Susquehanna County

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PA Gas Production #s Released: Top 10 Wells, Top 5 Counties & More!
February 19, 2014February 19, 2014

Pennsylvania released their second half 2013 production numbers yesterday and man oh man is it another sizzling hot report. Another 700 horizontal (mostly Marcellus) shale wells were brought online in the second half of 2013 in PA which brings the number of horizontal wells with reported production to 5,074. And, in what we believe is a first, Susquehanna County has displaced Bradford County as having the most production during a 6-month reporting period.

Not surprisingly Cabot Oil & Gas and their prolific wells in Susquehanna County top the list as most productive. Get this, when you look at average daily production by wells, Cabot has the top 13 most productive wells in the state for 2H13–all top 13 spots. When you expand it out, they have 17 of the top 20 spots, and 34 of the top 50 spots. Truly astonishing.

Below we have a few lists for you: Top 10 All Time Producing Wells in PA, Top 10 Wells by Production per Day, and the amount of gas produced by the top 5 counties in PA…
Read More “PA Gas Production #s Released: Top 10 Wells, Top 5 Counties & More!”
Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Putting a Face to PA’s Bountiful Natural Gas Production
February 19, 2014February 19, 2014

MDN brought you the latest good news with respect to Pennsylvania’s production numbers today (see our companion story “PA Gas Production #s Released”). We ran across an article that puts a face to those numbers. Really, at the end of the day, what do those numbers mean for landowners? Is it like hitting the lottery with bags of money sitting around? Here’s the story of a farming family in Harford Township (Susquehanna County), PA. They just happen to have three of the top 5 producing wells in the entire state for the second half of 2013 sitting on their land.

We were struck by the integrity and character of these folks. Although they obviously have a fair bit of money pouring in from royalties, it’s “not enough to make them rich”–not yet anyway. They still farm and are humble people at heart. Salt of the earth types…
Read More “Putting a Face to PA’s Bountiful Natural Gas Production”
Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

PA Rural Residents Burn Marcellus Gas, Save Big Bucks on Heating
February 11, 2014February 11, 2014

One of the conundrums of shale gas drilling in the Marcellus and Utica Shale is that the places where the gas is drilled and extracted are largely rural–places like Susquehanna County, PA, in the northeastern part of the state. 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). It’s just not all that economical to run natural gas pipelines to homes around the county–even though residents live atop an embarrassing riches of natural gas. One company, Leatherstocking Natural Gas, changed all that last year when they started to run pipelines to residences and businesses around Montrose.

This winter, one local business owner (an auto mechanic’s shop) now heating with natural gas, responded to his new fuel source this way: “Before when you were here, you asked if I was going to save money [by heating with natural gas]. I said ‘I sure as hell hope so.’ Well, I sure as hell am, let me tell you.” That about sums up the change from heating with oil to heating with home-grown, cheap and abundant Marcellus shale gas…
Read More “PA Rural Residents Burn Marcellus Gas, Save Big Bucks on Heating”
Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Vol 2 Photojournal for Cabot Well in Susquehanna County, PA
January 31, 2014January 31, 2014

A quick note to let you know that tomorrow (Saturday, Feb. 1) you can once again download Photojournal of a Pennsylvania Natural Gas Well: Book 1: Ground Preparation. It’s a really cool book of photos (and captions) taken by a non-professional photographer, Susquehanna County resident Janice Gavern. MDN recently reported on Janice’s project to document a Cabot Oil & Gas shale well being drilled just outside of Montrose, PA, close to (yes) Dimock (see PA Resident Snaps 8,000 Pictures of Cabot Well Construction).

Jancie has been a busy beaver. She’s now posted her second volume in this multi-volume series: Photojournal of a Pennsylvania Natural Gas Well: Book 2 Site Set-up. You can grab a copy of this volume for free on Sunday, Feb. 2. Be sure to grab them while they’re free! It will save you $9.99 (or if you like, download it and pay the $9.99 to give Jan a little bit of money for her efforts).

