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Appalachian Hydrogen Transportation Conference Coming Sept. 23

The Appalachian Hydrogen Transportation Conference will be held at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, on Friday, Sept. 23. The event is hosted by MDN’s good friend Joe Barone from ShaleDirectories.com. Whether you like it or not (we personally don’t like it), hydrogen production and pipeline movement, along with capturing and storing carbon dioxide, is touching all oil and natural gas companies. This event is aimed at addressing the responsibility and opportunities that the transportation industry has in moving hydrogen. If hydrogen is in your company’s future, this conference should be in *your* future.
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EOG Resources Returns to Utica Oil Window After Exiting in 2020

Eastern Ohio counties

In 2020 EOG Resources, one of the largest oil and gas drillers in the U.S. (with operations in Trinidad and China too), sold *all* of its Marcellus assets, which were located in Bradford County, PA, to Tilden Resources for $130 million (see EOG Resources Sells Marcellus Assets for $130M, Exits Basin). EOG left the M-U building, so to speak. But what’s this? EOG is ramping up its drilling program and increasing its acreage once again in the Marcellus/Utica, this time along the edge of the Utica’s oil window in Ohio, according to an investigation by The Capitol Forum (TCF).
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Rover Pipeline $40M FERC Fine Could be an Episode of “Dallas”

The ongoing tiff between the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and Energy Transfer (ET) over a drilling mud spill in Ohio back in 2017 (five years ago!) has become a steamy, cheesy plotline for an episode of the TV series Dallas. We’re talking about the original Dallas series from the 1980s with Larry Hagman and storylines of “who’s jumping into bed with whom.” FERC is faulting ET for creating a company culture of drill and build fast that led to a contract worker adding diesel fuel to a stuck drill bit in an effort to work it free, fining the company a staggering $40 million for the presence of diesel in a drilling mud spill. ET says the diesel situation was the result of a rogue contract worker (a foreman) under pressure and distracted by rumors of another foreman sleeping with the wife of one of his workers. No, we’re not kidding. You can’t make this stuff up.
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Shale Conference Focused on ESG Coming to Canton, OH

By now you know we’re not the biggest fans of ESG (environmental, social, and governance) initiatives. ESG efforts by shale companies (for us) smacks of attempting to pacify leftist wackos who will never be satisfied with any environmental efforts by “filthy” oil and gas companies. We ARE, however, in favor of strong environmental standards and believe most M-U companies already achieve them! However, ESG programs and certifications are here, likely to stay, and Marcellus/Utica drillers and pipeline companies (and the companies servicing them) must play the game if they want to sell natural gas. MDN’s good friend Joe Barone from ShaleDirectories.com is hosting an ESG-focused conference on Friday, March 25, at the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, OH. The conference is called the Utica Green Upstream & Midstream Conference. If you’re serious about ESG–investigating it, considering it, maybe even wanting to push your own ESG efforts forward–this is the conference for you to attend.
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Glimmer of Hope for Utica Drilling in Northeastern Ohio

Eastern OH counties

Aubrey McClendon, then-CEO of Chesapeake Energy, was the first major shale driller to recognize the promise of the Utica Shale play in Ohio (see Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon Talks to Jim Cramer About the Utica Shale in Eastern Ohio). He once famously said the Utica is “the biggest thing to hit Ohio since the plow.” While McClendon rightly deserves credit for launching the development of the Utica, he guessed wrong on the best places to drill in the Utica.
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NEXUS, Rover Pipes Lose Court Case to Lower Ohio Tax Bill

Last December both Rover Pipeline and NEXUS Pipeline, two large Utica-gas pipelines traversing Ohio, appealed their property tax valuations to the Ohio Dept. of Taxation, looking to trim their tax bills in Stark County by up to 50% (see NEXUS and Rover Pipes Ask Stark County, OH for BIG Tax Cut). In July, Ohio’s Tax Commissioner denied the two pipelines’ request. Rover and NEXUS together are projected to be on the hook for $20 million in taxes in Stark County–just for last year!
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NEXUS and Rover Pipes Ask Stark County, OH for BIG Tax Cut

