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Shale Water Management in the M-U, Coming to Pittsburgh Mar 24-25

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 10th Annual Cost-Effective Shale Water Management Marcellus and Utica 2020 event, coming March 24-25 in Pittsburgh, has the answers.
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Report: Northeast Petrochemical Industry Market Outlook 2020

MDN is proud to partner with Petrochemical Update, now owned by Reuters Events, to promote the forthcoming Northeast US Petrochemical Conference & Expo 2020, being held June 29-30 in Pittsburgh. As part of that event, Petrochemical Update recently released the Northeast Petrochemical Industry Market Outlook 2020 report. We have details below on how you can get a free copy. Also below are details on how to register for the upcoming June conference–and save $150! Please join MDN at this year’s event. We promise it will be well worth your time.
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Steel Nation Expands, Adds 3 New Team Members in SWPA

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: Steel Nation. Although Steel Nation builds steel buildings used throughout our industry, it does far more. Steel Nation also offers engineering, environmental and facility services. Unlike other companies currently trimming back, Steel Nation is expanding! The company has just added three new key members to its top-flight team.
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Steel Nation Gets New Engineering Manager

Steven J. Bauer

Steel Nation, headquartered in Washington County, PA, works primarily in the energy sector of North America. Steel Nation is a leading designer and builder of transmission, storage and compression facilities for the midstream and transmission operations of the oil and gas industry throughout the Marcellus and Utica Shale region, as well as other resource plays. MDN is tickled pink that Steel Nation is our 2019 premier sponsor. We’re excited to announce the addition of an important new member to the Steel Nation team.
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The Secret to Lowering Water Management Costs in the M-U

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?
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New Ohio Injection Well Launches in Tuscarawas County

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Glenn O. Hawbaker, Inc., long known for providing stone quarries and asphalt plants in Pennsylvania and Ohio, provides civil construction services for shale well sites. The company is also involved in water withdrawal and treatment, logistics of supplies and the creation of specialized aggregate products for the shale industry. Hawbaker recently held an open house to launch the startup of its very first shale wastewater injection well–in Newcomerstown (Tuscarawas County), Ohio. Hawbaker held a Grand Opening Open House for their injection well last week. What’s that? You don’t think injecting wastewater in the ground is a good thing? We’d like a chance to change your mind about that…
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Free Webinar on Price of Natural Gas in Marcellus/Utica – May 17

NGI’s Pat Rau

The price of natural gas is the magic key that unlocks whether, and how much, drilling takes place in the Marcellus/Utica. Drillers (i.e. producers) live and die by the price of natural gas. Traders live and die by it too. And because it’s important to drillers and traders and others in the industry, the price of gas at various trading points along pipelines is of keen interest for landowners too. What controls the price? Supply and demand, of course. But there are other factors too. This Thursday, May 17 at 1 pm Eastern, NGI’s (Natural Gas Intelligence) Director of Strategy and Research, Patrick Rau, will give an online webinar talk EVERYONE needs to attend: “Appalachian Natural Gas Prices — How They are Determined and Where Are They Headed?” Pat is guest presenter for this month’s free Penn State Extension Shale Education monthly webinar series. MDN editor Jim Willis knows and has worked with Pat–and we can assure you, Pat is one smart cookie. He makes the complex world of natural gas pricing understandable. Here’s the announcement of what Pat will discuss on this can’t-miss-it webinar…
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Time to Support Transco’s Northeast Supply Enhancement Project

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 Williams Northeast Supply Enhancement Pipe Gets Favorable DEIS). The project is meant to increase pipeline capacity and flows heading into northeastern markets. In particular, Transco wants to provide more Marcellus natural gas to utility giant National Grid beginning with the 2019-2020 heating season. National Grid operates in New York City, Long Island, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. There are a number of components to the project, but the key component, the heart of the project, is a new 23-mile pipeline from the shore of New Jersey into (on the bottom of) the Raritan Bay–running parallel to the existing Transco pipeline–before connecting to the Transco offshore. This project needs *your* help. Please join MDN in supporting the project by signing this online petition to FERC. A second way you can support the project is by attending and speaking at one of four regional FERC hearings, which begin next week…
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Ignore the Mexican NatGas Market at Your Own Peril

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 Mexico Gas Price Index (MGPI). Why is MDN psyched about MGPI, and what does it have to do with the Marcellus/Utica?…
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Get Tomorrow’s Marcellus/Utica NatGas Prices Today!

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. Request a trial to NGI’s MidDay Price Alert here. Below we have a section of a recent edition showing prices in Appalachia (the Marcellus/Utica), and for the entire northeast…
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NatGas Trading in NYC Hits $175/Mcf – Highest Ever Recorded!

