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    3 Marcellus/Utica Truck Accidents in Ohio Valley – in Past 7 Days

    With Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling comes truck traffic–a lot of truck traffic. Which is great if you’re a driver who needs work, or a trucking company who wants to chase the business. But not so great if you live in the area where trucks are jamming up the roadways. Another downside to the truck traffic is the occasional accident. In the past week there have been three truck accidents in the Ohio Valley area–in Wetzel and Marshall counties in WV, and Belmont Count in OH. Two of the three required a hazmat team to deploy. Here’s the details…
    Read More “3 Marcellus/Utica Truck Accidents in Ohio Valley – in Past 7 Days”

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    EQT is in Love with the Utica – Comments from Analyst Call

    On yesterday’s fourth quarter and full year 2015 analyst phone call, EQT’s upper management positively gushed with affection for the Utica Shale. Steve Schlotterbeck, president of exploration and production for EQT, said, “…we expect the Utica returns in the core area will be competitive with or better than the core Marcellus, and we will work on a plan to include Utica in our future development plans.” Meaning what? EQT will drill fewer Marcellus and more Utica wells? That seems to be the implication. Here’s more of what Steve had to say about the Utica on yesterday’s call…
    Read More “EQT is in Love with the Utica – Comments from Analyst Call”

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    EQT 2015 Update: Production Up 27%, Price Received Down 35%

    EQT issued its fourth quarter and full year 2015 numbers yesterday. EQT is one of the largest drillers in the Marcellus Shale, and increasing in the Utica (see today’s companion article, EQT is in Love with the Utica – Comments from Analyst Call). The bad news is that EQT lost $134.5 million in just 4Q15. The good news is that unlike many other companies, EQT actually made money for the full year–a profit of $85 million–although that’s down from $387 million in 2014. EQT pulled 27% more gas from its wells in 2015 than it did in 2014, but the company saw a 35% decline in the average price it received in 2015. Yesterday’s update yields some bad news, but on the whole we’d say it’s good news for EQT. Some interesting stats from the update: As of Dec. 31, 2015, EQT has drilled 854 Marcellus wells with 693 of them online and flowing and another 57 wells completed but not yet hooked up to a pipeline. Here’s the full report…
    Read More “EQT 2015 Update: Production Up 27%, Price Received Down 35%”

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    Did Deerfield, MA Just Threaten Citizens Who Want Pipeline?

    Deerfield, MA seems to be inhabited (infested?) with radical anti-fossil fuelers who get the creepy crawlies when they think about a pipeline being buried in the ground–even though miles of pipelines are already in the ground under their feet right now and have been for decades. The Deerfield town health board, in the past, has claimed “unlimited power” to stop Kinder Morgan’s proposed Northeast Energy Direct (NED) pipeline (see MA Town Health Board Claims “Unlimited Power” to Stop TGP). The town tried to get Kinder Morgan to sue them over the pipeline (see Deerfield, MA Hoping Kinder Morgan Sues Them over Pipeline “Ban”). When that didn’t work, Deerfield tried to sue the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (see Mass. Town Sues FERC to Stop Pipeline Claiming Gas is for Export). When that didn’t work, the town filed a second lawsuit against the federal government (see Deerfield’s 2nd Bite at the Litigation Apple Against NED Pipeline). Now the town is claiming its police force will stop surveyors from entering a property–even if those surveyors have permission from the state–if the landowner doesn’t want them there. Deerfield is on very thin ice and about to fall through. But what if a resident wants to allow a surveyor and wants the pipeline? “Deerfield residents who choose to grant Kinder Morgan access to their private property do so at their own risk, according to the town.” Is that a not-so-veiled threat, from the town against it’s own citizens?…
    Read More “Did Deerfield, MA Just Threaten Citizens Who Want Pipeline?”

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    WVONGA’s Corky DeMarco Comments on Need for Forced Pooling in WV

    The West Virginia Press Association hosted their annual Legislative Breakfast yesterday in Charleston. A number of speakers addressed the group to discuss a range of issues. One of those speakers was Corky DeMarco, executive director of the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association. Corky talked about how long the oil and gas industry will be around in WV (“a thousand years”) and about why the price of oil and gas is so low today (“we’ve kind of priced ourselves out of the market”). He also spoke about the need for forced pooling legislation…
    Read More “WVONGA’s Corky DeMarco Comments on Need for Forced Pooling in WV”

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    Seneca Res. 2016: Lays Down Rig, Curtails Production, Cuts Budget

