Pennsylvania

Antero Resources | Energy Companies | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Antero Resources 3Q13: Stars Aligned, More Marcellus/Utica
November 8, 2013November 8, 2013

Antero Resources continues to focus on the Marcellus and increasingly the Utica Shale. Antero claims to be the most active driller in the Marcellus with 15 active drilling rigs–we don’t doubt it. Earlier this week as part of their third quarter update, Antero announced they will add a fifth drilling rig in the Ohio Utica where they’ve already drilled 12 wells (now online and producing) and with another 12 wells currently in process of being drilled. Antero loves the Utica.

The stars certainly seem to be in alignment for Antero. A month ago the company went public and their stock price soared (see Antero’s Stock Climbs 18% on First Day of Trading). The day the company went public it was valued at $11 billion. As of this morning, a month later, it’s worth $14 billion. Yow! Antero can also boast of having the Utica Shale’s #1 producing well (see Antero Resources Utica Well Produces Stratospheric 38.9 Mmcf/d). Lot’s of good things happening for Antero, especially in the Utica. Here’s what they say about the last 3 months, and what they think lies ahead…
Read More “Antero Resources 3Q13: Stars Aligned, More Marcellus/Utica”
Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA | Washington County

MarkWest Open Season for “Little” Ethane Pipeline
November 8, 2013November 8, 2013

MarkWest Energy yesterday announced an open season for a “little” ethane pipeline in Pennsylvania. The little pipeline, which we now have a name for–MarkWest Liberty Ethane Pipeline–will run from Majorsville, PA to Houston, PA, about 30 miles. It is a pipeline to other pipelines. The MarkWest plant in Houston will provide access for the incoming ethane to be pipelined out of the area via the Mariner West pipeline (to Sarnia, Canada, going operational later this month), the Mariner East pipeline to the Marcus Hook refinery near Philadelphia (not ready until 2015), and the ATEX ethane pipeline to the Gulf Coast (ready sometime in 1Q14).

The open season begins today and runs through Dec. 9th. The announcement from MarkWest, along an explanation from MDN about why this is important news:
Read More “MarkWest Open Season for “Little” Ethane Pipeline”
CNG/LNG | Industrywide Issues | NG Vehicles | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA DEP Sec. Abruzzo Announces Winners of $3M in CNG Grants
November 8, 2013November 8, 2013

Part of the Pennsylvania Act 13 law, passed in early 2012, is a provision called an “impact fee” collected from Marcellus drillers (ultimately from landowners, because fees and taxes are always passed down the line). The first year the fee was collected it brought in over $200 million. The so-called fee is really 60% fee and 40% tax, as we’ve written about many times before. Why? Because 60% of the money collected stays in the communities impacted by drilling–for use with first responders, roads, etc. The other 40% is what MDN calls “walking around money”–money that’s spent by politicians in Harrisburg to curry favor with voters (i.e. vote buying). A lot of that money goes to southeastern PA (Philly area) where there is no drilling–but such was the sleazy political price to be paid in order to pass the legislation. Yes it stinks–but it is what it is.

If there’s any good use for a teeny tiny sliver of the 40% walking around money, it happened yesterday in Scranton, PA, where the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) Sec. Chris Abruzzo was on hand at the Cabot Oil & Gas’ “CNG Celebration” event at Johnson College (see our companion story today about the event). Abruzzo was there to announce the list of grant winners who will share in $3 million of Act 13 money to purchase, refit or supply filling stations for vehicles to run on compressed natural gas (CNG). By handing out this seed money, Gov. Tom Corbett hopes to encourage more companies and organizations to switch to cheaper and much less polluting natural gas as a power source. Below is the DEP announcement and list of winners of this year’s grant. The DEP will be back next year with even more money to award. They start accepting applications on Saturday…
Read More “PA DEP Sec. Abruzzo Announces Winners of $3M in CNG Grants”
CNG/LNG | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Education | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lackawanna County | Luzerne County | NG Vehicles | Pennsylvania | Wyoming County (PA)

Cabot’s Big CNG Celebration at Johnson College in Scranton, PA
November 8, 2013November 8, 2013

Yesterday Cabot Oil & Gas held a “CNG Celebration” at Johnson College in Scranton, PA. Unfortunately MDN could not be on hand to help celebrate. However, we do have a couple of stories to bring you from that event.

The purpose of the event was several-fold: announce Johnson College’s curriculum expansion with new courses in compressed natural gas (CNG) technology and eventually a certification (with financial and technical assistance from Cabot); PA DEP Sec. Chris Abruzzo was on hand to announce $3 million in grants to businesses and organizations to purchase or retrofit vehicles to run CNG (see our companion story today); welcome the Marcellus Shale Coalition’s new executive director, David Spigelmyer; and show off some impressive big trucks and other vehicles running CNG. “Celebration” is an appropriate word that about covers it!…
Read More “Cabot’s Big CNG Celebration at Johnson College in Scranton, PA”
Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

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:

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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”