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Brrrr! If you live anywhere in the northeastern part of the country, you’re likely bundled up sitting at home, or bundled up sitting at work. Most schools dismissed today because of the brutally low wind chill values–minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit in upstate NY where MDN is headquartered. Over the past couple of days MDN has highlighted the news that with this latest winter ‘bomb cyclone’ as it’s called, the lack of natural gas pipelines to New England–to feed both homeowners who heat with gas and utilities that use gas to generate electricity–can no longer be ignored. Two days ago we told you that New England now has the dubious distinction of paying the highest average price for natural gas in the entire world (see New England’s Lack of Pipelines = Most Expensive Gas in the WORLD). Yesterday we told you that at least part of the blame for New England’s sky high natgas prices can be laid at the feet of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (see New England Can “Thank” NY Gov. Cuomo for Sky High NatGas Prices). However, lack of pipelines doesn’t only affect New England states, it also affects New York itself. Yesterday history was made when the spot price for natural gas in New York City hit an amazing $175 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) at the Transco Zone 6 New York trading hub. Incredible! In Boston, at the Algonquin City Gate trading hub, the spot price briefly hit $105/Mcf! Below we have the news about these record-breaking prices from the natgas price experts–Natural Gas Intelligence (NGI). Each weekday NGI publishes their MidDay Price Alert by 1 pm Central, both emailed and available at this webpage: www.naturalgasintel.com/middayprices. The MidDay Price Alert, which includes Intercontinental Exchange trade data, gives gas traders (and those with a keen interest in prices) the latest intel on what’s happening with prices at 125+ trading hubs across the country. Here’s what yesterday’s MidDay Price Alert showed for trading in the northeast… Continue reading

Preview NGI’s Awesome 2018 Shale Play/Pipeline Map

Just in time for Christmas (or Chanukah, or Kwanzaa)…NGI has just released our favorite map, the 2018 Map of Shale/Resource Plays & North American Natural Gas Pipelines. When MDN editor Jim Willis began working in the natural gas market full-time in 2012, he learned from some of the best in the business–the incredibly talented people at Natural Gas Intelligence (NGI). One the key lessons Jim learned early on in working with NGI is that ours is a market driven by price. And not just one price! Yes, the Henry Hub in South Louisiana is the most quoted price point in the world when it comes to natgas. Indeed, it forms the basis price against which all other trading points are measured. But Jim learned early on there isn’t just one price for natural gas, there are many (hundreds!) of prices for natural gas, because natural gas is traded at hundreds of different locations along pipelines, all around the country. When Jim was being taught about the markets and prices and why and where drillers decide to drill, driven by price, one of the key resources used to teach Jim was the NGI map. It was a revelation that made a lasting impression when Jim’s tutors walked him over to the NGI map hanging on the wall and pointed out all of the different shale plays, pipelines, and trading points along those pipelines. Suddenly, the complex world of natgas with its many moving parts snapped into place. It was now understandable. NGI’s wall map is the tool that did that for Jim. Perhaps it can do the same for you. NGI typically issues the map with updates every year or two. The 2018 edition has just been released, with important updates. If you work in, or have an interest in, the natural gas market, give yourself the one gift that will keep on giving for years–an NGI map…
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Webasto – Saving Marcellus/Utica Trucks Big Money and Time

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 (see it here).

Obviously not all MDN readers are interested in technology that keeps trucks warm in the winter. But there are a number of trucking companies, and fleet managers, who subscribe to and read MDN. Companies that work in the Marcellus/Utica region. We have some information you need–information that will (a) save you BIG money, (b) improve your environmental record, and (c) lower maintenance costs for your trucks…
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Empire State Showdown: The NatGas Battle For New York

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, “Empire State Showdown: The NatGas Battle for New York.” Below is a description of the report, with information about how you can download a copy…
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Important Marcellus/Utica Primer Available to Download – for FREE

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 get a copy instantly
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PDF Map Details M-U Shale Plays, Pipelines and More – See It Now

MDN previously wrote about Natural Gas Intelligence’s awesome, huge 52″ x 36″ wall map showing every major (most minor) natural gas pipelines (202 of them!), resource plays (185 of them!) and more (See the Map that Changed How MDN Views the NatGas World). What do you do, however, if you’re on the road, at home or out of the office and you can’t glance at your handy Shale/Resource Plays & Natural Gas Pipelines wall map? NGI has thought of that too. When you buy an NGI wall map (MDN Users Get 25% off, here’s how), you also get a PDF version as well–something you can literally take anywhere with you, for use on your laptop or your smartphone. The PDF version has become our favorite. Don’t tell NGI, but we’ve zoomed in on the Appalachian portion of the map to show you just how much information you’ll find if you decide to get your own copy. Buckle up to enjoy the ride!…
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