Susquehanna County

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    Groundhog Day: Feds Back in Dimock, PA for More Water Testing

    Just when you thought we’d heard the last of “Dimock” and “fracking poisons water” nonsense, the storyline as pushed by mainstream fake news has come roaring back to life–thanks to the Trump Administration. Dimock, Pennsylvania was made famous in Josh Fox’s faux documentary Gasland, which aired on HBO a bizillion times. It was Fox’s 15 minutes of fame. He lied about fracking, painting it as an evil practice that polluted water wells around Dimock. His lies were later exposed by a real documentary called FrackNation (by Phelim McAleer). Over the past 7+ years the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) as well as the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and private researchers have tested water wells around Dimock. Repeatedly. For years. The conclusion? Fracking by Cabot Oil & Gas may have (not 100% assured) caused methane to migrate into some of the wells (a charge Cabot strongly refutes). However, at no time did any of government or private agencies testing find any fracking chemicals in any of the wells. Methane migration can be mitigated. It can be fixed. You don’t die from drinking water with methane in it. Most people in Susquehanna County (where Dimock is located) drink water with methane in it every day and have been for over 200 years! Why do you think Cabot’s wells are so productive? They’re in some of the most methane-rich rock in the U.S. The wells of 14 families along the Carter Road area in Dimock have been repeatedly tested–with no fracking chemicals found. Yet the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), which is a federal public health agency part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (executive branch, which is now under Trump leadership), says they are coming to Dimock to test both water AND air at 25 homes around Dimock. The poster boy for their testing is Ray Kemble, who keeps junk cars on his property and carries a little brown jug around with him to anti-fracking rallies. Kemble has been trying to shake down Cabot for big money for years, with no success, claiming after they began drilling his water well became polluted…
    Read More “Groundhog Day: Feds Back in Dimock, PA for More Water Testing”

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    Cabot 2Q17: New Production Record, Making Big $, Pipelines Coming

    Late last week Cabot Oil & Gas, one of our favorite big Marcellus drillers, released their second quarter 2017 update. And man oh man, was it full of interesting items! Daily natural gas production was up 14% over the same period last year. During 2Q17, Cabot averaged 1.77 billion cubic feet (Bcf) per day of net Marcellus production (2.1 Bcf/d gross operated production). Also during 2Q17, Cabot drilled 13.7 net Marcellus wells, completed 8.0 net wells and placed 6.0 net wells on production. Financially, the company continues to be a cash-making machine, generating positive free cash flow for the fifth consecutive quarter. During the first half of this year, it cost Cabot an average of $2.01 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) to extract and sell the gas. That’s all expenses. And Cabot made an average of $2.51/Mcf selling that gas. That’s a profit of $0.50/Mcf (or 20% profit). If we could invest $1 and get back $1.20 for every dollar invested, we’d be happy to do that all day long! Cabot is currently operating two drilling rigs and one completion crew in the Marcellus. One of the most interesting (and underreported) parts of the Cabot conference call last Friday is CEO Dan Dinges’ comments on the long-delayed Constitution Pipeline. He said, “we feel more optimistic about this project coming online in the next few years than we did say a year ago.” It seems Cabot (and Williams, the builder of the Constitution) are closely watching what happens with the Millennium Pipeline and Millennium’s request to FERC to override the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC), which is blocking the Millennium(and the Constitution). Although the Constitution awaits a court decision from the U.S. Second Circuit Court, they are planning other strategies. Dinges also addressed the PennEast Pipeline project, now stalled in New Jersey. Below is last week’s update, excerpts from the conference call, and the Cabot slide deck full of good information…
    Read More “Cabot 2Q17: New Production Record, Making Big $, Pipelines Coming”

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    Amazing: Cabot O&G Invests $4.6 BILLION in One PA County in 10 Yrs

