Ohio

Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Taxation

Cincy Paper Targets OH Republicans for Not Supporting High Tax
July 18, 2013July 18, 2013

Retribution: Time to make the brave Republicans in the Ohio House pay for not supporting the socialist concept of “spreading the wealth around” to people who didn’t earn it by supporting a high severance tax on Utica Shale drilling. A new hit piece in the Cincinnati Enquirer tries to do just that–by proclaiming that “big oil & gas” has “pumped” a (measly) $660,000 in campaign contributions to Ohio House legislators, most of them Republican. Implication: They were bought off.

What utter folly…
Read More “Cincy Paper Targets OH Republicans for Not Supporting High Tax”
Energy Services | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Somerset Regional Water | Wastewater

SRWR to Open New Frack Wastewater Plant in Cadiz, OH
July 18, 2013July 18, 2013

Officials from Somerset Regional Water Resources (SRWR), a Pennsylvania-based frack wastewater recycling operator, recently spoke to a meeting of the Cadiz (OH) Business Association about their plans to start up a wastewater recycling facility in the Cadiz (Harrison County, OH) area next month, bringing more than 40 new jobs to the area.

SRWR is based in Tunkhannock, PA. They began operations in 2008 and now have over 120 employees. Begun as a water trucking operation for oil and gas drilling companies, SRWR has expanded to include a full offering of well site services and frack wastewater recycling facilities…
Read More “SRWR to Open New Frack Wastewater Plant in Cadiz, OH”
Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Statewide OH

So Who’s Building All Those OH Pipelines Anyway?
July 17, 2013July 17, 2013

An MDN subscriber recently emailed us to ask for more details about that map showing, by region, the number of new natural gas gathering and transmission pipelines that will be built (see The Surprising Number of New NatGas Pipelines Coming in OH). The map we showed (embedded below) indicates that Ohio is in the midst of a major pipeline build-out with an astonishing 100+ new pipelines either currently under construction, or soon will be. The question from our reader: Who’s building all those pipelines?

We went looking and found an excellent article in Farm and Dairy that gives us the answer…
Read More “So Who’s Building All Those OH Pipelines Anyway?”
Columbia Pipeline Group | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Hilcorp Energy | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | NiSource | Ohio | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Statewide OH

OH Hickory Bend Pipeline/Plant Makes Excellent Progress
July 17, 2013July 17, 2013

An update on the Pennant Midstream “Hickory Bend” pipeline and cryogenic processing plant being built in eastern Ohio. The local labor union boss says excellent progress is being made as the project now enters its second phase, in spite of distractions from anti-drillers (see Slight Delay for Hickory Bend Processing Plant, Permit Appealed)…
Read More “OH Hickory Bend Pipeline/Plant Makes Excellent Progress”
Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale | Washington County (OH)

OH Students Get High-Paying Jobs in OH Utica Shale Industry
July 17, 2013July 17, 2013

A group of Ohio schoolteachers went on a field trip recently, touring drilling sites in eastern Ohio–Washington County, to be specific. A reporter tagged along to get their impressions and produced an interesting article. As part of that article, the reporter spoke to several educators about job opportunities in the Ohio oil (and gas) field patch. We’ve brought you such stories before, but it bears repeating that (in this case) Ohio students graduating from Marietta College’s petroleum engineering and geology department are actively, aggressively recruited and many get jobs right out of college with starting salaries of over $100,000 per year!

In addition, there’s plenty of high-paying jobs for those without a degree who have skills–like welding, truck driving and diesel mechanic. You can see how the Ohio Utica Shale is radically improving the jobs situation in Ohio:
Read More “OH Students Get High-Paying Jobs in OH Utica Shale Industry”
Antero Resources | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Noble County | Ohio | Pipelines | Rockies Express Pipeline | Utica Shale

REX Reverses Pipeline Flow from OH for Mystery Utica Customer
July 16, 2013July 16, 2013

What a difference a year makes. Last August, RBN Energy President Rusty Braziel said the Rockies Express Pipeline (REX), which originates in Rio Blanco County, Colorado and sends gas to Monroe County, Ohio, was in danger of drying up because there’s so much shale gas coming from the Marcellus. His prescription? Turn it around and send gas the other way (see REX NatGas Pipeline Faces Stiff Competition from Marcellus). Looks like REX has taken Rusty’s advice.

