West Virginia

Accidents | Antero Resources | Doddridge County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | West Virginia

Antero Given Green Light to Resume Drilling at WV Blast Site
August 12, 2013August 12, 2013

In early July, MDN told you about an explosion at an Antero Resources drillpad in Doddridge County, WV (see Update on Antero Well Explosion in Doddridge County, WV). Half a dozen workers were injured in the resulting fire. Sadly, two of those workers recently died from their injuries.

We now know what caused the blast: open hatches on a number of wastewater tanks that allowed gas to build up, which led to a flash fire. The WV Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) shut down drilling at the site after the fire to investigate. The DEP is now satisfied that Antero knows what happened and has put in place measures to prevent it from happening again, so the DEP has just lifted the “cease operations” order. Antero is now free to resume drilling at the site…
Read More “Antero Given Green Light to Resume Drilling at WV Blast Site”
Energy Companies | Statewide WV | Stone Energy | Upper Devonian Shale | West Virginia

Stone Energy Update: On Track to Drill 30 Marcellus Wells in 2013
August 6, 2013August 6, 2013

Stone Energy is an independent driller with operations both off- and on-shore. Last December MDN told you about Stone’s plan to start spending 33% of its $650 million exploration and production budget for 2013 on drilling in the West Virginia Marcellus Shale (see Stone Energy 2013 Plans: Spend 33% of Budget on Marcellus). Plans were to drill 28-32 new Marcellus wells this year. According to Stone’s second quarter 2013 report released yesterday, they’re right on track. So far they’ve drilled 16 wells and are on track to complete up to 30 Marcellus wells by the end of this year.

In yesterday’s update, Stone CEO David Welch reiterated the company’s strategy is to move away from drilling in the relatively shallow Continental Shelf area of the Gulf of Mexico (less than 1,000 feet of water), and drill more in both the deep water Gulf region as well as in the Marcellus. Welch said their strategy continues to benefit the company with rising production numbers, particularly from the Marcellus wells drilled. We also learn from yesterday’s update that Stone has drilled a test well in the Upper Devonian Shale and expects to bring it online later this year. Select portions of yesterday’s 2Q13 update:
Read More “Stone Energy Update: On Track to Drill 30 Marcellus Wells in 2013”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Marcellus Hiring Practices “Under a Microscope” by DOL
August 5, 2013August 5, 2013

Are you a driller, oilfield services or other supply chain company whose primary activity revolves around the PA or WV Marcellus Shale? If so, there’s a good chance you’re going to get audited by the U.S. Labor Department (DOL). Best to get your records (and hiring practices) in order now.

The biggest violation found by the DOL’s so-called Marcellus Shale Initiative: improperly classifying workers as independent contractors instead of salaried or hourly employees. Hiring workers as independent contractors is coming back to bite a number of companies, large and small. If the DOL finds a violation, they helpfully pass it on to the IRS, so after the DOL is done fining you, the IRS typically shows up on your doorstep for a second pound of flesh. Sweet…
Read More “Marcellus Hiring Practices “Under a Microscope” by DOL”
Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Statewide WV | West Virginia

The Marcellus Continues to be Star Performer for Chesapeake
August 5, 2013August 5, 2013

Different media outlets have analyzed the comments made last Thursday by Chesapeake Energy officials, looking for Chessy’s “take” on their particular region. A newspaper in West Virginia published the report below that looks at Chessy’s update on the Marcellus Shale in the southwestern corner of the play–otherwise known as the “wet gas” area. Bottom line: Although everyone continues to focus on the Chesapeake’s love affair with the Utica Shale, the Marcellus Shale is the play actually contributing to the company’s bottom line–in a big way. The Marcellus is helping turn around the good ship Chesapeake.

Of particular interest to MDN in this brief article is a short paragraph that mentions the signing bonus/royalty deals landowners in the Upper Ohio Valley have recently landed with Chesapeake and other drillers–some of the highest bonus and lease terms we’ve seen to date in the Marcellus…
Read More “The Marcellus Continues to be Star Performer for Chesapeake”
Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

“Notable Increase” in WV/PA NatGas Production from New Pipelines
July 31, 2013July 31, 2013

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) published a brief article in their online “Today in Energy” publication that points out natural gas production for both dry gas and wet gas has gone up in West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania because of new infrastructure–pipelines and processing plants.

Here is the EIA article, complete with nifty chart showing the rather dramatic increase in daily production:
Read More ““Notable Increase” in WV/PA NatGas Production from New Pipelines”
Beaver County | Chesapeake Energy | CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Hancock County | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Rex Energy | Upper Devonian Shale | West Virginia

5th Upper Devonian Driller + Maps of Best UD Spots to Drill
July 29, 2013July 29, 2013

It seems as if “out of the blue” the Upper Devonian Shale (UD) has popped up on the radar screen–quite suddenly and in quite a big way. The Upper Devonian is located a few hundred feet above the Marcellus Shale layer in the northeastern U.S. Over the past few weeks, MDN has highlighted stories of drillers expanding their UD drilling programs–including CONSOL, Rex Energy, Range Resources and EQT Corporation (see EQT 4th Driller to Target Upper Devonian Shale Layer). Courtesy of a sharp MDN reader, we can add a fifth UD driller to the list: Chesapeake Energy. Todd Sigler reports that Chesapeake has drilled an Upper Devonian well in Hancock County, WV and has several Upper Devonian permits in extreme western Beaver County, PA.

