Intrepid Utica Shale reporter Bob Downing from the Akron Beacon Journal attended the Ohio Oil and Gas Association (OOGA) annual winter meeting in Columbus last week. Bob filed the following list of “leftover items”—interesting tidbits—from that meeting, including the identity of the first company that will abandon the Utica:
Read More “First Driller to Abandon the Utica Shale & Other Tidbits”
An article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer provides an update on what’s happening “behind the scenes” when it comes to Ohio’s proposed budget. In particular, it provides a glimpse of something you don’t often hear about: “blunt” conversations that happen in the hallways of the State Capitol.
The article tells about conversations state representative Mike Foley, a Cleveland Democrat, has had with some oil & gas industry people about his support for Gov. John Kasich’s proposed severance tax increase:
Read More “Industry to OH: Raise Severance Tax, Forget About New Refineries”
Two days ago the Federal Reserve released their bi-monthly survey of regional economic trends, called “the Beige Book.” One of the stars in the current edition of the Beige Book (full copy embedded below) is the Marcellus and Utica Shale. Shale drilling is mentioned prominently for Region III (Philadelphia) and Region IV (Cleveland).
According to the Fed, shale drilling is expanding rapidly, and along with it an increase in banking, manufacturing and other sectors. Sort of “a rising tide raises all boats” theme.
Read More “Latest Fed Beige Book Credits Shale with Economic Expansion”
It appears Ohio Republicans have grown a backbone and are opposing the plan by Gov. John Kasich to raise the oil and gas severance tax in the state in order to transfer wealth from landowners and drillers (the ones who earn it) to everyone else (who don’t earn it). At a meeting yesterday of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association, Ohio State Treasurer Josh Mandel said he opposes the governor’s plan to raise the severance tax. Later in the day, Ohio House Speaker Bill Batchelder also piled on and predicted the tax hike will not pass in this year’s budget.
True to form, a Kasich spokesman said “big oil is a powerful lobby with very deep pockets,” implying Mandel, Batchelder and other Republicans are either scared, have been bought off, or both. Whatever happened to John Kasich, once a rising conservative star? That John is long gone…
Read More “Prominent OH Republicans Oppose Kasich Severance Tax Hike”
The BP-Husky Refinery, a 94 year-old oil and gasoline refinery in Oregon, OH (near Toledo), showed off a $400 million upgrade yesterday. The new upgrade took two years and 1,500 short-term workers to complete and will make the refinery more efficient, less polluting and enable it to refine better grades of gasoline.
The interesting part for MDN readers: Right now the refinery gets most of its crude oil from Canada, but new sources of crude are starting to flow from Ohio itself, as well as Pennsylvania and West Virginia—from the Utica and Marcellus Shale. The upgraded refinery has more flexibility to process different types of crude, including Ohio crude…
Read More “BP Refinery Near Toledo Gets Upgrade, Anticipates OH Crude”
As we’ve been hearing for some time now, midstream (pipelines and processing plants) will be the dominant theme and focus of the Marcellus and Utica Shale for 2013 and likely beyond. A lot of wells have been and continue to be drilled in the Utica and Marcellus. Those wells now require pipelines to carry the gas and gas liquids to market, and processing plants to get the gas and gas liquids ready for market. MarkWest Energy is one of the midstream companies answering the call.
MarkWest plans to invest $1.8 billion in new infrastructure this year in the Utica Shale region, after investing nearly $2 billion last year:
Read More “MarkWest’s Multi-Billion Dollar Investment in Utica/Marcellus”
In September of last year, EV Energy Partners/EnerVest put 539,000 Ohio Utica Shale acres on the auction block, thinking they would get around $6 billion for it (see EnerVest Puts 539,000 Utica Shale Acres on Auction Block). In November, the company said they should complete the sale of the Utica acreage by the end of 2012 (see EV Energy Selling 539K Utica Shale Acres by Dec 31). That turned out to be a tad optimistic. EnerVest still does not have a deal for their Utica acreage.
An update on the company’s strategy from EV Energy Partners Chairman John Walker and EnerVest President Mark Houser, from Friday’s analyst call:
Read More “EnerVest Strategy: Sell Utica, Drill Vertical, Expand Midstream”
Wednesday was the conclusion of the two-day 2nd Utica Shale Development & Growth Forum in Columbus, Ohio. MDN Editor Jim Willis moderated a panel of shale industry media reporters. It was fun! (See my presentation slides below.) We also heard speakers from MarkWest, Penn State’s Marcellus Center, and from Cabot Oil & Gas. Jim’s conference notes from Day 2, including a slip about new numbers coming Gulfport in the Utica…
Read More “Live from Columbus, OH… Utica Shale Confab – Day 2”
MDN editor Jim Willis is in Columbus, Ohio attending the 2nd Utica Shale Development & Growth Forum. Jim is moderating a panel today (Wednesday) called “Utica from the Media’s Perspective.” On the panel with me are Bob Downing, staff writer with the Akron Beacon Journal, Rick Stouffer, editor of Platts Gas Business Briefing, and Peter Behr, reporter with EnergyWire. All top notch writers from premier publications. I feel honored to sit on a panel with them!
