Statewide WV

Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Shale Jobs Make Slight Increase, Wages Up Avg $2,400/Year
October 15, 2014October 15, 2014

According to the 2011 West Virginia Horizontal Well Control law, the Dept. of Commerce’s Workforce West Virginia agency is required to file an annual report detailing the number of jobs created (or lost) in the shale drilling industry in the state. The report is due by Nov. 1 each year. Last year, the 2013 report showed a big jump of 20%, with wages going up $5,500 in just one year–to $75,580 (see Looking for a Job in the Marcellus? Think WV). A lot of WV’s employment is tied to building pipelines. The report for 2014 is fresh out. What does it show? It shows 1,100 more people found jobs in the industry this year–however, many pipeline projects ended and with them, jobs working on those pipelines. In the end, according to the report, only 69 net new jobs were created throughout the industry over the past year when you add the new workers and take out the temp jobs now ended. However, the average wage for all workers in the oil & gas sector in WV went up again–another $2,400 per year…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Statewide VA | Statewide WV | Virginia | West Virginia

Trout Unlimited Volunteers to Watch GWNF for Fracking Effects
October 15, 2014October 15, 2014

Two anti-drilling groups with benign-sounding names, Trout Unlimted and Wild Virginia, are training volunteers to monitor streams for effects from (so far) non-existent shale drilling in the George Washington National Forest. Trout Unlimited has been doing this sort of training/testing for years in places like the Delaware River Basin (see TU: Just Eyeball Those Streams, You Know What Shouldn’t Be There). Testing, testing, testing. And what have they found from all of their testing? An environmental holocaust from fracking shale wells? Some mild environmental impacts? Nope. They’ve found nothing. Zero. Nada. But they keep on testing…
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MDN Research: $58B in NE Infrastructure Projects, List of Top 5
October 14, 2014October 14, 2014

Marcellus Drilling News collaborates with the excellent ShaleNavigator service to publish a series of research reports called the Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook. MDN editor Jim Willis is very excited to announce that Volume 2 for the 2014 Databook series has just been released–and it is, without question, our best-ever. Among the pearls in this newest edition: Jim completely updated a comprehensive list of Marcellus/Utica Shale midstream and infrastructure projects (pipelines and processing plants) that first appeared in Vol. 2 of last year’s series. At that time, in 2013, projects either under construction or planned added up to a staggering $40 billion of investment coming to the northeast. This year? It’s even more mind-blowing. Infrastructure projects planned for the northeast now tally $58 billion–a 45% increase! Read on for the list of the top 5 big-money projects planned for the Marcellus/Utica…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Statewide VA | Statewide WV | Virginia | West Virginia

Where is Real Opposition to Dominion SE Pipeline? Hint: Not WV
October 10, 2014October 10, 2014

Opposition to Dominion’s 550-mile, $5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline project (formerly called the Southeast Reliability Project) continues, but not much of it is located in West Virginia. You may recall there is an anti-pipeline group called West Virginia Wilderness Lovers, which is, from what we can tell, two people who have opposed the pipeline from the beginning (see Hula Hoops & Tall Tales from WV Anti-Drillers Opposed to Pipeline). At least one of the two Wilderness Lovers still opposes it…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Wheeling Water Warriors Take on Drilling Under Ohio River in WV
October 7, 2014October 7, 2014

With blue capes unfurled and their Spandex tights removed from deep in the back of the closet (and it’s not even Halloween for another three weeks), the ~~aging hippies known as the~~ Wheeling Water Warriors have found a new purpose (since GreenHunter still hasn’t built a barging facility in Wheeling, WV, confounding their life’s mission). That new purpose? To oppose fossil fuel extraction in the state–wherever it happens. Right now it’s a righteous cause to prevent drilling under the Ohio River. The Warriors are circulating petitions to try and stop the imminent deal West Virginia is set to make to allow one or more drillers to set up rigs at least a mile from the river, but allow them to extra oil and gas from beneath the river (more than a mile down) with horizontal drilling…
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Energy Companies | Equinor/Statoil | Gastar Exploration | Lease & Royalty Payments | Noble Energy | Statewide WV | Triad Hunter | West Virginia

