Events related to drilling in the Marcellus and Utica Shale, primarily pro-drilling.
To have your event included (or if you are aware of a worthy event you believe should be on this page), please send the details and/or a link to have it included to thecalendar@marcellusdrilling.com email address. Thank you!
Read More “Calendar of Events for Apr 25 – Jul 24 (90 Days)”
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Appalachian Basin poised to become petchem center; Ohio Valley natgas leads nation in growth; pipelines will boost WV economy; Schlumberger CEO sees ‘full-scale cash crisis’ in oil sector; Sixth Circuit weighs in on WOTUS; China’s rising natgas demand; and more!
Read More “Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Apr 25, 2016”
Yet another anti has crossed the line into terrorism–and no, we don’t use that word lightly. Three surveyors working on the PennEast Pipeline in Holland Township (Hunterdon Township), New Jersey were approached by a man with a rifle. The man asked them if they were there working on the PennEast. When the 3-man crew responded “yes,” the man waved the gun in the air, shouting at them that he would stop the pipeline. It was a clearly a menancing threat to the men who were doing nothing more than a survey. Holland Township Police later arrested Lester Kinney Jr., charging him with “making terroristic threats and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.” The Sierra Club was quick to respond and distance itself from Kinney, making us wonder if Kinney is a member…
Read More “Anti Arrested for Terrorist Threats, Waves Gun at PennEast Workers”
Earlier this week MDN told you that a judge refused to sanction a lawsuit filed by the Pennsylvania Independent Petroleum Producers Association (PIPP) against implementation of new rules and changes to existing rules known as Chapters 78 & 78a (see PA Conventional Drillers File Lawsuit to Stop New DEP Regulations). The judges action cleared the way for the new rules to be voted on by the PA Independent Regulatory Review Commission, or IRRC (see Judge Won’t Grant Request to Stop Adoption of New PA Drilling Regs). The IRRC voted yesterday to approve the new rules. The three Democrat members of the commission voted in favor of adopting the rules, while the two Republicans on the commission voted against. The three liberal Dems followed orders from PA’s anti-drilling Governor, Tom Wolf, even though “Independent” is in the name of the commission. Tell us again how shale drilling is not a partisan issue? We have a variety of news reports on the seven hour hearing, along with what happens next and an excellent analysis of yesterday’s vote from a top energy attorney…
Read More “PA Drillers Lose Vote to Stop Onerous New Regs in Partisan 3-2 Vote”
New York City’s largest utility company–Consolidated Edison Inc.–has formed a 50/50 joint venture to purchase ownership of pipelines and storage facilities from Crestwood Equity Partners (formerly Crestwood Midstream) in the PA and NY Marcellus region. ConEdison is ponying up $975 million for assets Crestwood says are really worth $2 billion. The newly formed jv, called Stagecoach Gas Services, will continue to be operated by Crestwood and includes four natural gas storage facilities (Stagecoach, Thomas Corners, Steuben and Seneca Lake) with a combined storage capacity of approximately 41 billion cubic feet; and three natural gas pipelines (MARC I, North/South and the East Pipeline) with a combined throughput capacity of 2.96 billion cubic feet per day. Here’s the details…
Read More “Utility Giant ConEdison Buys a Piece of the Marcellus Midstream”
Talk about media bias. Yesterday over 200 people crowded into a meeting room at the Binghamton Holiday Inn for a rally supporting the Constitution Pipeline–a $683 million, 124-mile pipeline due to run from Susquehanna County, PA to Schoharie County, NY carrying Marcellus gas. The “newspaper of record” for Binghamton, the Press & Sun-Bulletin (P&SB), is so biased they didn’t run a single word covering the event in today’s edition. The P&SB’s so-called reporter who covers the drilling issue (actually an anti-drilling propagandist), Tom Wilber, apparently couldn’t be bothered to cover a major news story under his nose and part of his beat. The P&SB couldn’t even send an intern. Yes, the P&SB is completely in the anti-drilling tank and not in any way an actual news organization–they’re simply Democrat hacks towing the party line. Here’s what happened at yesterday’s meeting, from real news organizations that did show up…
Read More “Supporters Rally for Constitution Pipeline, Cuomo has 1 Week Left”
