West Virginia

Accidents | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | NGLs | Pipelines | West Virginia | Wetzel County

MarkWest Continues Cleanup at NGL Pipeline Spill in WV
September 16, 2013September 16, 2013

About a month ago, a natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline that connects MarkWest Energy’s Mobley and Majorsville facilities ruptured after a landslide hit it (Wetzel County, WV). The pipeline spilled onto the ground and into a nearby stream causing a fish kill (see Landslide Causes MarkWest NGL Pipeline in WV to Rupture/Spill). The West Virginia Dept. of Environmental Protection has “cited” MarkWest, meaning there will be a fine at some point once the full extent of the damage is known.

In the meantime, MarkWest is working to clean it up. An update on progress at the spill site…
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Earthquakes | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Seismologist: Fracking Does NOT Cause Earthquakes
September 10, 2013September 10, 2013

$fracking & earthquakes$ Finally, an AP reporter who listens and accurately reports the news. Wait, has hell frozen over? When AP starts reporting accurately, we become suspicious. But let’s not become distracted at this unusual turn of events…

On the first day of a two-day conference being hosted by West Virginia University on Marcellus Shale drilling in Morgantown, a seismologist from the University of Texas had the guts to set the record straight. He said: (1) Fracking does not cause earthquakes; (2) injection wells that dispose of fracking wastewater sometimes cause earthquakes; and (3) earthquakes triggered by injection wells are rare–extremely rare. And the AP reported it–accurately. Huh…
Read More “Seismologist: Fracking Does NOT Cause Earthquakes”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Statewide VA | Statewide WV | Virginia | West Virginia

Charleston Gazette Editorial: Drill Washington National Forest
September 10, 2013September 10, 2013

The debate continues to rage over whether or not to allow shale drilling in the George Washington National Forest. Later this month, the U.S. Forest Service will decide whether or not to allow it (see WashPo Takes Aim at Fracking in the George Washington Natl Forest). Counter to the claptrap published in the Washington Post a few days ago, the Charleston Gazette provides powerful arguments in favor of drilling in a tiny sliver (12,000 acres out of 2 million) of the Washington Forest in today’s editorial.

One gem from the Gazette: The “pristine” Jefferson National Forest with it’s own “leafy cradles” and “gurgling brooks” sits adjacent to and south of the Washington National Forest–in the very same watershed. The Jefferson Forest has had active conventional (vertical) gas drilling for decades–with absolutely no problems…
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Industrywide Issues | Marion County | Sand/Proppant | West Virginia

New Frack Sand Terminal Opens in Fairmont, WV
September 10, 2013September 10, 2013

If there’s one thing beside water that frackers need, it’s sand. A very special kind of sand used in fracking. Last week saw the grand opening of a new frack sand terminal in Fairmont (Marion County), West Virginia. The new facility is owned and operated by TRANSFLO, a subsidiary of CSX Corporation…
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Industrywide Issues | Statewide WV | Taxation | West Virginia

WV Lawmaker Trip to ND to Study Drill Tax Cost $25K
September 9, 2013September 9, 2013

A few weeks ago MDN told you about 18 West Virginia legislators who were due to fly to North Dakota for an overnighter to study that states Legacy Fund–money set aside by ND from shale drilling taxes and fees to benefit the state in the future. Some WV legislators want to set up a similar fund, called a Future Fund, and they figured the best way to do so was to conduct a junket to ND for some prominent (and not yet convinced) lawmakers. MDN pointed out it would be a heck of a lot cheaper to fly a couple of ND officials to WV than the other way around (see 18 WV Lawmakers Flying to ND for a $20K Overnighter on Drill Tax).

It seems the Charleston Gazette agrees with MDN. They also say it was 19 legislators (not 18) that went on the trip, they stayed for two nights not one, and they got a $55 per-diem for meals. Total bill estimated to be something like $25K. Sure pays to be a WV legislator…
Read More “WV Lawmaker Trip to ND to Study Drill Tax Cost $25K”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Statewide VA | Statewide WV | Virginia | West Virginia

WashPo Takes Aim at Fracking in the George Washington Natl Forest
September 9, 2013September 9, 2013

A “reporter” with the appropriate last name of “Fears” has authored a masterful piece of propaganda for the Washington Post on the “looming” decision about whether or not the U.S. Forest Service should allow shale drilling in a teeny tiny part of the 2 million acre George Washington National Forest that covers parts of Virginia and West Virginia.

