Statewide OH

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    Spectra Energy Files Formal FERC Application for NEXUS Pipeline

    Pop the cork on the champagne bottle! Last Friday Spectra Energy and its partners filed their full, formal application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to get the federal agency’s approval for the NEXUS Gas Transmission pipeline project. The NEXUS is a $2 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that will run from Ohio through Michigan and eventually to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada. It is a critically needed pipeline to move Utica and Marcellus Shale gas from an over-saturated market in the northeast to markets in the Midwest and Canada. Below is the official good news press release from Spectra Energy announcing the filing…
    Read More “Spectra Energy Files Formal FERC Application for NEXUS Pipeline”

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    Antis Use Radiation Fears to Oppose Drilling in Wayne Natl Forest

    You just have to shake your head. We’ve heard just about every anti-drilling objection a thousand times before, but it never ceases to amaze us how objections get recycled. And every last one is a ruse–meant to distract from the real issue, which is anti-drillers believe in the global warming myth and THAT is the REAL reason they oppose drilling. They don’t/can’t object to drilling for reasons like fracking contaminates water supplies (it doesn’t), or because it causes earthquakes (it doesn’t), or because it releases enough radon to give you cancer (it doesn’t). That last one is the latest objection anti-drillers who live in or near the Wayne National Forest in Ohio are using to try and scare people into support a ban on fracking in the Forest. We’ve been hearing that canard since 2012 (see The Latest Anti-Drilling Scare Tactic: Radon in Shale Gas). The thing about radon, an isotope of radium, is that it’s naturally occurring and found just about everywhere in the northeast–and people aren’t dropping like flies. In fact, the U.S. Geological Survey did a study and found both methane and radon in the water supplies in Pike County, PA–where there IS NO shale drilling (see USGS Study: Pike County Water has Methane, Radon – No Drilling). How do you mitigate radon if you have it in your basement? You vent it to the air where it become inert! But facts haven’t stopped the nutters from coming out of the woodwork in Ohio to claim radium/radon is going to kill everyone if fracking is allowed in the Wayne National Forest…
    Read More “Antis Use Radiation Fears to Oppose Drilling in Wayne Natl Forest”

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    OH Grange Issues New Study, Supports NEXUS & Rover Pipelines

    The people who are most affected by pipelines being built across their property are farmers–that’s a fact. Farmers often have questions and concerns when a new pipeline project is proposed that will cross their land, rightfully so. They’re cautious, they’re careful, they have a vested interest in preserving their land. So it’s big news that the Ohio State Grange, part of the nation’s oldest national agricultural advocacy group, has endorsed both the Rover and NEXUS pipelines in the Buckeye State. Energy Transfer’s Rover is a big, $4.2 billion, 711-mile new pipeline project from the Midwest Hub near Defiance, OH to Livingston County, MI, connecting with the Vector pipeline. Spectra Energy’s NEXUS Gas Transmission pipeline project is a $2 billion pipeline that will carry Utica/Marcellus gas through OH, MI, and eventually connect to the Dawn Energy Hub in Canada. The Grange’s support of these two projects is a big deal. As part of their announcement, the Ohio Grange released a new report titled, “Natural Gas Pipeline Infrastructure and Its Impact on Michigan and Ohio Agriculture” (full copy below) which finds, among other things, that there is no SAFER way to transport natural gas than by underground pipeline…
    Read More “OH Grange Issues New Study, Supports NEXUS & Rover Pipelines”

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    Important New CSU Study Reveals Shale Supply Chain Opportunities

    We are SUPER excited about a new study dated September 2015 but released just yesterday by economists and researchers at Cleveland State University (CSU). The study, broken into three parts, looks at economic development opportunities offered by Ohio’s Utica Shale. One of the three parts is titled, “Economics of Utica Shale in Ohio: Supply Chain Analysis.” We eagerly goggled it up and found that the authors use charts very similar to those developed by MDN and our own Supply Chain Tutorial (see Where Does YOUR Business Fit in the Marcellus/Utica Supply Chain? [FREE]). We have a copy of all three sections of the new CSU study (below). We *highly recommend* this study as worth your while to digest. Before we developed our own Supply Chain Tutorial we had not seen anyone mapping NAICS codes to each stage of the drilling and midstream process. The CSU study adopts MDN’s convention of mapping NAICS codes and goes well beyond our tutorial, which is why we’re so excited. If you work for a company that wants to see if there may be an opportunity to win business in the Marcellus/Utica industry, plan to spend some time with this study!…
    Read More “Important New CSU Study Reveals Shale Supply Chain Opportunities”

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    Fall 2015 List of Shale-Related Infra Projects in OH – $33.7B!