We love it when adults are in the room and discussing important issues, rather than petulant babies stamping their feet and demanding “no drilling” and “no pipeline.” When there’s adults in the room, things get done. Such was the case when Dominion officials met with Randolph, WV County Comissioners to update them on the status of the $5 billion, 550-mile long Atlantic Coast Pipeline project, slated to come through Randolph County. The 42-inch pipeline is not without controversy because anti-fossil fuelers convert what used to be routine pipelines into controversy. But there was no controversy at the meeting. Commissioners, on behalf of residents, had expressed concerns over the pipeline’s route through the Mingo Flats area. And guess what? Dominion has changed the route to avoid that area. Contrary to the image of a Big Evil Pipeline Company that “does what it wants,” Dominion (and others, like Kinder Morgan, and Sectra Energy, and Williams, etc.) makes every attempt to accommodate landowner requests when building a new pipeline. Here’s how it works when there’s adults in the room…
Read More “Dominion Works with WV Community to Re-Route Atlantic Coast Pipeline”
In August 2014, MDN told you that Columbia Pipeline Group, a division of NiSource, had decided to move forward with investing $1.75 billion dollars for two new projects: the Leach XPress and Rayne XPress pipeline projects (see Columbia Gas: $1.75B for 2 Projects to Send Marcellus Gas to Gulf). Leach Xpress will begin in Marshall County, West Virginia, cross Ohio and end up in Leach, Kentucky. Rayne Xpress will beef up an existing pipeline from Leach, Kentucky that goes all the way to Rayne, Louisiana with new compressor stations and looping. The two projects together mean up to 2.7 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas can move through the entire system–from West Virginia to the Gulf Coast and all point in between. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has just issued a press release announcing their draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) results. The press release isn’t a typical FERC press release. They take great pains to link to the extensive paperwork that makes up the EIS. What it signals is FERC’s attempt to counter false claims that the agency is simply a rubber stamp for Big Oil & Gas. So the press release below is important for two reasons: (1) It means Leach XPress and Rayne XPress have achieved another significant milestone on their way to being built, and (2) it signals that FERC isn’t going to let anti-fossil fuel nutters set the narrative about the agency any more…
Read More “FERC Fights Critics with Draft EIS for Marcellus/Utica Projects”
Southwestern Energy, which has suspended all Marcellus/Utica drilling for 2016, released their first quarter 2016 update yesterday. Among the things we learn: the company lost more than $1 billion for the third consecutive quarter ($1.159B in 1Q16); it produced more gas (and oil) than it thought it would for 1Q16; they’ve found a few more ways to save money moving forward. Here’s the full update from Southwestern…
Read More “Southwestern Energy 1Q16: Loses Another $1.1B, Making Progress”
Schlumberger is the largest oilfield services company in the world. Based in Houston, the company doesn’t do all that much work in the Marcellus/Utica region. The company issued it’s first quarter 2016 update yesterday. We typically don’t cover it here on MDN because they’re not heavily involved in our neck of the woods, but we did spot a reference to the Marcellus Shale in the update, which we’ve extracted for you below…
Read More “Schlumberger Drilling Marcellus Test Wells in WV for DOE’s NETL”
John Coleman is the founder of the Weather Channel. He’s been a meteorologist for over 60 years. He was the original forecaster for the first seven years of ABC’s Good Morning America. The man has been around. He knows weather, and he knows science. Penning a column in today’s USA Today, for Earth Day, Coleman skewers the global warming “climate change” hysteria as a hoax that does nothing more than give more power to the United Nations. Happy Earth Day! Here’s what Coleman says…
Read More “Weather Channel Founder Says “Climate Change” Theory has Failed”
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Columbia Pipeline gets award; tax revenues up in Monroe County, OH from fracking; new EQT directors; no vote on Elizbeth Twp natgas-fired power plant; big renewables co. SunEdison goes bankrupt; making OPEC irrelevant; natgas storage surplus; and more!
