West Virginia

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.

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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.

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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.

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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:

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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.

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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.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Lawsuit on the Horizon for WV’s New Marcellus Law?
December 20, 2011December 20, 2011

Please see an important update at the end of this article.

West Virginia’s new Marcellus drilling law is not yet a week old (see this MDN story for a summary of what’s in the new law), and already some who are unhappy with the law are talking lawsuit. The Charleston, WV Rotary Club hosted a luncheon at the Civic Center on Monday with a panel discussion presenting four different viewpoints on the new law. None of the four, who included those who favor drilling and those who don’t, were happy with the final version. But one in particular, Dave McMahon, a Charleston public interest lawyer, is threatening to sue over the new law.

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Butler County | Energy Companies | Gastar Exploration | Pennsylvania | Preston County | West Virginia | Wetzel County

Gastar Marcellus Wells: Strong Production, Lots of Liquids
December 20, 2011December 20, 2011

Gastar Exploration gives the following operational update on their drilling activities in the Marcellus Shale in Marshall and Preston counties in West Virginia, and Butler County in Pennsylvania. Most of Gastar’s Marcellus activity is concentrated in Marshall County, WV, where they plan to complete 24 horizontal wells by the end of 2012.

From the Gastar press release:

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Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Processing Plants | West Virginia

$500M NG Processing Plant in Marshall County, WV Under Way
December 19, 2011December 19, 2011

A $500 million natural gas processing plant is currently being built by Dominion Transmission along the Ohio River in Marshall County, WV. When it’s done, it will have a 400 million cubic feet per day capacity. Chesapeake Energy has committed to processing 100 million cubic feet per day at the facility. The new plant means jobs and an economic boost for West Virginia’s northern panhandle.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Has New Marcellus Drilling Law in Record Time
December 15, 2011December 15, 2011

$horizontal hydraulic fracturing$ A new Marcellus drilling law (highlights of the law listed below) passed in a special session of the West Virginia legislature and has been signed by Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin into law. Yesterday, the WV House of Delegates voted 92-5 and the Senate voted 33-0 to pass the measure, known as the “Horizontal Well Act,” which was immediately signed by the governor.

Although it only took the WV legislature four days in a special session to pass the measure, in reality, it has taken most of this year to draft, tweak and alter the language of the bill to prepare it ahead of the special session.

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Barbour County | Crestwood Midstream | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Mountaineer Keystone | Pipelines | Preston County | Randolph County | Taylor County | West Virginia

Crestwood to Build New Marcellus Pipeline in NE WV
December 14, 2011December 14, 2011

Houston-based Crestwood Midstream yesterday announced they 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. By connecting to the WB Pipeline the new gathering pipeline will have access to the Washington, DC and Baltimore markets.

The new pipeline will be completed by this time next year and already has a long term “anchor” contract with Mountaineer Keystone, a Pittsburgh-based drilling company that will commence their horizontal drilling program in the area in the middle of 2012.

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Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Stone Energy | West Virginia | Wetzel County

Magnum Hunter, Stone Energy JV to Drill in Wetzel County WV
December 13, 2011December 13, 2011

Magnum Hunter Resources and Stone Energy yesterday announced a joint venture combining their leased Marcellus acreage in Wetzel County, WV, some 1,925 acres, with the stated objective of drilling 19 new horizontal Marcellus Shale wells in the next two years.

From the press release:

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Economic Impact | Fayette County | Industrywide Issues | Kanawha County | West Virginia

Surprise Announcement of Ethane Cracker Plant in WV
December 12, 2011December 12, 2011

In a surprise move, two West Virginians have announced their intention to build an ethane cracker plant in the state. Former state Supreme Court Justice Richard Neely and Ryan Cunningham, owner of Charleston-based Cunningham Energy have formed a partnership with a few others and will try to get the necessary permits and financing to build an ethane cracker plant on a 1,500-acre plot near Montgomery, WV.

Two large energy companies, Shell and an unidentified company, have said they will make announcements in January of 2012 on where they will build ethane cracker plants. West Virginia was hopeful that Shell or the other company would select their state. But Neely and Cunningham don’t want to leave it to chance—so they plan to move forward.

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Industrywide Issues | Jobs | West Virginia | Wetzel County

Out-of-State Gas Workers Mean Continued High Unemployment
December 7, 2011December 7, 2011

One of the criticisms of the Marcellus shale gas drilling industry is that although it brings with it an economic boom, including many jobs, sometimes those jobs are taken by out-of-state workers and not local workers. Drillers will say there are not enough skilled local workers to fill the positions. Labor leaders and local economic development officials will say, “Train them and there will be!”

According to Dave Efaw, secretary-treasurer of the West Virginia State Building and Construction Trades Council, local drillers need to step up to the plate and start hiring more local workers:

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Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Shell | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Shell, One Other Company Close to Cracker Plant Announcement
December 7, 2011December 7, 2011

According to officials in West Virginia, who are super-serious about attracting at least one ethane cracker plant to their state, Shell and one other company will announce site selections for their plants in January of 2012. West Virginia fully intends that at least one of those two plants will be inside their borders, and they are pulling out all of the stops to ensure it happens. In fact, according to WV Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s chief of staff, it’s the newly-elected governor’s “No. 1 goal.”

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Chesapeake Energy | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Enterprise Products Partners | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Is Chesapeake’s Ethane Pipeline Deal a Negotiating Tactic?
November 10, 2011November 10, 2011

Last week, MDN reported that officials in West Virginia were angry with Chesapeake Energy over their decision to sign a contract to ship ethane out of the Marcellus region for processing in the Gulf Coast (see this MDN story). Specifically, state Commerce Secretary Keith Burdette said the deal may jeopardize the state’s chances of attracting a cracker plant—a facility that processes ethane into ethylene, the raw material used to make plastics. The chief complaint was that Chesapeake has been part of negotiations to bring such a plant to the region but at the same time were silent about their impending deal with Enterprise Products Partners to lease a pipeline to move ethane out of the area.

Chesapeake has responded to the criticism and says its deal with Enterprise has been “misunderstood.” A recent statement from Chesapeake seems to indicate the deal to ship ethane via pipeline is a negotiating tactic to get the best price for their ethane. Other industry sources are sticking up for Chesapeake and say the deal is certainly not a “cracker killer.”

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