American Energy Closes on “Tier I” Assets – Exclusive Details
Last week MDN brought you news about a relatively new company called American Energy Partners, Inc., based in Allentown, PA, and their subsidiary company Gilbert Oil & Gas (see American Energy Partners Invests in “Tier I” Marcellus Assets). AEP and subsidiary Gilbert said last week they had cut a deal to buy some “Tier I” assets in the Marcellus. However, there were no specifics. Yesterday AEP and Gilbert issued a new press release (below) to say the deal is now completed and they now own those Tier I assets. Again, no specifics. So MDN reached out to AEP to ask for further details. We got a response–which still does not name the seller, but does tell us how many Marcellus wells they bought, how much acreage is part of the deal, and in which Marcellus Shale county the assets are located. As far as we know, this is exclusive–nobody else has this information. We also have a thought on who the seller may be…
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Last week MDN told you that Community College of Beaver County (CCBC) is operating a program in process technology that leads to an associate’s degree as preparation for a job at Shell’s $6 billion ethane cracker plant, being built now in Beaver County (see 
MAX Environmental has operated the Bulger hazardous waste landfill in Smith Township (Washington County), PA since 1958. One of the primary customers for the landfill over the past 10 years has been the Marcellus industry–dumping drill cuttings (leftover dirt and rock from drilling) at the landfill. Earlier this year, MAX sold itself to Altus Capital Partners–a private equity investment firm–for an undisclosed amount (see 
Here’s a business you might not think about nor associate with Marcellus/Utica drilling–fuel deliveries. If you own a home and live outside of an urban area, you know all about fuel deliveries, because you likely either burn fuel oil or propane to heat your home. What you may not know is that drilling operations need a similar service–diesel fuel deliveries (mostly) at drill pads, to run the engines that generate electricity to run drilling and fracking operations. And fuel deliveries to trucking fleets, to keep the trucks moving. Perhaps an unglamorous part of the business–but vital nonetheless. Fuel deliveries run 24/7 in the oilfield, just like every other activity associated with drilling wells. Sprague Resources, founded in 1870 (not a typo!), is one of the largest independent suppliers of energy and materials handling services in the Northeast with products including home heating oil, diesel fuels, residual fuels, gasoline and natural gas. Sprague has just bought out Coen Energy, headquartered in Washington, PA. Coen pretty much does the same thing, but specializes in servicing the fueling (and storage) needs of Marcellus/Utica drillers. No financial details were included in the announcement, other than Sprague expects the addition of Coen to its company will result in an extra $7-$8 million of revenue per year. Here’s the news about one competitor gobbling up another in order to expand its presence in the Marcellus/Utica…
In January, MDN reported on a well pad fire at Rice Energy’s Papa Bear well pad in Somerset Township (Washington County), PA (see 
In delicious irony, Robinson Township (Washington County), PA, one of the original seven selfish towns that sued Pennsylvania and eventually won at the PA Supreme Court, overturning a portion of the state’s 2012 Act 13 shale drilling law (granting towns the right to self-regulate some aspects of oil and gas drilling by using onerous zoning ordinances), is about to get a new Marcellus gas-fired electric plant. That is, a plant that burns the stuff they don’t like drilled. In April, MDN shared a list of five new Marcellus gas-fired plants coming in Southwestern PA (see 
Peters Township, the most populous township in Washington County, PA, is one of the seven selfish towns that sued the state in 2012 over the zoning provisions in the then-new Act 13 law, eventually winning at the PA Supreme Court level (see 
In October 2016, MDN reported that electric company FirstEnergy had begun construction of a new electric substation in Washington County, PA to provide electricity to “support two natural gas processing facilities being developed in the area” (see 
For years we’ve followed the story of Range Resources and their (former) wastewater impoundments in Washington County, PA. The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) fined Range a whopping $4.15 million for violations in September 2014 (see 
The Pittsburgh, PA region has been truly blessed by the Marcellus Shale industry. Largely because of the Marcellus, last year (2016) saw the biggest year ever for capital investment in the 10-county Pittsburgh region–a mind-blowing $10.2 billion of investment! It is the highest capital investment in a single year ever. Now mind you, not all of that money actually got invested last year. Some of it will come in dribs and drabs over the next several years. But all of that $10.2 billion was committed to in 2016. Last week the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance (PRA) issued its annual Business Investment Scorecard. The report (read it below) finds that more than half of last year’s capital investments pledged to Pittsburgh region came from a single project–the $6 billion Shell ethane cracker. The report also found another $3.11 billion worth of investment related to shale gas (processing plants, gas-fired power plants, etc.). Add it all together, and over $9 billion of the $10.2 billion committed last year is due to the Marcellus industry. To which we say, Pittsburgh should bow down and kiss some shale rock…
It’s hard to keep track of all the Marcellus and Utica Shale-fired electric plants being planned, built and going online. We recently highlighted a list of 11 such projects getting built in Ohio (see 
Several southwest Pennsylvania Republican lawmakers (and a Democrat lawmaker) addressed the League of [Liberal Democrat] Women Voters at the group’s annual question-and-answer session with area legislators in Washington, PA on Friday. The Lib Dems attending likely got more than what they bargained for, as the legislators who addressed them stuck up for fossil fuels. The moderator asked a question about so-called clean energy jobs and investing, and promptly got schooled about REAL clean energy–i.e., fossil fuels!…