Statewide WV

Energy Companies | Gastar Exploration | Marshall County | Statewide WV | Utica Shale | West Virginia | Wetzel County

Gastar Top Brass Discusses 1Q14 Results, Drilling Program in WV
May 13, 2014May 13, 2014

Gastar is a sizable driller mostly concentrating on the Marcellus Shale in West Virginia. Gastar has begun to target the Utica layer as well. Yesterday Gastar’s top brass held their quarterly analyst call to discuss the company’s financial and operating performance. We’ve gone through the transcript and lifted out areas specifically dealing with the Marcellus and Utica Shale and have shared those below. You sometimes learn quite a bit from the prepared remarks–but you usually learn a lot with the Q&A that follows the prepared remarks.

In the prepared remarks we learn that Gastar is planning to move the focus of their WV drilling south–to Wetzel County–beginning in the third quarter of this year. They’ll drill two Marcellus and one Utica well first. Gastar’s CEO hastens to add that their drilling program is still intact in Marshall County with 10 wells planned for the second half of 2014. The Q&A gets into the nitty gritty of where and when pipelines will be run, how much it costs Gastar to drill a Utica well, and more…
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Industrywide Issues | Landfills | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Loophole in WV Landfill Law for Drill Cuttings Raises Concern
May 8, 2014May 8, 2014

Two months ago MDN brought you the news that a proposed bill to strengthen landfill requirements for Marcellus Shale drill cuttings (leftover rock and dirt from drilling) in West Virginia had passed in a special session of the legislature (see WV Drill Cuttings in Landfill Bill Passes in Record Time). The new bill, proposed by the WV Dept. of Environmental Protection provides for a special cell where the waste is stored, leachate from that cell monitored, and special radiation detectors installed. All great protections.

The new bill also disallows the special cell for drill cuttings to be built in landfills that sit over top a “karst” topography (where there are a lot of underground caves, sinkholes, cracks and fast-moving underground streams). However, there is one loophole in the new law that recently came to light: If landfills above a karst topography area are happy with maintaining their current lower cap of 9,999 tons per day of solid waste, they can accept drill cuttings in the regular part of the landfill. One WV lawmaker is trying to get that changed, fearing the landfill in his karst district may decide to accept drill cuttings…
Read More “Loophole in WV Landfill Law for Drill Cuttings Raises Concern”
Accidents | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Expensive New OSHA Regulations on the Way for Shale Industry
May 6, 2014May 5, 2014

Mainstream media has found a new issue to focus on in shale drilling–death. As in the death of shale workers. The Charleston Gazette reports on the job deaths in the oil and gas industry in West Virginia over the most recent five year-period have gone way way up–all the way to 13 over the past five years (up from 5 for the previous five years). We’re not making light nor minimizing the risks to workers–far from it. However, if the number of people working in the industry doubles or triples (as it has), the law of averages say accidents and fatalities will double or triple too. It’s, uh, common sense.

To provide a little perspective, a worker is more like to die on the job working in a restaurant or hotel than in the oil and gas industry (see Explosion & Fire at Chevron Well in SWPA – 1 Person Missing). Why the hue and cry over death in the shale industry? To justify expensive new regulations on the way from Obama’s OSHA, of course…
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Industrywide Issues | Landfills | Statewide WV | West Virginia | Wetzel County

Radioactive Water Leaching from WV Landfills with Drill Cuttings?
April 24, 2014April 24, 2014

Are drill cuttings from Marcellus Shale drilling in West Virginia that are disposed in landfills causing unsafe levels of radioactivity in water leaching from those landfills? Below is a lone article we noticed that makes that claim. It is the only such article we’ve seen, so we need to be very cautious. It makes some rather disturbing claims, as you’ll see.