One of the selling points to make big interstate pipeline projects more palatable to the general public, at least in Ohio, has been the fact they pay annual property taxes. We can tell you from personal experience that a small pipeline in the Town of Windsor (NY, yes! NY) has meant lower property tax bills for MDN editor Jim Willis. Two very large pipeline projects in Ohio, Rover and NEXUS, are asking Stark County to reduce their assessments so they can pay less in taxes–up to 50% less.
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EnerVest Still Owns 7K Wells, 1.1 Million Acres in Ohio

It’s been some time since we’ve checked in on EnerVest, a private equity firm that owns a lot of acreage and wells (most of them conventional) in the Marcellus/Utica region. We spotted an update on the company’s holdings given by Steve Downey, EnerVest’s vice president of business development. Steve also happens to be president of the Ohio Oil & Gas Association (OOGA).
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Encino Establishes Utica HQ in Stark County – Now Hiring

Last November Encino Acquisition Partners (i.e. Encino Energy) completed its purchase of all of Chesapeake Energy’s Ohio Utica Shale assets for $2 billion (see Stop Press: Chesapeake Sells ALL of its Ohio Utica Assets for $2B). Since that time, we’ve had a number of inquiries from readers asking, will Encino pick up where Chessy left off and maybe expand Ohio drilling?
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12 Landowner Lawsuits Filed Against NEXUS, Contractor in Ohio

A lawyer representing 12 Ohio landowners has filed separate lawsuits on behalf of each landowner against NEXUS Pipeline and a contractor NEXUS used to build the pipleline–Michels Corp. The lawyer says he plans to file more lawsuits in the coming weeks. According to the attorney, the lawsuits aim to hold NEXUS and Michels “accountable for specific damages they’ve caused,” and to prevent future pipeline builders from “trampling on the rights of property owners.” The charges vary, but include allegations of pumping water and silt onto farms without permission from the owners, destroying topsoil and crops (without compensation), failure to repair damaged drain tiles, and more.
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Shell PA Cracker Already Attracting New Factories…to Ohio

Stark County, OH

The Stark County (OH) Economic Development Board has landed what is hopefully the first (of many) tenants from the plastics manufacturing industry. IML Containers was looking for a spot to locate a new plant near one of their big customers, Land O’Lakes (has a facility in Cleveland). Stark County offered a small tax break, and the big advantage of being close to the under-construction Shell ethane cracker in Beaver County, PA. It’s also close to a likely second cracker plant in Belmont County, OH. IML makes plastic shipping containers for Land O’Lakes, and plans to set up “research and development, die cutting, molding, production and warehousing for packaging use with a variety of food products” at their Stark facility. IML is beginning now, at a temporary location (70 new jobs!) and will build a new plant in the next two years. In addition to a cheap source of plastics from the crackers, another advantage is being located within a six-hour drive of most of IML’s North American customers…
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Crude Oil Truck Drivers Needed in Ohio Utica

While the Marcellus Shale play is mostly about natural gas, with some natural gas liquids in the southwestern part of the play, the Utica play in Ohio is a different story. Yes, a lot of natgas and NGLs get produced in the Utica, but the Utica also has a lot of oil coming out of the ground. Crude oil. Straight from the Utica/Point Pleasant rock layer. Something that hadn’t dawned on us (until now) is this question: How do Utica drillers get their crude to refineries? With natgas and even NGLs, it’s done mostly via pipelines. When’s the last time you heard about a “gathering pipeline” running to a well pad for crude oil? Yeah, never. So how do drillers get all that oil to refineries? They truck it. Another interesting factoid: those Pilot Flying J truck stops don’t only sell refined petroleum (diesel) to truckers, some of those operations also truck raw crude to refineries. The Pilot Flying J in Canton, OH is one such operation–and they currently have a shortage of truck drivers to haul Utica crude. It’s a “trucker’s market” right now. If you have a Class A commercial driver’s license with Hazmat (hazardous materials) and tanker endorsements, Flying J wants to talk to you, stat…
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Stark County, OH Farmer Sues NEXUS Pipeline for Erosion Damage