    National Fuel Gas Company (NFG), the utility giant headquartered in Buffalo, NY and parent of Marcellus driller Seneca Resources, issued what they call their first quarter 2016 update yesterday. NFG’s first quarter is everyone else’s fourth quarter–it covers the last three calendar months of the year (October through December). The big news coming from this update is that Seneca Resources will lay down another active drilling rig in March and will then operate just a single rig for the rest of 2016 and for all of 2017. Currently they are curtailing (closing the valves) on 14.6 billion cubic feet of production they could be sending to market–because of the low price of natural gas. Seneca has also whacked its drilling budget another $50 million. Previously Seneca planned to spend $200-$250 million in fiscal year (FY) 2016. Now? It’s down to $150-$200 million. In other important news, NFG has decided to delay the in-service date of their Northern Access pipeline project by full year–from late this year to late next year…
    Read More “Seneca Res. 2016: Lays Down Rig, Curtails Production, Cuts Budget”

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    WV Oilfield Services Co. Extreme Plastics Files for Bankruptcy

    Extreme Plastics Plus, Inc. is an oilfield services contractor that provides environmental lining services for oilfield and other commercial markets. The company offers above ground water containment, environmental lining, steel wall secondary containment, and rig mat services. The company’s environmental lining services include freshwater impoundments, double lined with a leak detection system, wastewater impoundments, primary and secondary lining, and rig pads. Extreme Plastics Plus was founded in 2007 and is based in Fairmont, West Virginia with other offices in eastern Ohio, northeastern Pennsylvania, Texas and Oklahoma. Other names used by the company are Three Amigos Rentals and American Well Services. On January 31, Extreme Plastics Plus filed for bankruptcy protection…
    Read More “WV Oilfield Services Co. Extreme Plastics Files for Bankruptcy”

  • Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Feb 5, 2016

    The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: National Grid bringing natgas to Long Island village; Cabot plays it conservatively; US energy bill good for PA natgas; opponents try to stall Atlantic Coast Pipeline in VA; fracking chemicals bill in VA; shale industry will get worse before better; US is world’s top energy producer; Keystone Pipeline foes getting the band back together, to oppose offshore drilling; CO2 continues to drop; and more!
    Read More “Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Feb 5, 2016”

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    PA Board Adopts New Drilling Regs, PIOGA Blasts DEP “Deceptive”

    PA DEPYesterday the Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board (EQB) approved “sweeping” new changes to the regulations governing oil and gas drilling in the state (for a copy of what was passed, see PA DEP Issues “Final” New Drilling Regulations; Industry Pushback). In the end the vote came down 15-4 to pass the onerous new regulations which, according to the Marcellus Shale Coalition, will cost the industry $2 billion per year without any corresponding safety improvements for the general public. The interesting thing is that two advisory boards appointed by Gov. Wolf and Dept. of Environmental Protection PennFuture Secretary John Quigley–the Conventional Oil and Gas Advisory Committee and the Technical Advisory Board (for unconventional)–came out against the new regulations. What does that tell you? A previous version of the new regs was ready to go at the end of 2014 and then Gov. Wolf won election, installed a radical environmentalist to run the DEP (Quigley) and promptly changed the rules to damage to the drilling industry–both conventional and unconventional. These new regs are the result. The Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association (PIOGA) minces no words by saying, “The four-year process of developing these regulations has been an exercise in deception, misinformation and disregard of the law by the Department of Environmental Protection that escalated under Gov. Wolf.” Below is a look at the sausage making behind the new rules, and industry’s response…
    Read More “PA Board Adopts New Drilling Regs, PIOGA Blasts DEP “Deceptive””

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    Is Crestwood Exploring Sale of Marcellus Assets to Antero?

    The following is highly speculative and the equivalent of rumor, but sometimes it’s fun to engage in a bit of rumor-mongering. We spotted a post on the investor website Seeking Alpha that posits the following theory: Crestwood Equity Partners (i.e. Crestwood Midstream), owner of major pipelines and other facilities in the northeast and in other locales, “may” be looking to sell their Marcellus operations to Antero Resources and their Bakken Shale operations to Tesoro Logistic Partners. It must be said up front the person authoring the article owns units (i.e. shares) of Crestwood (CEQP) and is in no way objective. Articles on Seeking Alpha attempt to persuade investors to buy or sell securities. However, the rationale laid out in the article intrigues us and we think it’s worth pondering whether or not Crestwood is about to shed large parts of the company, and what that might mean for our region…
    Read More “Is Crestwood Exploring Sale of Marcellus Assets to Antero?”

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    Patterson-UTI Average Rig Count Falls to 78 in January

    As we do every month, MDN tracks how many rigs oilfield services company Patterson-UTI Energy reports operating–as a proxy for when/if the drop in rig counts for the Marcellus/Utica will turn around. Patterson operates a number of rigs in the northeast, as well as other areas of the continental United States (and Canada). Previously Patterson’s December rig count number went down by 10% from November–from 91 in November to 82 in December. The count has dropped again for January–down to 78 active rigs for the month. For many months Patterson’s Canadian rig count has stood at four. Below is the announcement for January’s numbers, along with a chart we’ve created showing Patterson’s average monthly rig count number from March 2015 through January 2016…
    Read More “Patterson-UTI Average Rig Count Falls to 78 in January”

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    Big Green Groups Funding Fayette County, WV Ban Lawsuit

