Frac Sand: Does Size Really Matter?
Today, we introduce you to a new advertiser on Marcellus Drilling News: MS Industries. Below is a sponsored post from MS Industries. Such posts on MDN are extremely rare. We only accept sponsored posts if we believe the content is (a) very high quality and (b) directly relevant to MDN readers. This post on frac sand hits the bullseye. Among MDN’s audience are many who work for drillers (i.e., producers) and those who work for the oilfield services companies that work for those drillers. Believe it or not, frac sand is one of the keys, one of the closely-guarded secrets of drillers, that determines the success of their drilling programs. MS Industries, serving the Marcellus/Utica (and other plays), offers a range of high-grade frac sand, including whole grain silica microproppant. Matt Henry, one of the principals of MS Industries, writes about the role of microproppants in fracking. Click to learn more about the critical role of frac sand and why size *does* matter… Read More “Frac Sand: Does Size Really Matter?”
Water is the lifeblood of shale drilling. Water must get to the pad for use in drilling and fracking. But then, after the drilling is done and the well is connected, produced water continues to flow from the borehole for years to come. All that water must be managed. In the early days of Marcellus/Utica drilling every spare gallon of produced water got recycled for reuse drilling the next well. With a slowdown in new M-U drilling, produced water is piling up. What can be done to manage it? The 
MDN is proud to partner with Petrochemical Update, now owned by Reuters Events, to promote the forthcoming 
It’s not all doom and gloom in the Marcellus/Utica sector. Although there have been plenty of layoffs and announcements of budget cuts and less drilling, at least one company in our space is expanding–sensing new opportunity. That company, we are proud to say, is MDN’s premier sponsor for 2020: 
Water is expensive. Marcellus/Utica producers are spending millions of dollars on solutions to better handle water–the water they need for drilling and (perhaps more importantly) the produced water they must treat and/or dispose of. At the end of March, a group of M-U producers, regulators and other experts will gather in Pittsburgh to share their secrets to lowering the cost of water management. Should you be there too?
In March the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a favorable draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for the Williams Transco Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline project (see 
For some time now, MDN has had its eye on Mexico. Following landmark reforms in 2013 and 2014, Mexico’s oil and gas markets have been freed from strict government control. Mexico is interested in attracting foreign (i.e. U.S.) investment. While renewable energy prospects in Mexico grabbed much of the attention in mainstream media, the core of the energy reform effort lies in the expansion of Mexico’s natural gas market. Not only is power generation heavily focused on increasing capacity through gas-fired combined cycle power plants, but consumption by industrial users is also expected to rise at a steady pace in the coming decades. Mexico is already, and will become even more so, an incredibly important market for U.S. natural gas. NGI (Natural Gas Intelligence) knows just how critical Mexico is becoming to the U.S. and recently launched a new daily news and data service called the 
Anyone with even a passing interest in the natural gas market–either the Marcellus/Utica or elsewhere–knows there is one dominant factor that drives exploration and production: PRICE. The price of natural gas is the tail that wags the entire natgas dog. Low price? Less (or no) drilling, shut-in wells, less leasing–everything is less. High price? Pop the cork on the champagne bottle! When the price goes up and stays up, drillers begin seismic surveys, then leasing, then permits, then drilling. After drilling comes pipelines–both to the well and to market. And businesses tend to gather around points where there is access to natgas (and its byproducts). It’s a virtuous cycle, from upstream (drilling) to midstream (pipelines) to downstream (end users of the gas)–that all starts with price. Who should have an interest in price? Everybody! However, there are some whose jobs and livelihoods depend on price–gas traders, industrial buyers, drillers who need to sell their gas, etc. Those people need a daily update on the price. Who do they turn to? There are several price reporting authorities that monitor trade information for natural gas trading. There is no single price for natural gas–there are hundreds of prices. Gas is traded at trading hubs or points along major pipelines across the country. Each time a trade is done (price requested, price offered or “ask” and “bid”), that valuable information gets recorded and sent to a price recording authority. Each day around 1:30 PM Central Time, NGI gathers up trade information for THAT DAY, trades that have occurred so far at trading points all over the US and Canada, and posts/emails the information to subscribers. It is like getting tomorrow’s prices–the prices everyone else will base their trades on–today! How can you get tomorrow’s prices today? Glad you asked. 
Just in time for Christmas (or Chanukah, or Kwanzaa)…NGI has just released our favorite map, the 
Winter has arrived here in the Marcellus/Utica. Keeping a truck idled for hours at a time–just to keep it warm or to get it warmed up before driving–is a waste of money. It’s also harmful to the environment (lots of nasty diesel emissions). There is a better way–the Webasto way. Webasto designed and manufactures an ingenious solution, a tiny little device like a motor, that will heat up the fluids in a truck, meaning you don’t have to start it minutes and hours ahead of time just to warm it up. They even have a device that will keep the cabin warm–without running the truck’s engine! How clever is that? MDN is delighted to bring our audience a new sponsor/advertiser: Webasto. Never heard of it? You may actually have one of their systems in your equipment and not even realize it. They’re responsible for the technology behind Engine-Off heating solutions–improving driver comfort and engine performance for all types of vehicles. Webasto was founded in 1901 in Germany and remains headquartered there. However, it is truly an international company, with operations around the world, including here in the U.S. There are a number of subsidiaries and divisions within the company. The part of the company that has become an MDN sponsor manufactures technologies, like heaters, used in big trucks (
Marcellus Drilling News began in early 2009 after editor Jim Willis noticed an article in the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin detailing how a group of farmers in Broome County (near where Jim lives) had become overnight millionaires after signing leases with XTO Energy–to allow shale drilling on and under their land. Jim was stumped. He had never heard of gas drilling in the Southern Tier of New York, nor had he heard of XTO Energy. The issue of shale drilling appeared to be an interesting issue, full of technology, politics and money. Sounds like the makings of a soap opera! And what a soap it has been since that time–at least in New York State. Jim has followed the ups and downs (mostly downs) of attempting to launch shale drilling in the Empire State. When Andrew Cuomo was first elected governor, it appeared that he would (eventually) allow fracking. Now? He won’t even allow the state’s environmental agency to approve major interstate pipelines–projects most residents were unaware of just a few short years ago. Natural Gas Intelligence (NGI) ace reporter Jamison Cocklin recently wrote an in-depth series of articles focusing on New York and what’s happening with the gas industry in the state. It was/is an EXCELLENT series of articles. NGI has assembled the series, along with extra information, into a 16-page Special Report titled, “
MDN editor Jim Willis has once again partnered with NGI (Natural Gas Intelligence) to bring you a great (and FREE) opportunity to learn more about everyone’s favorite twin shale plays: The Marcellus and Utica Shales. NGI produces a mountain of data and information as part of their research and development efforts, publishing it in a Shale Plays Factbook, which costs $179. However, because of MDN’s special partnership with NGI, they have agreed to combine the Marcellus/Utica sections from the Factbook into a special primer, available free for MDN readers only. Here’s what’s in the Marcellus/Utica Shale Primer, a few sample pages, and how you can