West Virginia

Energy Companies | Gastar Exploration | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Marshall County | Processing Plants | West Virginia | Wetzel County

Potential Cracker Plant Site in WV Leased for Drilling
February 15, 2012February 15, 2012

One of the possible locations for a new ethane cracker plant in West Virginia is a 1400-acre parcel of land owned by Bayer Corp. located on the border of Marshall and Wetzel counties. Ahead of an announcement on a cracker plant, Bayer has decided to move forward with leasing the New Martinsville plant for shale gas drilling to Gastar Exploration in a deal expected to net Bayer $30 million over 30 years.

Read More “Potential Cracker Plant Site in WV Leased for Drilling”
Barbour County | Crestwood Midstream | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Mountaineer Keystone | Pipelines | Preston County | Taylor County | West Virginia

Mum’s the Word on New Tygart Valley Pipeline in WV
February 14, 2012February 14, 2012

In December, MDN reported that Houston-based Crestwood Midstream will construct a new 16” inch Marcellus gathering pipeline that will run 42 miles through Preston, Taylor and Barbour counties in northeast West Virginia, connecting to Columbia Gas Transmission’s WB Pipeline in Randolph County, WV, delivering Marcellus gas to the Washington, DC and Baltimore markets (see this MDN story).

Read More “Mum’s the Word on New Tygart Valley Pipeline in WV”
Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Waiting Game: Cracker Plants Talk to Property Owners
February 3, 2012February 3, 2012

West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio are all in the hunt to land an ethane cracker plant in their respective states (see the long list of MDN stories on a potential cracker plant in the Marcellus/Utica Shale region). According to WV Commerce Secretary Keith Burdette, Shell and another unnamed company are now in talks with private property owners. That is, the deals are now being negotiated, and it’s a waiting game to see the outcome.

All three states have offered huge tax incentives to land the plant. Shell originally set January for an announcement, but changed it a few weeks ago to be February.

Read More “Waiting Game: Cracker Plants Talk to Property Owners”
CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Marshall County | Monroe County | Noble Energy | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Range Resources Corp | Utica Shale | Washington County | West Virginia

MarkWest to Expand/Build NGL Plants on New Agreements
February 1, 2012February 1, 2012

MarkWest Energy Partners, a major midstream player in the Marcellus and Utica Shales, just announced major expansion plans that will add an additional 600 million cubic feet per day (mmcf/d) of natural gas processing capacity which includes natural gas liquids (NGLs). Most of the new capacity will come from expansion of its Majorsville, WV plant. The expansion is made possible by new long-term agreements MarkWest signed with CONSOL Energy, Noble Energy and Range Resources to process NGLs.

MarkWest also announced they will build two new processing plants in Ohio’s Utica Shale—in Harrison and Monroe counties.

Read More “MarkWest to Expand/Build NGL Plants on New Agreements”
Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | Utica Shale | West Virginia

Just What are Natural Gas Liquids Anyway?
January 31, 2012January 31, 2012

Increasingly, you will read on MDN and in press accounts about natural gas liquids (NGLs), and how major energy companies are now focused on drilling in the “liquids-rich” portion of the Marcellus and Utica Shales. The geography of where NGLs are found is typically western Pennsylvania, the West Virginia panhandle and eastern Ohio. But, just what are NGLs anyway? A helpful article on The Motley Fool website provides an excellent summary:

Read More “Just What are Natural Gas Liquids Anyway?”
Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Tyler County | West Virginia

Magnum Hunter Completes Four Marcellus Wells in WV Q411
January 31, 2012January 31, 2012

Magnum Hunter, a Houston, TX-based independent exploration and production company, issued an operational update for Q4 2011 yesterday. Following is the section reporting on their drilling operations in the Appalachian/Marcellus region:

Read More “Magnum Hunter Completes Four Marcellus Wells in WV Q411”
Caiman Energy | Economic Impact | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Processing Plants | West Virginia

Caiman Energy Investing $1.3B in Midstream Facilities in WV
January 20, 2012January 20, 2012

Caiman Energy plans to bring its total investment in natural gas processing (“midstream”) facilities in Marshall County, WV to $1.3 billion by the end of 2014. At midstream processing plants like the ones operated by Caiman, raw natural gas is processed to separate out methane from other components like ethane, propane, butane and pentane, or “natural gas liquids.” The liquids are sent to another facility for fractionation, to separate them from one another. Ethane then goes to a cracker plant where it is “cracked” or transformed into ethylene, used for making plastics.

Caiman is expanding its current processing facilities and building a new fractionation facility in Marshall County and spending nearly as much on their projects ($1.3 billion) as the much anticipated cracker plant that will be built by Shell somewhere in the Marcellus Shale region ($1.5-$2.0 billion).

