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Marcellus Drilling News
  • Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | New York | Oswego County | Regulation

    NY Gov Cuomo Vows to Fight FitzPatrick Nuke Plant Closure

    November 4, 2015August 11, 2016

    Two days ago MDN told you that the FitzPatrick nuclear power plant in Oswego, NY will shut down, largely because it can no longer compete with electric plants powered by cheap Marcellus Shale gas (see PA Marcellus Gas Claims a Nuclear Scalp in Central NY). New York Gov. Cuomo banned fracking, so NY doesn’t produce any cheap, abundant, clean-burning natural gas. That’s a burr under Andy’s saddle. He detests closing the nuke plant because gas has won. So instead of letting market economics (you know, free enterprise) dictate what happens in NY, Cuomo is gearing up to fight the closure of the FitzPatrick nuclear plant. The company that owns FitzPatrick also owns another nuke plant in NY called Indian Point. Cuomo WANTS to shut down Indian Point–has been trying to for years. But he doesn’t want to shut down FitzPatrick. What kind of crazy man is he?…
    Read More “NY Gov Cuomo Vows to Fight FitzPatrick Nuke Plant Closure”

  • CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies

    CONSOL Board Member Snaps Up $70K of Company Stock

    November 4, 2015November 4, 2015

    From time to time we highlight “insider buying” and “insider selling”–when top management either buys or sells their own company’s stock. Here’s one we’ve not seen before: A member of the board of directors for CONSOL Energy, Alvin R. Carpenter, has just bought himself 10,000 shares of CONSOL stock for $70,400. What does Carpenter know about CONSOL that we don’t? That’s the question that always runs through our heads when we read about these transactions. Here’s the low-down on Mr. Carpenter…
    Read More “CONSOL Board Member Snaps Up $70K of Company Stock”

  • Best of the Rest

    Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Nov 4, 2015

    November 4, 2015November 4, 2015

    The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Hess mum on Utica Shale sale; OH has 1,032 producing Utica wells; CONSOL name coming off ballpark; FERC reviewing Transco to Charleston project; revisiting the EPA fracking doesn’t pollute water report; this oil bust is different; the gaping axe wound for natgas; propane exports increase; will FERC stick to its (comparative) knitting; and more!
    Read More “Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Nov 4, 2015”

  • Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Meigs County | Ohio | Washington County (OH) | Wastewater

    GreenHunter Sues 2 Former VPs + OH Competitor for Conspiracy

    November 3, 2015August 4, 2017

    lawsuit8/4/17: There is an important update to this story. The lawsuit brought by GreenHunter was dismissed in June 2017. Please see this post for more details: GreenHunter Lawsuit Against Former Employees Dismissed.

    A lawsuit filed by GreenHunter Resources against two former vice presidents of the company is just coming to light. On October 15 GreenHunter filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Ohio against John Jack, former vice president of Appalachia operations for GreenHunter, and against Rick Zickefoose, former vice president and operations manager at GreenHunter. The lawsuit also names Dean Grose, CEO of Comtech Industries and a principle with Water Energy Services–both competitors of GreenHunter. The lawsuit alleges that Jack and Zickefoose shared company secrets with a competitor and then left to work for that competitor, damaging GreenHunter in the process. Some of those secrets–a key part of it–dealt with GreenHunter’s talks with the U.S. Coast Guard over barging brine down the Ohio River…
    Read More “GreenHunter Sues 2 Former VPs + OH Competitor for Conspiracy”

  • Energy Companies | Marshall County | Noble Energy | Utica Shale | West Virginia

    Noble Energy 3Q15: Marcellus Prod. Up 50%, 1st Utica Well Drilled

    November 3, 2015November 3, 2015

    but wait there's moreNoble Energy is a global driller involved in a number of shale plays in the U.S. including the DJ Basin, Eagle Ford Shale, Delaware Basin and Marcellus Shale. Noble idled the last remaining drilling rig they were operating in the Marcellus in September (see Noble Energy to Idle Remaining Marcellus Rig Next Month). Even so, they had a banner third quarter in the Marcellus. Noble issued their third quarter update yesterday and although the section on their Marcellus operations is brief (read it all below), it packs a punch. Even with reducing rigs to zero, Noble completed and brought online their first Utica Shale well (in Marshall County, WV). Noble’s production volumes in the Marcellus in 3Q15 rocketed to 493 million cubic feet of natural gas equivalent per day (MMcfe/d), more than a 50% increase over 3Q14 numbers. But wait, there’s more!…
    Read More “Noble Energy 3Q15: Marcellus Prod. Up 50%, 1st Utica Well Drilled”

