Pennsylvania

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    Eclipse Buys 44.5K “Core” Utica Acres for $93.7M…in Central PA!

    Eclipse Resources, a Marcellus/Utica pure play driller headquartered in State College, PA, drills almost exclusively in the Ohio Utica. That is, until now! Yesterday Eclipse announced it has purchased 44,500 acres of oil and gas leases and producing wells in Tioga and Potter counties in north central Pennsylvania for $93.7 million–which works out to be ~$1,900/acre (very low cost). The aim of the purchase is to drill in the Pennsylvania Utica Shale. For the past few years MDN has heard about/highlighted stories of drillers going after the Utica Shale in PA–particularly in Tioga County (see Another Impressive Utica Well Pops Up…in Pennsylvania!). Eclipse cut a deal to buy the land and wells from Travis Peak Resources. We wrote about Travis Peak in December 2015 (see The 411 on New Driller Firing Up Rig in Tioga County, PA). Travis Peak, based in Austin, TX, was founded in November 2013 by a group of experienced guys who previously worked for companies like Amoco, Exxon, Pioneer Natural Resources and Newfield Exploration. A small company consisting of industry pros with financial backing from EnCap Investments. The best part of this deal for Eclipse? No money changed hands. Eclipse issued shares of stock in the company in return for picking up the acreage/wells. Also part of yesterday’s announcement by Eclipse is that they have picked up “outstanding equity interests” in small Marcellus/Utica pipeline company Cardinal Holdings–paying $18.3 million in cash. We have the full announcement below, a copy of the Eclipse presentation with lots of pretty maps and charts, and commentary about the Eclipse purchase…
    Read More “Eclipse Buys 44.5K “Core” Utica Acres for $93.7M…in Central PA!”

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    Banpu/Kalnin Buys 5,289 Ac & 35 Wells in NEPA Marcellus for $105M

    Banpu Pcl, Thailand’s largest coal producer, in cooperation with their American-based partner Kalnin Ventures, has just snapped up their sixth piece of the Marcellus Shale–once again in northeast Pennsylvania. Kalnin announced this morning they have cut a deal, using $105 million of Banpu’s money, to buy an unspecified amount of Marcellus acreage and 35 producing shale wells in Wyoming County, PA from Warren Resources. Based on a previous Kalnin story, yesterday’s announcement, and the Warren Resources website, MDN believes the total acreage involved is 5,289 net acres (6,982 gross). Which doesn’t seem like much. But you have to view the purchase in context. That $105 million paid is mostly for the producing 35 wells (roughly $3M per well). Plus, the acreage is no doubt adjacent to previous acreage and wells Kalnin/Banpu bought in Wyoming County back in May (see Thai Company Banpu Invests in Another 34 Marcellus Wells in NEPA). It was just last week we spotted and highlighted a story that quotes Banpu’s CEO Somruedee Chaimongkol as saying her company is considering “putting more money on top of the $500 million” already committed for shale gas purchases in the Marcellus (see Thailand’s Banpu Looking to Invest More Money in NEPA Marcellus). The “considering” period didn’t last long! This sixth investment now puts Banpu’s investment stake in the NEPA Marcellus at $522 million, with no end in sight…
    Read More “Banpu/Kalnin Buys 5,289 Ac & 35 Wells in NEPA Marcellus for $105M”

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    Cabot O&G Asks Judge to Make Dimock Anti Pay for Extortion, Slander

    Cabot Oil & Gas is tired of being sued, and slandered, by people like Dimock resident Ray Kemble and his ambulance-chasing lawyers. So in August Cabot sued back–for $5 million (see Cabot O&G Countersues Dimock Anti, Lawyers). Kemble lives in Dimock Township, in Susquehanna County, PA. Kemble and other families claimed Cabot’s drilling in the area (10 years ago) caused problems with their water wells–a claim strongly refuted by Cabot.
    Read More “Cabot O&G Asks Judge to Make Dimock Anti Pay for Extortion, Slander”

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    Plum, PA Passes Ordinance to Allow Fracking – Antis Livid

