Ohio

Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Crime | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH

OH State Police Put Extreme Enviro Groups Under Surveillance
March 28, 2013March 28, 2013

Saying that “so far” Ohio has not seen any violence from extremist anti-drilling environmentalist groups—but that they do expect violence—the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s (OSHP) Central Intelligence Unit is now monitoring groups like Earth First! and Appalachian Resist. The OSHP says: “…some of these groups are considered domestic terrorists or vandals.”

At a monthly meeting of first responders in Harrison County, OH who gather to discuss and plan for health and safety emergencies related to shale drilling, Sgt. Greg McCutcheon of the OSHP said the following:

Read More “OH State Police Put Extreme Enviro Groups Under Surveillance”
BP | Energy Companies | Ohio | Trumbull County | Utica Shale

Better Late than Never: BP Gets First Permit for OH Utica
March 28, 2013March 28, 2013

From MDN’s bedtime stories…Once upon a time (in April 2012), a huge international oil and gas company (BP) leased 84,000 acres all at once with landowners in Trumbull County, OH (see BP’s Big Utica Shale Deal, Leases 84K Acres in Ohio). They later tossed out some of the deals (see BP Cancels Deal for 7% of ALOV Leases in Trumbull County, OH). The end.

Whoops! Not much of story—but that’s been the entire story for a year now. After leasing all of that land in Trumbull County, BP has done no Utica Shale drilling. Zip, zero, nada. Earlier this year BP said, in essence, they’re taking their sweet time, but they do intend to drill a few initial wells this year, perhaps starting in April (see BP in OH Utica Shale: The Prospectivity of Producibility). Looks like the wait may be over…

Read More “Better Late than Never: BP Gets First Permit for OH Utica”
Ohio | Statewide OH

More Angst Over OH Utica’s Oil Prospects
March 28, 2013March 28, 2013

Just a few days ago MDN highlighted a story by Reuters that raises the question of the Ohio Utica Shale’s oil producing potential (see Will OH Utica Turn Out to be Steak, or Just Sizzle? Eye on April). A writer on The Motley Fool website picks up on that theme and makes these observations about the Utica’s oil prospects:

Read More “More Angst Over OH Utica’s Oil Prospects”
Belmont County | Economic Impact | Housing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Supply Chain

OH Company Says Housing Construction is Booming from Shale
March 27, 2013March 27, 2013

A Belmont County, OH construction company that builds homes and commercial buildings reports business is brisk, and the way they do business has now changed—all because of shale drilling:

Read More “OH Company Says Housing Construction is Booming from Shale”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH

OH EPA Director Says New Fracking Technology a “Game Changer”
March 26, 2013March 26, 2013

On Monday in Youngstown, Ohio at a Chamber of Commerce breakfast, the director of the Ohio EPA, Scott Nally, expressed his hope and optimism that fracking technology would quickly evolve and use less water:

Read More “OH EPA Director Says New Fracking Technology a “Game Changer””
Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio | Supply Chain | Wayne County (OH)

Supply Chain: OH Company Offered Tax Credit to Create 120 New Jobs
March 26, 2013March 26, 2013

More happy news from the Marcellus and Utica supply chain: Wooster Tool & Dye, a company that manufactures gas and oil separation tanks used by shale drilling companies, has been offered a seven-year tax credit to add 120 new full-time jobs to their existing workforce of 110. The new jobs will average $21 an hour. If the company accepts the deal (not yet a done deal, but it looks promising), they will agree to maintain operations in Wooster, OH for at least the next 10 years:

Read More “Supply Chain: OH Company Offered Tax Credit to Create 120 New Jobs”
Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Ohio | Statewide OH

Will OH Utica Turn Out to be Steak, or Just Sizzle? Eye on April
March 25, 2013March 25, 2013

Ohio will soon compile and release annual production numbers for Utica Shale wells drilled and in production during 2012. Ohio is one of the “least transparent states” when it comes to reporting energy output with annual filings. Drillers are required to provide production numbers for 2012 by March 31. Last year the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) posted production numbers in just a few days—on April 2nd. However, last year’s reporting (from 2011) was for 5 wells—all from Chesapeake. This year the reporting will be from multiple drillers for 50-60 wells. Everyone is waiting, with baited breath. There’s a lot riding on the numbers reported this year.