In a press release issued yesterday, REX announced they have a binding agreement with an unnamed “large Utica Shale producer” who wants to use the pipeline to ship 200,000 decatherms of processed natural gas per day to the Midcontinent region of the country. That is, REX is reversing the flow for at least part of the pipeline. And who might the unnamed “mystery” producer be? We think we know…
Read More “REX Reverses Pipeline Flow from OH for Mystery Utica Customer”
Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Portage County | Statewide OH | Wastewater

Wastewater Injection Wells in Ohio – Comprehensive Update
July 15, 2013

On Sunday, the Akron Beacon Journal ran an excellent article on injection wells in Ohio. Their findings: Portage County disposed of more frack wastewater via injection wells than any other county in Ohio last year–disposing of 2.3 million barrels of brine and frack fluid wastewater. Brine, you may recall, is naturally occurring water from the depths that comes out of drilled wells long after the fracking fluid has been pumped out. Brine is very “salty” with a high concentration of minerals.

What may be a surprising statistic for some: Nearly two-thirds of the wastewater disposed of in Ohio wells was from out of state–most of that from Marcellus drilling in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Here’s part of the article, which details a list of Ohio counties and how much wastewater they disposed of via injection wells:
Read More “Wastewater Injection Wells in Ohio – Comprehensive Update”
Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | NGLs | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

MarkWest: $2.2B in Marcellus/Utica, Bring on the Cracker Plants!
July 15, 2013July 15, 2013

MarkWest Energy, a major Marcellus and Utica midstream company, is investing $2.2 billion in the Marcellus/Utica region in pipelines, processing and fractionation plants. According to MarkWest, they have enough work in the northeast to keep them expanding for the next five years. One of the main services offered by MarkWest is removing ethane from raw natural gas. Their plan is to ship the ethane to either Canada or the Gulf Coast via pipelines. However, they’d love it if the region had “several cracker plants.” Here we go again with more cracker talk!

A good overview of MarkWest’s several billion dollar investment in the northeast, and their belief that the region needs its own cracker plant:
Read More “MarkWest: $2.2B in Marcellus/Utica, Bring on the Cracker Plants!”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

WRLC Says, “Why Can’t We be Friends?” in the OH Utica
July 15, 2013July 15, 2013

The Western Reserve Land Conservancy (WRLC), a nonprofit conservation organization dedicated to preserving the natural resources of northern Ohio, has the mission of working to “permanently protect natural areas and farmland.” The good news is that the WRLC believes Utica Shale drilling in Ohio can be done safely and wisely–with some effort. They also believe that if the Utica becomes “a battlefield” in the fracking wars, all Ohioans will lose. The WRLC says what’s needed by both sides is cooperation and creativity.

We like the WRLC’s sentiment. Only problem is, when dealing with extreme and unreasonable people who view all fossil fuels (and those who want to use them) as the enemy, cooperation and creativity is not possible. There is no middle ground when dealing with unreasonable (as in you can’t rationally reason with them) people who demand a ban on fracking…
Read More “WRLC Says, “Why Can’t We be Friends?” in the OH Utica”
Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Latest OH Utica Numbers: 767 Permits, 386 Wells Drilled
July 11, 2013July 11, 2013

The hits keep rollin’ in… The latest numbers for Utica Shale wells permitted and drilled in Ohio, including which counties received permits for last week:
Read More “Latest OH Utica Numbers: 767 Permits, 386 Wells Drilled”
Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Oil & Gas Awards – Enter Now
July 11, 2013July 11, 2013

Marcellus Drilling News is pleased to partner with the Oil & Gas Awards to promote their annual, regional events. Specifically, we’re promoting the 2013 Northeast Oil & Gas Awards (entries due by Nov. 29, 2013). However, there are a number of MDN readers from outside the Marcellus/Utica Shale region, so we’re also putting a shout-out to drillers and others in the industry about the Oil & Gas Awards for the Midcontinent, Southwest and West Coast (entries due Aug. 9, 2013).