    In October, local officials in Plum, PA (Allegheny County) approved a plan by Huntley & Huntley (H&H) to drill a series of Marcellus wells on a single well pad in their municipality (see Plum, PA Gives Huntley & Huntley Green Light for Shale Drilling). Plum’s leaders got blowback from some residents (antis) over their decision to conditionally approve H&H’s request. In Plum, fracking is allowed in any zone if a conditional use is granted. That’s what happened in October–the Plum Council issued a conditional use exception for H&H to drill on 92 acres near Coxcomb Hill Road in Plum. To avoid dealing with more such conditional cases, Plum Council cooked up proposed changes to zoning ordinances (ordinances which haven’t been updated since 1993) that will only allow fracking in rural residential and industrial zones (see Plum, PA Officials Hold Hearing on New Restrictions for Fracking). At the time, H&H said the changes would be too restrictive. However, they appear to have adopted the “half a loaf is better than no loaf” philosophy, opting to support the new rules. Yesterday Plum Council moved ahead and adopted the new rules. Antis blew a gasket. They think the new rules are still too lenient because it allows drilling in rural residential areas. One mouthy anti planted herself in front of the microphone yesterday and refused to move, threatening to sue everyone and everything related to the vote “if my family, my property, myself is damaged in any way.” Whatever. Here’s what went down yesterday in Plum…
    Read More “Plum, PA Passes Ordinance to Allow Fracking – Antis Livid”

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    Post-Gazette Editors Show Total Ignorance re Severance Tax

    The lefty propagandists, who refer to themselves as “editors” of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, are at it again. Last Friday they ran an editorial calling out State Rep. Eli Evankovich, a Republican from Murrysville, saying he should be “ashamed of himself.” Why? Did he secretly use false personas of his own constituents to attack the oil and gas industry? No, that was State Rep. Jesse White, whom the Post-Gazette “editors” were strangely silent about (see PA Rep. White Says Fake IDs were “Error in Judgment”). Rep. Evankovich’s transgression is that he offered an amendment to the insane severance tax bill being considered in the PA House, HB 1401. Evankovich’s amendment would require natural gas utilities to add a line item in the gas bill consumers get in the mail each month. The line would have the names of the governor and the local representatives who voted for the severance tax, along with the portion of the gas bill that goes to pay for the tax. Heresy! Off with his head! You NEVER actually tell the hoi polloi, the common people, the truth! That’s just not done. And so the editors of the Post-Gazette want to shame (better yet vote out of office) Evankovich for daring to throw this disgusting tax–all of which will go to Philadelphia teachers to repay them for voting for Wolf–right back in their leftist faces. Unfortunately Evankovich’s amendment was voted down…
    Read More “Post-Gazette Editors Show Total Ignorance re Severance Tax”

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    PA Severance Tax Bill Continues to be Blocked by Republicans

    Did you know there is major news this week about the proposed Pennsylvania severance tax bill, House Bill (HB) 1401? No, you won’t read anything about what has happened with the bill this week, since the return of the PA House, in mainstream media. Why? Because mainstream media refuses to actually report news any more. They only pedal advocacy. HB 1401 continues to be blocked by courageous House Republicans, even though a variety of amendments have been raised and there was more floor debate on the bill–this week. The bill’s failure to garner a vote and the increasing likelihood it won’t, doesn’t fit mainstream media’s “this tax is inevitable” narrative. Go ahead–do a news search. Nothing in the Harrisburg Patriot-News (the “record” of what happens in the state legislature). Nothing in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, a reliable anti-drilling screed. Nothing in the Philadelphia Inquirer (is Andrew Maykuth on vacation?). And yet, there IS major news! The only source we could find to inform us of what’s happening is the leftist, Big Green former Secretary of the state Dept. of Environmental Protection, writing on a blog site. Our hat is off to David Hess for his willingness to do the job no one else will do, bringing us the blow by blow of what’s happening with HB 1401…
    Read More “PA Severance Tax Bill Continues to be Blocked by Republicans”

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    Report: PA Natural Gas Production Hits All-Time High in 3Q17

