Chesapeake Withdraws $25K Grant from Morgantown, WV
Yet another gas driller has decided to vote with its pocketbook against a community that insists on banning shale gas drilling.
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Barbour County | CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Greene County (PA) | Indiana County | Marshall County | Noble Energy | Pennsylvania | Washington County | West Virginia | Westmoreland County
Noble Energy and CONSOL to Partner on Marcellus in $3.4B Deal
In March 2010, CONSOL Energy (Cecil, PA) paid Dominion Resources $3.5 billion for 500,000 acres of Marcellus Shale gas leases, instantly tripling their lease holdings. Since that time, CONSOL has continued to invest in Marcellus acreage and they now have 750,000 acres under lease. But CONSOL had a problem: Not enough money to develop their vast Marcellus acreage. So they did what is now a common practice—they found a partner to invest. Yesterday, CONSOL and Noble Energy (Houston, TX) announced that Noble will buy a 50 percent interest in 663,350 net undeveloped acres and fund drilling and completion costs in a deal worth $3.4 billion over an eight-year period.The joint venture will concentrate on ramping up development of Marcellus Shale gas wells in three areas of Pennsylvania and West Virginia (see a map of CONSOL’s acreage below):
Read More “Noble Energy and CONSOL to Partner on Marcellus in $3.4B Deal”
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New Marcellus Drilling Rules for WV Delayed Until 2012
It now looks like West Virginia lawmakers will not adopt new regulations for drilling in the Marcellus Shale this year. In July, acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed an executive order creating “temporary” new Marcellus Shale drilling regulations, which have not yet gone into effect (see this MDN story). The new regs are intended to be in place for up to 15 months to give the legislature time to draft a comprehensive overhaul of drilling rules. There was talk of speeding the process along and taking advantage of the current special session of the legislature, meeting this week to rework a redistricting plan, to tackle the drilling issue. But any more work on new drilling regulations for this year is now all but dead:
Read More “New Marcellus Drilling Rules for WV Delayed Until 2012”
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Chesapeake Energy | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio County | West Virginia
Ohio County Receives $8M (So Far) from Marcellus Gas Leases
Ohio County, WV is reaping the rewards of leasing county-owned land for Marcellus gas drilling. The county’s land leases with Chesapeake Energy have already resulted in nearly $8 million in one-time lease payments for the county coffers, and soon will mean royalty payments too. Chesapeake has already completed a well on private land adjacent to (and drilling under) county land in The Highlands area. But gas from that well has not yet started to flow due to a delay in getting a pipeline built to the well. Once the pipeline is in place, the county will start receiving royalty checks from that well.
And within the next 12 months, Chesapeake will drill a new well, this time directly on county-owned land at the airport:
Read More “Ohio County Receives $8M (So Far) from Marcellus Gas Leases”
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Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Monongalia County | Northeast Natural Energy | Regulation | West Virginia
Morgantown Official Backpedals After Drilling Ban Overturned
It’s always interesting to watch politicians operate after a humiliating defeat. Politicians’ DNA does not allow them to simply look inward and recognize their own errors. They always look outward and blame others, or in some cases, declare the defeat was a good thing and accomplished just what they wanted all along! I refer to the situation in Morgantown, WV. In June, Morgantown City Council members voted to ban hydraulic fracturing both inside and up to one mile outside their borders (see this MDN story). This threatened a pair of Marcellus Shale wells being drilled about a mile from city lines. The result? The driller, Northeast Energy, sued the city. Last week a judge overturned the city’s ban and now hydraulic fracturing will commence (see this MDN story). All told, Northeast probably lost about a month out of their original drilling schedule (they continued drilling anyway, the ban specifically prohibited fracking and not drilling per se).