    The people behind Big Green groups are nasty people. They are, according to one source we have communicated with, “terrorizing” legitimate oil and gas businesses in Fayette County, WV. We’ve highlighted the ongoing story of three liberal Democrat county commissioners who decided to ban not only injection wells, but over 500 conventional oil and gas wells currently operating in Fayette County, WV (see Anti Admits Fayette County, WV Ban Aims to Shut Down All O&G Wells). The ban was intentionally written so broadly (by Big Green groups assisting the county) it not only bans injection wells, like those operated by Danny Web Construction and EQT, but it will also ban currently operational oil and gas wells. It is an outrageous offense and “taking” of private property, violating the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution. EQT and Danny Web have sued the county and a federal judge slapped an injunction on the county’s ban (see Judge Stops WV County from Enforcing Injection Well Ban, For Now). You can add another outrage to the situation. The county will be represented in the lawsuit against them by several Big Green groups, groups with deep pockets and armies of lawyers, for FREE. It is a clear conflict of interest and should not be allowed. Members of these groups are responsible for falsely calling in claims of spills that never happened, making false claims alleging toxins in streams that don’t exist, etc. These groups have perpetuated smear campaigns against legitimate o&g businesses–ruining reputations. And now they will be allowed to use their enormous financial resources to defend the county in this lawsuit? Sick…
    Read More “Big Green Groups Funding Fayette County, WV Ban Lawsuit”

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    Ceramic Beads Used to Drill CONSOL’s Monster PA Utica Well

    On Monday MDN told you about CONSOL Energy’s newest Utica Shale well, a gusher with initial production of an eye-popping 61.9 million cubic feet per day per day (see CONSOL 4Q15: All About that Utica, ‘Bout that Utica, No Marcellus). The well, the GH 9, was drilled not in Ohio, but in Greene County, PA. Drillers always wonder what techniques and technologies were used in drilling such a well. How long are the laterals? What kind of choke is used? How much sand per foot? Etc. We have one bit of detail to share. Apparently CONSOL is cool with CARBO Ceramics telling the world that the GH 9 used CARBO ceramic beads in place of sand as the proppant. Here’s the details from CARBO for exactly what was used as the proppant in the GH 9…
    Read More “Ceramic Beads Used to Drill CONSOL’s Monster PA Utica Well”

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    New Midwest Pipeline to Tap REX’s Marcellus/Utica Gas

    An exciting new market for Marcellus and Utica Shale gas may open up in the next 2-3 years in the Midwest. On a quarterly analyst conference call yesterday, Laclede Group (St. Louis-based natural gas utility) said they plan to build a 60-mile pipeline from St. Louis through southwest Illinois and connect to the Rockies Express (REX) and Panhandle Eastern Pipeline (see the map below). That will bring low-cost Marcellus and Utica Shale gas to the utility, not only for resale to gas customers, but also potentially for new natgas-powered electric plants planned to replace retiring coal-fired plants. The project will cost $170-$200 million and take 2-3 years to complete, according to Laclede CEO Suzanne Sitherwood…
    Read More “New Midwest Pipeline to Tap REX’s Marcellus/Utica Gas”

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    MarkWest Completed 3 Processing Plants in ’15, 5 More Coming in ’16

    MarkWest Energy, now a subsidiary of Marathon Petroleum, reported its fourth quarter and full year 2015 results yesterday. Net income–revenue less expenses–was down for MarkWest in 2015, but at least the company is still in the black. MarkWest had $178 million in net income for 2014, and $157 million for 2015. Not too shabby considering the disastrous results many other companies have had. Net income for 4Q15 for MarkWest was a paltry $18 million, vs. $37 million in 4Q14. Among the operational highlights for MarkWest for 2015: The company commenced operation of one processing plant and two fractionation facilities in the Marcellus shale, increasing their total processing capacity by 200 million cubic feet per day and fractionation capacity by 73,000 barrels per day. Looking ahead to 2016, MarkWest says they have 10 major processing and fractionation projects currently under construction on a just-in-time basis, with five of the 10 expected to be completed in 2016. They expect to spend $1-$1.5 billion on capital expenditures in 2016. Here’s the update…
    Read More “MarkWest Completed 3 Processing Plants in ’15, 5 More Coming in ’16”

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    2 Pipe Companies with Offices in Marcellus/Utica Merging

    Two oil country tubular goods (OCTG) companies, both with operations in the Marcellus/Utica, have announced they will merge. Bourland and Leverich Supply and Pipeco Services will merge to become B&L Pipeco Services. Both companies are subsidiaries of the Japan-based Sumitomo Corporation–one of the world’s largest general trading companies, owning some 800 companies with 70,000 people working for them. What the heck are oil country tubular goods (OCTG)? Pipe and tube products used in drilling–including drill pipe, pipe casings and oil/gas pipes. It certainly makes sense for two different companies in the same business with the same parent to combine…
    Read More “2 Pipe Companies with Offices in Marcellus/Utica Merging”