  • CNG/LNG | Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

    Dominion 3Q15: Progress on Atlantic Coast Pipeline, Cove Point LNG

    November 3, 2015November 3, 2015

    progressYesterday Dominion, a huge utility/pipeline company operating in 13 states and organized into multiple corporations, released their third quarter 2015 update. Frankly, the official press release was pretty boring and short–concentrating on the financials. Our chief interest is on the operations side–tell us about the projects under way. So we went trolling through a transcript of yesterday’s investors conference call and sure enough, came up with gold. Tom Farrell, CEO of Dominion, had quite a bit to say in his prepared remarks about the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, the Cove Point LNG export plant, and even about “farmouts” of Utica acreage. Farrell said that surveying is 85% complete for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, and engineering is 75% complete with some contracts for pipe already awarded. Farrell said that overall, the Cove Point project is now 47% done and there are 1,300 workers on site now. Exciting! But what’s this business about farmouts?…
    Read More “Dominion 3Q15: Progress on Atlantic Coast Pipeline, Cove Point LNG”

  • Energy Companies | Statewide WV | Stone Energy | West Virginia

    Stone Energy 3Q15: Shut Down 110 Mmcfe/d of Marcellus Production

    November 3, 2015November 3, 2015

    shutdownStone Energy, an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company (E&P) headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana drills mainly in the Gulf of Mexico but also has a presence in the Marcellus/Utica Shale. Earlier this year the company released the one active Marcellus rig they were running and said they would not resume drilling in the northeast until receiving a hybrid rig in late 2015/early 2016 that can drill both Marcellus and Utica wells (see Stone Energy 1Q15: No New Marcellus Drilling, But More Production). In September Stone said they were shutting in most of their production in the Marcellus/Utica (see Stone Energy Shuts in Most of their WV NatGas Production). And indeed they did. Yesterday Stone released their third quarter 2015 update and it shows the company turned off the spigots in their northeast operations, cutting out all 100-110 million cubic feet equivalent per day (Mmcfe/d) of production in what they call their Mary field. The company continued to produce 20-25 Mmcfe/d from their Heather and Buddy fields (in the Marcellus). Here’s the latest update from Stone Energy…
    Read More “Stone Energy 3Q15: Shut Down 110 Mmcfe/d of Marcellus Production”

  • Energy Companies | Rex Energy

    Rex Energy 3Q15: Production Up 14% from 3Q14, Down 6% from 2Q15

    November 3, 2015November 3, 2015

    missing puzzle pieceRex Energy, a pure play driller focused totally on the Marcellus/Utica, released their third quarter production and price realizations update yesterday. It is a short update (below) that does not include Rex’s financials. We’ve seen this with a few companies–they release what is typically the “good news” first and then the other shoe drops a few weeks later. So we’ll keep a sharp eye out for Rex’s financial update when that gets published. In the meantime, Rex’s production in 3Q15 was up 14% from 3Q14, but down slightly–6%–from 2Q15 (last quarter). Rex explains why…
    Read More “Rex Energy 3Q15: Production Up 14% from 3Q14, Down 6% from 2Q15”

  • Economic Impact | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Taxation | West Virginia