Yesterday (Tuesday) was the first day of the main program and speakers tackled the Utica Shale from their unique perspectives. We heard from the relatively new Access Midstream (formerly Chesapeake Midstream); a geologist; Blue Racer Midstream; and an economist who is head of the Ohio State University’s Sub Surface Energy Resource Center (“Utica Shale Center” for short). Since most MDN readers couldn’t be here, I took good notes to pass along. Below are highlights and interesting tidbits from Day One…
Read More “Live from Columbus, OH… Utica Shale Confab – Day 1”
If you ever (logically) thought a piece of legislation that’s meant to be a budget would only deal with money issues, you would be wrong. Budget laws for decades have been used to slip in all sorts of non-money-related measures. This year’s Ohio budget is no different. Tucked away in the proposed budget law from Gov. John Kasich are a number of non-budget items that directly affect Utica Shale drilling in Ohio. The measures include a ban on using brine as a de-icer on public roads, moving from yearly to quarterly production reports, lease transfer 30-day notifications, a $25,000 impact fee on each well drilled (surprise!), and testing of shale cuttings for radioactivity. And you thought budgets were just boring numbers.
Here’s the low-down on the non-budget items in the budget bill that will impact Utica drilling in a big way:
Read More “OH Budget Bill Hits Utica Drilling with $25K/Well Impact Fee”
Law firm Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff LLP (offices in Columbus and Cleveland) has just published a quarterly summary close-up on the Ohio Utica Shale for fourth quarter 2012. It’s full of interesting highlights and bits and bobs you’ve already read on MDN. However, the report pulls a lot of overview material together in an easy to scan format—and it’s just 12 pages (full report embedded below).
The report opens with what it considers the top issues and useful information. It then highlights some of the major industry moves, looks at the midstream and infrastructure projects, government regulation, and closes with training programs available to help those who want jobs in the gas and oil fields. A nice report—worth your time to review it.
Read More “Law Firm Publishes Handy Utica Highlights Report for 4Q12”
Estimating that it will recover 5 to 10 billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalents from each well drilled in the Ohio Utica Shale, Chesapeake Energy says they still love the Ohio Utica Shale, even if oil isn’t a big part of the picture.
Chesapeake held an earnings call yesterday to discuss 2012 numbers with analysts. Akron Beacon Journal reporter Bob Downing listened in:
Read More “Chesapeake Still Loves the OH Utica Shale – 2012 Year in Review”
Last month MDN released Volume 3 of the Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook. We predicted something in the ‘Drilling Update’ section that Databook readers have now known for a month—that Pennsylvania would hit the 2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas production milestone for 2012. The exact quote from the Databook, published at the end of January: “Pennsylvania, which just passed 1 trillion cubic feet of shale natural gas production in 2011, will double that and hit 2 trillion cubic feet of production for 2012. In addition, we believe Ohio’s Utica Shale will achieve 67 billion cubic feet of production for 2012.” We also predicted: “WV will likely double production again, so we’re estimating they will show an increase to 455 bcf for 2012.” (Databook Volume 3, page 10)
We don’t yet have 2012 final numbers for OH and WV, but our prediction for PA was spot on and is now verified by the latest reports just released by the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection:
Read More “MDN Calls It: PA Hits 2 Trillion in NatGas Production in 2012”
A feud that stretches back to June 2011 between shale wastewater treatment company Patriot Water Treatment of Warren, Ohio and the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources continues.
The latest skirmish in what has become a legal battle is over the ODNR’s order to D&L Energy to stop shipping wastewater to Patriot’s Warren plant:
Read More “Patriot Water in Warren, OH Objects to ODNR Directive”
MarkWest Utica, a joint venture between MarkWest and EMG, announced today that they’ve signed up Rex Energy to provide pipeline gathering and processing services for Rex’s Utica Shale wells. Yesterday MDN told you about Rex’s big plans for the Marcellus and Utica Shale region (see Rex Energy Plans to Invest $200M on Marcellus/Utica Drilling in 2013). If you do a lot of new drilling, you’re going to need a way to get the gas to market. That’s what this deal does.
MarkWest says when their construction is done in 2014 they will have the largest processing and fractionation capacity in the entire Utica Shale. Here’s today’s announcement about their deal with Rex:
Read More “MarkWest Does Midstream Deal with Rex Energy in Utica Shale”
Rex Energy is planning to invest nearly $200 million on shale drilling in the Marcellus and Utica Shale in 2013. Around $107 million of that will be allocated for drilling in the Marcellus, in the Butler County, PA area, and about $85 million will be spent on Utica Shale drilling in Ohio. See a Rex presentation embedded below for full details of their 2013 drilling plans.
Here’s a rundown of their plans for Ohio’s Utica Shale from the Energy in Depth – Ohio website:
Read More “Rex Energy Plans to Invest $200M on Marcellus/Utica Drilling in 2013”