Susquehanna County

Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Cabot O&G Adds Crew, Drilling More Marcellus Wells than Forecast
August 1, 2016August 1, 2016

Cabot Oil & Gas, one of our favorite large independent drillers in the Marcellus, issued their second quarter 2016 update last Friday. There was plenty of good news, but we’ll start with the bad news first. Cabot lost $63 million during 2Q16 versus losing $27.5 million in 2Q15. Compared to some oil and gas companies with losses in the billions per quarter, Cabot’s loss is inconsequential. We’d call it treading water, financially. The good news is that they are planning to drill and complete more wells than originally planned for 2016. That is, the market is picking up again. Cabot announced they recently added back a second completions crew in Susquehanna County, PA, the only county where they drill in PA. They still operate just a single rig, but that rig is accomplishing a lot for the company. At the beginning of 2016 Cabot planned to drill 25 Marcellus wells (see Cabot O&G 2015 Update; Cutting 2016 Drilling Budget 58%). In Friday’s update, the company said they now plan to complete an additional 15-20 Marcellus wells, over that original number. Good news indeed! In 2Q16 Cabot averaged 1.5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of net Marcellus production (1.8 Bcf/d gross operated)–an increase of 14% compared to 2Q15. Below is Friday’s update…
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Energy Companies | Epsilon Energy | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Susquehanna County

Epsilon Energy: Still No Marcellus Drilling, Focused on NEPA Pipe
July 29, 2016July 29, 2016

Canadian driller and midstream company Epsilon Energy had a shareholder rebellion in 2013 and threw out the sitting board of directors (see Shareholder Rebellion at Epsilon Energy – New Board as of Today). Epsilon CEO Michael Raleigh announced at the time that the company had embarked on a turnaround strategy of focusing on the Marcellus Shale–less than a year after saying they would scale back in the Marcellus (see Epsilon Energy Makes “About-Face” on Marcellus Drilling). Epsilon was and remains a very small player in the Marcellus–but the Marcellus is it’s entire focus. The company released its second quarter 2016 update yesterday. From what we can tell, the company has not drilled, and doesn’t plan to drill, a single Marcellus well since 2014. However, they do own a 35% interest in the Auburn Gas Gathering system in the northeast PA Marcellus (Williams is majority owner with 44%). Epsilon’s capital expenditures for 2Q16 were a grand total of $100,000 (i.e. nothing), all of it spent on the Auburn system. Here’s the latest from Epsilon…
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Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Southwestern Energy | Susquehanna County

Southwestern Puts 2 Rigs Back Online in Susquehanna County, PA
July 25, 2016July 25, 2016

On Friday MDN reported Southwestern Energy’s second quarter 2016 update, with indications that things are turning around for the company and that they intend to re-start their drilling program in the Marcellus (see Southwestern Energy 2Q16: Bleeding Slows, 17 New Marc/Utica Wells). On Friday, Southwestern’s top brass held their analyst conference call to discuss the update and add more color commentary. And what color it was! Southwestern CEO Bill Way said they’ve already reactivated some rigs and plan to continue that pattern. Coincidentally, we received confirmation of Southwestern’s statements from an MDN subscriber who sent us proof that Southwestern re-started two rigs just last week in Susquehanna County, PA…
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Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Electrical Generation | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lackawanna County | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Cabot Cuts Deal to Supply PA’s Largest NatGas-Fired Electric Plant
July 6, 2016July 6, 2016

The pieces of a very complicated puzzle continue to fall into place to build what will be Pennsylvania’s largest natural gas-fired electric generating power plant in Lackawanna County, PA–near Scranton. Invenergy plans to build the Lackawanna Energy Center, a 1,480 megawatt plant in Jessup, PA that will cost “well over $1 billion” according to an exclusive MDN source working on the project (not $500 million as we previously estimated). The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) approved the plant last December (see PA DEP Approves Jessup, PA Marcellus Gas Electric Plant). The locals in Jessup approved the project in March of this year (see Jessup Borough Final Approval for PA’s Largest NatGas Power Plant). The plant will use up to 240,000 dekatherms (or 240 million cubic feet) of natural gas per day. We’ve reported on two different companies that building pipelines to the plant to supply it–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). One of the final pieces is, who will provide the natural gas that flows through those pipelines and powers the plant? We now have the answer. Cabot Oil & Gas yesterday announced a 10-year deal to provide Marcellus Shale gas from Susquehanna County to power the plant…
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Electrical Generation | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Lackawanna County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Susquehanna County | Tennessee Gas Pipeline