Todd also pointed us to two excellent drilling presentations about the UD, one from Range Resources and one from Rex Energy, which we’ve embedded below. The Range presentation includes a good backgrounder on the UD and a great series of maps showing where the best places to drill in the UD can be found–currently–based on our knowledge and experience so far. The Range presentation also discusses how Range (and others) are adopting a “stacked play” strategy of drilling the Upper Devonian, Marcellus and Utica layers–all in the same well bore. How cool is that?!
Read More “5th Upper Devonian Driller + Maps of Best UD Spots to Drill”
Statewide WV | Upper Devonian Shale | West Virginia

More Interesting Facts about the Upper Devonian Shale
July 29, 2013July 29, 2013

Some more interesting facts are coming to light about the new shale kid on the block: the Upper Devonian Shale. A recent AP article says Upper Devonian (UD) wells are a lot cheaper to drill than Marcellus and Utica wells because they are closer to the surface. And, surprise! UD wells are usually fracked using hydrogen, not water and chemicals–at least UD wells drilled in West Virginia. That is a revelation.

Will we now start to see more UD wells drilled in the northeast? That will depend on the commodity price of natural gas, because UD wells typically yield dry gas (methane) and not wet gas (with liquids and/or oil)–at least so far. If the price is right to make dry gas drilling profitable, you can expect to see the UD getting more attention…
Read More “More Interesting Facts about the Upper Devonian Shale”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Statewide WV | West Virginia | Wetzel County

Striking a Balance: Preserving the Surface While Drilling in WV
July 29, 2013July 29, 2013

What happens when the mineral rights for oil and gas under a piece of land are owned by someone other than those who own the surface land itself? In West Virginia, that happens a lot–it’s a called a “split estate” and was done years ago for coal mining. Furthermore, what happens if the surface owner is the county or state government, and the land is a nature preserve, used for hunting and outdoor enthusiasts? It is a conundrum. Clearly the mineral owners have the right to access the minerals under the land, but in doing so, there’s going to be inconvenience for hunters and others using the surface land. Both sides have to work together.

The Lewis Wetzel Wildlife Management Area in Wetzel County, WV is a good example where both sides have not found a perfect solution, but it seems they have found a workable one…
Read More “Striking a Balance: Preserving the Surface While Drilling in WV”
Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

New Report Shows Permits, Wells Drilled & More Near Your Address
July 23, 2013July 23, 2013

As you may know, MDN editor Jim Willis has been partnering with ShaleNavigator founder Ed Camp for more than a year now to bring you the three volume Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook series. The 2012 series was a huge success, and the new 2013 series (Volume 1 is out now) is shaping up to be the same. The Databook is a series of maps created using the excellent ShaleNavigator service to display where (and to whom) permits have been issued, county by county, throughout the Marcellus and Utica Shale region. However, the ShaleNavigator itself service is far more than just permits, displaying multiple “layers” of information users can turn on and off to display lease offers, pipeline locations, compressor station locations and much more (24 different layers in all).

Ed has just released an exciting and important new feature for the ShaleNavigator service: Subscribers may now produce reports displaying shale oil and gas wells, well permits, pipelines, and lease offer information near a specific address “on the fly.” Type in any address (your address maybe?), wait a few seconds, and get a PDF report detailing all of the permits issued, wells drilled, pipelines and lease offers within both a 2 mile radius and within a 5 mile radius of that address (see an example report embedded below). Folks, this is beyond cool!…
Read More “New Report Shows Permits, Wells Drilled & More Near Your Address”
Tyler County | West Virginia

Title Researchers in Tyler County, WV Access Records via Lottery
July 19, 2013July 19, 2013

A few days ago MDN told you about title researchers who camp out all night long in front and around the side of the Tyler County, WV Courthouse in order to secure a spot in the land records office the next day (see Title Researchers Camp Out at Tyler County (WV) Clerk’s Office). Nearby neighbors were fed up with the situation–noise, littering, etc. So local officials put their heads together and crafted a system they hope will be fair to all: a lottery.