Details on 4 Bids to Drill Under Ohio River in WV
October 6, 2014October 6, 2014

As MDN recently reported, West Virginia solicited bids from drillers to drill under portions of the Ohio River in areas where the state owns land adjacent to the river and in areas where there is Marcellus and/or Utica Shale present. The state received four bids (see WV Receives 4 Bids to Drill Under the Ohio River). What we now have are the details of those bids…
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Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Regulation | Statewide WV | Trans Energy | West Virginia

Court Adds Another $600K to $3M Fine for Trans Energy in WV Case
October 2, 2014October 2, 2014

A month ago MDN told you about a steep fine Trans Energy, a West Virginia Marcellus driller, agreed to pay for screwing up 15 creeks and swamps with dirt they pushed around for drilling purposes (see Trans Energy Fined $3M for Polluting WV Creeks & Swaps with Dirt). The money will be split 50/50 between the federal EPA and the WV Dept. of Environmental Protection. Trans Energy was in U.S. District Court yesterday to plead guilty to three misdemeanor charges of negligently violating the Clean Water Act. That will tack on another $600,000 in criminal fines to the $3M already agreed too ($200K for each violation). Ouch. The number that really hurts, however, is that Trans Energy will spend more than $13 million to complete the restoration and mitigation work required by the consent decree they signed yesterday…
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Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Eureka Midstream | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH | Statewide WV | Triad Hunter | West Virginia

Magnum Hunter’s Pipeline System Boosts Volumes in OH/WV
September 26, 2014September 26, 2014

A second announcement from Magnum Hunter over the past two days is not nearly as important as the first–but interesting nonetheless. Magnum Hunter announced yesterday that Eureka Hunter–Magnum’s pipeline gathering subsidiary–has bumped up the volume of gas flowing through the system to an average 316,500 million Btus per day, or roughly 307 million cubic feet (Mmcf) per day. Fully one-third of the gas flowing through the system, which is located in West Virginia and Ohio, comes from another Magnum Hunter subsidiary–Triad Hunter. Lot’s of “Hunters” out there. 😉 Here’s the announcement of the increasing volumes flowing through Eureka Hunter’s pipelines these days…
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Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Ohio County | Research | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Report Shows Dramatic Increase in Water/Sand Usage in WV Drilling
September 23, 2014September 23, 2014

A few years ago drillers in Ohio and Marshall counties in West Virginia would use an average 1 million pounds of frack sand and 4 million gallons of water. Today, because the horizontal portion of the wells are longer (longer “laterals”), those numbers are closer to 13 million pounds of sand and 10 million gallons of water, according to a Wood Mackenzie report…
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Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Statewide WV | Trucking | West Virginia

WV PSC Gets Fed Money to Increase Truck Inspections Near Drilling
September 10, 2014September 10, 2014

Truck drivers in West Virginia–particularly in areas where there’s a lot of Marcellus Shale drilling activity–you’ve been put on notice by the WV Public Service Commission (PSC) that they’re stepping up the frequency of inspections. The WV PSC has received a $180,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) that allows them to pay for overtime for officers to step up the number of truck inspections. Regular patrols will continue, however, the grant money allows the PSC to increase patrols in certain areas, which will include…
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Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Statewide WV | Trans Energy | West Virginia

Trans Energy Fined $3M for Polluting WV Creeks & Swaps with Dirt
September 4, 2014September 4, 2014

Trans Energy, a smaller, “pure play” driller in the West Virginia Marcellus Shale, has just been slapped bigtime by the federal Environmental Protection Agency along with the WV Dept. of Environmental Protection. The EPA announced a deal with Trans Energy whereby the company will pay an astounding $3 million fine for “unauthorized discharge of dredge or fill material” into creeks and swamps in 15 different locations. Apparently Trans Energy didn’t get a “Mother May I?” permit when building roads and pushing dirt around at some of their Marcellus drilling sites and so will now pay a heavy fine. Oh, and speaking of the $3M fine–it will be split 50/50 between the EPA and the WVDEP. Party time at EPA HQ!…
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Lease & Royalty Payments | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Drilling Under the Ohio River in WV – Smart or Dumb?
September 2, 2014September 2, 2014

