Pennsylvania

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2014 Ben Franklin Shale Gas Contest – $100K in Cash Prizes!
November 7, 2013November 7, 2013

Calling all researchers, entrepreneurs and innovators working in the shale gas space in PA or WV: The Ben Franklin Shale Gas Innovation and Commercialization Center (SGICC) is back with another contest, this time with $100,000 in cash prizes to split between the four best shale gas-oriented innovations/new products/new service ideas. The “new” thing must be in development stage or recently launched to qualify. The 2014 contest will be the third year running that the SGICC has held this contest and is the largest purse so far (for the 2013 winners, see: Envelope Please: Winners of Shale Gas Innovation Contest are…).

On a personal note, MDN editor Jim Willis had the opportunity to meet Bill Hall, director of the SGICC at Shale Insight in September in Philadelphia. Bill helms a terrific organization and this contest, over the past several years, has done fabulous work in helping to shine a spotlight on worthy, up-and-coming businesses that have gone on to make a difference in shale drilling in the northeast and beyond. Think of the SGICC contest as a cross between Shark Tank and American Idol–only a whole lot easier! Here’s the details for this year’s contest…
Read More “2014 Ben Franklin Shale Gas Contest – $100K in Cash Prizes!”
Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Washington County

PA Judge Forces Range, Contractors to Provide Chemical List
November 6, 2013November 6, 2013

Three families who live near a drill site/frack wastewater impoundment (“pond”) in Cecil Township, PA have a long-running (since May 2012) lawsuit against Range Resources claiming Range’s drilling and wastewater impoundment has contaminated their well water. The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) investigated and found no contamination. Even the federal EPA looked at it last year and never filed any violation notices–meaning they didn’t find anything either (see EPA Investigating Range Drill Site in Western PA).

However, the families maintain they have been harmed by toxic chemicals used during drilling, and so a judge has ordered Range and all of their subcontractors to provide a list of every conceivable chemical compound used at the site since 2009–right down to the kind of oil used in the engines of vehicles visiting the site–and she’s giving them 30 days to do it…
Read More “PA Judge Forces Range, Contractors to Provide Chemical List”
Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County | Talisman Energy

Talisman 3Q13: Marcellus Production Up 4%, Avg 443 Mmcf/d
November 6, 2013November 6, 2013

Talisman Energy released their third quarter financial and operations update today. Talisman, a Canadian company, is a major driller in the Marcellus Shale, among other plays both here and around the world. In this update, Talisman CEO Hal Kvisle gives a big thumbs up to the Marcellus. In his opening remarks he comments: “We are achieving excellent results in the Marcellus, sustaining gas production rates through production optimization and a modest drilling program.”

In this really, really, really long 3Q13 update, Talisman says both production and cash flow are up company-wide for the quarter, and drilling costs are down. We’ve extracted out the information from the update on Talisman’s Marcellus drilling program, which is really, really short–but enlightening nonetheless:
Read More “Talisman 3Q13: Marcellus Production Up 4%, Avg 443 Mmcf/d”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Soil | Statewide PA | Wastewater

MSC/PIOGA Team Up to Study Radiation in Shale Drilling
November 5, 2013November 5, 2013

In January 2013, MDN brought you the news that the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) was launching a 12-14 month study of radiation in shale drilling (see PA DEP Announces New Study of Radiation in Shale Drilling).

Yesterday the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) and the Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association (PIOGA) announced a joint effort to conduct their own study of radiation in shale drilling. The two organizations say their study will “complement” the study now being done by the DEP. Yesterday’s announcement raises some important questions:

Read More “MSC/PIOGA Team Up to Study Radiation in Shale Drilling”
Accidents | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Wastewater | XTO

PA AG Pressures Judge to Step Aside in XTO Spill Case
November 5, 2013November 5, 2013

A quick update on the political persecution being shamefully conducted by Pennsylvania’s new Attorney General Kathleen Kane against XTO Energy (see PA AG Abuses Her Authority, Files Criminal Charges Against XTO). Kane is attempting to turn a 3 year-old accidental spill into a criminal case–beyond imagination.

Kane continues to abuse her power. She has pressured the judge who would have heard the XTO case to recuse himself because he has a share/interest in a gas lease. The judge’s lease is not with XTO, but that’s not good enough for anti-drilling Kane. She wanted him gone–so he’s gone…
Read More “PA AG Pressures Judge to Step Aside in XTO Spill Case”
Carrizo Oil & Gas | Energy Companies | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Utica Shale

Carrizo Down on Marcellus, Up on Utica and Other Wet/Oil Plays
November 5, 2013November 5, 2013

Carrizo Oil & Gas is a driller in both the Marcellus and Utica Shale, as well as several other non-northeast shale plays. Carrizo released their third quarter operations and financial update yesterday. Although Carrizo’s current drilling program is focused primarily in the Eagle Ford and the Niobrara, they continue to drill in the Marcellus (some). In 3Q13 Carrizo picked up an additional 5,900 net acres in the Utica Shale, increasing their acreage in the Utica to 21,700.

