Ohio

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

OH Land Conservancies Try to Prevent Utica Drilling
December 31, 2012December 31, 2012

In an article about the merger of a local land conservancy group with a larger, regional conservancy group in Ohio—the Western Reserve Land Conservancy (WRLC)—MDN spotted remarks that indicate land conservancies have an anti-drilling philosophy, which raises the issue of whether or not you should support them or sign an agreement with them if you’re a landowner.

Remarks from the president of Little Beaver Creek Land Foundation (LBCLF), the local land conservancy group that merged with the WRLC:

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Energy Companies | Halcon Resources | Ohio | Trumbull County | Utica Shale

Trumbull County’s First Utica Shale Well Now in Process
December 31, 2012December 31, 2012

Although BP is the largest leaseholder for Utica Shale drilling in Trumbull County, OH with 84,000 acres under lease, Halcon Resources, which purchased 15,000 acres of leases from Carrizo Oil & Gas in October (see this MDN story), is the first to put drill bit to earth and is currently drilling the county’s very first horizontal Utica Shale well:

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Belmont County | Ohio

Belmont County, OH Deed Research Impacts Local Library Too
December 31, 2012December 31, 2012

In November, MDN pointed out you can always tell where drilling will soon begin in earnest by the how busy the local county clerk/deed recorder office is. We predicted that Belmont County, OH would soon see a ramp up in drilling based on the frenzy of activity at the county recorder’s office (see this MDN story).

The activity at the Belmont recorder’s office is as busy as ever, even over the holiday period. It’s standing room only at the office, and that’s now spilled over to the public library across the street. Abstractors have taken to snapping digital photographs of deed books and then relocating to the more spacious facility of the public library. But now that’s creating a problem…

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Antero Resources | Carroll County | Chesapeake Energy | Columbiana County | Eclipse Resources | Energy Companies | Guernsey County | Monroe County | Ohio | PDC Energy | Utica Shale

11 New Utica Shale Drilling Permits in OH, as of Dec 12
December 28, 2012December 28, 2012

The latest round of permits to drill new Utica Shale wells from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) includes 11 new permits, 8 of which went to Chesapeake Energy.

Here’s the latest Ohio Utica permit report (with grand totals by county) as of Dec. 12:

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Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Taxation

OH Gov. Kasich Keeps Beating the Higher Drilling Tax Drum
December 27, 2012December 27, 2012

What is it about states like Texas that causes Ohio’s Gov. John Kasich to view them as “foreign” and their citizens as “foreigners” (see this MDN story). An anal retentive fixation on the part of Kasich? Perhaps.

His fixation is in full bloom again. Kasich reports he recently went on some “foreign travel”—to Houston, Texas—where he had private discussions about raising taxes. Kasich also has a fixation on raising taxes on the drilling industry in Ohio so he can “spread the wealth” around to everyone:

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Mahoning County | Ohio

‘Promised Land’ Inspires ‘Rise of the Loonies’
December 27, 2012December 27, 2012

The loonies are coming out of the woodwork in response to the release of the somewhat anti-fracking movie Promised Land starring Matt Damon. Case in point is a rally tomorrow in Youngstown, Ohio sponsored by Fracfree America:

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Cuyahoga County | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Seismic Testing

Seismic Testing in OH Creates Uproar in Community
December 24, 2012December 24, 2012

It appears that Precision Geophysical, a company doing seismic testing in and around Chillicothe Road in Bainbridge (Cuyahoga County), OH, has stirred up a hornets’ nest of trouble with local homeowners. They used thumper trucks along the road without first gaining permission from each (possibly any) of the homeowners in the area, and in at least one case lied to a homeowner about what they were doing.

Precision’s actions have OH State Rep. Matt Lynch hopping mad and leading the charge to slap Precision with a large bill for damages they may have caused to structures in the area:

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Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Monroe County | Ohio

Utica Drilling Resurrects Railroad in Monroe County, OH
December 24, 2012December 24, 2012

Yes, MDN is a sucker for a good railroad story—always has been. And here’s another one…

A 12-mile short line railroad in Monroe County, Ohio will soon roar back to life after being closed for 10 years—thanks to Utica and Marcellus Shale drilling:

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Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Mahoning County | Ohio | Utica Shale

The Undeniable Progress from Utica Shale Drilling
December 24, 2012December 24, 2012

