Gun Loaded & Cocked, Maryland About to Commit Fracking Suicide
Several weeks ago the Maryland House of Delegates put the bullet in the chamber of gun when they voted to ban fracking (see Maryland House overwhelmingly approves fracking ban). Yesterday the Maryland Senate cocked the hammer of the gun by voting 35-10 in favor of a frack ban. Now the legislation goes to Republican Gov. Larry Hogan (traitor, ran on a platform supporting fracking) who has pledged to pull the trigger and shoot the state in the head, committing fracking suicide (see Maryland’s Traitorous “Republican” Gov Caves, Supports Frack Ban). What a shame. Democracy and freedom never die from invading countries–it’s always internal, from within, from the people themselves who willingly give up the freedoms won with the blood and sacrifice of their ancestors. RIP Maryland–a once-great state. We recommend a total boycott of Maryland from now on. If you can avoid it, don’t shop there, don’t stop there, don’t stay there, quit buying anything made in Maryland–just avoid it whenever and wherever possible…
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We have commented and observed a number of times that Antero Resources, one of the biggest drillers in the Marcellus/Utica, is perhaps the best company in our region at hedging. As we wrote in January 2016: “What’s Antero’s secret to making money in arguably the worst time for our industry in a generation? In a word, it’s hedging. Somehow Antero crafts financial deals a year or more in advance to sell whatever gas they produce for prices much higher than others–at prices that mean the company continues to make a profit. Most energy companies these days are keeping the people who run those companies, AND their investors, up at night. A company like Antero comes as close to any as a SWAN–a ‘Sleep Well At Night’ energy company” (see 
In December 2016 EQT, one of the largest Marcellus/Utica drillers with its headquarters in the Pittsburgh area, released a forecast for 2017 (see 
Schlumberger is the world’s largest oilfield services (OFS) company. Weatherford International is the world’s fourth largest OFS company. They both have operations in the Marcellus/Utica region. We’ve posted a number of stories about Weatherford’s financial troubles–and seemingly inevitable march toward bankruptcy (
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: LNG storage tanks arrive in Jacksonville Port; oil now flowing under Missouri River via Dakota Access Pipeline; vapid actress Shailene Woodley pleads guilty to disorderly conduct charge related to Dakota Access “protest”; tech still the key in shale plays; nuke plants closing hit small towns hard; green groups promise violence to stop Keystone XL pipeline; US natgas exports to Mexico skyrocket, Mexicans worried about depending on gringos; LNG hub in Asia; and more!
In May 2016 a landowner in Wayne County, PA–in the Delaware River Basin–filed a lawsuit against the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) asking a judge to declare the DRBC does not have jurisdiction to prevent construction of a natural gas well (see 
The West Virginia Oil & Natural Gas Association (WVONGA) is pushing hard to get legislation passed that we call “forced pooling lite”–WV Senate Bill 576 which addresses the issues of co-tenancy and joint development (see 
Radical green agitating groups, including the Sierra Club, Lancaster Against Pipelines, Lebanon Pipeline Awareness, Allegheny Defense Project, Clean Air Council, Concerned Citizens of Lebanon County, and Heartwood, have filed a lawsuit in the liberal U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in an attempt to block construction of the $3 billion Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline project in Pennsylvania. Instead of waiting for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to consider a so-called re-hearing of their decision to authorize Atlantic Sunrise, a group of radical green organizations are jumping the queue and going directly to court, demanding that a judge stop construction until a quorum is in effect at FERC. Yes, it’s all complicated. We’ll break it down for you. What you need to know up front is that more Big Green money is behind the lawsuit to stop Atlantic Sunrise…
Delays in turning around permit applications for new Marcellus drilling is hurting the industry, according to the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC). MSC president Dave Spigelmyer says lack of certainty in the PA Marcellus means more drilling goes to neighboring West Virginia and Ohio–even to Louisiana. The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), responsible for reviewing and issuing permits, sounds somewhat defensive about their lack of performance, blaming delays on staff shortages, staff turnover, and “enhanced scrutiny of permit applications.” The Pittsburgh office now takes over 200 days (over 6 months!) to process an erosion control permit–up from 139 days in 2015. Simply not acceptable…
There are signs that the Marcellus industry in Pennsylvania is beginning to rebound. We’ve been noting it for months. Our early prediction of an upswing came last June (nine months ago) when we noticed an uptick in the number of drilling rigs operated by Patterson-UTI changed from a monthly drop to a monthly gain (see 
As MDN previously reported, anti-fossil fuelers opposed to the Williams Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline project–a $3 billion, 198-mile pipeline running through 10 Pennsylvania counties to connect Marcellus Shale natural gas from PA with the Williams’ Transco pipeline in southern Lancaster County–are using the same (losing) playbook to oppose Atlantic Sunrise as they used to oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline (see 
We spotted an article on The Motley Fool website by one of our favorite authors, Matt DiLallo. The article shines a light on the states that produce the most shale oil. Surprisingly (for us), the Marcellus/Utica was in the list. Appreciable amounts of shale oil are coming from Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, from both the Marcellus and Utica formations. Of course the amount produced in our neighborhood pales in comparison to the enormous amounts of oil coming from the Texas Permian and North Dakota Bakken. But hey, the fact that we even show up in such a list is kind of exciting…
In a “hasty” and “rare” operations call last Friday, Halliburton, the world’s second largest oilfield services (OFS) company, offered up some interesting comments. The call was apparently an attempt to blunt the coming news that the company will likely miss analyst’s expectations for profit/loss and dividends, due to rising costs and weak demand in international markets. Top brass at Halliburton wisely know that “he who gets there with the bad news first, wins.” However, the call was wide-ranging and included some good news: After trimming 35,000 jobs over the past couple of years, Halli is adding back 2,000 jobs. That’s better than a sharp stick in the eye. CEO Dave Lesar also had this rather bizarre statement on the call, in his ebullience over the drilling comeback in North America: “This diverse and exciting market has created a surge of activity and supports my thesis that the animal spirits are back in U.S. land.” OoooKay. We’ll go with it. Animal spirits. Here’s the news coming from last week’s hasty Halliburton homily…
Events related to drilling in the Marcellus and Utica Shale, primarily pro-drilling.