The full, official announcement below…
Read More “Oil & Gas Awards – Enter Now”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA

Fracking Comes to Amish Country – Will They Allow It?
July 10, 2013July 9, 2013

Contrary to common belief and misconception, the Amish are not bumpkins and naive when it comes to the ways of the “English” world. Far from it. Take the issue of shale drilling on and under the land. While the Amish have a deep and healthy respect for the land, they’re not green zealots who worship it. They know Whom to worship and it’s not trees and grass. The land is here to be used wisely and circumspectly. Many Amish families in Ohio and Pennsylvania are deciding it’s just fine with God if their land is used for fracking…
Read More “Fracking Comes to Amish Country – Will They Allow It?”
Energy Companies | Noble County | Ohio | Rex Energy | Utica Shale

Rex Energy Production Numbers for 3 Utica Wells in Noble County
July 10, 2013July 9, 2013

Rex Energy has just released production numbers for its first three Warrior South Prospect wells in the Ohio Utica Shale (Noble County). Rex’s CEO, Tom Stabley, called the results “strong” and “impressive,” and indeed they are good numbers. The wells produced on the on the order of 4.2-4.7 million cubic feet of methane per day, 724-763 barrels of natural gas liquids per day, and 228-247 barrels of condensate per day. While we’ve seen better methane flow rates from other Utica wells, all three production metrics together (methane, NGLs and condensate) make these wells very profitable indeed.

The full Rex announcement from yesterday:
Read More “Rex Energy Production Numbers for 3 Utica Wells in Noble County”
Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Eureka Midstream | Ohio | Washington County (OH) | West Virginia | Wetzel County

Magnum Hunter 2Q13: 1st Utica Well Drilled, WV Marcellus Continues
July 10, 2013July 9, 2013

Magnum Hunter Resources Corporation, both a driller and a midstream (pipeline) company with operations in the Marcellus and Utica Shale region, released their company wide operational update yesterday for the second quarter of 2013. Among the highlights: Magnum Hunter has just completed drilling its first Utica Shale well (Washington County, OH) and the well will be fracked in late July; the company continues to actively drill Marcellus wells in Wetzel County, WV in a 50/50 joint venture with Stone Energy; and Eureka Hunter is active across both the Marcellus and Utica with new pipeline and compressor station construction projects.

Relevant portions of the update below…
Read More “Magnum Hunter 2Q13: 1st Utica Well Drilled, WV Marcellus Continues”
Carroll County | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Ohio

New NatGas Powered Electric Plant Coming to Carroll County, OH
July 10, 2013July 9, 2013

Carroll County Energy in Carroll County, OH–a subsidiary of Advanced Power Services–announced Monday they plan to spend $800 million to build a new 700-megawatt natural gas electric generating plant in the county. The new plant will create 500 temporary construction jobs and 25-30 permanent jobs when completed. It will supply electricity to 700,000 homes by using low-cost Utica (and Marcellus) Shale gas to generate electricity–made necessary because some 5,800 megawatts of coal-fired plants are due to retire in Ohio by end of 2015. Look for more announcements like this one to come along in the near future…
Read More “New NatGas Powered Electric Plant Coming to Carroll County, OH”
Housing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide OH | Statewide PA

OSU Study of PA Data Shows No Housing Crisis in Shale Country
July 9, 2013July 9, 2013

How many times have we heard (and believed) that when drilling comes to town, higher housing prices, specifically rent, comes along too. A quick influx of people for a relatively fixed inventory of housing and voilà–high rents. In fact, MDN previously highlighted a study in November 2011 by a cabal of PA colleges that issued a 200-page report on how shale drilling was causing a “housing crisis” in northeastern PA (see New Study Claims Housing Crisis in NE PA from Gas Drilling).

But what’s this? Researchers at Ohio State University, understandably concerned that a housing shortage may be on the way in eastern Ohio, studied the PA data for 2007-2011, the first four years of PA’s drilling boom. Using government data (objective and unbiased, from the Dept. of Housing & Urban Development), OSU researchers found, “…in Pennsylvania, counties experiencing the most shale-related development saw little change in fair market rents…housing vacancy rates and median home values.” A full copy of the OSU report debunking the “shale drilling creates a housing crisis” meme is embedded below.
Read More “OSU Study of PA Data Shows No Housing Crisis in Shale Country”