The fact than no major news organizations have picked up on radioactive water potentially leaching from a few landfills in WV makes us think that maybe this one story is not all that credible (seeour layman’s analysis below). However, MDN has always prided itself on bringing the bad news as well as the good news with respect to fracking and shale drilling. We have nothing to hide when it comes to shale drilling. So we plant this issue “on our radar” to keep an eye on…
Read More “Radioactive Water Leaching from WV Landfills with Drill Cuttings?”
Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Labor Unions a Powerful Ally for Northeast Shale Industry
April 21, 2014April 21, 2014

Unions in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio are backing shale drilling in a big way, and that’s giving lefty Democrats heartburn. The unions note that in the early days of northeast shale drilling a lot of the help came from out of state–places like Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. But that’s changed. Today most of the workers are local, and many of them belong to labor unions. Regardless of your opinion on labor unions, there is one inescapable fact–their members want jobs and they’re willing to work and work hard in those jobs.

Labor unions have become an important and powerful ally for the drilling industry. Here is that story…
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Forced Pooling | Industrywide Issues | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Forced Pooling in WV: Dead Issue that Won’t Stay Dead
April 16, 2014April 16, 2014

Dead–but won’t stay dead (zombies anyone?). That’s the situation with forced pooling in West Virginia. Two months ago MDN reported that the forced pooling issue had once again died in the regular legislative session (see WV Forced Pooling Bill Dies in Committee, Yet Again). Drilling industry supporters vow that they will make yet another run at introducing and passing a law in the 2015 legislative session to allow forced pooling in the Mountain State. The West Virginia Chamber of Commerce is adding its voice as a supporter of forced pooling. The Chamber has begun a publicity campaign to support forced pooling, complete with a website (www.poolingtogether.com).

Forced pooling is a contentious issue. A few obstinate and frankly unreasonable holdouts who resist drilling can spoil it for all of their neighbors. However, MDN remains firm in our view that property rights are sacrosanct. You shouldn’t be able to tell me I can’t allow drilling on or under my property–and I shouldn’t be able to tell you that you must allow it. We continue to believe that’s the only defensible position on the issue of forced pooling. West Virginia is one of the few active oil and gas states without a forced pooling law and the drilling industry aims to change that. Here’s more on the dead issue that just won’t stay dead in WV:
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Antero Resources | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Pipelines | Statewide WV | Tennessee Gas Pipeline | West Virginia

Antero Resources Sops Up 100% of TGP Pipeline Expansion in WV
April 15, 2014April 15, 2014

Kinder Morgan announced they have a single customer that will use up 100% of the capacity for their Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s (TGP) Broad Run pipeline expansion in the West Virginia Marcellus. Antero Resources, a major Marcellus and Utica driller, has signed on with Kinder Morgan for 100% of the capacity in the Broad Run expansion–which amounts to 790,000 dekatherms per day. The contract will go for 15 years. Antero obviously plans to produce a great quantity of natural gas in the West Virginia Marcellus.

More of the details on the just-concluded open season for the Broad Run expansion project for the TGP:
Read More “Antero Resources Sops Up 100% of TGP Pipeline Expansion in WV”
Health Impacts | Industrywide Issues | Meetings | Sand/Proppant | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Silica Dust Exposure Topic A at ShaleSafe Conference in Wheeling
April 10, 2014April 10, 2014

The West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association hosted their inaugural ShaleSafe Conference and Expo at Oglebay Park in Wheeling earlier this week (Monday through Wednesday). What makes the conference interesting and unusual is that the entire event was focused on the topic of safety in shale plays–particularly the Marcellus and Utica. If you hang around with oil and gas people for any length of time, the topic of safety comes up. Contrary to the picture anti-drillers try to paint, the oil and gas industry is laser focused on worker and public safety. And that focus showed at the conference.

The highlight of the conference–the main focus–was a panel on silica (sand) exposure, which was held yesterday (Wednesday). That panel featured Michael Breitenstein from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and Dr. Michael McCawley, chairman of the Department of Occupational & Environmental Health Sciences in the School of Public Health at West Virginia University. McCawley, you may remember, has been beating the drum for some time that setbacks for drilling in WV are not enough and that air pollution coming from drilling operations is a serious issue (see WVU Prof Keeps Up Pressure on Improved Air Quality at Drill Sites). Silica dust is a serious issue, and both speakers were there to put the fear of God into the audience about it…
Read More “Silica Dust Exposure Topic A at ShaleSafe Conference in Wheeling”
Accidents | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Conference Speaker Says PA is Tops with Spill Containment Regs
April 10, 2014April 10, 2014