All you need to know about the viewpoint of the so-called article (really just more anti-drilling propaganda) can be found in the first two sentences…
Read More “WashPo Takes Aim at Fracking in the George Washington Natl Forest”
Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Preston County | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Landmen & Drillers: 6 Steps to Keep a Lease Out of WV Court
September 5, 2013September 5, 2013

The JDSupra Law News website reports on a West Virginia court case that may have far-reaching consequences for landowners in WV and for landmen and drillers operating in the state. The case is called Barber v. Magnum Land Services, LLC, a recent case filed in Preston County, WV, now transferred to the Northern District. The Barber case, according to JDSupra, has the potential to settle many other outstanding cases along the same lines and is being used as a proxy and precedent for other cases.

The Barber case alleges a landman (from Magnum Land Services) pressured a landowner into signing a lease to allow drilling with the statement that if the landowner did not sign, their land would be drilled under anyway and they would not receive any royalties–a veiled (and inaccurate) reference to “the law of capture” in WV. The landman also did not make the landowner aware of other signed offers, withholding important information about the potential value of the lease. The plaintiffs in Barber are using several legal arguments to nullify the lease. We won’t delve into the technicalities of the case (click below to read about it on the JDSupra website). However, JDSupra’s conclusion offers six steps landmen and drillers should adopt in the way they interact with landowners–steps that will help keep their leases out of court:
Read More “Landmen & Drillers: 6 Steps to Keep a Lease Out of WV Court”
Crime | Industrywide Issues | Ohio County | West Virginia

Transient Pipeline Workers in WV Charged with Murdering Student
September 5, 2013September 5, 2013

Very sad news. Two out-of-state natural gas pipeline workers (and possibly a third still at large) are accused of murdering a Wheeling, WV university student. News reports from Wheeling state that another student who was attacked at the same time and survived said there had been “unpleasantries” exchanged (i.e. arguing) not long before the pair were attacked around 1:45 am in the morning. Diligent work by local investigators made the connection to the out-of-state pipeline workers living in an RV park a few miles from where the attack occurred.

According to local police, this is the first time they’ve had criminal problems with natgas workers. Pittsburgh KDKA’s Andy Sheehan reports on this breaking news…
Read More “Transient Pipeline Workers in WV Charged with Murdering Student”
Industrywide Issues | Jobs | New York | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide NY | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Marcellus/Utica Industry Looking to Hire More Locals
September 3, 2013September 3, 2013

Do you live in Pennsylvania, Ohio or West Virginia (or perhaps the Southern Tier of sad New York) and want a job working for the growing shale drilling industry? According to The Motley Fool, your chances of landing a job in the Marcellus/Utica industry have never been better. The Fool even has a few suggestions of companies looking to hire…
Read More “Marcellus/Utica Industry Looking to Hire More Locals”
Antero Resources | Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Monroe County | Utica Shale | West Virginia

WVU Prof Says Antero Well will Generate $300K Revenue…Per Day!
August 30, 2013August 30, 2013

The Yontz 1H well may not produce at these unheard-of levels for an extended period, but heck, if a gas well is bringing in $300,000 per day in revenue, it doesn’t have to last long! That’s the staggering amount of revenue that a West Virginia University professor predicts will be produced by the monster well recently drilled by Antero Resources in Monroe County, WV (see Antero Resources Utica Well Produces Stratospheric 38.9 Mmcf/d). At the rate the gas and gas liquids are flowing from the well right now, it will bring in over $2 million per week in revenue for Antero. If royalties are 20% for the landowner, that’s $400,000 per week for the Yontz family!

With those kinds of numbers, no wonder Antero is willing to “roll the dice” and spend a half billion dollars to build a new water pipeline (see Antero Resources Rolls Dice on 1/2 Billion Dollar Marcellus Pipe)…
Read More “WVU Prof Says Antero Well will Generate $300K Revenue…Per Day!”
Economic Impact | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Processing Plants | West Virginia | Wood County

Wood County, WV “Still in the Running” for a Cracker Plant
August 30, 2013August 30, 2013

West Virginia continues to make noise about an ethane cracker plant for the state, even though Shell is looking to build one in Pennsylvania. Earlier this week WV Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin was once again talking up a cracker for WV (see WV Gov. Tomblin Beats the Ethane Cracker Drum Once Again).