    Something truly amazing is happening in rural Susquehanna County, PA, nestled in the northeastern corner of the state (shares a border with Broome County, NY, where MDN is located). At a special event yesterday held in Montrose, the county seat, Cabot Oil & Gas announced a major milestone. Cabot has, over the past ten years, paid out $1 billion in royalties and another $500 million in lease bonuses. Did you catch that? In a single decade, Susquehanna County has received a $1.5 BILLION economic stimulus in private money flooding into the county–from just one of the major drillers working in the county. And that doesn’t include $3.1 billion spent on equipment and crews to do the drilling (a number we verified with Cabot)! There are other companies drilling in Susquehanna County as well. In very real, practical terms, that means school taxes have not gone up–in years. Property taxes have actually gone DOWN. Mortgages have been paid off. Kids have gone to college–without incurring years of debt hanging over them when they graduate. Story after story was shared of how Cabot’s drilling program has resulted in radically changed (for the better) lives in Susquehanna County. Cabot has pulled some 3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas out of what Cabot rep George Stark says is “the sweetest spot to be” in the country. Little known factoid: A single company (Cabot) drilling in one county (Susquehanna) produces nearly 3% of the entire natural gas output in the United States. Amazing! You know what’s even more amazing? Binghamton media blocked all reporting about this major news….
    Read More “Amazing: Cabot O&G Invests $4.6 BILLION in One PA County in 10 Yrs”

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    New Lawsuit in Dimock for Old Claim by Known Anti – Ray Kemble

    “You never let a serious crisis go to waste.” That sentiment was famously mouthed by Rahm Emaneul, first chief of staff during Barack Hussein Obama’s reign of terror, later (and still) the highly unpopular mayor of Chicago. That philosophy also applies to other leftists, like anti-driller Ray Kemble, who lives in Dimock Township, PA. Kemble has been trying to shake down Cabot Oil & Gas for big bucks for years. Kemble, whose property has multiple junk cars on it, claims after Cabot began drilling (in 2008) his water well began producing black water. He blamed Cabot–even though junkyards are notorious for leaking nasty chemicals. Years ago Kemble, who has been seen at just about every anti-fracking rally from here to Timbuktu carrying a little brown jug of supposedly tainted well water, settled with Cabot. But a couple of Kemble’s neighbors did not settle. They sued and, in a sham trial, won a jury award of $4.2 million (see Dimock Jury Levies $4.25M Judgement Against Cabot in Dimock Case). However, earlier this month a federal court threw out the verdict and the $4.2 million judgement (see Fed Court Overturns $4.2M Dimock Judgement Against Cabot O&G). The judge said the Dimock lawsuit would have be re-tried. News of a potential new lawsuit and the OJ-like jury’s initial award of $4.2 million must have got old Ray a thinkin’…What if? So he’s just launched his own lawsuit against Cabot, which appears to be litigation over something he previously settled with Cabot…
    Read More “New Lawsuit in Dimock for Old Claim by Known Anti – Ray Kemble”

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    IMG Midstream: Army of Tiny PA Marcellus-Powered Electric Plants

    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. IMG’s very first tiny electric plant, in Susquehanna County, PA, went online in October 2015. The second plant, in Bradford County, PA, went online this past June (see IMG’s Tiny NatGas-Fired Electric Plants Take Off in the Marcellus). The former 9 planned plants ballooned with plans for 25 plants operating within the next five years! We spotted a recent article about IMG’s activities in southwestern PA and that got us to thinking. How are they doing with their plan to build 25 plants? So far, they’ve built 11 and are on the prowl for more locations. We have the latest update on IMG and their startegy of zigging (building small power plants) when everyone else is zagging (building large plants)…
    Read More “IMG Midstream: Army of Tiny PA Marcellus-Powered Electric Plants”

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    Fed Court Overturns $4.2M Dimock Judgement Against Cabot O&G