Carrizo isn’t so happy with the Marcellus right now because of low commodity prices for dry gas (methane). They’re more happy with the Utica because of wet gas production. Below are select (brief) sections from yesterday’s update relevant to the Marcellus/Utica:
Read More “Carrizo Down on Marcellus, Up on Utica and Other Wet/Oil Plays”
Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Southwestern Energy | Statewide PA

Southwestern 3Q13: Marcellus Production Doubled from Last Year
November 5, 2013November 5, 2013

Last week Southwestern Energy released their third quarter operations and financial update. Southwestern is a large and important driller in the Marcellus Shale–particularly in northeastern Pennsylvania. They also have an active drilling program in several other shale plays. In the Marcellus, Southwestern’s production shot up 196% (nearly doubled!) over the same time last year. They now produce 600 million cubic feet per day (Mmcf/d) and predict they will be producing over 1 billion cubic feet per day by the end of 2015.

Here’s the beginning portion of the Southwestern update from last week, which includes details about their Marcellus drilling program:
Read More “Southwestern 3Q13: Marcellus Production Doubled from Last Year”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

AP Apparatchik Attacks PA Republicans over NatGas
November 4, 2013November 4, 2013

The Pennsylvania Democrat Party, using their wholly-owned subsidiary–The Associated Press–issued the following piece of undisguised propaganda aimed at unsettling PA voters this week. It is a skewed bag of half-truths and lies aimed at smearing Gov. Tom Corbett and PA’s elected Republicans, implying they are in the back pocket of “big gas.”

However, the only thing that’s “big gas” is what’s blowing out the Democrat/AP press machine…
Read More “AP Apparatchik Attacks PA Republicans over NatGas”
Beaver County | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell

Rumor Mill: PA Ethane Cracker Plant on Shell Chopping Block?
November 1, 2013November 1, 2013

On an analyst call yesterday, Shell’s outgoing CEO Peter Voser stoked fears that Shell may be ready to pull the plug on the announced ethane cracker plant planned for Monaca, PA. According to Voser, the company will make “hard choices” over the next few quarters about which projects it will fund and build. Specifically, Voser said the company had previously announced three big projects: the ethane cracker in PA, a gas-to-liquids plant in Louisiana, and an LNG plant in Canada. He said Shell cannot build all three projects. Gulp.

Voser’s comments have led to speculation that the ethane cracker plant in PA will get the ax, especially with two ethane pipelines coming online by the end of this year, and two more mixed NGL pipelines coming online in the next few years (see our companion story today, “Midstream Knife Fight”). Just last week we highlighted a story from the Wall Street Journal and industry analyst Rusty Braziel which also cast doubt on the PA cracker plant (see WSJ Says PA Cracker Plant May Not Happen After All). Are things going south–literally and figuratively–for the Shell cracker? Yesterday’s comments from Voser:
Read More “Rumor Mill: PA Ethane Cracker Plant on Shell Chopping Block?”
Allegheny County | Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania

PA Anti-Drillers Shove Their Children Before the Microphones
November 1, 2013November 1, 2013

Whether or not drilling under county parks is a good idea or not, we’ll leave for another post. We’re not at all concerned about safety or pollution–it’s safe and it doesn’t pollute. It’s just a PR headache, though, to keep pushing the boulder uphill all the time–fighting rank ignorance and outright lies. At any rate, such proposals do exist including a proposal to drill under some of the parks in Allegheny County, PA (Pittsburgh area). The energy company in question, Huntley & Huntley, has floated a proposal to county officials. They want to drill under, not on, the parks–drill under them from adjacent non-park land.

Well known anti-driller PA State Sen. Jim Ferlo convened a *@#!%-fest to complain about it. Nothing new there. What caught our eye about meeting, however, is the shameless way some anti-drillers use their own children as props–like pushing an 8 year-old in front of the cameras and microphones after filling her head with lies about how drilling will poison precious Mother Earth. It was on full display at yesterday’s Ferlo’s Follies…
Read More “PA Anti-Drillers Shove Their Children Before the Microphones”
About MDN | MDN Sponsor | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Deadline Approaching for 2013 Northeast Oil & Gas Awards
November 1, 2013November 1, 2013

Calling all energy-related companies in the Marcellus/Utica Shale. The Oil & Gas Awards invite you to submit (or be submitted) for recognition in one of 25 different categories. Marcellus Drilling News is pleased to partner with the Oil & Gas Awards to promote their annual, regional events. Specifically, we’re currently promoting the 2013 Northeast Oil & Gas Awards (entries due by Nov. 29, 2013).

