Butler County

Advanced Well Services | Butler County | Energy Services | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Supply Chain

PA “Snubbing” Company DWS Experiences Rapid Expansion
September 12, 2014September 12, 2014

What do you think of when you hear the word “snub”? We always thought it meant how Webster defines it: “to treat with contempt or neglect”. However, in the world of oil and gas drilling, to snub, or “snubbing” means something completely different. Deep Well Services (DWS) is the only “snubbing” oilfield services company located in Pennsylvania. With headquarters in Zelienople (Butler County), PA, the company has gone through a rapid expansion adding dozens of new employees over the past four months. So, what is snubbing and why should you care about it?…
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Butler County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Rex Energy

Rex Energy Chimes In on MarkWest Expansion Announcement
August 27, 2014August 27, 2014

Yesterday MDN told you the news that MarkWest Energy is building two additional natural gas processing plants at their Keystone processing complex in Butler County, PA–one for EdgeMarc Energy and the other for Rex Energy (see MarkWest Expanding Again in Butler County, PA with Rex & EdgeMarc). Today we bring you Rex Energy’s press release announcing the same news. We don’t detect any real new news in Rex’s version of the release, although there are a few additional details not found in the MarkWest release. We bring it to you because it’s always fascinating to us to see how different companies present news that highlights what they want it to highlight…
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Beaver County | Butler County | EdgeMarc Energy | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Rex Energy

MarkWest Expanding Again in Butler County, PA with Rex & EdgeMarc
August 26, 2014August 26, 2014

When you have a good thing going, like MarkWest Energy does with its Keystone processing complex in Butler County, PA, you keep growing it. And that’s just what MarkWest is doing. The company announced today they have a couple of new customers for the complex–Rex Energy and EdgeMarc Energy. The new customers will each get their own 200 million cubic feet per day (Mmcf/d) processing plants in the Bluestone facility–part of the Keystone complex that includes Bluestone and Sarsen facilities. In addition, MarkWest is also adding an additional 40,000 barrels per day (Bbl/d) of de-ethanization capacity and over 20,000 Bbl/d of additional propane and heavier NGL fractionation capacity. It means more capacity, more production, more money for landowners, and more major money will be invested in Butler County…
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Butler County | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Potter County | Rex Energy | Shell | Tioga County (PA) | Ultra Petroleum

After Selling 208K Marcellus Acres, Shell “Buys” 155K More Acres!
August 15, 2014August 15, 2014

In a seemingly strange twist, Shell has just picked up more Marcellus and Utica Shale acreage. Say what? Yesterday MDN told you that Rex Energy just bought 208,000 Marcellus acres from Shell in southwest Pennsylvania’s wet gas area (see Rex Energy Takes Shell to the Cleaners – Picks up 208K Acres). We pointed out that many majors like Shell seem to have a hard time turning a buck in American shale plays, and that Shell CEO Ben van van Beurden had warned of scaling back their shale operations. So what happened a day later? Shell further divested itself of both conventional and unconventional holdings–this time in Wyoming and Louisiana. As part of the same deal, the picked up new Marcellus acreage (155,000 acres) in Pennsylvania’s dry gas area. Let’s try to sort through these Shell gyrations…
Read More “After Selling 208K Marcellus Acres, Shell “Buys” 155K More Acres!”
Butler County | East Resources | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Rex Energy | Shell

Rex Energy Takes Shell to the Cleaners – Picks up 208K Acres
August 14, 2014August 14, 2014

What is it about the oil majors that they can’t seem to turn a profit in America’s shale plays? Somehow the smaller, leaner independents keep beating the majors, time and again. Latest example: Shell. In 2010, Shell paid a whopping $4.7 billion to buy East Resources (see East Resources Sells to Royal Dutch Shell for $4.7 Billion, Deal Includes All of East’s Marcellus Shale Operations). The deal included 650,000 acres of Marcellus Shale leases in PA, WV and NY. Shell is now starting to divest itself from that acreage. They just sold 208,000 acres in the Butler, PA area to Rex Energy for $120 million in cash. Talk about a fire sale! In very rough numbers, Rex just picked up nearly 1/3 of Shell’s acreage for chump change–for 2.5% of the money Shell paid back in 2010…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Butler County | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Rex Energy