    We’re excited to share with you an update to a report we LOVE. The sharp researchers at law firm Bricker & Eckler produce a twice yearly called “Shale Economic Development Overview.” It is a list of projects details, by county in Ohio, of those projects started or planned because of shale drilling. The Spring 2015 edition is embedded below. The first edition of this list was published in October 2013 and showed projects worth $12.2 billion. In October 2014 that number had risen to a staggering $21.5 billion. In the Spring 2015 edition, the total rose to $28 billion. This new edition for Fall 2015 shows a total investment in Ohio’s economy of a staggering $33.7 billion! The fact that investments in Ohio continue to increase is a testament to the fact that although drilling has greatly slowed, the midstream (pipelines and processing plants) have not…
    Read More “Fall 2015 List of Shale-Related Infra Projects in OH – $33.7B!”

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    Here Comes Another “National Day of Action” Against Fracking

    Get ready. Here it comes! Throngs of anti-drillers rising up to show their opposition to clean-burning natural gas. Break out the tie dye psychedelic shirts and hippie beads. It’s time to protest, maaan. Dig it! It’s like, whoa, tomorrow is “Freedom From Toxic Fracking Waste and Earthquakes: A National Day of Action.” Here’s our prediction: There will be two or three protest locations with about dozen people each–most of them hippie has-beens. Nobody outside of Democrat media will even notice the so-called protests. Below is the call to protest, naming the nutter groups behind it (the usual suspects)…
    Read More “Here Comes Another “National Day of Action” Against Fracking”

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    OH Supreme Court Sends Mixed Signal on “Home Rule” Issue

    Earlier this year the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in a very important court case that the “city” (of 5,000 people) of Monroe Falls could not layer on its own oil and gas regulations over top of state regulations, effectively preventing Beck Energy from drilling on a site in the city already properly permitted (see OH Supreme Court Strikes Down Home Rule in Gas Drilling Case). It was assumed that case would provide precedence and settle the issue once and for all that towns can’t simply pass their own zoning regulations in an attempt to prevent oil and gas drilling. But it appears the mind of the Supremes is far from being settled. Beck Energy, following that case, pressed their advantage and asked the court for an order that directs Monroe Falls to not use zoning ordinances “to prohibit drilling for oil and gas in 99.06 percent of the city’s territory.” On Tuesday the Supreme Court dismissed the request without comment, leaving everyone to wonder what they really intend. It appears to not be a good sign for the drilling industry in Ohio…
    Read More “OH Supreme Court Sends Mixed Signal on “Home Rule” Issue”

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    Rumor: Gulfport Energy Suspends Some (All?) Ohio Utica Drilling

    rumor-mill.jpgLast week Gulfport Energy released their third quarter 2015 financial and operations results (see today’s companion story). If you read the full update, you notice Gulfport is not taking delivery of a fifth Utica Shale drilling rig in early 2016 as previously planned–which connotes they will continue to operate the four rigs currently in operation now. But therein lies the rub. MDN received a tip last Thursday from a reader that said: “I received word last night that Gulfport Energy is going to suspend operations in Ohio until the END of 1Q 2016. This would also include their service provider company, Stingray, which just had approximately 150 layoffs already. This news should break today once they inform the employees of the ‘layoff’.” MDN has not seen nor heard anything in the news about Gulfport suspending all drilling operations. We did find mention from September that Stingray had filed a WARN notice they would be laying off 47 employees in Pennsylvania and Ohio. We’re not sure what to make of the rumor…
    Read More “Rumor: Gulfport Energy Suspends Some (All?) Ohio Utica Drilling”