What if you don’t own a Kindle reader? No problem. You can download and install a Kindle reader application on your computer, smartphone–just about any device you have that connects to the internet. So don’t lack of a Kindle stop you from grabbing a copy of Jan’s books.
Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

PA Resident Snaps 8,000 Pictures of Cabot Well Construction
January 21, 2014January 21, 2014

MDN editor Jim Willis received an excited phone call from Susquehanna County, PA resident Janice Gavern after being pointed in our direction by Cabot Oil & Gas. Janice, who runs a goat farm with her daughter near Montrose, PA (and a cancer survivor) started a project a few years back to document the drilling of a shale well on her friend’s property. As Janice says, after she visited the site, just to “keep an eye on things” and snapped her first picture, she was hooked. And the rest, including some 8,000 pictures taken with Janice’s little digital camera, is history. At least that’s what Janice hopes.

Janice’s aim in doing a photo documentary of the drilling process is to preserve an important bit of Susquehanna County history, for future generations. Janice has selected 650 of the 8,000 pictures and compiled them into an e-book on Amazon–the first e-book of a series she’s planning. The first batch cover site preparation and building the well pad–up to the point when the drill arrives. She’s done a fabulous job, and we’re happy to help her make it known to the world. In fact, although the e-book normally retails for $9.99, you can order it FREE today and then again on Feb. 1. We recommend you head on over and download it right now. Here’s a bit more of Janice’s story as told by the Scranton Times-Tribune…
Read More “PA Resident Snaps 8,000 Pictures of Cabot Well Construction”
Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County | WPX Energy

Hanger Continues to Use Franklin Forks Water as Campaign Issue
December 30, 2013December 30, 2013

As MDN has previously pointed out, former Secretary of the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) John Hanger is trying to make political hay out of methane in the water supply of three families in Franklin Forks (Susquehanna County), PA (see John Hanger Uses Franklin Forks Water Issue to Boost Gov Campaign). Which is kind of ironic since Hanger himself was raked over the coals by his own liberal buddies in Gasland for his handling of the same issue about 15 miles away in Dimock, PA. Hanger claims the DEP’s 16-month investigation in Franklin Forks was not independent enough for his taste. The DEP has fired back at their old boss and said they didn’t just rely on WPX’s investigation (as Hanger claims) but that they also conducted their own independent investigation and that Hanger is just making noise to, as we put it, boost his failing campaign for governor.

The sentiment coming from the DEP seems to be, “thanks for your unhelpful assistance John–now butt out”…
Read More “Hanger Continues to Use Franklin Forks Water as Campaign Issue”
Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Susquehanna County

Cabot Signs Deal to Export Gas via Cove Point, MD
December 20, 2013December 20, 2013

The good news continues to roll out of Cabot Oil & Gas. In a corporate updated issued yesterday, the company said they’ve signed a deal with Pacific Summit Energy (a subsidiary of Japanese company Sumitomo) to export up to 350,000 million Btus of natural gas per day via Dominion’s planned Cove Point, MD LNG export facility. The Cove Point facility is currently supposed to be in operation in 2017. The deal runs for 20 years. Previously, MDN told you that Japan and India have already spoken for 100% of LNG exports from Cove Point (see Dominion’s Cove Point LNG Facility Achieves Important Milestones).

In what seems to be unrelated but actually is related, Cabot also said they’ve achieved another milestone–they now produce 1.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day out of their wells in Susquehanna County, PA. That’s just one year after hitting 1 Bcf/d! So in one year production has skyrocketed another 50%. Truly astonishing. How much of today’s current production is Cabot committing to send overseas?…
Read More “Cabot Signs Deal to Export Gas via Cove Point, MD”
Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Susquehanna County | WPX Energy

John Hanger Uses Franklin Forks Water Issue to Boost Gov Campaign
December 20, 2013December 20, 2013

Using the case of three families in Franklin Forks, PA who are suing WPX Energy for contaminating their water wells as a political issue, John Hanger, former Secretary of the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), says the investigation done by the DEP wasn’t independent enough for his liking and the agency should re-do it. The three families claim WPX caused methane to migrate into their water wells. The reason the story has been in the news is because WPX had tried (and finally gave up) to remove fresh water tanks from the residents after the DEP determined WPX’s drilling was not at fault (see WPX Decides to Let Franklin Forks Families Keep Water Tanks).