The NEXUS Pipeline project, owned by DTE Energy and Spectra Energy (Enbridge), is being sued by a farmer in Stark County, OH. NEXUS is a $2 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that runs from Ohio through Michigan and eventually to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada. The Stark County farmer signed an easement with NEXUS in 2016. Construction began earlier this year. In late March, a lawyer hired by the farmer sent NEXUS a letter telling the company of erosion at the farm, due to their digging activities. The farmer estimated about $23,000 of damage at the time. But, according to the lawsuit, NEXUS didn’t fix the problem and that led to more damage–now up to $55,000 worth. The problem is that topsoil on the farm has been washed away. The farmer wants it replaced. If true, it certainly seems like a reasonable request to us. The farmer isn’t demanding millions of dollars, just the cost to replace soil swept away by NEXUS-related digging…
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Shale Brewing Opens Brewpub Near Canton, OH

In December MDN told you about a small-but-growing brewery in Canton, OH started by shale co-workers who had “a passion for easy drinking brews” (see Ohio Utica Gives Rise to…Beer?! Introducing Shale Brewing Co.). The Shale Brewing Company produces microbrews with names like “Cold Rolled Ale” and “Roughneck Red.” How cool is that? We reported in January that the company has continued to grow their distribution network as far away as the PA and WV border (see Ohio Utica Shale Beer Expands Distribution to WV, PA). We’ve heard that if you look hard enough, you might even find a bottle Shale Brewing beer in Pittsburgh. We’re hoping Roughneck Red will become the official beer of MDN. Shale Brewing is on the grow again. The brewery has relocated from downtown Canton to nearby Jackson Township, and last night debuted a new brewpub with nine (!) beers on draft…
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Ohio EPA Continues to Target Rover Pipe in New FERC Letter

When will Captain Craig “Ahab” Butler, executive director of the Ohio EPA, realize he’s never going to harpoon his great white whale–Rover Pipeline? Captain Butler is at it again. The Ohio EPA filed a letter with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) last week claiming that testing done by OEPA found the presence of very low levels of the toxic chemical tetrachloroethene at Rover’s underground drilling site at the Tuscarawas River in southern Stark County. OEPA admits they can’t prove the very low levels of the compound actually came from Rover’s drilling activity–but hey, what’s proof got to do with it? Un-coincidentally, two Democrat members of Congress, one from New Jersey, the other from Washington State (one 560 miles away from Ohio, the other 2,400 miles away from Ohio) are asking FERC for a “briefing” on the Rover Pipeline project. Apparently OEPA couldn’t get any Ohio members of Congress to step up and pressure FERC, so OEPA went shopping for sympathetic Dems in other states who would. And oh, by the way, the Dems want (i.e. demand) their “briefing” no later than Feb. 28th…
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Ohio Utica Shale Beer Expands Distribution to WV, PA

In December MDN told you about a small-but-growing brewery in Canton, OH started by shale co-workers who had “a passion for easy drinking brews” (see Ohio Utica Gives Rise to…Beer?! Introducing Shale Brewing Co.). The Shale Brewing Company produces microbrews with names like “Cold Rolled Ale” and “Roughneck Red.” How cool is that?! You can add two more new beers to the Shale Brewing lineup: Coffee Cream Stout and Deep Driller Porter (we love the creativity of these guys). The company now has 150 accounts and distributes their beer as far away as the PA and WV border. We understand if you look hard enough, you might even find a bottle in Pittsburgh. We’re hoping Roughneck Red will become the official beer of MDN ;-). Here’s an update on Shale Brewing and their continuing expansion…
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