NEPA Pipeline for Power Plant Gets Positive FERC Assessment
June 17, 2016June 17, 2016

Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company (TGP) is proposing to build a small pipeline near Scranton, PA to service what will be the state’s largest natural gas-fired electric generating plant, in Jessup (see Kinder Morgan 4Q15: Cutting Dividend, PA Pipeline Progress). The pipeline project is called the Triad Expansion Project and involves building seven miles of new 36-inch pipeline alongside an existing pipeline in Lenox and Clifford Townships, Susquehanna County, PA. When complete, Triad will deliver 180,000 dekatherms (180 million cubic feet) of natural gas per day to the new Invenergy plant in Jessup, called the Lackawanna Energy Center. Good news for the Triad project and the Invenergy plant: the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has just granted a favorable Environmental Assessment for the pipeline–all but guaranteeing its approval…
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Bradford County | Electrical Generation | Energy Services | IMG Midstream | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Susquehanna County

IMG’s Tiny NatGas-Fired Electric Plants Take Off in the Marcellus
June 7, 2016June 7, 2016

MDN first told you about IMG Midstream in August 2014 (see 7 Small Marcellus-Powered Electric Plants Coming to NEPA). At the time, IMG was proposing to build seven “tiny” natural gas-fired electric plants–each plant producing on the order of 20-22 megawatts of electricity (enough to power 13,000 homes). IMG added a couple of more to their plans in November 2014 (see Details on IMG’s “Tiny” Marcellus-Powered Electric Plants in NEPA). The beauty of IMG’s tiny natgas electric plants is that they are really small–about the size of a basketball court; they produce almost no air pollution; and they are quiet. It’s a really cool concept. We spotted an update on IMG in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. IMG’s very first tiny electric plant, in Susquehanna County, PA, went online last October. The second plant, in Bradford County, PA, went online last week. The former 9 planned plants has now ballooned. IMG plans to have 25 plants operating within the next five years!…
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Broome County | Chenango County | Delaware County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Otsego County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Schoharie County | Susquehanna County | Williams

Constitution Pipeline Doles Out Another $50K in Grants, Despite NY
June 3, 2016June 3, 2016

Since announcing the project in 2012, the Constitution Pipeline has handed out more than $2 million in community grants to fire departments, police departments and a variety of nonprofit organizations that benefit the community. Recently New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo decided to block the Constitution Pipeline to placate his radical left supporters (see NY Gov. Cuomo Refuses to Grant Permits for Constitution Pipeline). Williams and its partners in the project have taken NY to court to overrule their blockage (see Williams Sues NY Over Constitution Pipe – DEC May Lose Authority). Even though Cuomo’s dastardly action has thrown the project’s future into some doubt, Williams and the Constitution are expressing no doubts. They’ve just handed out another $50,000 in grants (the eighth time they’ve done it) to worthy organizations along the pipeline’s proposed route. Here’s who got the money, and how much…
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Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County | WPX Energy

PA District Court Rules in Favor of Driller in NEPA Lease Dispute
June 1, 2016June 1, 2016

A decision by the Middle District Court of Pennsylvania is worth noting–for both drillers AND landowners. A landowner in Susquehanna County, PA sold some land already under lease to a new landowner/rights owner. Neither the new landowner nor the previous landowner informed the driller of the change in ownership. The time came to renew the lease and under the terms of the contract the driller sent payment–but didn’t know about the change in ownership–so the driller sent the payment to the previous owner. The new landowner used that faux pas as a legal excuse to sue the driller to break the contract. The new landowner claimed the paperwork filed (not the full lease but an abstract) didn’t contain mention of informing the driller. In other words, the landowner used the “we didn’t know” excuse. The judge disagreed and said, a) the lease itself clearly outlines the responsibilities of the old/new landowners to inform the driller, b) there is a reasonable expectation for the new landowner to perform due diligence in seeking out a copy of the original lease to know that. Therefore the new landowner is still under lease. Here’s an outline of the case, with names…
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Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Cabot O&G and Susquehanna County, PA – Match Made in Heaven
May 6, 2016May 6, 2016