    It continues to be a banner year for natural gas production in Pennsylvania, going by the latest quarterly production report. Yesterday, the PA Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) released their latest quarterly Natural Gas Production Report for Jul-Sep 2017 (full copy below). It shows natgas production rose 4.8% compared to the same period last year. It also shows the number of producing wells is up 9.3% from last year. Total natural gas production volume was 1,326.2 billion cubic feet (Bcf) and the number of producing wells in 3Q17 was 8,073. The biggest news is that 3Q17 saw the highest quarterly production of natural gas in the state–ever. The previous quarterly report had been the highest ever until this report came out (see PA 2Q NatGas Production Report – Another New Record). The #1 county for natgas production in 3Q17 was, as it was was in 2Q17, Susquehanna County. The #1 producing driller in Susquehanna County is Cabot. As we pointed out in our remarks with the last quarterly report, you might say–with some justification–that the success of Cabot’s drilling program in Susquehanna County has translated into huge success for all of Pennsylvania. Let’s dive into the full report…
    Read More “Report: PA Natural Gas Production Hits All-Time High in 3Q17”

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    Antis Target PA Gov Wolf Aide as Payback, Husband Works for EQT

    We find this particularly loathsome. A Big Green supporter and far-left radical environmentalist who lives in Chester County, PA, Caroline Hughes, has filed a complaint with the Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission against PA Gov. Tom Wolf’s deputy chief of staff, Yesenia Bane. The complaint is a ginned up allegation that Bane “was regularly involved in meetings and travel related to her husband’s natural gas industry clients.” The so-called evidence comes from a copy of Bane’s travel schedule in 2016. She attended various shale meetings and conferences, on behalf of Gov. Wolf, and because she did so, Ms. Hughes would like to see Ms. Bane lose her job. Nice people those antis. Hughes makes the baseless charge that because Bane attended meetings where Bane’s husband, first a lobbyist for the shale industry and now an employee of EQT, had clients, her mere presence at such meetings constitutes a “conflict of interest.” Why? Because Bane’s presence somehow “benefits” her husband and his business. There’s no allegation of back room dealings or financial benefit from those meetings. No. Just a wild accusation, targeting someone because her husband has the gall to work for the shale industry. But that’s not all. Ms. Bane had the gall to remove a anti-pipeline radical from the Wolf Pipeline Task Force back in 2015. That little episode is mentioned in the same Big Green story as the charge that Bane had a conflict of interest. In other words, the conflict of interest charge is a ruse. This is payback for Bane’s action in removing the anti from the Task Force…
    Read More “Antis Target PA Gov Wolf Aide as Payback, Husband Works for EQT”

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    PA DEP Issues Air Permit for Gas-fired Elec Plant Next to Pot Farm

    In early October MDN told you about a second Marcellus gas-fired electric generating plant being planned for Greene County, PA (see 2nd Marcellus-Fired Electric Plant Proposed for Greene County, PA). Hill Top Energy Center, based in Huntington Bay, N.Y., is planning to build a 620 megawatt plant (original story had it wrong, saying 536 MW) on 41 acres of land off Thomas Road in Cumberland Township. The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) held a public hearing in early November about the project. Only 20 people turned up and nobody objected. Last Friday the DEP issued an air quality permit for the project–the last major hurdle before the project can begin. In press coverage of the permit and the project advancing, we discovered one piece of new information: The plant will be built next door to a “medical marijuana operation”–i.e., a pot growing farm. Well now that’s interesting! Workers at the new electric plant can slip out the back door on break and roll a joint for later…
    Read More “PA DEP Issues Air Permit for Gas-fired Elec Plant Next to Pot Farm”

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    Thailand’s Banpu Looking to Invest More Money in NEPA Marcellus