As MDN reported last week, West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin wants to lease the area under the Ohio River that runs through WV for Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling (see State of WV Looks to Lease Area Under Ohio River for Drilling). Tomblin wants a 20% royalty and no deductions (!) from the royalty check for expenses. Other than that, the lease will go to the driller who pays the largest per-acre signing bonus. Will any drillers bother to file a bid if they can’t deduct expenses from royalties? Is Tomblin crazy like a fox with his proposed lease for drilling under the Ohio River? Or is he just crazy? While a former WV Dept. of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) inspector doesn’t call Tomblin crazy, he does think drilling under the Ohio tends to the nutty side…
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Lease & Royalty Payments | Marshall County | Pleasants County | Statewide WV | West Virginia | Wetzel County

State of WV Looks to Lease Area Under Ohio River for Drilling
August 26, 2014August 26, 2014

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin is a pro-drilling Democrat–an unusual occurrence. In fact, Tomblin is so pro-drilling, he’s looking to lease the land underneath the Ohio River for drilling! That’s sure to give the nutters in the WV Sierra Club heartburn. The governor and his Commerce Secretary, Keith Burdette, have published an official notice seeking bids from drillers. Tomblin and Burdette want a signing bonus AND a hefty royalty to boot. Although a target per-acre bonus amount has not been specified, Tomblin has publicly stated he’d like to see a 20% royalty on any such under-the-river leases…
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Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Natural Resource Partners | Statewide WV | Supply Chain | West Virginia

NRP Buys VantaCore to Supply Rocks to Marcellus/Utica Drillers
August 25, 2014August 25, 2014

Natural Resource Partners (NRP), a company headquartered in Houston, TX but with it’s operations headquarters in Huntington, WV has its fingers in a lot of pies–including coal companies, concrete companies, and oil and gas companies. NRP has just added yet another aggregates (concrete and rocks) company to its portfolio of companies. NRP purchased VantaCore Partners, a Philadelphia company, mainly because of VantaCore’s operations that supply limestone and base material to oil and gas companies in the Marcellus and Utica shale plays. NRP knows a good thing when it sees it…
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Columbia Pipeline Group | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | NiSource | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Columbia Gas: $1.75B for 2 Projects to Send Marcellus Gas to Gulf
August 13, 2014August 13, 2014

Columbia Pipeline Group, a division of NiSource, announced yesterday they have decided to move forward with investing $1.75 billion dollars for two new projects. The first is a pipeline project that will begin in Marshall County, West Virginia, cross Ohio and end up in Leach, Kentucky. Hence, the new project is called the Leach Xpress. Yes, the marketers at Columbia could of/should of come up with a better name than “leach” for a pipeline, but we’ll just have to live with it (as we sigh and shake our heads). The 160-mile pipeline will pump abundant, cheap Marcellus and Utica Shale gas to various sales points along the pipeline (interconnecting with other pipelines). But perhaps most importantly, it will pump gas to Leach, and that’s the second major project. There is an existing pipeline from Leach all the way to the Louisiana Gulf Coast. That pipeline is called the Rayne, for Rayne, LA. The Rayne Xpress project will beef up the pipeline with new compressor stations to add an additional 1 billion cubic feet per day of capacity–Marcellus and Utica Shale gas capacity that will flow to the Gulf Coast…
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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

EIA: Marcellus Continues to Break Records – Passes 15 Bcf/d Level
August 6, 2014August 6, 2014

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) ran an article in their Today in Energy online publication yesterday stating the Marcellus Shale region produced, for the first time ever, more than 15 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day (Bcf/d) in July. The Marcellus, located in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, now accounts for a staggering 40% all U.S. shale gas production. Compare that to just four short years ago, in 2010, when the Marcellus produced 2 Bcf/d. The Marcellus is, without a doubt, the most productive shale play for natural gas in the world…
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