West Virginia DEP New Rule Changes Affect Shale Industry
West Virginia had a contentious budget battle this year. Why? Because severance tax revenue for coal and oil & gas was down–way down. With no hint of it improving any time soon. WV’s budget heavily depends on severance tax revenue for the state’s annual budget. Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin had to call a special session that last 17 days in order to get the budget passed. As part of that special session, new oil and gas rules from the WV Dept. of Environmental Protection were also passed. While the new rules don’t significantly alter existing regulations, the “subtle changes can lead to big headaches when enforced,” according to the legal beagles at Lewis Glasser Casey & Rollins. Here’s a quick overview of the changes, along with a copy of the full rule change document…
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The good vibes are still reverberating following Shell’s announcement that they will move forward with building a $3+ billion ethane cracker in Monaca, PA (see 
In December MDN told you that Axiall Corporation, a large petrochemical manufacturer, had made a final investment decision to move ahead and build a $3 billion ethane cracker/petrochemical facility in Louisiana (see 
In January, three liberal Democrat county commissioners from Fayette County, WV, with the backing and help of the radical WV Mountain Party, voted to ban injection wells in the county (see 
On Friday MDN reported that Antero Resources has just cut a deal with Southwestern Energy to purchase 55,000 net acres located in Wetzel, Tyler and Doddridge Counties in West Virginia for $450 million (see 
What’s this? The all-but-dead ethane cracker project planned for West Virginia has new life! (Perhaps the Shell announcement has something to do with it?) Brazilian company Odebrecht has pulled out of the Appalachian Shale Cracker Enterprise (ASCENT) project previously announced for the Parkersburg, WV area (see 
Antero Resources announced yesterday that the company has just cut a deal with Southwestern Energy to purchase 55,000 net acres located in Wetzel, Tyler and Doddridge Counties in West Virginia for $450 million. Antero says the acreage is in the “core” of the Marcellus and some 75% of the acreage also includes Utica Shale rights. The acreage Southwestern is selling is acreage they themselves bought in 2014 from Chesapeake Energy. Chessy originally signed the acreage with landowners for $5 per acre (peanuts). Southwestern paid Chesapeake $12,000 per acre (see 
As we report today, Antero Resources is buying 55,000 acres of leases in the Marcellus (and Utica) Shale from Southwestern Energy (see 
Gentlemen, start your engines! Your economic engines, that is. The news earlier this week that Shell has made the commitment to move ahead and build an ethane cracker plant in Monaca, PA has, as we knew it would, set the region buzzing (see 
A group of business and government leaders from Ohio and West Virginia in what is called the Mid-Ohio Valley have banded together to form an economic development group called Shale Crescent USA. The group has been some two years in the making and officially launched yesterday at a public event in Washington County, OH. The aim of the group is to attract manufacturers (particularly petrochemical manufacturers) to set up shop in the region. Leaders of the new organization point out the unique location, with the mighty Ohio River to barge materials and products in and out, and the location right on top of the most abundant supplies of cheap natural gas in the entire world. In addition to yesterday’s event, the group launched a website: 
It’s been a while since we’ve checked in on the proposed 549 megawatt, $615 million electrical generating plant to be built near Moundsville (Marshall County), WV. At last check almost a year ago, Moundsville Power was on schedule for an opening in 2018 (see 
Each year the Ben Franklin Shale Gas Innovation and Commercialization Center (SGICC) hosts an annual Shale Gas Innovation Contest. Last week the SGICC hosted their fifth annual contest and announced four winners that split an $80,000 prize purse. The four winners this year include: Aridea Solutions, valve manufacturer; Compass Natural Gas, a CNG (compressed natural gas) station supplier; Epiphany Water Solutions, a wastewater recycler; and someone we personally know and like a great deal–Donny Beaver with HalenHardy, who won for yet another superb product (from an ingenious and serial entrepreneur). Donny’s new product is called SPILLTRATION™–a product engineered to absorb and contain oil-based leaks and spills while allowing clean water to be filter through. Read on for a description of the products/services that won. A huge congrats to our friend Donny!…
Forget about a cracker plant in West Virginia. Well, not really–just put it on the back burner for the moment. A researcher from West Virginia University says what the Mountain State and indeed all of Appalachia really needs is ethane storage. Specifically, an ethane storage hub. According to Brian Anderson, director of West Virginia University’s Energy Institute, without ethane storage (and pipelines) the Marcellus/Utica region risks seeing its abundant ethane leave the area, mostly heading to the Gulf Coast. Why is that bad? Because if we can keep ethane in the area, we will attract manufacturers to the region who want to use the results of that ethane–ethylene, the raw material in plastics. Our region can realize a bonanza in manufacturing jobs and investments–if we can store and use the ethane here, at home…
We love it when we spot a company adopting a contrarian strategy. Received wisdom and prevailing thought says that the oil and gas industry–especially in the Marcellus/Utica–is contracting. Drillers aren’t drilling, and that affects the supply chain (those companies supplying goods and services to the industry) in a big and negative way. Yep–true enough. But the received wisdom also says companies should diversity–look for business outside of the oil and gas industry. What’s contrary is to take advantage of this downturn to expand capacity–to get ready for when the downturn turns again into an upturn. That’s just what Watco Transportation Services is doing with their Kanawha River Railroad short line subsidiary. Kanawha River Railroad has just cut a deal to lease 309 miles of rail lines from Norfolk Southern in Ohio and West Virginia. One of the customers on these short haul lines will be, yep, Marcellus and Utica drillers and sand suppliers and chemical suppliers and equipment suppliers. Nope, there’s not all that much shipping right now, which makes this a step of faith. But the company believes that the future will be here soon and things will turn and the Kanawha River Railroad will be ready to take full advantage of it. We love a railroad story, and we love a contrarian story. This is both…