Read More “Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Apr 22, 2016”
Anti-fossil fuel nuts in Massachusetts and other northeastern states are euphoric, actually orgasmic, at Kinder Morgan’s announcement yesterday that the company has suspended (not necessarily canceled) any further spending/time/effort on the Tennessee Gas Pipeline expansion from NY through MA, otherwise known as the Northeast Energy Direct (NED) project. Here’s what Kinder Morgan’s announcement means for natural gas customers, at least in certain parts of Massachusetts: If you build a new house, or a new business, and want to connect it to the natgas system in your community, forget about it. You can’t. There’s not enough gas. And if you’re an existing customer and want to convert your electric stove or electric hot water heater or oil furnace to a natgas alternative–don’t do it. If the local utility finds out, they’ll shut you off completely. Why? Not enough gas. So here’s something you anti fossil fuel freaks can really celebrate–you’ve just screwed yourselves, AND your neighbors too! A 2-for-1 deal…
Read More “NED is Dead – Kinder Morgan Suspends $3.3B New England Pipeline”
Thailand’s largest coal miner, Banpu Pcl, has spent $112 million to buy a 29.4% stake in the Chaffee Corners Joint Exploration Agreement (JEA). JEA is a Marcellus shale drilling joint venture 65.4%-owned and operated by Talisman Energy. What it means is that Talisman has a new partner in their northeast PA Marcellus drilling program. Banpu has hired the former CEO of PTT Exploration and Production Pcl, Thailand’s largest oil and gas explorer, as a director and to advise Banpu on JEA and on the company’s new and developing upstream gas strategy. PTT Exploration and Production is a subsidiary of Thailand’s state-owned PTT Public Company Limited. PTT Global Chemical is another subsidiary of PTT Public Company Limited–and the company proposing to build a $5B+ ethane cracker complex in Belmont County, OH (see It’s Official: Belmont County Chosen as POSSIBLE Cracker Plant Site). Conclusion: The government (and companies) of Thailand are investing in American shale energy in a major way. Here’s the news about Banpu becoming a new partner with Talisman in the Marcellus…
Read More “Talisman Gets a New Thai JV Partner for Marcellus Drilling in NEPA”
The long, slow process of “reorganizing” and emerging from bankruptcy just sped up for Magnum Hunter Resources (MHR). The Marcellus/Utica driller filed for bankruptcy protection in December (see Sad Day: Magnum Hunter Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy). Two weeks later the Delaware court, where MHR filed, approved MHR’s initial plan (see Court Approves Magnum Hunter’s “First Day” Bankruptcy Motions). Now, four months later, that same court has given its full approval for the restructuring plan. What is the plan? Essentially MHR will convert outstanding debt held by lenders in a series of “notes” or what we call IOUs, into ownership equity. Noteholders will not be reimbursed the money they invested–instead they will be given shares of stock that they can later cash in to recoup their investments. What about existing common stockholders? MHR doesn’t say, but going by our story yesterday about Seventy Seven Energy’s plans to do the same thing, the value of common stockholders’ shares become essentially worthless (see Seventy Seven Energy Filing for Bankruptcy, Converting Debt into Stock). Here’s the MHR announcement about the court approving their plan…
Read More “Dela. Court Approves Magnum Hunter Bankruptcy Restructuring Plan”
Two shale industry members of last year’s ill-fated Pennsylvania Pipeline Task Force have pulled the curtain back to reveal what went on behind the scenes. The sausage-making. And it’s not pretty. Two important facts emerge for their disclosures: (1) most of the members of the task force didn’t (and still don’t) know their heads from their rear-ends when it comes to how the natural gas industry actually works, and (2) nothing useful will come from the 658-page report and its 184 recommendations. We previously predicted that outcome when we said, “Silly libs–they never learn. This initiative was never about actually getting anything done. It was always about the optics–to show that radical leftist Tom Wolf (and his lackey John Quigley) actually care about the hoi polloi” (see 2 NEPA Members of Pipeline Task Force Want to Know, What’s Next?). It’s about showing how much you “care” when it comes to lib Dems–never about actual results. And so it was with this exercise in utter futility known as the Pipeline Task Force…
Read More “2 Wolf Pipeline Task Force Members Reveal Broken Process”