Ohio County

Air Quality | Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Ohio County | West Virginia

Chesapeake Applies for Air Pollution Permits in WV
October 1, 2012October 1, 2012

Chesapeake Energy, the only active Marcellus Shale driller in Ohio, Brooke and Hancock counties in West Virginia, has asked the WV Dept. of Environmental Protection to grant permits allowing them to release certain pollutants into the air from both flaring at some of their well sites and at compressor stations they own. People living near those sites are none too excited about the prospect and said so at a recent public hearing:

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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Ohio County | West Virginia

Still No Decision on Drilling Near Wheeling Park High School
September 24, 2012September 24, 2012

Chesapeake Energy, the only driller with active operations in Ohio, Brooke or Hancock counties, wants to site a drill pad about 1,300 feet from the Wheeling Park High School (in Ohio County, WV). The school doesn’t like the plan. A decision has still not been made, but is under review by the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP).

Is it a good idea? Bad idea? Depends on who you ask:

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Air Quality | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Ohio County | Research | West Virginia

New Study to Measure Drilling Effects on Air Quality in WV
September 12, 2012September 12, 2012

The Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department is working with West Virginia University researchers in a new study to measure possible effects of drilling on air pollution:

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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Marshall County | Ohio County | West Virginia

Royalty Checks Coming for Landowners in WV Panhandle
August 31, 2012August 31, 2012

Landowners who leased with Chesapeake Energy and who live in Ohio and Marshall counties in West Virginia’s northern panhandle may soon have big smiles on their faces. Chesapeake is turning on the gas to pipelines in those locations, and once the gas starts flowing, so too will royalty checks.

How soon should landowners expect their first checks?

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Belmont County | Brooke County | Jefferson County (OH) | Mahoning County | Marshall County | Ohio | Ohio County | Trumbull County | West Virginia

New OH/WV “Shale Play” Publication Debuts
August 27, 2012August 27, 2012

For those living in eastern Ohio and along the border in West Virginia, be on the lookout for a new free publication called Shale Play, published by the Warren (OH) Tribune Chronicle and its sister publications.

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Accidents | Chevron | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Ohio County | West Virginia

Chevron Restarts Production for Some WV Wells after Accident
July 23, 2012July 23, 2012

Chevron previously purchased a number of leases and drilling operations in Marshall and Ohio counties in West Virginia. But they halted production for their WV operations earlier this year after a well exploded near Moundsville to conduct a top to bottom safety review and ensure the newly acquired operations met Chevron’s high safety standards.

Although the review is ongoing, it’s been completed in some areas and wells in Marshall County are now starting to come back online.

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Brooke County | Hancock County | Industrywide Issues | Ohio County | Pipelines | West Virginia

WV Landowners Drive a Hard Bargain for Pipeline Deals
July 6, 2012December 19, 2012

Some West Virginia landowners who feel shortchanged with low drilling signing bonuses ($5 per acre) and royalty rates (12.5%) are holding out for better deals to run pipelines across their property, and that’s leading to a slow-down of new wells coming online in the state, according to a former DEP representative.

Counties being affected by the slowdown include Ohio, Brooke and Hancock. Typically pipeline easements are a one-time payment, like a signing bonus, and are based on a per foot price. How high will those prices go? Some of the numbers being tossed about are breathtaking.

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Brooke County | Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio County | West Virginia

Brooke County WV Schools Get $661K in Lease Payments
May 29, 2012May 29, 2012

Brooke County Schools in West Virginia are eager to have Chesapeake Energy drill under school-owned property. But Ohio County Schools, also in WV, don’t want Chesapeake drilling near their schools. What’s the difference? One is getting a boatload of money in lease (and eventually royalty) payments. The other isn’t.

Read More “Brooke County WV Schools Get $661K in Lease Payments”
Antero Resources | Brooke County | Chesapeake Energy | Doddridge County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Marshall County | Ohio County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Washington County | West Virginia

MarkWest Inks Two New Deals to Expand Processing in WV
May 8, 2012May 7, 2012

MarkWest has been in the news a lot lately, signing a raft of new agreements and even buying out a competitor. Last Friday, MarkWest announced they had signed an agreement (terms not disclosed) to expand MarkWest’s processing capacity in the Marcellus Shale to handle more Chesapeake production. The areas covered by the agreement include northern West Virginia (Brooke, Ohio and Marshall counties), and Washington County in Pennsylvania.

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Antero Resources | Brooke County | Chesapeake Energy | Doddridge County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Marshall County | Ohio County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Washington County | West Virginia

MarkWest Inks Major New Deals with Chesapeake & Antero
May 4, 2012May 4, 2012

MarkWest announced today two major new agreements to provide expanded natural gas processing and pipeline capacity for Chesapeake Energy and Antero Resouces in the Marcellus Shale. The deal with Chesapeake covers Brooke, Ohio and Marshall counties in WV, and Washington County, PA. The deal with Antero covers Doddridge and Harrison counties in WV. The new agreements, which include processing natural gas liquids, mean MarkWest will build new gathering pipelines and add compressor stations to their existing operations.

