Statewide OH 122 - Marcellus Drilling News

New Study Predicts 65K Jobs in Ohio by 2014 from Utica Shale

February 29, 2012February 29, 2012

The Ohio Shale Coalition released a new economic study yesterday prepared researchers from Cleveland State University, Ohio State University and Marietta College. The study projects annual production of oil and gas from the Utica Shale in the state will reach $9.6 billion by 2014 along with an eye-popping 65,000+ jobs. And those jobs will have an average salary of more than $50,000 per year, adding an additional $3.3 billion in labor income in the state. Both a high level overview and a copy of the full 81-page report are embedded below. (MDN is honored to have scored a few mentions in the “News Articles and Web Sources” section of the study.)

MDN particularly likes this graphic from page 39 showing net acreage leaseholds held by drilling companies:

Congressional Hearing: Shale Energy a “Game Changer” for Small Biz

February 28, 2012February 28, 2012

Dennis Heller is a small business owner—president and CEO of Stephenson Equipment in Harrisburg, PA. Stephenson Equipment employs 120 people selling and renting construction equipment and crane services, parts, and operator training at seven locations in Pennsylvania and New York. Heller recently testified at a U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee Energy & Mineral Resources Subcommittee field hearing in Steubenville, Ohio, on the impact of shale energy development and what it means for small businesses (a copy of his testimony is embedded below).

ATEX Express Ethane Pipeline Hits Potential Snag in Ohio

February 27, 2012February 27, 2012

Enterprise Products Partners recently announced a 1,230 mile ethane pipeline from Pennsylvania to the Gulf Coast (see this MDN story). Dubbed the ATEX Express (Appalachia to Texas), the proposed pipeline includes building 353 miles of new pipeline through Ohio. But the Ohio stretch of construction has hit a potential snag.

Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) officials say Enterprise must get their approval before building it, but Enterprise disputes the OPSB has the authority to oversee construction the ATEX Express in the state. The dispute hinges on whether the natural gas liquid ethane that will flow through the pipeline is a liquid or a gas. Ethane under pressure is a liquid, but when it hits the air, it turns into a gas.

Kinder Morgan Officially Cancels OH NGL Pipeline Project

February 20, 2012February 20, 2012

MDN speculated a few weeks ago that a proposed 240-mile pipeline Kinder Morgan planned to build from West Virginia to Toledo, OH was dead (see this MDN story). Kinder Morgan has now officially said just that:

OH Drilling Rigs Expected to Increase 300% in Next 5 Years

February 16, 2012February 16, 2012

The executive director of the Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Association, Rhonda Reda, predicts that oil and gas drilling rigs will increase 300% in the next five years, and those rigs will create new jobs to operate them:

Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Chesapeake Selling Assets to Concentrate on OH/Wet Gas

February 15, 2012February 15, 2012

for sale Under pressure from low commodity prices for natural gas causing a cash deficit for drilling, Chesapeake Energy is looking to sell off some of its oil and gas fields in Texas, Mexico and Oklahoma so it can continue to concentrate on drilling in eastern Ohio’s Utica Shale and other “wet gas” areas of the country.

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH

OH Attorney General Wants Drillers Who Pollute to Pay More

February 9, 2012February 9, 2012

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine (Republican) said yesterday he wants tougher penalties for Utica and Marcellus Shale drillers who “pollute.”

Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

OH Gov. Kasich Heckled by Anti-Drillers During Speech

February 8, 2012February 8, 2012

Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican in his first term in office, delivered the annual State of the State address yesterday. He chose to do it from the auditorium of a high-performing elementary school in Steubenville. During the 90-minute speech he was briefly interrupted by several hecklers until state troopers removed them from the room. Who were the bad actors? You guessed it—anti-drillers.

Waiting Game: Cracker Plants Talk to Property Owners

February 3, 2012February 3, 2012

West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio are all in the hunt to land an ethane cracker plant in their respective states (see the long list of MDN stories on a potential cracker plant in the Marcellus/Utica Shale region). According to WV Commerce Secretary Keith Burdette, Shell and another unnamed company are now in talks with private property owners. That is, the deals are now being negotiated, and it’s a waiting game to see the outcome.

All three states have offered huge tax incentives to land the plant. Shell originally set January for an announcement, but changed it a few weeks ago to be February.

Just What are Natural Gas Liquids Anyway?

January 31, 2012January 31, 2012

Increasingly, you will read on MDN and in press accounts about natural gas liquids (NGLs), and how major energy companies are now focused on drilling in the “liquids-rich” portion of the Marcellus and Utica Shales. The geography of where NGLs are found is typically western Pennsylvania, the West Virginia panhandle and eastern Ohio. But, just what are NGLs anyway? A helpful article on The Motley Fool website provides an excellent summary:

Kinder Morgan OH Marcellus Lateral Pipeline Project Dead?

January 30, 2012January 30, 2012

It looks like a $520 million Marcellus Lateral Project pipeline that Kinder Morgan wanted to build spanning 240 miles from the West Virginia panhandle to Toledo, Ohio, and the 2,500 jobs it would have provided, is dead.

Ohio vs. West Virginia in the Cracker Plant Sweepstakes

January 26, 2012January 26, 2012

West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio wait on pins and needles for Shell to announce which state they have chosen as a site to build a new $1.5-$2.0 billion ethane cracker plant, each of them looking for an edge to ensure their state is selected. WV Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin is flying to Houston this week to meet with representatives of Shell to make a personal pitch that West Virginia should be that place, with a promise of no property taxes on the plant for 25 years if they do so. Thing is, Ohio Gov. John Kasich has already been to Houston to pitch his state—two months ago. Does that give Ohio an edge?

Ohio Offers Shell Cracker Plant $1.4B in Tax Incentives

January 2, 2012January 2, 2012

moving mountains Competition to attract an ethane cracker plant is heating up. West Virginia has made no bones that they intend to be the winners of the investment that will be made to build an ethane cracker plant to be built by Shell. The plant will cost upward of $2 billion and will create thousands of jobs to build the plant, operate the plant, and just as importantly, in the industries that will locate near the plant once it’s operational. It’s an economic jackpot worth $5 billion or more, and those who are in the game to attract it are in it to win.

Chesapeake Investing in New 70-Mile Ohio Pipeline

December 23, 2011December 23, 2011

Chesapeake Energy, American Electric Power and Spectra Energy are joining forces to build 70 miles of new pipeline in Ohio that will connect Utica and Marcellus gas wells in eastern Ohio to Spectra’s Texas Eastern pipeline system, which runs from Texas to New York. The new joint project is called the Ohio Pipeline Energy Network (OPEN). The estimated cost for the project is $500 million according to Spectra Energy.

Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Regulation | Statewide OH

New Ohio Oil & Gas Drilling Rules Coming January 2012

December 21, 2011December 21, 2011

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) is finalizing new state oversight rules on well construction for oil and natural gas that it says will be among the toughest in the U.S. (a copy of the proposed new rules is embedded below). According to ODNR officials, the new rules do not specifically address hydraulic fracturing, although the new rules will apply to horizontally drilled and fracked wells as well as conventional vertical wells. New fracking rules, according to the ODNR, “will be addressed later.”

OH Gov Kasich’s Top Priority for 2012: Shale Gas

December 20, 2011December 20, 2011

In a year-end “media gathering” with Ohio Gov. John Kasich, the governor recounted his administration’s accomplishments for his first 12 months in office, and then he turned his sights on 2012. At the top of his agenda for next year? Drilling in the Marcellus and Utica Shales.