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Marcellus Drilling News
  • Centre County | Lease & Royalty Payments | Meetings | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

    PA Royalty Owners Meet in State College: Bills, Lawsuits, Boycotts

    April 5, 2016April 5, 2016

    Last week Pennsylvania landowners (royalty owners) from around the state gathered in State College, PA for the 2016 NARO (National Association of Royalty Owners) PA Annual Meeting and Convention. A variety of interesting topics were addressed, including: support for House Bill (HB) 1391 that guarantees a minimum 12.5% royalty payment to landowners; coming lawsuits from landowners against the state over the state’s aggressive action in claiming ownership of the land under rivers and streams; and a call to boycott all films which star anti-fossil fuel man-child Leonardo DiCaprio…
    Read More “PA Royalty Owners Meet in State College: Bills, Lawsuits, Boycotts”

  • Dominion Energy | Energy Services

    Dominion Floats 10.2M Shares of Stock for $750M, Help w/Questar

    April 5, 2016April 5, 2016

    Midstream and utility company giant Dominion announced yesterday they are floating 10.2 million new shares of common stock in the company, hoping to raise $750 million. Dominion says it will use the money for “general corporate purposes,” to repay debt, etc.–but perhaps most importantly, to help “fund in part Dominion’s combination with Questar Corporation.” Questar is a Rockies-based integrated natural gas company and Dominion is attempting to buy them for $4.4 billion–so every penny counts in that endeavor (see Dominion Resources Makes Play for Western NatGas Company Questar). Here’s the particulars of Dominion’s new stock offering…
    Read More “Dominion Floats 10.2M Shares of Stock for $750M, Help w/Questar”

  • Energy Companies | EV Energy Partners

    EV Energy Partners Lowers Borrowing Base by 28%

    April 5, 2016April 5, 2016

    As we reported in March, EV Energy Partners–an upstream master limited partnership (MLP) created by EnerVest that holds enormous acreage in the Ohio Utica Shale play–is in survival mode (see EV Energy Partners: No New Utica Wells in 2016, in Survival Mode). EVEP has no plans to drill new Utica wells in 2016. The company is on an austerity budget–only spending to complete 10 already-drilled wells in the Texas Barnett Shale. Yesterday EVEP announced they have had to decrease their borrowing base from $625 million to $450 million–down 28%. A company’s borrowing base is the value of its assets–in this case the value of the leases and oil/gas wells EVEP owns. Those assets are used as collateral to back up loans and IOUs. A lower borrowing base means a) they can borrow less money, and b) they will pay more in interest for the money they do borrow. Here’s yesterday’s EVEP announcement…
    Read More “EV Energy Partners Lowers Borrowing Base by 28%”

  • Baker Hughes | Energy Services | Halliburton | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | M&A

    DOJ Sues ValueAct Capital for Meddling in Halliburton/BH Merger

    April 5, 2016July 14, 2016

    So what’s happening with Halliburton’s $34.6 billion buyout of Baker Hughes? At last check the deal was at best a 50/50 proposition as to whether or not it would happen. Europe currently has the deal under a microscope (see Europe Puts Halliburton/BH Merger Under a Microscope). The European Commission launched a “second phase” of their investigation into the deal, which is problematic for Halliburton. The European Commission says they see “serious potential competition concerns” with the deal. Not good. But that was in January. Since then we’d not heard anything about the deal’s progress–until now. Yesterday the U.S. Dept. of Justice sued ValueAct Capital, accusing the company of purchasing $2.6 billion worth of stock in Halliburton and BH with “the intent to influence the companies’ business decisions as the merger unfolded.” The company has been charged with violating the reporting and waiting period requirements of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act…
    Read More “DOJ Sues ValueAct Capital for Meddling in Halliburton/BH Merger”

  • Industrywide Issues | Regulation

    Obama DOE Uses CA Storage Leak to Target NatGas Industry

    April 5, 2016April 5, 2016

    “You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.” – Rahm Emanuel, when he was Barack Obama’s White House Chief of Staff. It seems the Obama Administration lives by that motto. Using the California Aliso Canyon methane leak crisis, the Obama Administration has convened an alphabet soup of federal agencies to put natural gas storage facilities–all of them, nationwide–through a new anal exam. You may recall a natural gas storage leak occurred in southern Cali that went on for months (see Cali Crisis Being Used to Promote Ban on NatGas Storage). In the wake of that crisis, using it as an excuse, the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) launched a new Interagency Task Force on Natural Gas Storage Safety. The purpose of the group will be to study the Aliso Canyon crisis as well as hold workshops and “encourage” best practices with regard to natgas storage. Translation: new regulations will come along from the EPA and other super-aggressive federal agencies to further regulate the oil and gas industry–something the U.S. Constitution leaves up to the individual states…
    Read More “Obama DOE Uses CA Storage Leak to Target NatGas Industry”