The Oil & Gas Awards announcement, with details on how to enter:
Read More “Deadline Approaching for 2013 Northeast Oil & Gas Awards”
Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Statewide PA

Range Resources 3Q13 Investor Call: Bull’s-eye in the Marcellus
October 31, 2013October 31, 2013

Range Resources, the very first driller to sink a well into the Marcellus, is also perhaps the biggest cheerleader and booster of the Marcellus. And why not? The Marcellus has been very good to Range.

Most of Range Resources’ wells and acreage is located in southwestern PA, in the “wet gas” area of the play. On a call with analysts yesterday discussing third quarter results, Range officials, including CEO Jeff Ventura, effused about the Marcellus, saying Range has enough acreage and opportunity in the Marcellus to allow them to continue drilling new wells for at least another 20 years. That is, they’ve hit the bull’s-eye (our words) in the Marcellus…
Read More “Range Resources 3Q13 Investor Call: Bull’s-eye in the Marcellus”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Centre County | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines

Deniers Would Rather Penn State Keep Burning Coal than Use NatGas
October 31, 2013October 31, 2013

Witnessing the psychology of those who are anti-drilling, and the reasons for being anti-drilling, is instructive. Some people are honestly afraid that fracking and an increased use of natural gas will lead to an environmental holocaust. We’ll call them lazily ignorant. They don’t bother to investigate or think through the information being spoon fed to them with a critical, logical mind. They just accept the fantastical yarns they hear as the truth. Then there are the true believer fanatics who have gone on over the edge, believing mythical “renewables” can power the planet–now–if only we had the political spine to man-up and change. Bring back the horse and buggies! We’ll call them dangerously stupid.

Regardless of whether you’re lazily ignorant or dangerously stupid (i.e. regardless of why you believe), what you believe does matter. Case in point: A “few dozen” residents and students who live near Penn State in State College, PA want the university to forget about their plan to convert their electric generation plant from being powered by coal to being powered by cheaper, clean-burning natural gas…
Read More “Deniers Would Rather Penn State Keep Burning Coal than Use NatGas”
Access Midstream Partners | Cardinal Gas Services | Economic Impact | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | Utica East Ohio Midstream | West Virginia

Access Midstream Will Invest $3.8B in Marcellus/Utica by End 2015
October 31, 2013October 31, 2013

Access Midstream Partners is heavily involved with the pipeline/processing plant infrastructure buildout happening in both the Marcellus and Utica Shale region. Access is the lead company in the joint venture known as Cardinal Gas Services (the other partners being TOTAL and EnerVest), and an important partner in Utica East Ohio Buckeye (along with M3 Midstream and EnerVest). According to Access CEO Mike Stice on an investors call yesterday, his company’s total investment in the Marcellus Shale by the end of 2015 will be $1.8 billion, and the total investment in the Utica will be $2 billion.

A combined $3.8 billion investment in the northeast spanning 2012-2015–from one company. Simply astonishing! Here’s a few highlights from Stice’s talk yesterday…
Read More “Access Midstream Will Invest $3.8B in Marcellus/Utica by End 2015”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

PA Anti-Driller Claims She was Disrespected at County Meeeting
October 31, 2013October 31, 2013

A few days ago MDN told you about Susquehanna County, PA’s minor anti-fracking celebrity Vera Scoggins (see NE PA Anti-Driller Slapped with Trespassing Injunction). We’ve recounted a number of instances of Vera’s bad behavior. Being slapped with a court order hasn’t slowed her down. Vera showed up at the recent Susquehanna County Commissioner’s meeting to continue her antics.

The following story is self-explanatory. Here’s the real laugh line: Vera says she was disrespected at the meeting! That’s after she refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance…
Read More “PA Anti-Driller Claims She was Disrespected at County Meeeting”
Energy Companies | Ethane | Exporting | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | NGLs | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Range Resources Corp | Statewide PA | Washington County

Range Resources’ Top 10 Wet Gas Wells, New Company Presentation
October 30, 2013October 30, 2013

Yesterday Range Resources released their financial and operations update for third quarter 2013 (see our companion story from today). Nestled in that update is reference to a new company presentation released yesterday as well, available on the Range website. MDN downloaded it (full copy embedded below) and wow! What a presentation it is. This sucker is loaded with useful charts, maps, bullet points and more. Range has done the industry (and their investors) a great service with this presentation.

Below we will highlight some of our favorite “don’t miss it” slides from the presentation, so you know which ones to zero in on right away. However, the one slide many will want to view first is the list of Range’s Top 10 Liquids Rich (“wet gas”) wells. That slide lists the wells and their locations (hint: they’re all found in a single PA county), initial production levels, production mix (how much oil, NGLs, gas), lateral length, and number of frac stages. With lots of maps and lots of charts, here are some of our favorites, including the Top 10 Wells slide:
Read More “Range Resources’ Top 10 Wet Gas Wells, New Company Presentation”