drilling and a rise in STD rates in those counties. The theory goes that as these traveling workers arrive–something akin to carnival workers in anti-drilling lore–they bring with them STDs and they sleep around–a lot (according to the mythology). And they spread their nasty diseases everywhere they go. Reporters feed these myths with careless references to places like Carroll County, OH having a “spike” in STDs. Just one problem–when you dig into the evidence, it doesn’t back up the claim…
Read More “Is There a Link Between Fracking & STDs in Ohio?”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Cuyahoga County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Regulation

Gates Mills, OH Caves – Anti-Frack Measure on Nov. Ballot
September 9, 2014September 9, 2014

The very exclusive and uppity Cleveland suburb of Gates Mills, OH is the latest community to fall prey to the misnamed, so-called community bill of rights that seeks to ban all drilling on, under or near property in the community. We’ve written about Gates Mills before (see these MDN stories). We originally chided Gates Mills Mayor Shawn Riley for concocting a plan that we thought would prevent drilling in the community (a community that already has some conventional wells in it). We were contacted by an MDN reader and by Mayor Riley to correct us: His intent is to pool landowners together and together (somewhat akin to a landowner coalition) to develop a contract that would strictly control how, when and where any Utica drilling would be done. He’s not anti-drilling–just really really careful and infrequent drilling. But there are a number of anti-drillers in town who want nothing to do with it whatsoever–and they want to force their preferences on their neighbors too. That’s what a “community bill of rights” does–it forces anti-drilling regulations down everyone’s throat. That’s what will be on the ballot in November in Gates Mills…
Read More “Gates Mills, OH Caves – Anti-Frack Measure on Nov. Ballot”
American Water Management | Earthquakes | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Trumbull County | Wastewater

ODNR Temporarily Shuts Down Injection Wells After Low-Level Quake
September 8, 2014September 8, 2014

On Sunday, August 31 at 5:45 pm, there was an earthquake in the vicinity of Weathersfield (Trumbull County), OH. However, no one felt it. The only way anyone knew there was a quake was because of monitoring by the U.S. Geological Survey. The Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) is investigating whether or not two wastewater injection wells, operated by American Water Management Services (AWMS), was the cause of that low-level quake that no one felt. According to the ODNR, from an “abundance of caution” they asked AWMS to shut down operations at those two wells while they investigate, which has now been done…
Read More “ODNR Temporarily Shuts Down Injection Wells After Low-Level Quake”