Summit Midstream Partners, formed in 2009 and headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, operates natural gas, crude oil, and produced water gathering (pipeline) systems in several unconventional shale plays, including the Marcellus and Utica. Last week Summit issued its first-quarter 2021 update. The company’s Utica Shale segment continued to be the star performer.
Read More “Summit Midstream 1Q21 – Utica Volumes & Profits Go Up”
Ohio has roughly 1,000 sites on its official orphan well inventory list. But that’s just the official list. Based on recent tests using drones equipped with magnetometers to locate undiscovered orphaned wells, there are “likely many more” according to Eric Vendel, chief of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management. Orphan wells are wells where no legally responsible owner can be found. However, you first have to know the well exists before you can work on getting it plugged.
Read More “Using Drones to Find Hidden Orphaned Oil & Gas Wells in Ohio”
Anti-fossil fuel activist Jill Antares Hunkler (whom we had never heard of before) testified before the same House Committee on Oversight and Reform’s environment subcommittee that Swedish special needs child (and minor celebrity) Greta Thunberg testified before on Earth Day. The two (plus others) peddled the same tired lies they always peddle about fossil fuels in general, and the Ohio shale industry in particular. A member of the Ohio O&G industry is standing up to challenge their lies.
Read More “Ohio O&G Responds with Truth to Enviro-Lies of Thunberg, Hunkler”
An interesting turn of events for our weekly permit report. In querying the Pennsylvania database, it reports no new permits issued for the past week. We can’t recall that ever happening. Pennsylvania almost always has the most permits issued of the three M-U states. West Virginia, which typically has the second-highest number of permits issued each week, also issued no new shale drilling permits last week. Only Ohio, which lately has issued very few permits for Utica drilling, had a bumper week, issuing 8 new permits!
Read More “Weekly Shale Drilling Permits for PA, OH, WV: Apr 26-May 2”
Each year Cleveland State University publishes a report for JobsOhio looking at how much money has been invested by the private sector in the Utica Shale (and related) industry. CSU’s ninth Shale Investment Dashboard report (full copy below) was recently released and shows some eye-popping numbers. Total shale investment in upstream, midstream, and downstream from January through June (1H) 2020 was $4.2 billion, up 37% from $3.06 billion invested in July through December (2H) 2019. However, there are some key differences in the spending between the two periods.
Read More “$4.2B Invested in OH Utica First Half 2020; Downstream Explodes”
Last November Gulfport Energy, the third-largest driller in the Ohio Utica Shale (by the number of wells drilled), filed for a “pre-arranged” Chapter 11 bankruptcy (see Gulfport Energy Files for Pre-arranged Chapter 11 Bankruptcy). Gulfport’s bankruptcy road has been bumpy (see Gulfport’s Bumpy Bankruptcy – Asset Transfer, Exec Bonuses Questioned). Apparently, the bumps have been smoothed over. Earlier this week the judge in the case approved the plan after Gulfport reached settlement terms with unsecured creditors.
Read More “Gulfport Cleared for Ch. 11 Plan, Cuts Debt by $1.4B”
According to an extensive article appearing in the Pipeline & Gas Journal, “the oil and gas industry [in the Marcellus/Utica] is ready to pick up where it left off in 2019.” The Ohio Oil & Gas Association (OOGA) says “2021 is looking up.” However, nobody in the midstream is planning to build new pipelines anytime soon. That spells trouble ahead for prices. Increasing production without new pipeline capacity to transport the increased production to other markets equals stagnant (or even falling) prices.
Read More “M-U Drillers Begin to Increase Activity, but No New Pipes”
Ohio’s Seventh District Court recently delivered a ruling that affects landowners/rights owners as well as drillers. In Tomechko v. Garrett (full copy below), the justices ruled that “adverse possession” of shallow gas rights expands to include deep gas rights (i.e. shale rights) in cases where shallow production “modified the subterranean structure.” According to the legal experts at Frost Brown Todd, “the Seventh District’s ruling strains credulity” and has the potential to “have unintended consequences and will almost certainly result in greater uncertainty and litigation.”
