Statewide OH

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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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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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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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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Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Taxation

OH Republicans Set to Cave on High Drilling Tax
December 20, 2012December 20, 2012

Are Ohio Republicans about to cave on supporting the dreadfully awful idea of high severance taxes on shale drilling in order to “spread the wealth around” by transferring that money into a fund to allow a state income tax cut? Sadly, it seems the answer is “yes.”

Yesterday at a press conference, Ohio House Speaker Bill Batchelder (Republican from Medina) said he thinks Republicans will support a higher severance tax once their palms are greased with pork projects they understand more about it.

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Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio | Rhino Resource Partners | Statewide OH

Gulfport Adds Another 30K Utica Net Acres, Pays $10K/Acre
December 18, 2012December 18, 2012

Gulfport Energy announced yesterday they have purchased another 30,000 Utica Shale acres in eastern Ohio for $300 million—or $10,000 per acre. That brings Gulfport’s grand total to 137,000 gross Utica Shale acres (99,000 net acres). Gulfport bought the acreage from its Utica Shale joint venture partner Wexford Capital. Perhaps a better way of phrasing it: Gulfport increased its ownership interest in acreage in which they’ve already invested.

Gulfport and Wexford, along with Rhino Resources, have previously invested in both two and three-way Utica Shale jv’s together (see this MDN story). So far, Gulfport has drilled the top producing wells in Ohio (see this MDN story for the secret to their success).

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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Ohio | Statewide OH

Chesapeake Admits Misjudging Ohio Utica Sweet Spot
December 14, 2012December 14, 2012

The Utica Shale is still in its infancy and drillers are still trying to get a fix on the “sweet spots” that will produce the most natural gas, gas liquids and even oil. Rendering an opinion on the best places to drill can be a career-ender, like it was for one long-time ODNR employee (see this MDN story).

Chesapeake was the early mover in Ohio’s Utica Shale, and it’s still the biggest driller in Ohio. However, we have an interesting admission from Chesapeake this week: They’ve misjudged the “emerging fairway” of the Utica in Ohio. While Chesapeake is concentrating most of their drilling in Carroll and Columbiana counties in the northern part of the state, Gulfport has drilled the four highest-producing wells in the Utica in counties to the south.

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Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Public Opinion | Statewide OH | Taxation

OH Poll Shows Support for Higher Drilling Tax is Slipping
December 14, 2012December 14, 2012

A new Quinnipiac University Poll shows a majority of Ohioans continue to support a higher severance tax (what they term a “new tax” when asking the question) on the shale drilling industry—especially if it would cut their income taxes. But the simple headline does not reveal the whole picture.

When you look at the internals of the poll (full copy of the questions and results is embedded below), you find that (a) support for the tax is slipping, and (b) it’s Ohio Democrats who support the tax in large numbers, while Republicans only tip to the support side when it comes to the question of lowering income taxes.

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Accidents | Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH

PUCO Fines Dominion East Ohio $500K for Pipeline Accident
December 14, 2012December 14, 2012

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) has fined Dominion East Ohio $500,000 over a natural gas explosion and fire at a pipeline regulator station in January 2011 in Fairport Harbor, Ohio. The resulting fires severely damaged 11 homes and another 150 homes required repair or maintenance of their gas-powered appliances because of the mishap.

From the PUCO press release:

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Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio | Regulation | Statewide OH

Ohio Dems Accuse Gov. Kasich of Hypocrisy on “Foreign” Workers
December 14, 2012December 14, 2012

Ohio Democrat politicians, like Ohio Gov. John Kasich (a Republican) want to limit the number of “foreigners” working in the oil and gas fields of the state. Foreigners means hard-working, experienced oilfield workers from Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma (traditional oil and gas states).

Ohio Dems think Kasich is not doing enough to keep them thar darned foreigners out:

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Energy Services | Halliburton | Industrywide Issues | Muskingum County | Ohio | Statewide OH | Supply Chain

Small Businesses Learn about Selling to Utica Shale Drillers
December 13, 2012December 13, 2012

Do you work for or own a company interested in providing products or services to the drilling industry industry in eastern Ohio—specifically in and around Muskingum County? People in your shoes attended an Oil & Gas Seminar at the Muskingum County Business Incubator yesterday and heard about how to start selling to the industry.

Some sage advice for businesses wanting to sell into the industry from Halliburton Procurement Manager Daniel Etter:

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Energy Companies | Guernsey County | Ohio | PDC Energy | PDC Mountaineer | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

PDC Energy: Production from 1st Utica Well, 2013 Forecast
December 12, 2012December 12, 2012

PDC Energy issued their 2013 forecast yesterday, along with an impressive production report on their first Utica Shale well, drilled in Guernsey County, OH. They plan to spend $53 million next year to drill and complete five horizontal Utica Shale wells in Ohio. Part of that budget will also be spent on additional acreage to lease—acreage contiguous to their existing leased acreage. (Landowners who are not yet leased, here’s an opportunity for you.)

PDC also has a joint venture in the Marcellus Shale and plans to allocate $48 million for its 50% share toward drilling and completing 14 wells and certain midstream infrastructure projects (pipelines/processing) .

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