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    Ohio Supreme Court Rules in Important Dormant Mineral Act Case

    For several years MDN has been telling you about a thorny legal issue in Ohio, bubbling in the background–the Dormant Mineral Act (DMA). In a nutshell, there are two DMAs in Ohio–one passed in 1989 that went into effect in 1992, and another in 2006 which added certain additional procedural requirements to the 1989 version. The DMA in its various versions provides for mineral rights that had previously been separated from surface rights to transfer to the surface owner under certain conditions. The problem for both drillers and for landowners in Ohio, is in knowing which set of DMA rules to use (1989 or 2006) in determining who owns the mineral rights. There are a dozen cases sitting before the Ohio Supreme Court dealing with the DMA. Last December we gave you a run-down on four of the most important DMA cases before the Supremes (see 4 Important Dormant Mineral Act Cases with OH Supreme Court). One of those cases, Chesapeake v. Buell, was decided last week. It has big implications for both drillers and mineral rights owners…
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    OH Landowners File Royalty Class Action Lawsuit Against Chesapeake

    lawsuitA group of Ohio landowners is doing what others have previously done in Pennsylvania, Texas and elsewhere–they’ve filed a proposed class action lawsuit against Chesapeake Energy claiming Chessy has screwed them and about 1,000 other Ohio landowners out of a collective $30 million in royalty payments. The lawsuit was filed last Monday in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court (copy embedded below) by an Akron, OH woman and the owners of two Columbiana County farms. In addition to Chesapeake, French company Total E&P USA, Pelican Energy LLC and Jamestown Resources LLC were also named in the lawsuit. The plaintiffs claim the only allowed deduction from royalties, according to signed leases, is for taxes–not for drilling expenses, not for post-production costs, etc. The lawyers filing the lawsuit figure there are at least 1,000 landowners with 40,000 acres who have been negatively affected by Chesapeake’s royalty shenanigans…
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    OH Pipeline Projects in 2016: $8B of Investment, $360M in Taxes!

    tax revenueIn a somewhat related story posted today, MDN tackles the thorny issue of taxing pipelines in Pennsylvania. As serendipity would have it, last week Energy in Depth posted an excellent article on the financial impact pipelines are having in Ohio. Would you believe it if we told you that not only will an astounding $8 billion be spent to build new pipelines in the Buckeye State in 2016, but also an estimated $360 million in ad valorem property taxes (taxes on pipelines) will roll in to local municipal coffers. Next year. And every year thereafter! Here’s the numbers broken down by who is doing the spending and paying the taxes, and which pipelines will generate the most economic activity in Ohio next year…
    Read More “OH Pipeline Projects in 2016: $8B of Investment, $360M in Taxes!”

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    Gateway Royalty’s Latest Appeal to Buy Eastern OH Royalty Rights

    good idea bad ideaIn March 2014 MDN alerted you to a pitch being made by Gateway Royalty to purchase royalty rights from landowners in eastern Ohio (see Company Targets OH Landowners – Buy Future Royalties for Cash Now). Gateway pays landowners a lump sum now in return for the right to receive that landowner’s future royalty payments for years to come. You (the landowner) get your money now, they (Gateway) get the money you would have gotten dribbled out over time. Of course the money you receive now is discounted and in all likelihood far less than you would have gotten if you had waited just a few years (the bulk of royalty payments come in the first four years). It’s a bit of a gamble by both parties because no one really knows how much a well will produce–nor what price the gas/oil will be sold for. Gateway is back with another appeal. We received the following email notice from an MDN subscriber, alerting us to Gateway’s renewed offer…
    Read More “Gateway Royalty’s Latest Appeal to Buy Eastern OH Royalty Rights”

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    Hess 3Q15: Utica is Now Just an Afterthought for Hess

    afterthoughtIt’s obvious that Hess has pretty much given up on its Utica Shale drilling program. Just last week we told you that Hess is shopping the rest of its remaining Utica acreage (see Hess Quietly Shops the Rest of Their Ohio Utica Acreage). In releasing their third quarter 2015 financial and operating update yesterday, we were interested to see what Hess was saying, on the record, about the Utica. We found four references in their extensive update, which we’ve extracted out below…
    Read More “Hess 3Q15: Utica is Now Just an Afterthought for Hess”

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    Donald Trump to John Kasich – Fracking Saved Ohio’s Economy!

