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OH Supremes Rule Duke Energy Can Build 14-Mile Cincinnati Pipeline
In early March MDN told you that Duke Energy had begun work on building a 14-mile natural gas pipeline near Cincinnati, OH to replace an old pipeline built in the 1950s (see Duke Energy Finally Begins to Build 14-Mile Cincinnati NatGas Pipe). It seems no sooner had work begun than another frivolous lawsuit by antis brought it to a halt. This latest case, argued before the Ohio Supreme Court, was decided yesterday. In a unanimous decision, the court rejected antis’ arguments. The pipeline can finally get built beginning this month.
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A nice bump up (finally) in the number of permits to drill new shale wells in the M-U, although it’s a lot of wells for a relatively few well pads. Pennsylvania issued 19 new permits across five pads in both the northeast and southwest portion of the play, including 8 permits for a single Cabot Oil & Gas pad in Susquehanna County. Ohio issued just 3 new permits, all to Encino Energy for a single pad in Carroll County. And West Virginia issued a surprisingly high 18 permits to two drillers on three pads in two counties: Marshall and Monongalia.
Sometimes it seems like a full-time job running around and setting the record straight, correcting the outright lies and half-truths spun by the wacko environmental left. For example, shoveling up the messes made by the Ohio River Valley Institute (ORVI), a far-left, hyper-partisan, nonprofit organization. Last month ORVI peddled falsehoods at a hearing convened by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management which is conducting a study on the prospects for a petrochemical industry in the Marcellus/Utica (see 
Looking for a great job? Looking to work hard, but make excellent money for your hard work? If you live in Ohio, the answer to your job search lies in the oil and gas industry. The Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program (OOGEEP) says there are more than 75 types of jobs in the Ohio oil and gas sector, with many jobs in welding, truck driving, and engineering. As of Aug. 19, there are 1,140 jobs available. And get this: Careers in oil and gas pay on average $30,000 more than other fields and average roughly $81,000 a year!
Once again the issue of whether or not to use conventional (not shale) wastewater and its byproducts is in the news. The issue has long been debated in Pennsylvania. Earlier this week we brought you news from a recent study that finds more studies should be done on the issue of using brine wastewater to treat dusty roads in PA (see 
An extensive story running in the Youngstown Business Journal tackles the thorny issue of violated expectations for Ohio landowners who thought they would get rich from Utica Shale wells on their land but didn’t. The article contains some good information and is a cautionary story for landowners. However, we’re concerned the story doesn’t present the full picture–that some landowners DO get significant revenue from royalties and signing bonuses.
It may be depressing to see just how radicalized our children have become with the climate lies they are fed day in and day out by the media and their teachers (see today’s companion post, Our Kids Have Been Radicalized with Climate Lies). However, there is something that can be done. Children are influenced by their teachers. And good teachers, when they have objective, compelling evidence presented to them, will in turn present that evidence to their students. Groups like Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program (OOGEEP) are helping to turn the tide by training teachers about the oil and gas industry.
In February of this year, PTT Global Chemical adamantly claimed a final investment decision (FID) to build the $10 billion ethane cracker plant project in Belmont County, OH would happen by “middle of 2021” (see 
Ohio mineral rights owner Gateway Royalty researched unitization (aka force pooling) in the state and discovered a disturbing change introduced in existing unitization beginning three years ago. Since February 13, 2018, a “market enhancement” clause has been included in Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources’ (ODNR) forced pooling unitization orders, which allows the unit operator to deduct post-production costs from the royalties owed to mineral owners. These post-production costs are sometimes as much as 95% of the gross sale price. Gateway called attention to the practice and ODNR has since backed down and no longer includes the market enhancement clause in new unitization orders.
In February of this year, PTT Global Chemical adamantly claimed a final investment decision (FID) to build the $10 billion ethane cracker plant project in Belmont County, OH would happen by “middle of 2021” (see 
Ascent Resources, originally founded as American Energy Partners by gas legend Aubrey McClendon, is a privately-held company that focuses 100% on the Ohio Utica Shale. Ascent is Ohio’s largest natural gas producer and the 8th largest natural gas producer in the U.S. The company issued its second quarter 2021 update earlier this week. The company produced 1.95 billion cubic feet equivalent per day (Bcfe/d) during 2Q (91% natural gas). Ascent generated $38 million of free cash flow, but like other M-U drillers, hedging bets on derivatives resulted in a big loss of $617 million for the quarter.
Each quarter the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) issues an update on Utica (and Marcellus) oil and natural gas production. ODNR no longer issues a summary press release as they once did, which means we don’t automatically notice when quarterly updates appear on their website. ODNR publishes a detailed spreadsheet of all active wells showing oil and gas production by well. We make a copy of that spreadsheet, enhance it to make it more usable, and link to it. We also do our own sorting to show you the top 25 shale gas wells and top 25 shale oil wells. An astute MDN reader inquired about the report for 1Q21, which is now available. We’ve created our own version of their report and have some exciting news to share about 1Q21 results. Oil is back, in a big way, in the northern Utica!
In May MDN brought you the news that Ohio mineral rights owner Gateway Royalty was sounding the alarm over a new bill quickly advancing in the Ohio legislature. House Bill (HB) 152 would use forced pooling if 65% of a proposed unit’s landowners are leased (too low a bar) and also would force the landowner to accept a 12.5% royalty and force them to accept post-production deductions with royalties in some cases potentially going down to nothing (see