Cabot Oil & Gas Regional HQ in Dimock PA

When Cabot Oil & Gas leased acreage in the Pennsylvania Marcellus some 7-8 years ago, they decided to concentrate their focus on a single county–Susquehanna County (about 15 miles from where MDN is written). Cabot guessed right. As we have written about over the years, Cabot has become a low-cost producer and pumps out an enormous amount of gas from that single county. In February Cabot produced an average of 1.9 billion cubic feet from its wells in Susquehanna County. Astonishing! In the third part of a 3-part series running on the SNL Financial website, the author takes a close look at a match made in heaven–Cabot & Susquehanna County–with some interesting details on Cabot’s program in NEPA…
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Broome County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide NY | Statewide PA | Susquehanna County | Williams

Supporters Rally for Constitution Pipeline, Cuomo has 1 Week Left
April 22, 2016April 22, 2016

Talk about media bias. Yesterday over 200 people crowded into a meeting room at the Binghamton Holiday Inn for a rally supporting the Constitution Pipeline–a $683 million, 124-mile pipeline due to run from Susquehanna County, PA to Schoharie County, NY carrying Marcellus gas. The “newspaper of record” for Binghamton, the Press & Sun-Bulletin (P&SB), is so biased they didn’t run a single word covering the event in today’s edition. The P&SB’s so-called reporter who covers the drilling issue (actually an anti-drilling propagandist), Tom Wilber, apparently couldn’t be bothered to cover a major news story under his nose and part of his beat. The P&SB couldn’t even send an intern. Yes, the P&SB is completely in the anti-drilling tank and not in any way an actual news organization–they’re simply Democrat hacks towing the party line. Here’s what happened at yesterday’s meeting, from real news organizations that did show up…
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Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Cabot Talks About Appeal Request re Tragic Dimock Verdict
April 13, 2016April 13, 2016

Last week MDN brought you news that mainstream media has all but ignored, in hopes of burying it: Cabot Oil & Gas has filed a legal motion to appeal the OJ jury decision to award two landowner families in Dimock, PA $4.24 million (see Cabot Files Appeal in Dimock Case – Alleges Judicial Misconduct). The jury made the award even though there was hard evidence that Cabot did not cause methane migration into the landowners’ water wells. Which is why we call them the equivalent of the OJ jury. Total disregard for evidence and decide “with your heart” instead. “That evil big oil & gas company has boatloads of money. Look at those little kids on the stand. Let’s just give them some money, even if the evidence says otherwise.” That must have been the thinking. At any rate, on Sunday Cabot, who has until now been silent about the appeal, issued the following statement. They’re either asking for (a) the court to overturn the verdict, or (b) order a new trial because of judicial misconduct on the part of the landowners’ attorney…
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Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Cabot Files Appeal in Dimock Case – Alleges Judicial Misconduct
April 8, 2016April 8, 2016

Cabot Oil & Gas has appealed the (OJ-like) jury verdict in the “Dimock” case–a case where the jury ignored the evidence and instead found Cabot guilty of methane contamination of two families’ water wells in Dimock, PA–even though the families admit their wells were fouled BEFORE Cabot began to drill (see Dimock Jury Levies $4.25M Judgement Against Cabot in Dimock Case). Not a single news outlet is covering the appeal. Mainstream media’s favorite tactic is to ignore stories in hopes people won’t notice. Fortunately there are now alternative news outlets, like MDN, where you can learn the truth. The only way we knew about the Cabot appeal was through friend Phelim McAleer, the talented director and star of the documentary FrackNation. Phelim is reporting the appeal on his Facebook page. In the appeal, Cabot says the attorney for the plaintiffs engaged in “repeated misconduct” during the trial. She’d lob false innuendos and statements that were immediately retracted–but the jury heard and obviously believed her. You can’t “unhear” a false statement. In other words, she gamed the system–she didn’t play by the rules. Cabot is asking a judge to overturn the verdict…
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Ascent Resources | Belmont County | Chesapeake Energy | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Greene County (PA) | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Rice Energy | Susquehanna County | Washington County