Read More “Caiman Energy Investing $1.3B in Midstream Facilities in WV”
Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Processing Plants | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Gov. Tomblin Proposes 25-Year Tax Break for Cracker Plant
January 17, 2012March 24, 2012

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has sent proposed new legislation to lawmakers asking for a 25-year break from business property taxes for any company investing at least $2 billion to build an ethane cracker plant in the state. There is a bidding war going on among West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania to attract the plant, a facility that processes ethane from shale gas drilling into ethylene, a raw material used to make plastics.

Read More “WV Gov. Tomblin Proposes 25-Year Tax Break for Cracker Plant”
Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Kanawha County | West Virginia

Another New Entrant in the Ethane Cracker Plant Sweepstakes
January 13, 2012January 13, 2012

A new entrant has entered the ethane cracker plant sweepstakes, this one claiming they can build a cracker plant for one-third of the cost of others. Earlier this week, Keith Pauley, president and chief executive officer of the Mid-Atlantic Technology, Research & Innovation Center (MATRIC) said that MATRIC has launched a subsidiary company, Aither Chemicals, to leverage “off patent” technology created by Union Carbide in the 1970s that will make building an ethane cracker plant much less expensive than competing technologies.

Read More “Another New Entrant in the Ethane Cracker Plant Sweepstakes”
Baker Hughes | Economic Impact | Energy Services | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | West Virginia

Baker Hughes Expands in WV, Sets Sights on the Marcellus
January 13, 2012January 13, 2012

Baker Hughes, one of the world’s largest oilfield and shale gas service companies, is building a new $40 million facility in Harrison County, West Virginia, and along with it, generating 275 new jobs. According to Baker Hughes president Paul Butero, the company plans to become a “major player” in the Marcellus Shale.

Read More “Baker Hughes Expands in WV, Sets Sights on the Marcellus”
Forced Pooling | Industrywide Issues | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Legislator Offers Forced Pooling for Higher Severance Tax
January 6, 2012January 6, 2012

In December of 2011, West Virginia passed new Marcellus Shale drilling laws raising certain fees and putting new requirements in place (see this MDN story). The drilling industry, while saying it was not a perfect law, in the end supported it. But there was on thing the new law did not address that the industry wants to see: forced pooling. That issue is once again being discussed for possible action in the legislature this year.

Read More “WV Legislator Offers Forced Pooling for Higher Severance Tax”
Industrywide Issues | Kanawha County | NG Vehicles | West Virginia

WV County to Invest $50K in NG Vehicle Conversion Center
January 3, 2012January 3, 2012

Kanawha County, WV wants to become a leading location to convert vehicles to run on natural gas, and County Commission President Kent Carper plans to use $50,000 of county money to make it happen.

Read More “WV County to Invest $50K in NG Vehicle Conversion Center”
Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Processing Plants | Shell | Statewide OH | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Ohio Offers Shell Cracker Plant $1.4B in Tax Incentives
January 2, 2012January 2, 2012

Competition to attract an ethane cracker plant is heating up. West Virginia has made no bones that they intend to be the winners of the investment that will be made to build an ethane cracker plant to be built by Shell. The plant will cost upward of $2 billion and will create thousands of jobs to build the plant, operate the plant, and just as importantly, in the industries that will locate near the plant once it’s operational. It’s an economic jackpot worth $5 billion or more, and those who are in the game to attract it are in it to win.

Read More “Ohio Offers Shell Cracker Plant $1.4B in Tax Incentives”
Industrywide Issues | Roads | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Road Improvements Paid for by Shale Gas Drillers
January 2, 2012January 2, 2012

Pennsylvania’s rural roads are seeing upgrades because of gas drilling activity. When drilling comes to a municipality or county, and with it an increase in truck traffic, drillers step up to the plate and repair the roads that they use. Most of the time roads are left in better shape than before drilling began.

West Virginia is now starting to see the same improvements with their roads:

Read More “WV Road Improvements Paid for by Shale Gas Drillers”
Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Monongalia County | Northeast Natural Energy | Regulation | West Virginia

Morgantown Marcellus Wells Coming Online
December 21, 2011December 21, 2011

MDN chronicled the battle earlier this year between Northeast Natural Energy and the city of Morgantown, WV over Northeast’s plan to drill two Marcellus Shale gas wells near the city. In short, the Morgantown City Council tried to ban drilling both inside and outside city limits—up to one mile outside—which would have prevented Northeast from drilling the two wells.

Morgantown attempted to use a state law which indicates cities can take such actions outside their borders if they believe there is an imminent threat to residents of the city. The ban went to court, and a judge overturned it, clearing the way for Northeast to drill.

Read More “Morgantown Marcellus Wells Coming Online”
Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Officials Say Rail Access Key in Attracting Cracker Plant
December 21, 2011December 21, 2011

According to West Virginia officials, one of the keys to attracting an ethane cracker plant to the state is the humble railroad. In locations where there is only a single railroad line, costs are higher, so officials are discussing ways of introducing more rail competition at potential locations in the state should one of those locations be selected as the location for an ethane cracker. Options include building a short-line railroad and either rehabilitating or building new railroad bridges.

Read More “WV Officials Say Rail Access Key in Attracting Cracker Plant”