    Over the past year and a half Banpu Pcl, Thailand’s largest coal producer, in cooperation with American-based partner Kalnin Ventures, has snapped up some 55,000 acres and 355 shale wells–in the northeast Pennsylvania Marcellus (see our Banpu stories here). At first we thought Kalnin was simply the “front man” for Banpu. It’s Banpu’s money buying the leases and the wells, so we figured Kalnin was just an American subsidiary on paper for Banpu. But it turns out the truth is more nuanced (see A Closer Look at Kalnin Ventures and Their Marcellus Investments). Kalnin is its own company. Yes, Banpu is the funder, but Kalnin is in the driver’s seat with these Marcellus deals. Regardless of who’s on top, the Banpu/Kalnin team have become important players in the Pennsylvania Marcellus–in the northeast part of the play. Banpu originally promised to invest up to $500 million in Marcellus assets and has spent $417 million on Marcellus assets thus far. Apparently they like those investments. Yesterday Banpu CEO Somruedee Chaimongkol said the company is considering “putting more money on top of the $500 million” in shale gas. Specifically, she said the company will invest in the northeast PA Marcellus because, “It is the sweetest spot for shale gas.” She also said she likes President Trump’s energy policies that are “favourable to coal and natural gas”…
    Read More “Thailand’s Banpu Looking to Invest More Money in NEPA Marcellus”

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    UGI Pipeline to Feed Scranton NatGas-Fired Power Plant “On Track”

    Invenergy is currently building a state-of-the-art, combined cycle 1,480 megawatt Marcellus-fired electric generating plant in Jessup, PA, just outside Scranton. Construction on the plant–called the Lackawanna Energy Center–has been under way for well over a year now. Some 1,200 people are currently working at the site. MDN previously reported that Cabot Oil & Gas with their prolific Susquehanna County production will feed the plant (see Cabot Cuts Deal to Supply PA’s Largest NatGas-Fired Electric Plant). We also reported that two different companies are building pipelines to supply Cabot’s gas to the plant–UGI and Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline (see UGI to Feed Jessup, PA Electric Plant with Marcellus Shale Gas and NEPA Pipeline for Power Plant Gets Positive FERC Assessment). We have a pipeline update. Work on UGI’s pipeline began in May and is close to being done…
    Read More “UGI Pipeline to Feed Scranton NatGas-Fired Power Plant “On Track””

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    PA Radicals Sue to Stop $1.1B in DCNR Funding from Gas Leases

    In June, radical anti-drillers from the Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Foundation won a case at the PA Supreme Court by the skin of their teeth (PA Supreme Court Hands Antis Partial Victory re State Land Drilling). The case dealt with the narrow issue of how PA can spend revenue raised by leasing and allowing drilling for oil and gas under state-owned land. A divided court ruled that money from royalties must be used only for Big Green causes, and cannot be used even to fund operations at the Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). The decision was based, in part, on PA’s so-called Environmental Rights Amendment, “guaranteeing” the “right” to “clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment”–without defining how those “rights” are to be administered. The radical lawyer who won the case then attempted to use that narrow decision–in a case about funding the DCNR–to make the preposterous claim that PA’s state budget, as drafted, is “unconstitutional” (see Lawyer Says PA Budget Unconstitutional Based on Enviro Rights Law). The same radicals are back making the same wild claims–putting $1.1 billion in DCNR funding at risk…
    Read More “PA Radicals Sue to Stop $1.1B in DCNR Funding from Gas Leases”

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    PA DEP Fines Cabot $99K for Paperwork Violations, Air Emissions

    The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) is picking on Cabot Oil & Gas–or more properly, shaking them down for some cash. Yesterday the DEP announced it had reached an “agreement” with Cabot whereby Cabot will pay the DEP $99,000 “for air quality violations related to equipment at natural gas wells throughout Susquehanna County.” But that’s not all, Cabot failed to file some paperwork–a far more egregious violation for the DEP: “Cabot failed to submit complete compliance demonstration reports for 20 gas wells.” Bad, bad Cabot. Here’s news of the DEP’s latest shakedown of a company that has (so far) invested over $4.6 billion in a single northeast PA county…
    Read More “PA DEP Fines Cabot $99K for Paperwork Violations, Air Emissions”

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    DEP: No Contamination from 63K Gal. Inflection Energy Brine Spill