Hanger’s protestations give his failing campaign to get the Democrat nomination for governor some badly needed media attention since his candidacy is rapidly sinking. He’s looking for any wedge issue he can find. The WPX story, visible as it is right now, is tailor made. Here’s John’s trumped up reasons for why the investigation should be redone…
Read More “John Hanger Uses Franklin Forks Water Issue to Boost Gov Campaign”
Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Supply Chain | Susquehanna County

Scranton TV Station: NEPA Community Benefits from Cabot (Video)
December 19, 2013December 19, 2013

An interesting TV segment was recently filmed about the role of Cabot Oil & Gas in providing local jobs and a boost to the local economy where they drill in rural Susquehanna County, PA. The video, filmed by Scranton TV station WNEP Channel 16, highlights the partnership Cabot has developed with several vendors (supply chain) and points out Cabot’s long-term commitment to the community–a commitment that will go on for decades to come.

If you want “the other side of the story,” the side that shows what a good corporate citizen looks like and how gas drilling enormously benefits an entire community, take the time to watch this enlightening 6-minute video:
Read More “Scranton TV Station: NEPA Community Benefits from Cabot (Video)”
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Chief O&G Buys 210K Acres/Operations in NE PA from Chesapeake
December 18, 2013December 18, 2013

Chief Oil & Gas announced yesterday that they’ve purchased 210,000 Marcellus Shale acres from Chesapeake Energy in northeast Pennsylvania. Along with the acreage comes 130,000 million cubic feet per day of natural gas production and 40 wells waiting to be completed and/or connected to a pipeline. This doubles the amount of Marcellus acreage for Chief.

The big question is, does this mean Chesapeake has now completely exited the Marcellus in northeast PA? It may well (we’re not sure). Here’s the statement by Chief about their deal with Chesapeake:
Read More “Chief O&G Buys 210K Acres/Operations in NE PA from Chesapeake”
Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County | WPX Energy

WPX Decides to Let Franklin Forks Families Keep Water Tanks
December 16, 2013December 16, 2013

WPX Energy has made not only a smart move, but is doing the right thing. MDN told you last week about the three families in Franklin Forks, PA who say nearby Marcellus drilling by WPX Energy caused methane to migrate into their water wells (see WPX to Make 2nd Attempt at Removing Water Tanks in Franklin Twp). The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection investigated (for years) and found the methane in the families’ wells is naturally occurring and not from WPX’s work. So WPX tried to remove the water tanks (“buffaloes”) they voluntarily provided to the families.

One family let them remove the water buffalo, the other two illegally resisted, so WPX was scheduled to come back today with warrants in hand to remove them. But last week WPX had a change of heart and said in essence, “Go ahead and keep the water buffaloes. We’ll donate them to you if you want them that badly.” To which we say, it was not only a smart PR move but a nice thing, the “right thing,” to do. It immediately denies the anti-drilling crazies more parading in front of TV cameras to talk about how heartless the drilling industry is. Here’s the latest on the Franklin Forks saga…
Read More “WPX Decides to Let Franklin Forks Families Keep Water Tanks”
Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County | WPX Energy

WPX to Make 2nd Attempt at Removing Water Tanks in Franklin Twp
December 12, 2013December 11, 2013

Is Franklin Township in Susquehanna County, PA the new Dimock? Let us explain. You may recall that 17 families in rural Dimock, PA claimed that nearby natural gas drilling by Cabot Oil & Gas led to water well contamination from methane (natural gas) and/or fracking chemicals. The history of Dimock is well-established on this blog and in numerous other places. It was made famous by Josh Fox and his Gasland fictional movies. No one seriously believes the water in Dimock was contaminated with fracking chemicals because it’s never happened–anywhere. Not once. Methane, on the other hand, is a different matter. It can and does migrate–sometimes.

To this day Cabot disputes that their drilling led to methane contamination of Dimock water wells. The PA DEP investigated and said it did. The case is now closed on Dimock (see Cabot Buys Second Dimock, PA Property on Carter Road). One of the more theatrical aspects of the Dimock story was when Cabot removed DEP-ordered water tanks, called water buffaloes, from homes that refused to allow Cabot to install DEP-ordered methane filtration systems. Some of the families, like Craig and Julie Sautner, were suing Cabot for big bucks and didn’t want their water supply fixed. When Cabot came to remove the water buffaloes, it was a media circus complete with celebrities bleating on camera. In some respects, a town about 15 miles from Dimock–Franklin Township–is turning into the same media circus. Different driller, different families, same issue of removing water buffaloes…
Read More “WPX to Make 2nd Attempt at Removing Water Tanks in Franklin Twp”
Bradford County | Energy Companies | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Southwestern Energy | Sullivan County | Susquehanna County | Tioga County (PA) | Wyoming County (PA)