    Marshall County Commissioner Still Opposes $615M Electric Plant

    November 3, 2015November 3, 2015

    say what you meanIn August 2014 the Marshall County, WV board of commissioners (a 3-person board) voted to approve a plan to build a Marcellus Shale-powered electric plant in the county (see Marshall County Votes to Accept Gas-Powered Electric Plant). The vote was a bit complicated. In a nutshell, Moundsville Power, a company owned by developers from Buffalo, NY, proposed a deal to the county. They want to build a 549-megawatt plant costing $615 million. But if Moundsville owns the plant, it’s subjected to high property taxes. Moundsville proposed selling the plant to the county but running it for them. In essence the county will own the plant on paper. Because it’s county owned, no property taxes! However, Moundsville would make rental payments to the county–or payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT). The payments would not be as much as if it were taxed–about $13 million less over 30 years. But the county still gets $31 million over those 30 years–and $31M is a whole lot better than $0. Moundsville would not have built the plant at all if not for the PILOT arrangement. One of the three commissioners, Bob Miller, voted against the plan. Now he’s trying to convince the state legislature to overturn the PILOT plan, although he says he still wants the deal with Moundsville to go forward…
    Read More “Marshall County Commissioner Still Opposes $615M Electric Plant”

  • Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

    WVU Professor “All In” on Obama’s Coal-Killing Clean Power Plan

    November 3, 2015November 3, 2015
    James Van Nostrand
    James Van Nostrand

    When liberal Democrat James Van Nostrand, director for West Virginia University’s Center for Energy and Sustainable Development, associate professor of law at West Virginia University, and a man-made global warming Kool Aid drinker addressed a recent forum at Wheeling Jesuit University, he told the audience they should just accept President Obama’s Clean Power Plan (CPP) and its death sentence for the coal industry. He essentially said “just get over it and move on. Lie down and admit defeat.” It put a smile on Van Nostrand’s face that WV Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has appeared to cave and will pursue a plan to comply with our Dear Leader’s CPP directive, even though 26 states have sued to stop the plan, including WV (see 26 States Ask Federal Court to Shut Down Clean Power Plan Now). Here’s an overview of Van Nostrand’s “just admit you’ve been beaten” speech…
    Read More “WVU Professor “All In” on Obama’s Coal-Killing Clean Power Plan”

  • BP | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Research | Reserves (Proved and Unproved)

    New BP Technology Report Predicts O&G Supplies will Double by 2050

    November 3, 2015November 3, 2015

    researchPeak Oil theorists like Art Berman won’t be happy with the latest report just published by oil giant BP. BP and other large energy companies publish annual energy outlook studies that we’ve highlighted in the past (see BP’s Annual Energy Report: Smallest Demand Increase since 1990s). For the first ever, BP has just published a report called the BP Technology Outlook (full copy below) that reveals much of their internal research on new technologies that will keep energy supplies plentiful and affordable, “enough to meet projected demand many times over” according to the study’s authors. While BP pays much lip service to so-called renewable sources of energy in this new study, here’s the part that will give Berman and other Peak Oil fanatics heartburn: “applying today’s best technologies to discover oil and gas resources could significantly increase ‘proved reserves’ from 2.9 trillion barrels of oil equivalent to 4.8 trillion barrels – nearly double the 2.5 trillion barrels required to meet projected cumulative global demand through to 2050.” Did you catch that? New tech available today can and will double the amount of recoverable oil and gas. So much for Peak Oil and Gas! We’re awash in it and will remain so for generations…
    Read More “New BP Technology Report Predicts O&G Supplies will Double by 2050”

  • Best of the Rest

    Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Nov 3, 2015

    November 3, 2015November 3, 2015

    best of the restThe “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: rig count trends in the Utica & Marcellus; Aussies partner with Pittsburgh company; WV severance tax is higher than OH; midstream megadeals; investors striking out in o&g; and more!
    Read More “Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Nov 3, 2015”

  • Chesapeake Energy | Columbiana County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Ohio | Statewide OH

    OH Landowners File Royalty Class Action Lawsuit Against Chesapeake

    November 2, 2015November 2, 2015

    lawsuitA group of Ohio landowners is doing what others have previously done in Pennsylvania, Texas and elsewhere–they’ve filed a proposed class action lawsuit against Chesapeake Energy claiming Chessy has screwed them and about 1,000 other Ohio landowners out of a collective $30 million in royalty payments. The lawsuit was filed last Monday in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court (copy embedded below) by an Akron, OH woman and the owners of two Columbiana County farms. In addition to Chesapeake, French company Total E&P USA, Pelican Energy LLC and Jamestown Resources LLC were also named in the lawsuit. The plaintiffs claim the only allowed deduction from royalties, according to signed leases, is for taxes–not for drilling expenses, not for post-production costs, etc. The lawyers filing the lawsuit figure there are at least 1,000 landowners with 40,000 acres who have been negatively affected by Chesapeake’s royalty shenanigans…
    Read More “OH Landowners File Royalty Class Action Lawsuit Against Chesapeake”

  • Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

    Philly Enviro-Nazis Attack Dem Councilman for Visiting Drill Site

    November 2, 2015November 2, 2015

    geenaziA story in Philadelphia Magazine perfectly illustrates the Nazi-like control freaks that inhabit anti-fossil fuel organizations like Food and Water Watch and the fringe group Action United. Philadelphia City Councilman Curtis Jones Jr. is a bone fide, card-carrying liberal Democrat. In 2011 Jones called for a fracking moratorium in the Delaware River Basin. Since that time Jones has actively advocated for no fracking/drilling in the Philadelphia region. Four years ago the Marcellus Shale Coalition invited Jones (and others) to tour a drilling rig, to see how it’s done. At the time, he declined. It’s always so much easier when you stick your head in…the sand. But Jones is a member of the Philadelphia Gas Commission, the group that oversees the city-owned Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW). A recent audit recommends PGW buy more Marcellus Shale gas (see Expensive Audit Tells PGW to Buy More PA Shale Gas to Save Money). So Jones, being on the Gas Commission responsible for overseeing PGW, felt it would be worthwhile to go ahead and take that rig tour and learn the facts for himself first-hand rather than relying on second-hand opinions. So Jones agreed to attend a tour last Friday. He even allowed his name to be put on the invite to encourage others to “go see for yourselves” just what happens at a drilling rig. And that, dear reader, is anathema to the wackos at groups like Food and Water Watch, the Sierra Club, THE Delaware Riverkeeper, Action United, on and on and on. Actually touring a rig and learning that this activity is safe, and advantageous, and not the environmental holocaust it’s made out to be? That blows their lies right out of the water and they can’t have that. And so Food and Water Watch, along with Action United, attacked one of their own–Curtis Jones–for the simple act of visiting a drill site to see it for himself…
    Read More “Philly Enviro-Nazis Attack Dem Councilman for Visiting Drill Site”

  • Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Statewide VA | Virginia | West Virginia | Wetzel County

    Dominion Files Pipeline Route Change to Avoid Salamanders, Swamp

    November 2, 2015November 2, 2015
    Cow Knob Salamander
    Cow Knob Salamander

    Contrary to what anti-fossil fuelers would have you believe, midstream companies building big pipeline projects DO listen to concerns and they DO change the route of a pipeline to address those concerns–like changing the route to minimize environmental impacts or to address the concerns of landowners. For example, Dominion has just announced it filed route changes for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a $5 billion natural gas pipeline running from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina. The changes are made to minimize impacts on salamanders in two locations, to minimize impacts on a historic district, and to avoid crossing a swamp (yes, a swamp). Somewhere along the way in the past 30 years swamps became precious ecological assets instead of pools of stagnant, smelly, mosquito-infested water that need to be drained (go figure). Dominion is willing to play along. “Hey, if that smelly swamp is important to you, we’ll spend an extra $XX million and go a different route.” Dominion is not alone. Theirs is just the latest example that totally refutes the yarns spun by ninny nanny antis who blat about evil Big Pipelines and how they destroy everything. Here’s the latest “we’ll make some adjustments to the route to keep everyone happy” notice from Dominion…
    Read More “Dominion Files Pipeline Route Change to Avoid Salamanders, Swamp”

  • Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide NY | Williams

    DEC Official Says NY in Danger of FERC Taking Over Pipeline Permits

    November 2, 2015November 2, 2015

    takeoverIt was just two weeks ago that MDN posted an article saying the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has had enough time to approve stream-crossing permits for the much-needed Constitution Pipeline. It’s now time to force their hand (see Time to Force NY DEC to Issue Permit for Constitution Pipeline). As we wrote in that piece, the DEC risks the very real threat that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) may step in and force the DEC to issue the permits. Now a high-ranking official with the DEC has essentially said the same thing we did–on the record…
    Read More “DEC Official Says NY in Danger of FERC Taking Over Pipeline Permits”

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