Martians Still Trying to Invade Neighbors to Prevent Drilling
July 30, 2014July 30, 2014

Nasty, and frankly loony, anti-drillers in Mars, PA want to exceed their constitutional authority. They want a 2 mile exclusion zone around the school to deny landowners the right to allow Marcellus Shale drilling on or under their land. State law already prohibits drilling within 500 feet of a school. As we frequently point out, the Elk Lake School District in Susquehanna County, PA has a couple of wells right on school property (see Rural NE PA School Nets $1.7M in Royalties from 2 Marcellus Wells). The Elk Lake wells totally debunk any arguments from Mars parents that their little Martian crumb-crunchers would be damaged by drilling…
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Butler County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Reserves (Proved and Unproved) | Rex Energy

Rex Energy Proved Reserves Highest Yet: 1.1 Trillion Cubic Feet
July 23, 2014July 23, 2014

Mid-year is the time oil and gas companies post an update on their proved reserves. MDN has run a few articles over the past couple of weeks highlighting some of those announcements for Marcellus/Utica drillers (see Gastar Proved Reserves Up 43% – 3/4 of it in the Marcellus and Magnum Hunter Proved Reserves Up 10.7%, Marcellus/Utica Tops). We provided an EIA article that helps define what proved (and other types of) reserves are (see Defining Our Terms: Different Types of O&G Reserves). On Monday Rex Energy got in the act and released their mid-year update on proved reserves. The company reports reserves have hit their highest level ever, exceeding 1 trillion cubic feet…
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Butler County | Deep Well Services | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Supply Chain

PA Snubbing Company Expands by 50 Jobs in Just 3 Months
July 22, 2014July 22, 2014

Another supply chain success story: Thanks to the Marcellus and Utica Shale, the only “snubbing” company located in Pennsylvania, Deep Well Services (DWS), has hired 50 new workers since May. By the end of this month they’ll have 128 employees on the payroll–almost all of them in PA, WV and OH. That’s more than 100 jobs added since 2012–thanks to shale drilling. Oh! What’s “snubbing” you ask?…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Butler County | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Rex Energy

Martians Demand School Board Ban Fracking Outside its Own Orbit
July 17, 2014July 17, 2014

Turning down $1 million wasn’t enough for the lib anti-drilling parents in Mars (Butler County), PA. They continue to try and deny Rex Energy their lawful right to drill shale wells on non-school property 3/4 of a mile away (see Martians Threaten Lawsuit Against PA Town to Prevent Drilling). Meanwhile, the Elk Lake School District in Susquehanna County, PA has two wells drilled on school campus grounds–with no pollution or harm to the kiddies–and continues to rake in the dough (see Rural NE PA School Nets $1.7M in Royalties from 2 Marcellus Wells). Earth to Mars! Pull your heads out of the sand…
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Belmont County | Butler County | Carroll County | Energy Companies | Guernsey County | Noble County | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Rex Energy

Rex Energy Begins Selling Ethane; New Wells Go Online in June
July 8, 2014July 8, 2014

Rex Energy, the “little driller that could” and indeed “is” doing a marvelous job in the Marcellus Shale, issued an important update yesterday. Rex reports they began ethane sales on June 11–which was a little bit delayed from what they had expected. But better late than never. Rex projects selling 2,000-3,000 barrels per day of ethane until mid-July at which point more sources will come online. Once all cylinders are firing, the company expects to sell 5,000 barrels of ethane per day. In addition to the good ethane news, Rex recently brought a number of new Marcellus Shale wells online and expects to keep up a brisk pace this year…
Read More “Rex Energy Begins Selling Ethane; New Wells Go Online in June”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Butler County | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Rex Energy

Martians Threaten Lawsuit Against PA Town to Prevent Drilling
June 17, 2014June 17, 2014

For some time MDN has chronicled the liberal push-back from anti-drillers in the Mars School District in Butler County, PA. First we told you they need their heads examined after refusing a lease from Rex Energy that would have netted money “for the children” on the order of $1 million (see Earth to Mars (School District) – Time to Check into Funny Farm?). Then we told you that supervisors in Adams Township, where the Mars School District is located, wisely decided to not restrict drilling by Rex Energy on property near the school (see Adams Twp, PA Votes to NOT Block Drilling “Near” Mars School). Now the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) is saying it’s “not a given” that the agency will grant Rex a permit to drill on any property near the school…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Butler County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Rex Energy

