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Sale of Rockdale PA Assets to Repsol Closes – $220M Cash, $2M Debt
In September MDN broke the news that Rockdale Marcellus had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania (see NEPA Driller Rockdale Marcellus Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy). Earlier this month we told you that Repsol had won an auction to buy the assets for $220 million in cash, plus the assumption of $2 million in debt owed to trade creditors (see Repsol Buys Rockdale PA Assets Out of Bankruptcy for $222M). The deal was sealed yesterday. Repsol now owns Rockdale’s 66 producing wells on 42,897 net acres in three northeast PA counties producing ~110 Mmcf/d (million cubic feet per day).
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Last week 18 permits were issued to drill new shale wells in the Marcellus/Utica, down from 24 the week before. Pennsylvania had the most new permits with 12, mostly in the northeastern part of the state in Lycoming and Susquehanna counties. Ohio had four permits evenly divided between Columbiana and Harrison counties. West Virginia had just two lonely permits, one in Lewis and one in Wetzel counties.
In September MDN broke the news that Rockdale Marcellus had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania (see 
A sad exclusive to share with you today. Yesterday northeast Pennsylvania driller Rockdale Marcellus filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. The company, which owns and operates 66 producing wells on 42,897 net acres in three northeast PA counties (regional headquarters in Pittsburgh) plans to auction off all of its assets according to paperwork filed with the court.
A recently published book that attempts to show fracking in Lycoming County, PA area in the worst possible light, along with a section excerpted from the book running in the New York Times, once again reopens an old case that accuses Range Resources of ruining the water supply for several homes near a fracked well drilled by Range. In 2011 Range drilled and fracked the Harman Lewis Unit 1H well along Green Valley Road in Hughesville, PA. Following an investigation, the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) slapped Range with a record $8.9 million fine in June 2015, accusing the company of faulty casing in its well, leading to methane migration that had contaminated several area water wells (see 
Seneca Resources, the drilling arm of utility giant National Fuel Gas Company, is conducting its first experiment with electric fracking. We’re aware of at least three other Marcellus/Utica drillers that currently use electric fracking: Range Resources, CNX Resources, and Olympus Energy (former Huntley & Huntley). Seneca, like Range, will use U.S. Well Services to provide e-fracking. Seneca is conducting a field trial for a 6-well pad in Lycoming County, PA.