From the MarkWest press release:

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Chevron | Energy Companies | Ohio County | West Virginia

Chevron Acquires Leases to 4,400 Acres in Ohio County, WV
September 20, 2011September 20, 2011

Chevron is the latest large energy company to purchase leases in the Ohio Valley for shale gas drilling. Recently, Hess paid $1.34 billion to acquire acreage in eastern Ohio, and Exxon Mobil subsidiary XTO Energy is now signing up landowners in Belmont County, OH for Utica Shale drilling (see this MDN story). Just across the border, Chevron is investing in Ohio County, WV and now controls 4,400 acres there.

Read More “Chevron Acquires Leases to 4,400 Acres in Ohio County, WV”
Chesapeake Energy | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio County | West Virginia

Ohio County Receives $8M (So Far) from Marcellus Gas Leases
August 16, 2011August 16, 2011

Ohio County, WV is reaping the rewards of leasing county-owned land for Marcellus gas drilling. The county’s land leases with Chesapeake Energy have already resulted in nearly $8 million in one-time lease payments for the county coffers, and soon will mean royalty payments too. Chesapeake has already completed a well on private land adjacent to (and drilling under) county land in The Highlands area. But gas from that well has not yet started to flow due to a delay in getting a pipeline built to the well. Once the pipeline is in place, the county will start receiving royalty checks from that well.

And within the next 12 months, Chesapeake will drill a new well, this time directly on county-owned land at the airport:

Read More “Ohio County Receives $8M (So Far) from Marcellus Gas Leases”
Brooke County | Industrywide Issues | Ohio County | Roads | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Road Damage from Gas Drilling in WV Overwhelms Highway Department
May 31, 2011May 31, 2011

Road damage from truck traffic to Marcellus Shale drilling sites has overwhelmed the West Virginia Department of Highways (DOH) ability to respond, according to one DOH official.

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Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Marshall County | Ohio County | West Virginia | Wetzel County

Union Protests Dominion Transmission in WV Over Lack of Local Workers in Building Pipelines
May 25, 2011May 25, 2011

A local union in West Virginia is set to protest natural gas transmission facilities owned by Dominion over the issue of jobs and out-of-state workers being brought in to build new pipelines in the Wetzel County.

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Brooke County | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Marshall County | Ohio County | West Virginia | Wetzel County

West Virginia Now Employs 10K People in Marcellus Shale Gas Industry, Wetzel & Marshall Counties Most Active in Gas Drilling
February 8, 2011February 9, 2011

An article in today’s West Virginia paper The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register attempts to denigrate Marcellus gas drilling in the state by focusing on some of the problems. One of those problems, according to the article, is that 13 illegal aliens (undocumented workers) that have been caught working for drilling contractors in the state “in the last few years.” But 13 illegals apprehended out of some 10,000 workers employed by the Marcellus gas drilling industry in the state is an infinitesimally small 1/10th of one percent. That is, it’s a non-story. If the statistics are to be believed that there are some 20 million illegals in the U.S., and the population of our country is around 300 million, that means an average 6 1/2 percent of the entire population are illegal aliens! Point is: the drilling industry does not seek to employ illegals—it happens, like any industry.

Read More “West Virginia Now Employs 10K People in Marcellus Shale Gas Industry, Wetzel & Marshall Counties Most Active in Gas Drilling”
AB Resources | Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Marion County | Marshall County | Ohio County | Trans Energy | West Virginia | Wetzel County

Marcellus Leasing & Drilling in the West Virginia Panhandle Heats Up
March 8, 2010March 8, 2010
West Virginia Marcellus Shale is getting hot. From an article* in the Steubenville (OH) Herald-Star, we get a mountain of good intelligence on what energy companies have and are paying in the West Virginia panhandle:
- AB Resources is paying the New Vrindaban Hare Krishna Community in Marshall County $2,500 per acre for approximately 4,000 acres, and 18.75 percent production royalties. That works out to $10 million in lease payments.
- Chesapeake paid $750 per acre and 14 percent royalties to the Wheeling Park Commission for leases in the Oglebay and Wheeling Parks in 2009. The park commissioner is not happy that Chesapeake is planning to pay more this year to lease public lands in neighboring Ohio County.
- Chesapeake paid $2,800 per acre and 18.75 percent production royalties last month to the Marshall County Board of Education for rights to 177 acres in Sherrard.
- Chesapeake has 11,000 acres under lease in Ohio County, and 45,000 acres (with 26 wells drilled) in Marshall County.
- Trans Energy owns and operates 300 active wells in Marshall, Wetzel and Marion counties, with 40,000 acres under lease.
Also, according to the article:

Current lease contracts range from as low as $5 per acre to as high as $2,800 per acre, with production royalties ranging from 12.5 percent to 18.75 percent. Landowners are being urged to think carefully before signing any contract.*

*Steubenville Herald-Star (Mar 8th) – Steubenville Herald-Star – Natural gas could bring riches to Panhandle