    Around 63,000 gallons of treated brine (naturally occurring, very “salty” water that comes out of a well long after it’s drilled) spilled in an accident at an Inflection Energy well pad in Eldred Township, Lycoming County, PA in mid-November (see 63K Gal. Brine Spill at Inflection Well Pad in Lycoming County). Inflection blamed a contractor and operator error for the spill, which happened after an already-full tank was overfilled. Some of the brine reached a nearby unnamed creek that flows into the Loyalsock Creek. In a followup to that story, tests done since the spill on eight private water wells close to the Inflection well pad show no contamination. Zero. We’re still waiting on test results for four other wells. The tanks holding the brine (that overflowed) have been removed from the well pad. No contamination was found in the Loyalsock or in the Susquehanna River, which the Loyalsock empties into. It’s never a good thing to have a spill like this, but the good news is that there is no lasting environmental impact from it. Here’s an update on the November spill and its cleanup…
    Read More “DEP: No Contamination from 63K Gal. Inflection Energy Brine Spill”

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    15 of 23 Lancaster Pipeline Protesters Plead Guilty or No Contest

    In October MDN told you about 23 radicalized protesters who tried to block access to equipment being used to construct the Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline in Lancaster County, PA–on property owned by a sect of Catholic nuns whom we call Sisters of the Corn (see Lancaster Pipeline Protesters ‘Do the Hokey Pokey’ & Get Arrested). The protesters began singing the Hokey Pokey as they waited to turn themselves around into a set of handcuffs. The 23 finally got their day in court yesterday (the wheels of justice grind slowly). Out of the 23 arrested, 13 pleaded “no contest”–which means they neither dispute nor admit they committed a crime. The 13 were sentenced to pay a $100 fine (not nearly enough) and perform 10 hours of community service (not nearly enough). It was a slap on the wrist. Of the 23, another 2 pleaded guilty and have entered a “first time offenders” program which means after they pay a fine and perform community service, the charges will get dropped–as if they never committed the crime they did commit. Which leaves the final 7, who all entered a plea of “not guilty” with the stated purpose of holding a show trial where they can bleat and blat and carry on for the media. So said the clattering Malinda Clatterbuck, one of the organizers of the illegal protest. If they are found guilty, they can be sentenced to one year in jail and a $2,500 fine. Below we have all of the names of the criminals (and alleged criminals), minus one name withheld because a parent actually dragged his or her 16 year-old to the protest. That case is in juvie court…
    Read More “15 of 23 Lancaster Pipeline Protesters Plead Guilty or No Contest”

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    Cool Charts: Top 20 Marcellus Drillers, Top 20 Utica Drillers, More

    Important Correction: Although the data, charts and graphs shared by MDN below did not originate with MDN, we should have noticed a glaring error. Production numbers for Antero Resources for the Marcellus were not included! (Antero numbers in the Utica were included.) Antero’s drilling and production is prolific in the Marcellus–easily putting Antero in the top 3 or 4 for production in the Marcellus. We regret the error in not noticing and calling attention to this whopping oversight sooner. – Jim Willis, 12/14/17

    Hart Energy publishes an excellent magazine called Exploration & Production (E&P). A recent article published on the E&P website reports on rising production of natural gas in both the Marcellus and Utica Shale plays. As MDN has continued to report month after month with the release of each monthly EIA Drilling Productivity Report, our region consistently hits new production records (see EIA Nov ’17 Drilling Report: Record-Breaking Year-End on the Way). The E&P article recounts some of those EIA record-breaking stats, and then inserts a series of charts that we found extremely interesting and useful–because they convey so much information in a visual, fast way. Below are those charts. When you look at the Top 20 Marcellus Operators by production, you will immediately notice that the three largest producers (Chesapeake, Cabot Oil & Gas, and Southwestern Energy) take up nearly half the pie–and those three have wells almost exclusively in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania (Chessy and Southwestern have some wells in other parts of the state). What’s even more mind blowing: Cabot’s massive production at #2 in the Marcellus (just barely behind Chesapeake) all comes from a single, northeastern county: Susquehanna County, PA. Enjoy this visual feast…
    Read More “Cool Charts: Top 20 Marcellus Drillers, Top 20 Utica Drillers, More”