Read More “OH Court Rules Adverse Possession of Shallow Minerals Includes Shale”
All three M-U states received permits to drill new shale wells last week. Pennsylvania received a 6 new permits, most of them in the southwestern part of the state. Ohio received 4 new permits last week, all of them for Ascent Resources on the same Guernsey County pad. And West Virginia received 6 new permits split between CNX Resources and Northeast Natural Energy, all in one county: Monongalia.
Read More “Weekly Shale Drilling Permits for PA, OH, WV: Apr 19-23”
Here’s an interesting twist on building new oil and gas pipelines in Ohio. Due to a late filing made by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA), from now on interstate pipeline builders will *not* need to seek and receive a federal section 401 water permit under the Clean Water Act from the Ohio EPA to build the pipeline. Instead, the pipeline builder can just ask the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a Nationwide Permit 12 (NWP12). Ohio EPA has been problematic for pipelines in the past (see Ohio EPA Takes One More Swipe at Rover Pipe with FERC Notice). Perhaps the days of EPA interference are now gone in the Buckeye State?
Read More “O&G Pipe Builders in OH can Bypass EPA, Get Permit from Army Corps”
Ohio’s House Bill (HB) 6 law granted billions (plural) of dollars to FirstEnergy in an attempt to prop up the company’s economically failing nuclear power plants. FirstEnergy is accused of bribing state legislators to pass, and keep passed, HB 6 by paying out $61 million (see FirstEnergy Involved in Bribery Scheme to Pass $1B Nuke Bailout Law). It is the biggest bribery scandal in Ohio history. FirstEnergy finally, openly, admitted they paid the bribe money (see FirstEnergy Admits to $61M Payment in Massive Bribery Scandal). However, the company has refused to admit that what they did is a crime. That appears to be changing.
Read More “FirstEnergy in Talks to Plead Guilty in Massive OH Nuke Bribery Case”
MPR Supply Chain Solutions (i.e. Mountaineer Products Inc.) operates a 20-acre transloading facility along the shore of the Ohio River in Belmont County (barge, truck, and rail). In 2015 MDN wrote about MPR expanding its frack sand terminal at that location (see MPR Frac Sand Terminal Rising in Belmont County, OH). Earlier this year MPR purchased another 50 acres along the Ohio about a half-mile south of the existing location with plans to expand further.
Read More “MPR Expanding M-U Transloading Along Ohio River in Belmont County”
All three M-U states received permits to drill new shale wells last week. Pennsylvania received a whopping 17 new permits spread across various counties and drillers. Ohio received just 2 new permits last week, both for Ascent Resources on the same pad. And West Virginia received a big 12 new permits split between two drillers: Antero Resources and Tug Hill Operating.
Read More “Weekly Shale Drilling Permits for PA, OH, WV: Apr 12-16”
One of the brightest of the bright spots in the Marcellus/Utica shale industry has been shale’s effect on local economies and jobs, as in more money and jobs flow to shale drilling counties. To counter all that good news left-leaning “media” outlets like the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette have run hit pieces, like this article in February: Report: Shale gas boom counties saw little growth in local jobs, income. Yet the reality is the opposite. The reality, as chronicled in a new article appearing in the Zanesville Times Recorder, is that shale energy has expanded both revenue and jobs for local businesses in regions with active shale drilling–including Muskingum County.
Read More “How Small Ohio Businesses Benefit Big from Utica Shale Drilling”
All three M-U states received permits to drill new shale wells last week. Pennsylvania received 6 new permits (4 of them for Chesapeake Energy). Ohio received 4 new permits last week, all of them for Antero Resources (2 different well pads). And West Virginia received 4 new permits (3 of them for Southwestern Energy).
Read More “Weekly Shale Drilling Permits for PA, OH, WV: Mar 29-Apr 2”
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 the quarterly updates kind of fell off our radar. An astute MDN subscriber emailed to ask about the 4Q numbers for Ohio. We checked and discovered we had only reported on 2Q numbers for all of 2020! Today we correct that oversight. 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–for each quarter in 2020. We also do our own sorting to show you the top 25 shale gas wells and top 25 shale oil wells for each quarter in 2020.
Read More “Ohio Utica Shale Production 2020 by Quarter + Top 25 Gas & Oil Wells”