The Warren, Ohio Tribune Chronicle ran an editorial yesterday that takes a look at the profound impact Utica Shale drilling has had on the Mahoning Valley area of Ohio. As part of that editorial, they make the following worthwhile (and astute) observations:

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Education | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Mahoning County | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

OSU Group Connects Students with Drilling Industry in Ohio
December 24, 2012December 24, 2012

Two Ohio State University students from the Youngstown, OH area have started the Buckeye Shale Energy Organization, a student group aimed at connecting students with the state’s shale oil and gas industry:

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Antero Resources | Chesapeake Energy | CNX Resources | Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Hilcorp Energy | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale | XTO

New Utica Permits for Hilcorp, Chesapeake, Others
December 21, 2012December 21, 2012

The latest permits issued last week by the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) for Utica Shale drilling include permits for Hilcorp, Chesapeake, Gulfport, XTO, CNX Gas and Antero.

Here’s the details on which counties and for how many wells:

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Chesapeake Energy | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Status Report on Chesapeake’s Utica Shale Drilling Program
December 21, 2012December 21, 2012

Chesapeake Energy is the second largest natural gas producer in the United States, behind ExxonMobil. If you’ve followed the shale gas drilling space for any length of time, you no doubt have heard about Chesapeake’s “problems” this past year. Their main problem is overextension: Leasing too much acreage without possessing enough money to drill on it. A further complication has been the low price of natural gas, meaning Chesapeake doesn’t make as much profit when they do drill. Too many bills to pay, not enough cash to pay them. The solution? Sell some of your assets.

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Anadarko | Chesapeake Energy | Chevron | Energy Companies | Energy Services | EnerVest | Exxon Mobil | Gulfport Energy | MarkWest Energy | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Motley Fool’s “Ubiquitous in the Utica”
December 21, 2012December 21, 2012

The Motley Fool investing website published a “round-up” type of article two days ago that focuses on the major players (drillers) in the Marcellus Shale (see this MDN story), part of a series that looks at major energy plays in the U.S. Yesterday they continued the series with an article that looks in detail at the Utica Shale.

The article starts off by listing the top 7 companies by the amount of acreage they lease. They are (from highest to lowest amount of acreage):

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Blue Racer Midstream | Caiman Energy | Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | Utica Shale | West Virginia | Williams

Dominion, Caiman in $1.5B Utica JV: Blue Racer Midstream
December 21, 2012December 21, 2012

Two large midstream (pipeline & processing plant) companies, Dominion and Caiman Energy II, announced a new $1.5 billion, 50/50 joint venture to form a new midstream services company to service the Utica Shale in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The name of the new company is Blue Racer Midstream. Sound familiar? It should. Yesterday MDN brought you the news that Williams is investing $380 million in Caiman Energy/Blue Racer (see this MDN story).Williams owns nearly half of Caiman Energy II (47.5%).

One of the core assets of the new Blue Racer Midstream company will be Dominion’s previously announced $500 million natural gas liquids processing plant in Natrium, WV (see this MDN story). The Natrium plant was scheduled to go online by Dec. 31—a deadline that won’t be met. However, work on the new NGL plant continues at a “furious pace” and the plant will be online in early 2013. Dominion’s extensive gathering pipeline system in eastern Ohio is also part of the deal.

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Columbiana County | Energy Services | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Keystone Clearwater Solutions | Ohio

OH Municipality to Sell Treated Sewage Water for Fracking
December 21, 2012December 21, 2012

The Buckeye Water District, a municipal sewer and water authority in Wellsville (Columbiana County), OH, voted yesterday to sell treated sewage water for use in fracking Utica Shale wells. MDN would call that a win/win and smart.

Just how much are companies willing to pay for treated sewage water to use in fracking?

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

United Airlines Beginning Flights from OK to OH
December 21, 2012December 21, 2012

Don’t tell Ohio Gov. John Kasich, but more “foreigners” (i.e. out-of-state oil and gas workers) are coming to Ohio, and they’re doing it using (gasp) commercial airlines. Call the TSA! Beef up the border guards! If you’re not quite sure what MDN is referring to, see this MDN story for background.

A sure sign that Ohio’s Utica Shale is undergoing a rapid expansion is that United Airlines has just announced they will begin offering nonstop flights between Oklahoma City and Cleveland in February. The new flights begin on Valentine’s Day—giving Gov. Kasich a big metaphorical kiss on the smacker. Here’s the new news:

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