Starting today, the county clerk will draw numbers to allow 96 people into her land records office–its maximum capacity–for any given day (16 people at a time for 2 hours each). She hopes the lottery will eliminate the need to camp out all night long…
Read More “Title Researchers in Tyler County, WV Access Records via Lottery”
Tyler County | West Virginia

Title Researchers Camp Out at Tyler County (WV) Clerk’s Office
July 16, 2013July 16, 2013

There are at least two reliable ways to know where drilling is about to begin (or expand): One is to monitor where (and how many) permits for drilling have been issued. MDN covers that with our Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook series, each volume of which maps where permits were issued in the past four months. Drillers don’t pay for expensive permits unless they’re going to drill. But in order to get a permit, you already must have leased the land. So the other way to predict future drilling is by how busy the local county clerk’s office is–where the land records are kept. Case in point: Tyler County, WV.

According to MDN’s Databook 2013 – Vol. 1, Tyler County had 189 permits issued for 38 wells for January-April 2013. Going by the fevered activity at the county clerk’s office, however, predicts those numbers will soon go much higher. Title researchers are camping outside the county clerk’s office starting 6 pm the night before (!) in order to secure a spot in the clerk’s office the next day when the doors open. It’s becoming a problem for some residents…
Read More “Title Researchers Camp Out at Tyler County (WV) Clerk’s Office”
Energy Companies | Marion County | Marshall County | Trans Energy | Tyler County | West Virginia | Wetzel County

Trans Energy Presentation: Charts, Maps & More
July 16, 2013July 16, 2013

Trans Energy, Inc. is a “pure play” (single focus) driller in the Marcellus Shale–specifically in the northern panhandle region of West Virginia. Along with its joint venture partner Republic Energy, Trans Energy owns and operates on 62,000 acres in WV, primarily in Marshall, Wetzel, Tyler and Marion counties.

In April, Trans Energy issued a investors presentation full of very useful charts and maps and details about their operations (embedded below). We’ve just noticed that presentation and believe it’s worth passing along now, even though it’s now three months old. We especially like the “Competitive Market Position” map on slide 8…
Read More “Trans Energy Presentation: Charts, Maps & More”
Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | NGLs | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

MarkWest: $2.2B in Marcellus/Utica, Bring on the Cracker Plants!
July 15, 2013July 15, 2013

MarkWest Energy, a major Marcellus and Utica midstream company, is investing $2.2 billion in the Marcellus/Utica region in pipelines, processing and fractionation plants. According to MarkWest, they have enough work in the northeast to keep them expanding for the next five years. One of the main services offered by MarkWest is removing ethane from raw natural gas. Their plan is to ship the ethane to either Canada or the Gulf Coast via pipelines. However, they’d love it if the region had “several cracker plants.” Here we go again with more cracker talk!

A good overview of MarkWest’s several billion dollar investment in the northeast, and their belief that the region needs its own cracker plant:
Read More “MarkWest: $2.2B in Marcellus/Utica, Bring on the Cracker Plants!”
Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Wastewater | West Virginia

Wheeling Delays Vote Again on GreenHunter Wastewater Facility
July 15, 2013July 15, 2013

It looks like the Wheeling Water Warriors will live to fight for another month. The Wheeling (WV) Planning Commission was due to finally vote to allow GreenHunter Water to build a frack wastewater recycling plant at a facility along the Ohio River in Wheeling. After some initial bumps, it seemed as if things were going along fine and that the Commission would vote last week (see GreenHunter’s Wheeling Frack Wastewater Plant Up for Vote July 8). However, the Commission has once again tabled the vote–this time until August 12th.

The latest machinations from Wheeling and what’s holding up the vote this time:
Read More “Wheeling Delays Vote Again on GreenHunter Wastewater Facility”
Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Oil & Gas Awards – Enter Now
July 11, 2013July 11, 2013

Marcellus Drilling News is pleased to partner with the Oil & Gas Awards to promote their annual, regional events. Specifically, we’re promoting the 2013 Northeast Oil & Gas Awards (entries due by Nov. 29, 2013). However, there are a number of MDN readers from outside the Marcellus/Utica Shale region, so we’re also putting a shout-out to drillers and others in the industry about the Oil & Gas Awards for the Midcontinent, Southwest and West Coast (entries due Aug. 9, 2013).

The full, official announcement below…
Read More “Oil & Gas Awards – Enter Now”
Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Eureka Midstream | Ohio | Washington County (OH) | West Virginia | Wetzel County

Magnum Hunter 2Q13: 1st Utica Well Drilled, WV Marcellus Continues
July 10, 2013July 9, 2013

Magnum Hunter Resources Corporation, both a driller and a midstream (pipeline) company with operations in the Marcellus and Utica Shale region, released their company wide operational update yesterday for the second quarter of 2013. Among the highlights: Magnum Hunter has just completed drilling its first Utica Shale well (Washington County, OH) and the well will be fracked in late July; the company continues to actively drill Marcellus wells in Wetzel County, WV in a 50/50 joint venture with Stone Energy; and Eureka Hunter is active across both the Marcellus and Utica with new pipeline and compressor station construction projects.

Relevant portions of the update below…
Read More “Magnum Hunter 2Q13: 1st Utica Well Drilled, WV Marcellus Continues”