West Virginia

Industrywide Issues | Landfills | Research | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV DEP Study Finds Drilling Cuttings in Landfills are Safe
July 14, 2015July 14, 2015

In 2014 the West Virginia legislature enacted a law that requires the WV Dept. of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) to conduct a study of the impact from disposing drill cuttings and drilling waste (leftover rock and dirt) from natural gas well sites in landfills. Anti-drillers spin tales of glowing in the dark from irradiation and horrible, cancer-causing, death-inducing chemicals leaking from landfills that accept drill cuttings and drilling waste. So members of the WVDEP and a number of outside researchers from several WV universities worked on this important research project that would, once and for all, evaluate the risk from landfills that accept drill cuttings. In early July the WVDEP released the completed study (full copy below). There have been a precious few media reports about the findings from this momentous research project. Why? Because the study “found little concern” regarding leachate associated with “drill cuttings that were placed in approved and permitted landfills, once that leachate was processed through a correctly operated treatment facility.” That is, there is no issue with accepting drill cuttings in WV landfills–contrary to the blathering of anti-drillers…
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Accidents | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Jay-Bee Oil & Gas | Pipelines | Tyler County | West Virginia

Pipeline Ruptures & Burns at Jay-Bee Well Pad in Tyler County, WV
July 13, 2015July 13, 2015

There was a rupture of a gas pipeline at a Jay-Bee Oil and Gas drill pad in the Big Run area of Tyler County, WV early Friday morning. There was no explosion, and no one was injured–but there was a fire and the fire could be seen for miles in the dark early morning. The fire from the ruptured pipe (cause still being investigated) burned for an hour before it was extinguished. The wells on the pad are currently shut-in while the WV Dept. of Environmental Protection investigates. This is not the first Jay-Bee accident in the Big Run area…
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Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Establishes New Commission to Study Drilling/Pipeline Safety
July 13, 2015July 13, 2015

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has, as he promised in his 2015 State of the State address, formed a new commission on oil and natural gas safety to study and make recommendations on how the industry in the Mountain State can get better at safety. Translation: What new laws and regulations can the state adopt to make things safer without destroying the industry in the process? Tomblin announced the members of this new West Virginia Commission on Oil and Natural Gas Industry Safety. Five of the 14 members are from the oil and gas industry. The group is charged with making a final proposal to Gov. Tomblin by Nov. 16…
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Energy Companies | Gastar Exploration | Marshall County | Utica Shale | West Virginia

New Gastar Utica Well in West Virginia Hits Peak of 36.8 Mmcf/d
July 1, 2015July 1, 2015

Yesterday Gastar Exploration announced production rates for their second Utica well–drilled in Marshall County, WV. The Blake U-7H well production initially spiked at a high of 36.8 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) early in its first 30 days of being online. The overall average production rate during the first 30 days of going online was 20.2 MMcf/d. Following the first 30 days, the average production over the most recent 5 days was 14.8 MMcf/d. Which kind of gives you an idea of just how quickly well production tappers off…
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Columbia Pipeline Group | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lewis County | Pipelines | West Virginia

Columbia Pipeline Does it Right Way: $10K Gift to WV Fire Academy
July 1, 2015July 1, 2015

Finally a case of what appears to us as not pipeline payola (buying support for a new pipeline project before it’s built or approved), but in fact a case of true community support for community support’s sake. Being a good neighbor. Columbia Pipeline Group (CPG), which operates a many hundreds of miles of pipelines in the northeast already, made a $10,000 donation to the West Virginia University Fire Service Extension/State Fire Training Academy in Weston, WV on Monday. Weston is located in Lewis County, WV, sort of in the center of the state. No new pipeline projects anywhere close. Congratulations to CPG for a selfless donation–perhaps the first true case we’ve seen!…
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Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

New EIA Monthly Report Breaks Out Natgas Production by PA/OH/WV
July 1, 2015July 1, 2015

Our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), has just replaced a previous monthly report with a new report that will be of keen interest to MDN readers. It used to be that the EIA produced the Monthly Natural Gas Gross Production Report. That report is no more. Instead, it has been replaced by the Monthly Crude Oil and Natural Gas Production report. The old report tracked and reported natgas production by state/region for LA, NM, OK, TX, WY and the Federal Gulf of Mexico. Those locations were, traditionally, where the vast majority of natural gas was produced in the U.S. But with the shale revolution, that’s now changed–dramatically. In addition to reporting monthly natgas production by state for the traditional locations, the EIA is adding 10 new states to the monthly report: AR, CA, CO, KS, MT, ND, OH, PA, UT and WV. Yep–where the super producing shale plays are located, including PA, OH and WV where the Marcellus/Utica is located. What’s the difference between this new report (which we’ve included below) and the monthly Drilling Productivity Report (DPR) produced by the EIA?…
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Commodity Price | Industrywide Issues | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WVONGA Says Rogersville Shale Drilling in WV is “When” not “If”
June 29, 2015June 29, 2015