Top 10 Shale Wells of 2015 for Marcellus, Utica, Entire Country
April 1, 2016April 1, 2016

Rystad Energy Ranks, a data company based in Norway, hosts web-based portal with easy-to-use access data on oil and gas wells around the globle. They call their service “Rystad Energy cubes.” Rystead has made a wealth of data available in predefined “ranking lists” where the user can change filter settings to drill into and slice and dice the data. They call it their “database list format Ranks.” Up to now, Rystad Energy cubes have been available only through Rystad Energy’s proprietary Cube Browser. With “Ranks” users can now access predefined analyses based on the same databases. The really cool thing? They offer the “top 10” for various queries absolutely free. No registration required. We took it for a spin and produced Top 10 lists for Marcellus Shale well production in 2015, Utica Shale well production in 2015, and all American shale wells for 2015. As you might imagine being an MDN reader, most of the wells in the “all American” list are wells located in the Marcellus/Utica…
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Education | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Students in College Marcellus Program Unfazed by Sour Job Market
March 31, 2016March 31, 2016

We’ve previously told you about the top notch program at Lackawanna College in northeastern Pennsylvania–their School of Petroleum and Natural Gas (see Lackawanna College Converts Branch Campus to Natural Gas Program). The program is unique, one of just handful nationwide that runs a two-year program that trains students to be technicians, able to operate sophisticated machinery and running compressor stations, for example. Cabot Oil & Gas has been a big promoter of the school (see Cabot Oil & Gas Does it Again – $2.5 Million Gift to Lackawanna College). We personally know a graduate of the program who now runs several compressor stations for Williams–one in Susquehanna County, PA and one in Broome County, NY. The school produces top notch graduates. But what about the recent downturn in the industry–with thousands of layoffs? Has that dampened the spirits of students attending and graduating from the program? Not on your life…
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Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Go Big or Go Home: Cabot O&G Wells Average EUR of 27 Bcf
March 29, 2016March 29, 2016

The indefatigable Cabot Oil & Gas continues to improve efficiency, increase production and lower costs–all at the same time. Last week Cabot presented at the Soctia Howard Weil Energy Conference in New Orleans. We have a full copy of the PowerPoint slides used during the presentation (below). What did Cabot have to say? They plan to complete 40 wells in the Marcellus this year and grow production slightly–up to 7% in 2016 over 2015. We also learn that the length of Cabot’s horizontal wells–their “laterals”–are getting longer, an average 7,000 feet long in 2016 vs. 5,900 feet in 2015. Perhaps most astonishing is that the average Cabot well is expected to see an average EUR (estimated ultimate recovery) of 27 billion cubic feet. How much is that? That’s enough natural gas that, if used to generate electricity, would power 656,000 homes for a whole year. From one well! Think about 40 new such wells going online this year. Collectively those 40 wells will end up providing enough energy for 26 million homes. Coming from one small county in northeastern PA. That is the awesome miracle of fracking for Marcellus Shale gas…
Read More “Go Big or Go Home: Cabot O&G Wells Average EUR of 27 Bcf”
Bradford County | Greene County (PA) | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Susquehanna County | Washington County

SWPA Created Bulk of PA’s NatGas Production Increase in 2015
March 16, 2016March 16, 2016

Pennsylvania natural gas production continues to impress, despite rigs being laid down in the later half of last year. Looking at all of 2015, the top two producing counties in the state likely won’t surprise you: #1 was Susquehanna County (where Cabot Oil & Gas drills). Susquehanna produced about 25% of all natural gas produced in the state last year! The #2 producing county was Bradford, also in northeast PA. But counties #3 and #4 in the list may surprise you: Washington and Greene counties, both in southwestern PA. In fact, an analysis done by the Pittsburgh Business Times finds that the 11-county southwestern PA region accounted for 86% of the state’s growth in production last year. That is an amazing statistic! Here’s more of their analysis of PA’s natgas production numbers for 2015…
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