  • Best of the Rest

    Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Apr 5, 2016

    April 5, 2016April 5, 2016

    The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Fractivists pressure Hillary & Crazy Bernie; o&g development in the Ohio Valley; PA’s rig count drops again; John Hanger hangs out in the radical middle; shale’s manufacturing potential in WV; Vermont radicals keep disrupting pipeline meetings; natgas electric plants fly by coal in 2015; and more!
    Read More “Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Apr 5, 2016”

  • Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Public Opinion

    Latest Gallup Poll Shows We’re Losing the War on Fracking

    April 4, 2016April 4, 2016

    opinion-poll.jpgWe don’t automatically believe every poll we read–especially polls by left-leaning pollsters like the Gallup organization. But their latest poll results have the ring of truth–and it’s disturbing. In 2014 and again in 2015 Gallup conducted a nationwide poll of the American public asking this question: “Do you favor or oppose hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” as a means of increasing the production of natural gas and oil in the U.S.?” In March 2014 opinion was evenly split–with 40% favoring and 40% opposing and another 19% clueless (i.e. no opinion). One year later, in March 2016, it breaks down thus: 36% support fracking, 51% oppose it and 13% remain clueless. The biggest swing against fracking has been among Republicans. The vast majority of Democrats have been against fracking–for years–and remain so. They are ideologically rigid in their hatred of fossil fuels. The change has come among Republicans. Folks, we’re losing the public relations war with fracking. Fortunately the founding fathers constructed our great country as a republic–not a simple majority “mob rule” democracy. Democratic principles of freedom to be sure–but with safeguards to protect the minority, which the founders realized was often right. We have to do more to win the American public to our side–to show them that fracking is not evil and does not harm the environment but is, instead, a modern day miracle…
    Read More “Latest Gallup Poll Shows We’re Losing the War on Fracking”

  • Electrical Generation | Guernsey County | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio

    New Utica-Powered Electric Plant Proposed for Guernsey County, OH

    April 4, 2016April 4, 2016

    A new Utica (and Marcellus) natural gas-fired electric generating plant has been proposed for Guernsey County, OH. Apex Power Group is proposing to build a large 1,100 megawatt plant in Valley Township–producing enough electricity to power 1 million homes. The plant will generate 500 jobs during construction, and 25 full-time jobs to operate the plant when it’s completed. Apex says construction is targeted to begin in 2018 and will go online in 2020…
    Read More “New Utica-Powered Electric Plant Proposed for Guernsey County, OH”

  • Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues

    Small NatGas Electric Plant Proposed for Delaware Data Center

    April 4, 2016April 4, 2016

    Today MDN published an article about a proposed natural gas-fired electric plant planned for Ohio (see New Utica-Powered Electric Plant Proposed for Guernsey County, OH). Contrast that article about an 1,100 megawatt plant and its tone of “this is great, look t the jobs it will bring and the energy it will produce” to an article about a data center in Middletown, Delaware. The builders of a proposed data center need a lot of electricity (all those computers use a lot of electricity)–so they filed an application to build their own 52.5 megawatt natgas electric power generating plant. The Delaware plant will produce about 4% of the electricity produced by the proposed Ohio plant. And yet the article about the Delaware proposal is alarmist–as if this tiny little plant will poison the air the neighbors breathe. We find it amusing…
    Read More “Small NatGas Electric Plant Proposed for Delaware Data Center”

  • Chevron | CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Energy Corporation of America | EQT Corp | Noble Energy | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Rex Energy | Rice Energy | Statewide PA | Vantage Energy | XTO

    Top 10 Marcellus/Utica Drillers in SWPA – Ranked by Production

    April 4, 2016April 4, 2016

    top-10.jpgEverybody loves a list. We do too! We spotted a ranking in a recent issue of the Pittsburgh Business Times that lists the top 37 shale gas producers in southwestern Pennsylvania, based on the amount of gas they produced in 2015. We pulled the names of the top 10, listed in order from most to least…
    Read More “Top 10 Marcellus/Utica Drillers in SWPA – Ranked by Production”

  • Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Regulation

    PA DEP’s $8.9M Methane Migration Fine Appealed by Range Resources

    April 4, 2016April 4, 2016

    Last June the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) sent Range Resource a notice they planned to fine the company a whopping $8.9 million for methane migration into water wells and a nearby stream in Lycoming County, PA (see PA DEP Slaps Range with Record $8.9M Fine for Methane Migration). The DEP said the Range well, drilled in 2011, had been leaking methane since at least 2013 (improperly cemented well casing) and the methane had “contaminated the groundwater-fed wells of private water supplies, and a nearby stream.” But the DEP never actually sent a bill for the fine to Range. Why? Because Range immediately appealed the DEP’s initial notice to the PA Environmental Hearing Board. It now appears the appeal process will drag on at least until the dog days of summer–in July…
    Read More “PA DEP’s $8.9M Methane Migration Fine Appealed by Range Resources”