Southwestern Energy’s Board Changes, Marcellus Plans for 2014
December 11, 2013December 11, 2013

Some fairly big news from one of the Marcellus Shale’s largest drillers–Southwestern Energy. In a flurry of announcements issued yesterday, we learn that Southwestern’s President & CEO, Steve Mueller, will take over as Chairman of the Board next May when current Chairman Harold Korell retires. Mueller plans to keep the title of CEO but apparently he will shed the title of President, so that begs the question, who will become Southwestern’s new president next year? Interestingly (perhaps related?) Southwestern also announced yesterday the promotion of Jeffrey Sherrick to the position of Executive Vice President for Corporate Development. Hmmm.

In addition to personnel announcements, Southwestern issued a guidance statement about their plans for capital spending in 2014. The statement indicates Marcellus production will increase by a whopping 60% next year. Southwestern’s estimated Marcellus production for 2013 is 148-149 billion cubic feet (Bcf). Next year they expect it will be 244-249 Bcf based on superb well performance in Bradford, Lycoming and Susquehanna counties. Southwestern boasts that one of their Susquehanna County wells achieved an initial production of 32 million cubic feet per day! In 2014 Southwestern plans to begin drilling in three additional northeastern PA counties…
Read More “Southwestern Energy’s Board Changes, Marcellus Plans for 2014”
Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Cabot Oil & Gas & The Marcellus – An “Unstoppable” Combination
December 10, 2013

Cabot Oil & Gas continues to exceed expectations and, well, impress just about everybody! Yesterday Cabot issued an operations update. Among the highlights: They’ve just completed a 10-well pad in Susquehanna County (dry gas portion of the Marcellus). Calling it, “the new standard for operational efficiencies and technological advancement,” Cabot said the 10-well pad was completed with 170 frac stages and had a combined peak production rate of a huge 201 million cubic feet (Mmcf) per day. That’s an average of 20.1 Mmcf/d per well for all 10 wells! This is exciting stuff folks.

In addition to the excellent Marcellus news, Cabot announced they’ve sold more of their mid-continent “non-core” assets, bringing the total to $325 million worth of non-core assets this year. A good share of that money is being invested in the Marcellus. Below we have the full Cabot press release, the Cabot investor slide deck (with some great charts and maps), and energy analyst Robert Zeit’s key takeaways from yesterday’s update…
Read More “Cabot Oil & Gas & The Marcellus – An “Unstoppable” Combination”
Chief Oil & Gas | Clarion County | Electrical Generation | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Greene County (PA) | IMG Midstream | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide WV | Susquehanna County | West Virginia | Wyoming County (PA)

4 Electric Plants Coming to NE PA, Powered by Marcellus Gas
November 27, 2013November 27, 2013

In August MDN told you the news that Chief Oil & Gas has struck up a deal with IMG Midstream (sort of misnamed, IMG is not a pipeline company) to provide IMG with Marcellus Shale gas to power several small regional, super efficient and low-polluting electric generation plants they plan to build in northeastern Pennsylvania (see Chief Strikes Deal to Provide Marcellus Gas for Electric Plants). We have good news: projects to build those plants are moving forward with all due speed.

We now know that there are four plants planned for Pennsylvania and one for West Virginia. We also know where those plants will be built…
Read More “4 Electric Plants Coming to NE PA, Powered by Marcellus Gas”
Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Cabot Buys Second Dimock, PA Property on Carter Road
November 25, 2013November 25, 2013

Contrary to the desires of Josh Fox and other anti-drillers, the “Dimock” story continues to fade away into obscure history. A month ago MDN told you about the former house of some of the loudest Cabot critics who used to live in Dimock, PA–the Sautners. Craig and Julie Sautner sold their house and 3.6 acres to Cabot last year and snuk out of town with $167,500 (see Fracking Opponents Craig & Julie Sautner Sell, Leave Dimock). Last month, the old Sautner house was leveled and the property was sold to the neighbor for a measly $4,000 (see End of an Era? Sautner’s Dimock Home Leveled, Property Sold).

Another Dimock property has just been sold to Cabot, albeit for not quite as much. Mike Ely sold his 12-acre property on Carter Road (including double-wide trailer) to Cabot for $140,000…
Read More “Cabot Buys Second Dimock, PA Property on Carter Road”