To date, the shale revolution in West Virginia has been largely confined to the northern panhandle and north/central parts of the state, where first the Marcellus and increasingly the Utica Shale layers are targeted. Left out of the shale revolution has been southern WV. But that will one day change, according to Corky DeMarco, executive director of the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association. No, the Marcellus/Utica are not the focus in the southern part of the state. In the south it will be the Rogersville Shale, and according to DeMarco, it’s more of a “when” rather than an “if” drilling will happen in the Rogersville Shale in WV. When will it happen? The southern part of the state will experience the economic bonanza being experienced in the northern part of the state. What will it take for Rogersville drilling to begin? Higher natgas prices…
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Education | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Monongalia County | Research | West Virginia

Drilling for WVU/OSU’s $11M Study Gets Underway in Morgantown
June 29, 2015June 29, 2015

In November 2014 MDN told you that West Virginia University and Ohio State University received an $11 million grant from the U.S. Dept. of Energy for a joint five-year study of Marcellus/Utica fracking and shale drilling (see WVU/OSU Get $11M Grant to Study Shale Energy Best Practices). The research project promptly got under way with baseline measurements and monitoring at the Morgantown (WV) Industrial Park where a new first-of-its-kind Marcellus Shale Energy and Environment Laboratory will be located. With baseline measurements for air, noise, light and water at the site complete, it’s now time for the drill bit to start chewing away at rock and dirt…
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Columbia Pipeline Group | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Columbia Pipeline Board Approves 2 Projects from NE to Gulf Coast
June 25, 2015June 25, 2015

In August 2014, MDN told you that Columbia Pipeline Group, a division of NiSource, had decided to move forward with investing $1.75 billion dollars for two new projects: the Leach XPress and Rayne XPress pipeline projects (see Columbia Gas: $1.75B for 2 Projects to Send Marcellus Gas to Gulf). Leach Xpress will begin in Marshall County, West Virginia, cross Ohio and end up in Leach, Kentucky. Rayne Xpress will beef up an existing pipeline from Leach, Kentucky that goes all the way to Rayne, Louisiana with new compressor stations and looping. The two projects together mean up to 2.7 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas can move through the entire system–from West Virginia to the Gulf Coast and all point in between. We commented on the funny name “Leach” for a pipeline. Looks like the marketers at Columbia thought twice about it because the name has changed–for both projects. At least we think so. Yesterday Columbia issued a press release to announce the board of directors has signed off on $2.7 billion worth of investment in two projects: Moutaineer XPress and Gulf XPress. Descriptions for the two projects are almost identical to the descriptions for the Leach and Rayne XPress projects. About the only difference is that the price tag went up for the pair of projects by a billion bucks. The key takeaway from the announcement for us? The capacity to move another 2.7 Bcf/d of Marcellus and Utica Shale gas out of the northeast is on the way in the next couple of years…
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Braskem | Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Odebrecht | Processing Plants | West Virginia | Wood County

Odebrecht CEO Arrested; What Does it Mean for WV Cracker Plant?
June 23, 2015June 23, 2015

Scandal has rocked Odebrecht, the Brazilian company that in November 2013 announced it wants to build a $4 billion ethane cracker plant complex near Parkersburg, WV (see WV Announces Brazilian Company to Build Ethane Cracker Complex). Marcelo Odebrecht, president and CEO of Odebrecht SA–one of the largest construction companies in South America–was recently arrested for being part of a plan that stole “billions of dollars” from Brazil’s state-run Petrobras oil company. His arrest raises legitimate questions about the viability of the proposed Parkersburg ethane cracker project. We can all pretend that the arrest of the CEO of the company proposing to build the plant has little or no effect on the future of the project–but we’re not children. So let’s not pretend. What do you think is occupying Mr. Odebrecht’s attention these days–building a petrochemical plant in far-off West Virginia, or staying out of jail?…
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Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Odebrecht | Processing Plants | Statewide WV | West Virginia | Wood County

WV Gov Tomblin Not Ready to Give Up on Odebrecht Ethane Cracker
June 23, 2015June 23, 2015

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, the man who has worked hard to land an ethane cracker plant for his state, is still hopeful that WV will get them a cracker. In a wide-ranging talk at the Wheeling Rotary Club on Monday, Tomblin said Odebrecht, the Brazilian company that announced its interest in building an ethane cracker complex near Parkersburg, WV, continues to move forward with the project–“but at a slower pace.” That certainly is a bit of good news. We’ve not heard anything about Odebrecht advancing the ball on their project since the company announced in April, “the original configuration…needs to be re-evaluated, and a final investment decision on the project will require more diligence.” We took that to mean they’ve hit the pause button (see Odebrect Pushes the Pause Button on WV Ethane Cracker). But Tomblin and his administration don’t view it the same way. Instead of hitting the brakes, Tomblin says Odebrecht has simply reduced pressure on the gas pedal a bit…
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Clay County | Cunningham Energy | Energy Companies | West Virginia