  • Energy Companies | Rex Energy

    Sigh of Relief for Rex Energy: Noteholders Agree to 2nd Lien Deal

    April 4, 2016April 4, 2016

    As we previously reported, Rex Energy, a small Marcellus/Utica driller headquartered in State College, PA, had offered to refinance its notes (i.e. IOUs) so the notes expire later, meaning they don’t have to cough up cash sooner to pay off the debt (see Rex Energy Offers to Refinance Outstanding IOUs). With few takers for a second lien, Rex then offered to sweeten the deal (see Rex Energy Extends & Sweetens Offer to Refi Outstanding IOUs). Rex finally closed out the offer last week. They had hoped to refi up to $675 million worth of outstanding notes. In the end, they got 94% of the noteholders to spring for the deal (sigh of relief at Rex)…
    Read More “Sigh of Relief for Rex Energy: Noteholders Agree to 2nd Lien Deal”

  • Allegheny County | Meetings | Pennsylvania

    MDN Subscriber Does Bang-Up Job as Moderator at NE O&G Awards

    April 4, 2016April 4, 2016
    Charlie Schliebs
    Charlie Schliebs

    Each year the Oil & Gas Awards hosts an industry summit followed by an award ceremony in various locations across the country. For the past couple of years MDN editor Jim Willis has been a moderator at the summit. However, Jim could not attend the event held last week in Pittsburgh (see Winners of 2016 Northeast Oil & Gas Awards [FREE Access]). So in his place, Jim nominated Charlie Schliebs, Co-founder and Managing Director at Stone Pier Capital Advisors in Pittsburgh (and long-time MDN subscriber), to be moderator. By all accounts from those we’ve corresponded with, Charlie did a magnificent job. His was the one session reported on by NGI’s Shale Daily (see below). We’d like to once again thank Charlie for his willingness to moderate and for the great job he did. We sincerely hope he puts next year’s event on his calendar! Charlie wrote the following post on LinkedIn about the experience…
    Read More “MDN Subscriber Does Bang-Up Job as Moderator at NE O&G Awards”

  • Energy Companies | EXCO Resources

    EXCO Reaffirms No New Marcellus Drilling in 2016, Capex Cut 69%

    April 4, 2016April 4, 2016

    On March 1 EXCO Resources issued a press release with fourth quarter and full year 2015 results. In the release EXCO, once a sizable player in the Marcellus with 145,000 net acres in the Marcellus and having drilled and operating 124 horizontal Marcellus wells, said there would be no new Marcellus drilling in 2015 (see EXCO: No Marcellus Drilling in 2015/2016, NYSE Threatens Delisting). Last week EXCO reaffirmed that sentiment, saying they are cutting capital expenditures by 69% in 2016 over what they spent in 2015. EXCO spent $277 million last year, and now plans to spend $85 million this year. The only place they plan to spend money on drilling is a few wells in the Haynesville Shale. Also of note, their borrowing base went down…
    Read More “EXCO Reaffirms No New Marcellus Drilling in 2016, Capex Cut 69%”

  • Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues

    Democrat Attorney Generals Back Away from Al Gore, NY AG

    April 4, 2016April 4, 2016

    Remember the story we ran last week noting a big climate change meeting in New York City where Al Gore partnered up with the New York’s odious, anti-drilling Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to smear fossil fuel companies and threaten them with lawsuits if they don’t admit global warming is real and that their companies are killing the earth (see Climate Change Hucksters, Incl. NY AG & Al Gore, Threaten O&G)? Along with Gore and Schneiderman there were attorneys general from 11 states also attending–and got their picture taken with the King of Climate Change himself. Turns out it was all just a photo op. While Gore and Schneiderman wanted the world to think that all of these states are prepared to sue fossil fuel companies, the attorneys general from 9 of the 11 states are backing away. They don’t want to sue fossil fuel companies. Only California and Massachusetts joined New York in the threat. So the entire thing was a charade, a scam, one more in a line of scams from Gore…
    Read More “Democrat Attorney Generals Back Away from Al Gore, NY AG”

  • Best of the Rest

    Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Apr 4, 2016

    April 4, 2016April 4, 2016

    The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Antero Midstream is bullish about wastewater; Gastar faces borrowing base blow due to late Marcellus sale; solar farm developers target upstate NY farmers; CELDF failed initiatives cost Youngstown taxpayers $80K so far; Philly energy hub concept struggles; US rig count hits all time low again; good news & bad news on America’s leaking methane; and more!
    Read More “Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Apr 4, 2016”

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