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Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Monongalia County | Northeast Natural Energy | West Virginia
Judge Overturns Morgantown, WV Fracking Ban
For some time now, MDN has covered the hydraulic fracturing ban passed by the city of Morgantown, West Virginia (see list of articles here). In a surprise move last Friday, the Monongalia County (WV) Circuit Court Judge Susan Tucker overturned Morgantown’s fracking ban, clearing the way for Northeast Energy to continue drilling and fracking operations about a mile outside of Morgantown city lines. Judge Tucker’s “summary judgment” is embedded below.Read More “Judge Overturns Morgantown, WV Fracking Ban”
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Marcellus Gas in Southern WV? Wildcat Driller Says Yes
There is new interest in the Marcellus Shale in southern West Virginia, a place most energy companies have written off as being uneconomical for Marcellus gas, and one company is planning to roll the dice by drilling half a dozen exploratory wells, at $5 million per well, to prove it.
Read More “Marcellus Gas in Southern WV? Wildcat Driller Says Yes”
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WV Invests $250K in Marcellus Ethane Processing Plant
The state of West Virginia is investing $250K in a company that turns ethane from Marcellus gas wells into ethylene. Think of it as a “mini-cracker plant”. Shell and other large energy companies are looking to establish large cracker plants in the Marcellus region—a chemical plant that will take over $1 billion to build (see this MDN story). In the meantime, smaller and leaner companies are providing some of the same kinds of service a cracker plant provides—at much less of an investment. Aither Chemicals is one of those companies.
Read More “WV Invests $250K in Marcellus Ethane Processing Plant”
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Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Monongalia County | Northeast Natural Energy | Regulation | West Virginia
Northeast Continues Drilling in Morgantown Despite Ban
The ongoing battle between Morgantown, WV and Northeast Natural Energy over two proposed gas wells located close to Morgantown continues, and gets interesting. Northeast had been working with Morgantown to address concerns that the two wells they propose to drill are close to the water intake for the city. Northeast believed everything was fine until city council voted to ban hydraulic fracturing both inside and outside of its borders—up to one mile outside (allowable under WV law). Northeast’s proposed wells are within that one mile radius, so the ban shut them down. Or did it?
According to press accounts, Northeast has just started work drilling the second Marcellus gas well and plans to start fracking the first well in September, regardless of the ban:
Read More “Northeast Continues Drilling in Morgantown Despite Ban”
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Another WV City Repeals Previous Marcellus Drilling Ban
It seemed for a while like passing Marcellus drilling bans was all the rage for cities in West Virginia. Now it seems they can’t repeal those bans fast enough. The latest to repeal a previous ban is Wellsburg:
Read More “Another WV City Repeals Previous Marcellus Drilling Ban”
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MarkWest Processing Plants in PA & WV Ramp Up Output
MarkWest Energy Partners and its subsidiary companies concentrate on what the industry calls the “midstream” area of natural gas drilling—that is, gathering, processing and transporting natural gas. MarkWest’s quarterly report includes an update on their expanding capacity to process natural gas and natural gas liquids in the Marcellus Shale of Pennsylvania and West Virginia as well as news about a new pipeline to Canada:
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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Statewide WV | West Virginia
Methane Present in 11% of WV Water Wells Before Drilling Begins
In response to a study released in May by Duke University showing elevated levels of methane in water wells near active gas wells being drilled, Chesapeake Energy has released its own water testing data. One of the chief criticisms of the Duke study is that baseline measurements were not taken—that is, Duke did not test water wells before active gas drilling took place to eliminate the possibility that methane in those water wells was naturally occurring. Chesapeake has that data for wells close to its active drilling sites. The results are indeed interesting.
Read More “Methane Present in 11% of WV Water Wells Before Drilling Begins”
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Dominion to Build Large Natural Gas Processing Plant on the Ohio River in Natrium, WV
Dominion, one of the country’s largest producers and transporters of energy, has just announced they will build a large natural gas processing and fractionation plant along the Ohio River in Natrium, W.Va. to process shale gas from the Marcellus and Utica Shale regions. The plant’s first phase of construction will be completed by the end of next year. The new facility will provide construction jobs initially, and when completed, 40-50 permanent jobs. Dominion reports they have already pre-sold 90 percent of the first phase’s processing capacity of 200 Mmcf (million cubic feet) of natural gas per day and fractionation of 36,000 barrels of gas liquids per day. Dominion’s largest customer for the first phase is Chesapeake Energy, reserving 100 Mmcf of processing capacity.A natural gas processing facility removes all of the various hydrocarbons and fluids from “raw” natural gas (as it comes from the well bore) to produce what is known as ‘pipeline quality’ dry natural gas. Natural gas liquids (NGLs) are valuable by-products of natural gas processing and can include ethane, propane, butane, iso-butane, and gasoline. Dominion will sell natural gas and gas liquids from the facility via truck, railroad, pipeline and barge.