    Trump - Kasich
    Credit: Columbus Dispatch

    Did you watch last night’s Republican presidential debate on CNBC? Confession: We did not. We kicked the TV habit long ago. However, this is one we wish we had seen! The news coverage today about last night’s debate is highly entertaining. In fact, fracking came up in the debate last night when Donald Trump spoke a little truth to RINO John Kasich–telling him fracking is the only thing that saved Ohio’s economy since Kasich became governor. By all accounts, the moderators didn’t even pretend to be impartial–all three are liberal Democrats and as the night wore on they lost control of the debate and took incoming fire themselves. One news report called last night’s debate a “cage match.” Wow! This story is a little off topic for MDN, but since fracking was raised as an issue, we’ll include some of the coverage we’ve seen about last night’s debate, for your reading pleasure…
    Read More “Donald Trump to John Kasich – Fracking Saved Ohio’s Economy!”

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    OH/MI Forms New Group to Support Rover & NEXUS Pipelines

    build the pipelineMay we paint with broad brush-strokes for a moment? It’s been our observation over the years that anti-drillers (and anti-pipeliners, and anti-fossil fuelers) are typically liberal Democrats who have bought into the notion that (a) mankind is catastrophically heating up ole Mother Earth, and (b) they (the lib Dems) are uniquely qualified to run your life for you by choosing your energy sources. They love to tell you how to live your life–i.e. deny you freedom to live your life they way you want to, including selecting your own energy sources. It’s also been our observation that many (not all, but many) of the most vocal antis are hippie retreads who haven’t been this jazzed about a “cause” since the end of the Vietnam war. Yes that’s a very broad generalization and not true in all circumstances–but it’s more true than not. On the other side of the isle, when we’ve attended meetings about fracking and pipelines and FERC scoping hearings–we’ve noticed landowners and small business owners and pro-drillers are the “gray heads with hats” and blue jeans in the crowd. Typically quiet. Perhaps a bit uncomfortable that they’re in the same room with a largely lawless bunch of mouthy antis. The antis tend to form all sorts of groups with innocuous sounding names (Riverkeeper, Mountainkeeper, Trout, Clean Air, Community Rights, etc.). Pro-drillers and landowners? They don’t form groups so much. They don’t protest so much. They’re too busy working their fingers to the bone–paying for the welfare state anti-drillers avail themselves of! So when a group of pro-energy people DO form a group–that’s news. Such a group has formed in Ohio and Michigan in order to support two much-needed pipeline projects–Energy Transfer’s Rover Pipeline and Spectra Energy’s NEXUS Pipeline…
    Read More “OH/MI Forms New Group to Support Rover & NEXUS Pipelines”

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    OH Informal Working Group Report: No High Severance Tax for Now

    no taxMDN told you back in April that OH Gov. John Kasich’s insistence that the state budget include a higher severance tax would not happen as part of the 2015 budget (see Celebrate! Ohio Severance Tax Increase Dead in 2015). We also told you about an informal “working group” of OH Senate and House members, called 2020 Tax Policy Study Commission, who are studying the possibility of a new severance tax sooner rather than later (see Ohio Legislators Continue Dalliance with Kasich Severance Tax). That informal group released their formal report last Thursday (full copy below). The members of the group recommend NO TAX AT THIS TIME and further study of the severance tax issue. Specifically, they said with the industry stressed the way it currently is now, you risk killing it if you slap on a high tax. Finally! Some common sense from Republicans in OH. Of course that didn’t sit well with liberal Republican Gov. Kasich who wants to transfer the wealth from one particular group of companies to a different group who haven’t earned it. Kasich sounds more like the commie-lib Bernie Sanders than he does a Reagan Republican, which is what he was elected as back in the day when he joined Congress during the Reagan revolution (we were there, we remember)…
    Read More “OH Informal Working Group Report: No High Severance Tax for Now”