West Virginia

Energy Companies | Gastar Exploration | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Reserves (Proved and Unproved) | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Gastar Proved Reserves Up 43% – 3/4 of it in the Marcellus
July 22, 2014July 22, 2014

Gastar Exploration, a major driller in the Marcellus/Utica, posted a mid-year update on their proved (and unproved) reserves yesterday. When you lump all hydrocarbons together–natural gas, oil and condensate and natural gas liquids (NGLs)–Gastar’s estimated proved reserves totaled 78.0 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) as of June 30th. That’s up an eye-popping 43% over the same time last year. Where is all that gas coming from? Three-fourths of it is in the Marcellus/Utica, and one-fourth is in the Mississippi Lime/Woodford Shale in Oklahoma…
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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | Supply Chain | West Virginia

Primoris Wins Another Round of Pipeline Work in PA/WV Marcellus
July 22, 2014July 22, 2014

A very short and light-on-specifics press release from Primoris Services Corporation says the pipeline building company, based in Dallas, TX, has just secured $80 million worth of contracts to build pipelines for “three major midstream operators” in the PA and WV Marcellus region. You may recall MDN also told you about several Primoris Marcellus Shale projects in June 2013 (see Rockford/Primoris Lands $92M in Marcellus Pipeline Contracts). Here’s the announcement of the latest round of work won by Primoris:
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Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Ohio County | Pipelines | Wastewater | West Virginia

GreenHunter’s Unidentified Barge Facility Pipeline Destination
July 15, 2014July 15, 2014

John Jack, VP of business operations for GreenHunter Water, is being a bit cagey. Two weeks ago GreenHunter announced they will build three new, short pipelines for different purposes: one for frack wastewater/brine, one for fresh water, and one for condensate (see 3 New (Short) Pipelines from GreenHunter in Tri-state Area). Two of the pipelines will originate in southwestern PA and one in WV. All of them will connect with one of GreenHunter’s barge terminals on the Ohio River. That’s what Jack is being cagey about: where will the three pipelines connect? Which barge terminal?…
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Concord Energy | Industrywide Issues | NGLs | Trucking | West Virginia | Wood County

New Truck-to-Rail Transload Facility for Condensate/NGLs in WV
July 14, 2014July 14, 2014

Marcellus and Utica Shale drillers who are looking to sell more of their condensate and natural gas liquids (NGLs) have a new option. Concord Energy has just announced they will open a new Utica/Marcellus condensate & NGL transloading facility (truck to rail) in Parkersburg, WV. The new facility, which should be operational by mid-August of this year, will allow Concord to ship up to 150,000 barrels per month of condensate and NGLs. Here’s the particulars…
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About MDN | MDN Resources | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Baker Hughes Announces 2Q14 Well Count – What is a Well Count?
July 14, 2014July 14, 2014

No doubt you’ve heard of the Baker Hughes rig count–the number of drilling rigs currently in use to drill oil and gas wells. Baker Hughes has provided that data for, like, forever! Used to be you could lay a ruler down and determine whether supplies of natural gas would increase or decrease based on the number of drilling rigs in use. That went out the door a few years ago with shale wells. Production numbers are no longer closely tied to the rig count. So Baker Hughes invented a new metric to help: well counts. They reported last week that well counts are up 5% in the second quarter of 2014 over 2013. Wait, what’s a well count? And why is it important?…
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Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Monroe County | Ohio | West Virginia | Wetzel County

Magnum Hunter Buys Ormet Property in OH/WV, More Wells Coming?
July 11, 2014July 11, 2014

MDN has chronicled the sad story of the Ormet aluminum smelting plant in Monroe County, OH. The short version is that the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) played a high-stakes game of chicken with Ormet and denied them permission to continuing burning coal to produce their own electricity while they got three Utica Shale wells on their property up and running (Magnum Hunter is the driller). Then PUCO denied Ormet’s request to get a reduced electric rate from the local utility company. Bottom line, more than 900 people are out of work (see Final Chapter of Ormet Plant Closing – Utica Could have Saved It). A reporter from NGI’s Shale Daily has a sharp eye and discovered that Magnum Hunter, the driller of the three Utica wells still operating on the Ormet property, has just purchased Ormet’s property in OH and WV…
Read More “Magnum Hunter Buys Ormet Property in OH/WV, More Wells Coming?”
Energy Services | Ergon | Hancock County | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Processing Plants | Washington County (OH) | West Virginia

New Condensate Processing Coming to Utica/Marcellus from Ergon
July 2, 2014July 2, 2014

New condensate processing is on the way later this year from Ergon, Inc.–a company headquartered in Mississippi but with refineries and processing facilities in Ohio and West Virginia (and operations that include western Pennsylvania, Kentucky and New York). Ergon announced yesterday the company has spent over $75 million in the past two years to upgrade facilities, and continues to spend. Coming later this year is a 10,000 barrel per day condensate stabilization facility in Marietta, OH. Coming next year, the same kind of facility (also 10,000 bbl/d) in Newell, WV…
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Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

3 New (Short) Pipelines from GreenHunter in Tri-state Area
June 30, 2014June 30, 2014

GreenHunter Resources, a subsidiary of Magnum Hunter Resources, is making small moves to compete with MarkWest Energy and Williams. Today, GreenHunter announced they are building (in a partnership with Major Pipeline LLC) three new, short pipelines. The three pipelines represent a total of 34 miles of new pipeline, when added together. One pipeline each will be dedicated to brine/wastewater, fresh water, and condensate. Two of the pipelines will originate in southwestern PA and one in WV. All of them will connect with one of GreenHunter’s barge terminals on the Ohio River. Also in the mix is a condensate “splitter”…
Read More “3 New (Short) Pipelines from GreenHunter in Tri-state Area”
Lease & Royalty Payments | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Sees Rash of “Top Leases” for Shale Drilling
June 30, 2014June 30, 2014