UPDATE (Aug 8): Dominion will invest $500 million to build its new natural gas processing plant in Natrium, WV (see this article).
Read More “Dominion to Build Large Natural Gas Processing Plant on the Ohio River in Natrium, WV”
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Boycott Threat Worked: New Martinsville (WV) City Council will Overturn Recent Marcellus Drilling Ban
Just last week, MDN wrote about New Martinsville, WV enacting a Marcellus drilling ban (see MDN story). Because of the ban, the West Virginia Independent Oil & Gas Association hinted that their members would boycott New Martinsville businesses in retaliation—unless the ban is lifted. Looks like that threat worked: -
Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Statewide WV | Wastewater | West Virginia
GreenHunter Energy to Establish New Fracking Wastewater Treatment Facility in WV, Including Injection Wells
Texas-based GreenHunter Energy, Inc. announced they’ve purchased acreage in West Virginia where they will establish a facility to treat and dispose of fracking wastewater. Part of GreenHunter’s plan includes disposing wastewater using an existing injection well with plans for additional injection wells. The press release (in full below) does not mention the exact location for the new facility and injection wells. -
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia | Wetzel County
WV Drillers Threaten Economic Boycotts of Local Businesses in Cities that Ban Marcellus Drilling
Here and there, some city municipalities in West Virginia—like Morgantown—have banned hydraulic fracturing and Marcellus shale gas drilling inside, and even outside of their borders. The latest WV city to do so is New Martinsville (Wetzel County). The West Virginia Independent Oil & Gas Association has had enough and is threatening to stop supporting local businesses in cities that have enacted bans.
In March 2010, CONSOL Energy (Cecil, PA) paid Dominion Resources $3.5 billion for 500,000 acres of Marcellus Shale gas leases, instantly tripling their lease holdings. Since that time, CONSOL has continued to invest in Marcellus acreage and they now have 750,000 acres under lease. But CONSOL had a problem: Not enough money to develop their vast Marcellus acreage. So they did what is now a common practice—they found a partner to invest. Yesterday, CONSOL and Noble Energy (Houston, TX) announced that Noble will buy a 50 percent interest in 663,350 net undeveloped acres and fund drilling and completion costs in a deal worth $3.4 billion over an eight-year period.
For some time now, MDN has covered the hydraulic fracturing ban passed by the city of Morgantown, West Virginia (
Dominion, one of the country’s largest producers and transporters of energy, has just announced they will build a large natural gas processing and fractionation plant along the Ohio River in Natrium, W.Va. to process shale gas from the Marcellus and Utica Shale regions. The plant’s first phase of construction will be completed by the end of next year. The new facility will provide construction jobs initially, and when completed, 40-50 permanent jobs. Dominion reports they have already pre-sold 90 percent of the first phase’s processing capacity of 200 Mmcf (million cubic feet) of natural gas per day and fractionation of 36,000 barrels of gas liquids per day. Dominion’s largest customer for the first phase is Chesapeake Energy, reserving 100 Mmcf of processing capacity.
Just last week, MDN wrote about New Martinsville, WV enacting a Marcellus drilling ban (
Texas-based GreenHunter Energy, Inc. announced they’ve purchased acreage in West Virginia where they will establish a facility to treat and dispose of fracking wastewater. Part of GreenHunter’s plan includes disposing wastewater using an existing injection well with plans for additional injection wells. The press release (in full below) does not mention the exact location for the new facility and injection wells.