The main focus for the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association’s ShaleSafe Conference and Expo at Oglebay Park in Wheeling this week was silica dust exposure (see MDN’s related article published today). However, another session was a close second as Topic A–the session on spill containment. The sole presenter on spill containment was Beth Powell from New Pig Energy. Spill containment became a huge topic for everyone in West Virginia after a chemical spill related to coal mining affected the drinking water for 300,000 WV residents earlier this year. In the aftermath of that spill, the WV legislature passed new regulations for chemical storage tanks–regulations that affect not only the coal industry guilty of the spill, but also the shale drilling industry too (see Impact of WV’s New Chemical Tank Law on Marcellus Drillers).

Ms. Powell had some interesting things to say about spill containment–and she should know since well pad containment systems are New Pig’s business. Among her comments, Powell said Pennsylvania’s Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) regulations are far more strict than either West Virginia or Ohio when it comes to spills and spill containment. Now that’s something you don’t hear from anti-drillers in PA who try to paint the DEP as lax, derelict in their duty, and in bed with the drilling industry…
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Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Industrywide Issues | Landfills | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Chief of Homeland Security Not Concerned About Drill Cuttings
April 3, 2014April 3, 2014

For all the hoopla from anti-drillers in West Virginia over radioactivity in drill cuttings (leftover rock and dirt from drilling the borehole), and the disposal of those cuttings in landfills, you would think the state is in imminent danger of becoming a nuclear waste dump–glowing in the dark and visible from satellites passing through the night sky (see WV Anti-Drillers Continue to Harp on Drill Cuttings in Landfills).

The chief of Homeland Security and Emergency Response for the West Virginia Dept. of Environmental Protection says the DEP recently tested drill cuttings from EQT heading to the landfill and found radiation levels to be so low, they were barely detectable. In his words, “I am not concerned about it”…
Read More “WV Chief of Homeland Security Not Concerned About Drill Cuttings”
Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Eureka Midstream | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Eureka Hunter Gets New $117M Line of Credit, Expansion Continues
March 31, 2014March 31, 2014

Eureka Hunter Pipeline, a subsidiary of Magnum Hunter, is a small but growing midstream company with most of its operations in West Virginia (see these MDN articles about Eureka Hunter and their recent expansion). Apparently they plan to keep on growing. Today Eureka Hunter announced they’ve got a new line of credit at the bank–for a cool $117 million. Their line of credit can grow to $150 million under the right conditions.

Magnum Hunter CEO Gary Evans says the new credit line means MH itself won’t have to float cash to the midstream subsidiary like it does now–meaning more flexibility and Eureka Hunter can expand faster. And that’s a good thing! Here’s the Eureka Hunter announcement posted today:
Read More “Eureka Hunter Gets New $117M Line of Credit, Expansion Continues”
Economic Impact | Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Odebrecht | Processing Plants | Statewide WV | West Virginia | Wood County

WV Commerce Sec Burdette Praises Odebrecht/Antero, Warns Drillers
March 28, 2014March 28, 2014

Aside from WV Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, no one in West Virginia has been more dedicated, more focused and more committed to finding an ethane cracker plant for the state than WV Commerce Secretary Keith Burdette. MDN has stories going back years that mention Burdette and his quest for a cracker (just one example: WV’s Burdette Still in Hunt for Ethane Cracker Plant). We think it’s a fair statement to say without Burdette, the Odebrecht cracker plant project would not have happened. Our hat is off to Keith and the marvelous work he’s done for the state.