    Big news broke Friday afternoon. Short history lesson for those who are new to MDN: There were 14 families along the Carter Road area of Dimock Township, PA (Susquehanna County) that reportedly experienced turbidity in their water from methane migrating, supposedly from Cabot’s drilling operations nearby. The state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) investigated in 2010 and declared Cabot guilty and imposed stiff fines and requirements, including a requirement to install permanent water treatment systems at each home and even an offer to each of the families to pay twice what their property was worth at the time (see PA DEP Takes Aggressive Action Against Cabot Oil & Gas over Dimock Township Methane Contamination). We won’t recount all of the twists and turns we documented over the years, including research that showed Cabot wasn’t responsible for the methane migration. All of the 14 properties either sold to Cabot or got their water systems repaired–except for two holdout families who were riding the horse of hope that they could sue Cabot for big money and retire millionaires. For a time, it appeared their plan worked. Last year, in March 2016, a trial took place in Scranton. It was a sham trial, with the lawyer for the two families engaging in borderline unethical practices in the courtroom in her attempt to influence the jury. One of the two families admitted, under oath on the witness stand, that their water had too much methane in it BEFORE Cabot Oil & Gas began to drill nearby. The same family, the Elys, later built a 22-room, $1 million mansion on the same property AFTER they admit there was trouble with the water. And yet the jury found Cabot at fault and awarded the Elys $2.75 million. The other family suing Cabot got $1.49 million. As we said at the time: “That’s called brain-dead. A total miscarriage of justice–stupidity on the same level as the OJ Simpson jury” (see Dimock Jury Levies $4.24M Judgement Against Cabot in Dimock Case). Indeed it was brain-dead, as we now see from a federal court which heard Cabot’s appeal. On Friday a federal judge tossed out the $4.24 million verdict against Cabot, calling the evidence against Cabot “spare, sometimes contradictory, frequently rebutted by other scientific expert testimony, and relied in some measure upon tenuous inferences” (full copy of the ruling below). Unfortunately the judge did not find for Cabot and dismiss the case, but instead ordered a new/second trial. However, the new trial will not happen in state court amateur hour–instead it will happen in federal court–IF it happens…
    Read More “Fed Court Overturns $4.2M Dimock Judgement Against Cabot O&G”

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    Anti Doesn’t Like Cabot O&G Donating Milk to Poor People in PA

    Cabot Oil & Gas is one of the premier drillers in the Marcellus Shale. They drill in a single Pennsylvania county–Susquehanna County. They consistently have 15 of the top 20 producing shale wells in PA. By our back-of-the-envelope estimation, Cabot, all by itself, drilling in one county, delivers something like 3% of all the natural gas produced in the entire country! It is an amazing story. What’s even more amazing is the big heart the company has. Woven into the Cabot DNA is giving back to the communities where they drill. It would take several posts to recount all of Cabot’s largess. We’ll mention just two cases. In 2012 Cabot donated $2 million and helped raise another $2.2 million (for a total of $4.2 million) to help build a new physicians clinic/hospital in Montrose, PA (see Cabot Effort Raises $4.4 Million for PA Physicians Clinic). In 2014, Cabot donated $2.5 million to a local college, to help build its School of Petroleum & Natural Gas (see Cabot Oil & Gas Does it Again – $2.5 Million Gift to Lackawanna College). Believe us, there are MANY more instances of Cabot donations in cash and volunteerism from its employees. Great company. Here’s one of the latest: At the end of last year, Cabot funded a new program in Susquehanna County called “Fill a Glass with Hope.” The program is a partnership formed among Feeding Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association, American Dairy Association North East, the Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program, agriculture partners, and business leaders to provide fresh milk to Pennsylvania families in need through Feeding Pennsylvania’s network of food banks. Cabot’s funding assists the Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Northeast Regional Food Bank with the purchase and delivery of enough fresh milk to support dozens of families in Susquehanna County. It is a heartwarming story. So imagine our surprise in reading a letter to the editor of the Scranton Times-Tribune from someone who doesn’t like Cabot donating milk to poor families…
    Read More “Anti Doesn’t Like Cabot O&G Donating Milk to Poor People in PA”

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    Northeastern PA Counties Explore Alliance to Pass Royalty Reform

    One of the issues that isn’t going away is the demand by landowners in some Pennsylvania counties, like Bradford, for lawmakers in the state to pass a bill that guarantees them what they believe they are already guaranteed–a 12.5% minimum royalty, based on a 1979 law that states they should get such a royalty. We’ve extensively covered what we call a civil war between two parties who are otherwise friendly toward each other–landowners and shale drillers. Last year the issue came to a head with House Bill (HB) 1391 (see our list of stories here). In a nutshell, landowners say Chesapeake Energy and some other drillers are taking post-production deductions out of landowners’ royalty checks, resulting in royalty payments far below 12.5%. In some cases landowners are receiving bills for money owed to the driller–after the driller pulled the gas out of the ground! Who in their right minds leases land for drilling so they can PAY the driller! It is an outrage and landowners want it stopped. Drillers, on the other hand, say you can’t just change contracts after they’ve been signed, punishing the entire industry for the bad actions of a few. Drillers say the proper response is for landowners to sue the bad apples. Frankly, it’s all a mess. The new news is that landowners from Bradford and several other northeastern PA counties, tired of being outmaneuvered by drillers, are actively talking about forming an alliance to try and garner enough support in Harrisburg to get a bill like HB 1391 passed this year…
    Read More “Northeastern PA Counties Explore Alliance to Pass Royalty Reform”