Landowners in West Virginia who leased their property but for whom there has not been drilling may have a new source of income. According to an article in the Wheeling Intelligencer / News-Register, some companies are now offering what’s called a “top lease” to landowners without drilling. What, exactly, is a top lease?…
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Health Impacts | Industrywide Issues | Research | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WVU: 10 Ways to Reduce Enviro/Health Impacts from Shale Drilling
June 30, 2014June 30, 2014

Researchers from West Virginia University have just published a new paper aimed at reducing environmental and health risks from Marcellus Shale drilling. The paper, titled “Practical measures for reducing the risk of environmental contamination in shale energy production,” is published in the Journal Environmental Sciences: Processes & Impacts and contains 10 specific recommendations that drillers can adopt to make shale drilling safer and less impactful…
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Energy Companies | Gastar Exploration | Marshall County | Utica Shale | West Virginia

Update on Gastar’s 1st Utica/Point Pleasant Well
June 18, 2014June 18, 2014

Last week Gastar provided an update on their drilling program in West Virginia, which includes their first-ever Utica Shale well (see Gastar Update: Drilling 1st Utica & More Marcellus Wells in WV). On Monday, Gastar released yet another update on their first Utica well, the Simms 5-UH in Marshall County…
Read More “Update on Gastar’s 1st Utica/Point Pleasant Well”
Education | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Statewide WV | West Virginia

2 Dozen Drilling Techs from WV Program Now Make $70K/Year!
June 18, 2014June 18, 2014

Want a good job that pays big money but don’t want to “waste time” on an engineering degree? Listen up! West Virginia’s Community and Technical College Chancellor Jim Skidmore recently told state lawmakers that a program offered at two community colleges–Pierpont Community and Technical College in Fairmont and West Virginia Northern Community College in Wheeling–has just graduated two dozen students. Each student received a certificate or associates degree, and each student got a job making an average $70,000 per year to start. Has that got your attention?…
Read More “2 Dozen Drilling Techs from WV Program Now Make $70K/Year!”
Energy Companies | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | Landfills | Range Resources Corp | Regulation | West Virginia

Range “Sludge” in WV Landfill Not So Radioactive After All
June 16, 2014June 16, 2014

The West Virginia Dept. of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) is telling everyone to calm down over so-called radioactive “sludge” being dumped in WV landfills. You may recall not long ago a load of drill cuttings was refused at a southwest PA landfill for being “too radioactive” and sent to a different landfill, owned by the same company as the PA landfill, in WV (see Range Radioactive Containers Sent to WV for Disposal). That got everyone up in arms–that Range was “secretly” shipping stuff that will make those poor hicks in WV glow in the dark. So the WVDEP slammed the door on any more imported “radioactive sludge” (see Curious: Everyone’s Happy with WV Ban on Imported Drilling Sludge). The WVDEP launched and investigation and found the so-called sludge, or drill cuttings, have next to no radioactivity…
Read More “Range “Sludge” in WV Landfill Not So Radioactive After All”
Energy Companies | Energy Services | EQT Corp | Equitrans/EQT Midstream | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | West Virginia | Wetzel County

EQT Announces New Marcellus/Utica Pipeline to Southeastern US
June 13, 2014June 13, 2014

Yesterday CONSOL Energy and Noble Energy announced a new gathering pipeline company plan (see MDN’s story published today). Not to be outdone, EQT announced yesterday an open season for the Mountain Valley Pipeline project–a new Marcellus/Utica pipeline. According to the announcement, EQT and NextEra US Gas Assets intend to build a 330-mile pipeline from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA to deliver abundant, cheap Marcellus and Utica Shale gas to markets throughout the southeast. An “open season” is a chance for drillers to contract a portion of the pipeline over the long term (15-20 years), commitments needed before companies like EQT will pony up the hundreds of millions needed to build a major project like this one…
Read More “EQT Announces New Marcellus/Utica Pipeline to Southeastern US”
Energy Companies | Gastar Exploration | Marshall County | West Virginia | Wetzel County

Gastar Update: Drilling 1st Utica & More Marcellus Wells in WV
June 12, 2014June 12, 2014

A month ago MDN reported on the quarterly analyst call from Gastar Exploration–a sizable Marcellus Shale driller in West Virginia (see Gastar Top Brass Discusses 1Q14 Results, Drilling Program in WV). Gastar said at that time they are looking to move their drilling operations further south in West Virginia–to Wetzel County. However, they haven’t abandoned their plans for Marshall County for the balance of this year. In fact, Gastar is currently drilling a Utica well in Marshall County right now. A quick update from Gastar, released last Friday:
Read More “Gastar Update: Drilling 1st Utica & More Marcellus Wells in WV”
Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Attention WV Drillers: Time to Register Your Above Ground Tanks
June 11, 2014June 11, 2014

MDN previously reported on the new West Virginia law that regulates most above ground storage tanks. The new law was passed after an accident with tanks containing chemicals from coal mining leaked and temporarily polluted the drinking water for some 300,000 West Virginians (see Coal Industry Blamed for West Virginia Chemical Spill). Although shale drilling had nothing to do with the spill, the new regulation passed earlier this year will greatly affect WV drillers (see Impact of WV’s New Chemical Tank Law on Marcellus Drillers). The new law went into effect last week and the WV Dept. of Environmental Protection announced above ground tank registration is now open…
Read More “Attention WV Drillers: Time to Register Your Above Ground Tanks”