Adams Twp, PA Votes to NOT Block Drilling “Near” Mars School
June 11, 2014June 11, 2014

Back in March, MDN questioned the sanity of the Mars School District school board (Butler County, PA) in turning down $1 million to lease 175 acres of school land for drilling (see Earth to Mars (School District) – Time to Check into Funny Farm?). The school board and a number of parents were against drilling close to the school. Unfortunately they also wanted to trample on the property rights of people living about a mile from the school. A group of areas residents tried to get the board of supervisors to prohibit drilling on the Bob and Kim Geyer property. Fortunately their anti-drilling efforts failed…
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Butler County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Rex Energy

MarkWest Beefs Up Bluestone Plant in NWPA – Mostly for Rex Energy
June 3, 2014June 3, 2014

Good news for drillers in northwestern Pennsylvania–particularly Rex Energy. MarkWest announced yesterday they doubled the processing capacity at their Bluestone plant in Butler County, PA. The Bluestone II plant is now online and operating and processing an additional 120 million cubic feet of gas per day. In addition to the new plant, MarkWest has added ethane and heavier fractionation capabilities to the original Bluestone plant–20,000 barrels per day. And they’ve completed a 32-mile ethane pipeline which connects to the Mariner West pipeline, flowing ethane all the way to Sarnia, Ontario…
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Butler County | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Rex Energy | Statewide PA

Rex Energy 1Q14: Record High Production, Stacked Plays & Long Laterals
May 2, 2014May 2, 2014

Rex Energy, our “little energy company that could (and is)” continues to chug along. And because of the Marcellus, Rex isn’t so little anymore. They release their first quarter operations and financial update earlier this week. The Rex update shows quarterly production has hit 122.2 MMcfe/d, a new record for the company. Rex is drilling stacked plays, targeting not only the Marcellus and Utica but the Upper Devonian layer too–and experimenting with different lateral lengths. Doing all the right things, and it’s paying off for Rex.

A a comprehensive update from the little energy company that’s doing it right…
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Butler County | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Rex Energy

Rex Predicts Record 1Q14 Production, Bank Floats Extra $50M
April 1, 2014April 1, 2014

Rex Energy’s banker apparently likes what it sees in the State College, PA-based Marcellus/Utica driller, so they’ve decided to raise Rex’s line of credit another $50 million (from $325 million to $350 million). And what’s not to like? Rex reported last week that they expect first quarter production to come in near the high end of their previous guidance numbers–close to the 118 million cubic feet per day number. Last week Rex also announced they’re adding a second drilling rig in their Butler, PA operation–and (most exciting to us) they’re drilling two stacked Upper Devonian Burkett/Marcellus tests in 2014, one of them with the new rig they’ve just added.

Here’s a pair of announcements from Rex, the operational update from last week and the good news from Rex’s banker from yesterday…
Read More “Rex Predicts Record 1Q14 Production, Bank Floats Extra $50M”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Butler County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Pennsylvania | Rex Energy

Earth to Mars (School District) – Time to Check into Funny Farm?
March 13, 2014March 13, 2014

We wonder what they teach at the Mars Area School District (Butler County, PA). One thing they don’t teach is logic and scientific inquiry. Probably too busy showing American Idol re-runs to the kiddies to bother with heftier education pursuits. How else can you explain a school board, and parents, who turn down $1 million+ to lease 175 acres of school land for shale drilling that would happen more than a mile below solid rock with no adverse affects and with no surface disturbances? We’d call it mass insanity (time to check into the local psychiatric hospital)–but that would be unkind.

Tuesday night the Mars Area School District school board voted 9-0 to reject an offer from Rex Energy to lease the school’s property, which sits next to private property Rex has already leased and will still drill on anyway. The Rex offer was $4,000 per acre up front as a signing bonus, and another $330,000 in advance royalties, for a grand total of $1 million. Drilling will go on all around the school, but those sharp-as-a-tack board members have now denied the children $1 million they could of had. Hey, it’s always for “the children,” right? Heartless board. The anti-drillers present for the vote were positively orgasmic that the school board voted it down unanimously. Go figure…
Read More “Earth to Mars (School District) – Time to Check into Funny Farm?”