Will the Utica numbers turn out to be like the Eagle Ford—a play prolific in profitable oil and natural gas liquids? Or will it be more of a less-profitable, methane-only play? A Reuters article takes a look at that question. The article also highlights some interesting information for just how far production numbers have fallen from initial peak rates for a pair of Gulfport wells…

Read More “Will OH Utica Turn Out to be Steak, or Just Sizzle? Eye on April”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Regulation | Statewide OH

Ohio Enviros Not Happy with Sustainable Shale Center
March 25, 2013March 25, 2013

Last week MDN pointed out some of the initial reaction against the pronouncements of the newly formed and self-appointed Center for Sustainable Shale Development, or “CSSD” (see More Groups Weigh In For/Against New Sustainable Shale Center).

You can add the Ohio Environmental Council (OEC) to the list of those groups not in love with the CSSD, even though they haven’t bothered to read the CSSD’s standards yet. Why are they down on the CSSD? Because (pout, whine) they didn’t have a seat at the table. Then again, the OEC is calling for a moratorium on all drilling—an extremist and unreasonable position. Perhaps that’s why they weren’t invited…

Read More “Ohio Enviros Not Happy with Sustainable Shale Center”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrialization | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Trucking | West Virginia | Wetzel County

OH Group Wants to Launch Neighborhood Watch for Shale Wells
March 25, 2013March 25, 2013

When we started to read an article about a “neighborhood watch” program for Utica and Marcellus Shale wells that’s being discussed in Ohio by the anti-drilling Southeast Ohio Fracking Interest Group, we kind of grinned. We thought it sounded like the typical nutty stuff anti-frackers do to try and put a veneer of respectability on their extremist, hate-all-fossil-fuels philosophy. However, when we read further, we found there is such a “well watching” group operating in West Virginia, and it’s members are level-headed and don’t have the attitude that they’re going to stop drilling—they just want to open a line of communication with drillers so everyone is a little bit happier with the process.

The WV group’s constructive attitude is the kind of attitude more people on the other side of the issue (in OH) should adopt…

Read More “OH Group Wants to Launch Neighborhood Watch for Shale Wells”
Energy Companies | Guernsey County | Noble County | Ohio | Rex Energy | Statewide OH

Rex Energy OH Utica Wells go Toe-to-Toe with Gulfport Wells
March 20, 2013March 20, 2013

So far, we’ve had precious little in the way of well production numbers from the Ohio Utica Shale. The numbers we have had are encouraging. On Monday, Rex Energy released well production numbers for their “Warrior South Prospect” wells in the Ohio Utica, and the numbers look very good indeed. From two wells in Guernsey County and one in Noble County, Rex is reporting an average daily production of around 8 million cubic feet of natural gas, 500 barrels of condensate (natural gasoline), and 1,200 barrels of natural gas liquids (mostly ethane), per day for each well.

Below are the details from Rex, along with an embedded copy of their company presentation just updated (March 2013) which shows many more details, including maps and a very interesting table (on page 18) that compares Rex’s three Ohio wells with other drillers’ wells, including Ohio’s largest producing wells drilled by Gulfport. When converted to BTUs produced—which takes into account not only methane, but also gas liquids, condensate and oil—the Rex wells are among the best producing wells in the state…

Read More “Rex Energy OH Utica Wells go Toe-to-Toe with Gulfport Wells”
Ohio | Statewide OH

OH Utica Numbers Keep Going Up: 575 Permits, 272 Wells Drilled
March 20, 2013March 20, 2013

The Ohio Utica Shale numbers just keep going up. The latest, including tallies for where permits were issued last week:

Read More “OH Utica Numbers Keep Going Up: 575 Permits, 272 Wells Drilled”
Columbiana County | Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Mahoning County | Ohio | Sand/Proppant | Supply Chain

OH Property Management Firm Plugs into the Shale Supply Chain
March 20, 2013March 20, 2013

More lessons for small businesses that want to plug in to the booming Marcellus and Utica Shale supply chain, this time from a new transloading facility in Columbiana, OH, started by a property management company. What’s a transloading facility? It’s a place where (in this case) railroad cars full of sand are parked and unloaded with special equipment onto waiting trucks that then haul the sand to nearby drilling sites for use in hydraulic fracturing.

The Buckeye Transfer Realty transloading facility accepted their first sand shipment via rail on Jan. 4. In the past three weeks they’ve hired 22 new people, with plans to hire more. Here’s their story, along with some of the things they’ve learned:

Read More “OH Property Management Firm Plugs into the Shale Supply Chain”
Energy Companies | Energy Services | Guernsey County | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Noble County | Ohio | PDC Energy | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Utica Shale

MarkWest Signs Deal with PDC Energy for OH Utica Shale, Etcetera
March 19, 2013March 19, 2013

Yesterday, PDC Energy announced they would nearly double their drilling budget for the Ohio Utica Shale this year (see PDC Nearly Doubles Utica Shale Drilling Budget for 2013). PDC’s announcement mentioned they will do a deal with MarkWest for pipelines and processing. Last night, MarkWest issued their announcement to say they’ve officially signed a deal with PDC to provide “gathering, processing, fractionation, and marketing services in the Utica Shale.” In their announcement, MarkWest took the opportunity to remind everyone this is the fourth Utica Shale driller they’ve signed up in the past nine months—the other three are Gulfport, Antero and Rex Energy—and to chronicle the work they’re doing at their Cadiz and Seneca processing facilities in the Utica Shale.

Read More “MarkWest Signs Deal with PDC Energy for OH Utica Shale, Etcetera”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Wastewater

Anti-Drilling Groups Want ODNR to Shut Down All Injection Wells
March 19, 2013March 19, 2013

Anti-drilling groups held multiple concurrent press conferences in Ohio yesterday to demand the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) stop doing their job in regulating wastewater injection wells. Instead, the enviro-extremist groups want the federal EPA to take over the job. Whacko. Their rationale? One bad actor, Ben Lupo, dumped wastewater down a storm drain in Youngstown.

What does Lupo’s actions have to do with wastewater injection wells? Er right…Nothing, actually! Such twisted reasoning is called a non sequitur—an illogical argument. Just because one bad actor dumped wastewater instead of properly disposing of it in an injection well doesn’t mean injection wells are not properly regulated. It “doesn’t follow.” But that’s what passes for logic among the fracking-deranged crowd.

Read More “Anti-Drilling Groups Want ODNR to Shut Down All Injection Wells”
Anadarko | Energy Companies | Muskingum County | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Is Anadarko Leaving the Ohio Utica Shale?
March 18, 2013March 18, 2013

A story in the Columbus Dispatch floats the rumor that Anadarko Petroleum, one of the country’s largest drillers, has not only suspended plans to drill in a 9,000-acre wild game preserve in Muskingum County, OH (known as “the Wilds”), but they also may be abandoning plans to drill anywhere in the Ohio Utica and the 141,000 acres they control…

Read More “Is Anadarko Leaving the Ohio Utica Shale?”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH

The Non-Issue of Water “Disappearing” in the Fracking Process
March 18, 2013March 18, 2013

As the number of Utica Shale wells drilled in Ohio increases, so too does the need for water. Each well fracked uses, on average, about 5 million gallons of water. Some of that water is recycled, but most of it (80%) stays in the ground. Anti-drillers try to use the issue of water “disappearing” from the hydrologic cycle to scare the hoi polloi, but a Gannett article does a nice job of laying those fears to rest.

Read More “The Non-Issue of Water “Disappearing” in the Fracking Process”