Cunningham Strikes Oil in West Virginia’s Big Injun Territory
June 22, 2015June 22, 2015

Back in 2013 we warned you that the injuns were coming–the Big Injun sandstone formation in West Virginia (see The Injuns are Coming! Injun Formation Drilling, that is). We told you then that Cunningham Energy of Charleston, WV was about to drill several shallow horizontal wells in the politically incorrectly named Big Injun Formation. We thought Cunningham was drilling for natural gas, but as it turns it, it was oil they were after. And, according to a press release, it’s oil that Cunningham has struck in the Big Injun…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Statewide VA | Statewide WV | Virginia | West Virginia

New Coalition of Same Old Antis Opposes Atlantic Coast Pipeline
June 19, 2015June 19, 2015

A small group of partisan, liberal, left-wing Democrats pretending to be a huge group of “concerned residents” from “Virginia and West Virginia” have formed a self-important group called Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance to oppose the 550-mile, $5 billion Dominion Atlantic Coast Pipeline project that will run from West Virginia into Virginia (benefiting the residents of both states) and on into North Carolina. MDN told you earlier this week about a group of RINOs and Democrats working together–wealthy gentry class landowners–working to stop the Atlantic Coast Pipeline from traversing their horse farms (see Virginia RINOs in League with Dems to Stop Atlantic Coast Pipeline). That group, called “All Pain No Gain”, is not among the members of Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance. This new coalition or group of groups is, in typical fashion, against all proposed routes for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. It is an unreasonable and irrational fossil fuel-hating position–being “reported” by “news organizations” like the Associated Press as just an ordinary group of concerned citizens with legitimate concerns. It’s NOTHING of the sort…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Sand/Proppant | Unimin | Webster County | West Virginia

Unimin Energy Opens 11th Marcellus/Utica Frac Sand Terminal
June 17, 2015June 17, 2015

A Texas-based company, Unimin Energy Solutions, has just opened its eleventh frac sand terminal–this one in Jerry Run, WV. The new terminal can store 20,000 tons of frac sand and load up to 25 trucks per hour. Uminim’s operations pretty much blanket the Marcellus and Utica Shale regions (see the map below), from northeast PA to southwest PA, various points in WV and even in eastern OH. There’s even a Uminim frac sand operation in Binghamton, NY, near MDN HQ! Here’s the low down on the newest Unimim facility in Jerry Run, along with a list of their other locations…
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Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | North Carolina | Pipelines | Public Opinion | Statewide VA | Statewide WV | Virginia | West Virginia

Poll: Majority of Voters in VA, WV, NC Favor Atlantic Coast Pipeline
June 15, 2015June 15, 2015

The Consumer Energy Alliance, a non-partisan group providing consumers with sound, unbiased information on U.S. and global energy issues, recently published the results of a scientific poll of residents in North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia that has major implications for pipelines and infrastructure work in the Marcellus/Utica. The poll found majorities of voters in NC, VA and WV have heard about Dominion’s $5 billion, 550-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline–and they support it. Voters overwhelmingly believe pipelines are the safest means to transport natural gas. More than 80% of the voters surveyed said energy will be a significant factor in how they vote. This is really good news for the shale industry. Seems we’re constantly bludgeoned in the northeast when it comes to pipeline projects (NY, MA, NH, et al). But not in the southeast. Voters there have their heads screwed on straight and can tell the difference between the truth and lie–and they know that pipelines like the Atlantic Coast Pipeline will be good for their region. Of course, voters in the southeast tend to be Republican/Conservative and sure enough, the results show that a large majority of those identifying as Republicans and/or Conservatives support pipelines, whereas a majority of Democrats/Liberals don’t. Pipelines, like drilling, are a partisan issue. It shouldn’t be that way! These issues should be decided on the science–but science was thrown out the window a long time ago. Drilling and pipelines–indeed your attitude on the use of fossil fuels–is largely determined by your political philosophy. Below we have a summary of the poll, along with the details (crosstabs), for those who want to dig into the nitty gritty…
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About MDN | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Maryland | MDN Resources | New York | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide MD | Statewide NY | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

MDN Launches 2015 Marcellus/Utica Databook – 4th Year!
June 11, 2015June 23, 2015

Earlier this week Marcellus Drilling News launched the fourth series of our Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook. The 2015 edition of the Databook, Volume 1, officially launched on Tuesday. Never in our wildest dreams did we think back in 2012 that the Databook would become so popular. We’ve now published three complete series–the 2012, 2013 and 2014 series (3 volumes each, or nine volumes total) and this week begins the fourth series–for 2015. The heart and soul of the Databook is a series of maps–one for every county where permits for drilling have been issued–throughout Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. The “secret sauce” for the Databook is to visually, through maps and charts (89 of them in this edition), show you who is drilling right now or soon will be–and where they are drilling…
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