Yesterday Keith delivered a rousing speech at the Marcellus to Manufacturing Ethane Development Conference at the Charleston Civic Center. We have a transcript of his speech below. In it, Keith acknowledges the contributions of Odebrecht’s David Peebles in making this project happen. He also praises Antero Resources for their bold and brave commitment to providing half of the ethane for the new cracker plant. Finally, Keith sounds a word of warning to other drillers that are signing agreements to ship ethane out of the northeast region. He believes they may want to reconsider. The northeast has enough ethane for “a dozen crackers” if so much of it wasn’t heading to the Gulf Coast or Canada via pipeline…
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Education | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Noble Energy | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Noble Energy Donates $250K to WV Community College Program
March 28, 2014March 28, 2014

Noble Energy certainly live up to it’s name of “noble.” Earlier this week Noble announced a $250,000 one-time gift to the West Virginia Community College’s new Appalachian Petroleum Technology Training Center. The Center offers one-year certifications and two-year degrees in petroleum technology–just one of 14 programs in the country like it. MDN previously wrote about the new program in May 2013 (see New Appalachian Petroleum Technology Training Center in WV). Graduates coming from the program have the ability to earn between $60,000-$100,000 per year–starting! It’s a fabulous program and Noble has really stepped up to the plate to ensure the program not only survives, but thrives–so kudos to Noble.

Here’s the announcement from the Community and Technical College System of West Virginia (WVCTCS):
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Antero Resources | Braskem | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Odebrecht | Processing Plants | Statewide WV | West Virginia | Wood County

Antero to Provide 50% Ethane Needed at Parkersburg Cracker Plant
March 27, 2014March 27, 2014

The ethane cracker plant planned for Parkersburg (Wood County), WV, to be built by Odebrecht and operated by Odebrecht subsidiary Braskem America, took another giant step closer to reality yesterday. Powerhouse Marcellus/Utica driller Antero Resources announced they will provide 30,000 barrels per day of ethane for the proposed new plant when/if it gets built. That’s half of what the plant needs to operate. Antero Resources CEO Paul Rady was joined by Odebrecht VP of business development David Peebles on stage at the Marcellus to Manufacturing Ethane Development Conference at the Charleston Civic Center for the big announcement yesterday. WV Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin took to the stage to crow about the deal too (he’s earned the right).

It was just Monday of last week that MDN observed that the Odebrect cracker plant just “feels” like it’s going to happen (see Odebrecht’s WV Ethane Cracker has The Big Mo–Momentum). Yesterday’s Antero announcement is more evidence of that. Below is the official Antero announcement about their ethane contribution to the proposed new cracker, along with a report of who said what about the deal at yesterday’s Charleston conference…
Read More “Antero to Provide 50% Ethane Needed at Parkersburg Cracker Plant”
Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Meetings | Statewide WV | West Virginia | Wood County

WV Marcellus to Manufacturing (M2M) Talks Crackers, Jobs & More
March 27, 2014March 27, 2014

The 2014 Marcellus to Manufacturing Ethane Development Conference (M2M) is part of a larger event taking place this week in Charleston, WV–the West Virginia Construction and Design Expo, being held at the Charleston Civic Center. Yesterday most of the talk at M2M revolved around the Antero Resources announcement that they will provide 30,000 barrels of ethane per day for the proposed Odebrecht cracker plant (see today’s lead story). However, there were other presentations and topics, including jobs, the petrochemical industry in WV, and more.

Here’s a first-hand account of yesterday’s M2M from a Parkersburg reporter:
Read More “WV Marcellus to Manufacturing (M2M) Talks Crackers, Jobs & More”
Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | Taxation | West Virginia

Best Way to Kill Drilling in PA/OH/WV: “Uniform” Severance Tax
March 26, 2014March 26, 2014

A few weeks ago MDN said the plan floated by lefties and libs to create a so-called uniform severance tax across PA, OH and WV is one of the dumbest things we’ve heard in a long time (see Stupid Idea of the Year: Create Uniform Severance Tax in PA-OH-WV). The plan as proposed means all three states hold hands and jump off the economic cliff together. Apparently it’s more fun to die together (economically) than alone.

MDN is not the only voice to point out the lunacy of this plan. The head of the PA Chamber of Business and Industry also says the proposed mega-tax is nuts. As Gene Barr highlights in the following letter to the editor, it’s apparent the people proposing such a plan–including the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center–are ignorant of how taxes in PA and other places actually work. You would think an organization with a name that includes the word “budget” would employ at least one economist or accountant. Apparently they don’t. They are economic illiterates who don’t realize what they are proposing is anything but fair–especially to Pennsylvanians…
Read More “Best Way to Kill Drilling in PA/OH/WV: “Uniform” Severance Tax”