Now, another WV voice has joined the cracker chorus. Wood County, WV says they have a site under serious consideration by an unnamed company as a possible location for a $3 billion ethane cracker plant. According to a Wood official, they’re “definitely still in the running”…
Read More “Wood County, WV “Still in the Running” for a Cracker Plant”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | NiSource | Pipelines | West Virginia

NiSource Installs 4 New Engines at Majorsville, WV Compressor Stn
August 30, 2013August 30, 2013

The natural gas compressor station located in Majorsville (Marshall County), WV has just received a major upgrade according to owner NiSource. Four really old (1956!) engines were replaced with four brand new CAT 3606 engines, which will increase throughput on the pipeline by 70-80 million cubic feet per day.

The NiSource announcement:
Read More “NiSource Installs 4 New Engines at Majorsville, WV Compressor Stn”
Economic Impact | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Processing Plants | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Gov. Tomblin Beats the Ethane Cracker Drum Once Again
August 29, 2013August 29, 2013

At a business summit yesterday at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin once again voiced his opinion that WV will have an ethane cracker plant of its own in the near future and that such a plant is needed to keep jobs in WV. He went a bit further than we’ve heard before and said WV has the right to expect a partnership between drillers and manufacturers to process WV ethane and other natural gas liquids (NGLs) in WV. According to Tomblin, his administration is burning the midnight oil to make a WV ethane cracker a reality…
Read More “WV Gov. Tomblin Beats the Ethane Cracker Drum Once Again”
Braxton County | Chesapeake Energy | Earthquakes | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | West Virginia

New Case of Earthquakes Related to an Injection Well in WV?
August 27, 2013August 27, 2013

One of the gross inaccuracies MDN has tried to address over the past several years is the claim that “fracking causes earthquakes.” It does not. At least not measurable earthquakes people can feel at the surface. No less a source than the National Academies of Science released a study last year to “finally” put that particular myth to rest (see NRC Study: Fracking Does Not Cause Earthquakes). Unfortunately the earthquake myth is just too good a PR opportunity to pass up, so anti-drillers haul it back out about every three months for a new round of exposure.

The earthquake issue is confusing for many people because there is a loose connection between earthquakes and fracking: injection wells. Although most fracking wastewater is now recycled to be used again for more drilling, some of it is disposed of via deep injection wells. If an injection well happens to be located near a geologic fault, the pressure from the injected fluid has the potential to trigger an earthquake. It happened in Youngstown, OH in late 2011/early 2012 (see ODNR Finds Youngstown Injection Well Caused Earthquakes). According to a recent report from WV Public Broadcasting, it may now be happening again near a Chesapeake-owned injection well in Braxton County, WV…
Read More “New Case of Earthquakes Related to an Injection Well in WV?”
Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Marcellus Reshuffle? EIA Says WV/SWPA Luring Rigs Away from NEPA
August 27, 2013August 27, 2013

According to the brains at the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)–and we say “brains” in a very complimentary way–the northern panhandle of West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania together have formed an integrated “wet gas” drilling region that is luring drilling rigs away from the highly productive dry gas area of northeastern PA. Here is their analysis and reasoning, along with some nifty charts:
Read More “Marcellus Reshuffle? EIA Says WV/SWPA Luring Rigs Away from NEPA”
Lease & Royalty Payments | West Virginia | Wirt County

Wirt County Landowner Group Close to Deal for Huge 241K Acres
August 26, 2013August 26, 2013

The largest Marcellus/Utica landowner group MDN is aware of is the Wirt County Oil and Gas Group, in WV (see WV Group Largest Landowner Coalition in Marcellus/Utica). The Parkersburg News and Sentinel reports the group is close to a deal to lease their considerable holdings of 241,000 acres. The group has closed its membership–no new landowners are currently allowed to join. They’ve narrowed down lease offers to two companies, although they’re not releasing the names (yet) of which companies they’re negotiating with.

A decision is due by an October 5 membership-wide meeting…
Read More “Wirt County Landowner Group Close to Deal for Huge 241K Acres”