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    Major CNG Virtual Pipeline Coming to Susquehanna County, PA

    MDN has had an eye on a trend we find exciting–“virtual pipelines”–by which we mean facilities that are located along a pipeline that compress the gas (CNG, or compressed natural gas), load it onto tanker trucks, and then distribute that gas to businesses that are not fortunate enough to be located near a natgas pipeline. With irrational opposition to pipelines seemingly rampant, virtual pipelines are a good alternative. We were first alerted to this trend when International Paper’s Ticonderoga mill in northern New York, near the Vermont border, opted for a virtual pipeline from NG Advantage, back in 2015 (see NY Paper Plant Opts for “Virtual” NatGas Pipeline Over Real One). NG Advantage has established a presence throughout New England, most recently adding Maine to their delivery options (see NG Advantage’s “Virtual” NatGas Pipeline to Maine Begins Flowing). A Camp Hill, PA-based company, Compass Natural Gas Partners, recently got into the virtual pipeline business in Lycoming County, PA (see Look Ma, No Pipeline! Lycoming County Co. Begins CNG Shipments). Yesterday PA Gov. Wolf issued a press release to say another company is starting up a virtual pipeline–this time in Susquehanna County, PA (MDN’s backyard). Xpress Natural Gas (XNG) will spend $18.6 million to build a facility that will employ nearly 90 people and load up to 100 tanker trucks a day for deliveries to customers across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states…
    Read More “Major CNG Virtual Pipeline Coming to Susquehanna County, PA”

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    Cabot Offers Lowball $1K Signing Bonus in Heart of Marcellus

    Cabot Oil & Gas has a major presence in Susquehanna County, PA, not far from where MDN is written (just across the border). In fact, Susquehanna County, located in the northeastern tip of PA, is the only county in PA where Cabot drills. It is a “dry gas” zone–and extremely productive. By our reckoning, Cabot alone produces something like 3% of the entire natural gas supply for the entire country. One driller, in one county. It is an astonishing feat! Susquehanna County is rural. The entire county has 43,000 residents (11,700 families). The largest “city” in Susquehanna County is the county seat of Montrose, population 1,600 (750 households). Until now, there has been drilling all around the edges of Montrose, but no drilling directly under the city. That may soon change. Cabot has made an offer on 10.76 acres of land located within city limits. Cabot is offering a lowball $1,000 per acre as a signing bonus, plus 15% royalties. Not long ago Cabot cut deals for $3,500 per acre and 18.75% royalties. It appears this is just an opening negotiating tactic…
    Read More “Cabot Offers Lowball $1K Signing Bonus in Heart of Marcellus”

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    Epsilon Deal to Buy More Marcellus Acreage from JV Partner Dies

    Epsilon EnergyCanadian 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 the company’s entire focus. The company released its second quarter 2016 update in July (see Epsilon Energy: Still No Marcellus Drilling, Focused on NEPA Pipe). From what we could 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, all of it spent on the Auburn system. Epsilon released an announcement yesterday that, unbeknownst to us, they had signed an agreement with one of their joint venture drilling partners back in February to pick up an additional 4% interest in the jv acreage. But, according to yesterday’s announcement, the PSA (production sharing agreement) to pick up the extra 4% has expired and the deal is, for now, dead…
    Read More “Epsilon Deal to Buy More Marcellus Acreage from JV Partner Dies”

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

    Cabot logoCabot 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…
    Read More “Cabot O&G Adds Crew, Drilling More Marcellus Wells than Forecast”

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

    Epsilon EnergyCanadian 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…
    Read More “Epsilon Energy: Still No Marcellus Drilling, Focused on NEPA Pipe”

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    Southwestern Puts 2 Rigs Back Online in Susquehanna County, PA

    southwestern energyOn 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…
    Read More “Southwestern Puts 2 Rigs Back Online in Susquehanna County, PA”

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    Cabot Cuts Deal to Supply PA’s Largest NatGas-Fired Electric Plant

    Cabot logoThe 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…
    Read More “Cabot Cuts Deal to Supply PA’s Largest NatGas-Fired Electric Plant”

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    NEPA Pipeline for Power Plant Gets Positive FERC Assessment

    TGP logoKinder 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…
    Read More “NEPA Pipeline for Power Plant Gets Positive FERC Assessment”