Marcellus Drilling News

Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy

Gulfport Energy 3Q15: Shuts-in 100 Mmcf/d of Production
November 9, 2015November 9, 2015

Gulfport Energy, a major Utica Shale driller, released their third quarter 2015 update last Thursday and held an analyst conference call on Friday. Among the things we learn from their public statements: in all categories (natural gas, oil, NGLs), Gulfport’s production was up dramatically from the same quarter a year ago. However, the price the company gets for those commodities is down rather dramatically. The company experienced a major paper loss for 3Q15 due to write-downs on the value of its assets (because of low prices). Gulfport announced it will “voluntarily curtail” 100 million cubic feet equivalent per day (MMcfe/d) of production beginning November 1, 2015 through early 2016, due to low prices. Better to wait and sell it later at a higher price. They’re also going to forgo a fifth drilling rig in the Utica, planned to start up in 2016. Bummer. Here’s the 3Q15 update for Gulfport…
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Putnam County | Rogersville Shale | West Virginia

2nd Rogersville Shale Test Well Coming to WV
November 9, 2015November 9, 2015

Last year Cabot Oil & Gas drilled the very first test well into West Virginia’s Rogersville Shale (see Cabot Drills Test Well in WV Rogersville Shale, More on the Way?). We later found out the permit was to drill to a total depth of 14,000 feet (see How Deep Did Cabot O&G Drill Their Rogersville Test Well in WV?). Now a second Rogersville test well has been permited–but not to Cabot. The second Rogersville Shale well permit was made last week to Hard Rock Exploration, based in Charleston, WV. Hard Rock’s permit gives it permission to drill down to 15,000 feet into the Rogersville in…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Mahoning County | Ohio | Regulation

Youngstown Frack Ban Measure Voted Down 5th Time in a Row
November 9, 2015November 9, 2015

Five times the anti-drilling zealots of Youngstown have garnered enough signatures from dead folks and others to get a so-called Community Bill of Rights (i.e. ban fracking) measure on the ballot for a citywide vote. FIVE TIMES. And you know what? As of last Tuesday, the ballot measure has been voted down–FIVE TIMES. In a row. And yet the crazies keep getting bringing it back. If they get a single vote more than the previous vote, they herald it as “movement” in their direction. The crazies enlisted a few quite a few more crazies this time around. The vote was a lot closer than one would like: 5,683 (48.53%) voted for it, and 6,028 (51.47%) voted against it. Following the results, the Youngstown Warren Regional Chamber of Commerce issued the following statement…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY AG Schneiderman Launches the Climate Witch Trials
November 9, 2015November 9, 2015

Once a witch-hunter catches the scent of a suspected witch–better watch out! It struck us as we read about the drummed up false charges New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is alleging against ExxonMobil–charges that the company has knowingly made false statements about their own complicity and contribution to mythical climate change–just how doomed we really are to repeat history. Schneiderman’s actions reminded us of something, and then we found it: “Rebecca Nurse, a sick and elderly woman of seventy-years old, stood for examination before the court on charges of practicing witchcraft on March 24, 1692. Judge John Hathorne, assisted by Judge Jonathan Corwin, conducted the examination in the meeting house of Salem Village before a crowd of people from Salem Village. The examination of “Goody Nurse” developed into a spectacle worthy of the attendance of so many onlookers, as a number of afflicted women launched into “grevious fitts” and openly denounced Rebecca Nurse as the cause of their torment. In the end, after one of the great confrontations between an accused and the infamous Judge Hathorne, the Judges found cause to bind Rebecca Nurse over for trial after which she was executed on Gallows Hill on July 19, 1692.” (University of Virginia). We’re facing the Salem Witch Trials all over again–some 323 years later. Apparently we didn’t learn anything the first time around. MDN calls Schneiderman’s current campaign the Climate Witch Trials–the prosecution and persecution of innocent companies based on a false belief that mankind causes global warming by burning fossil fuels. Now we learn Schneiderman may be gunning for more than just ExxonMobil…
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Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Ohio | Statewide OH

Ohio Supreme Court Rules in Important Dormant Mineral Act Case
November 9, 2015November 9, 2015

For several years MDN has been telling you about a thorny legal issue in Ohio, bubbling in the background–the Dormant Mineral Act (DMA). In a nutshell, there are two DMAs in Ohio–one passed in 1989 that went into effect in 1992, and another in 2006 which added certain additional procedural requirements to the 1989 version. The DMA in its various versions provides for mineral rights that had previously been separated from surface rights to transfer to the surface owner under certain conditions. The problem for both drillers and for landowners in Ohio, is in knowing which set of DMA rules to use (1989 or 2006) in determining who owns the mineral rights. There are a dozen cases sitting before the Ohio Supreme Court dealing with the DMA. Last December we gave you a run-down on four of the most important DMA cases before the Supremes (see 4 Important Dormant Mineral Act Cases with OH Supreme Court). One of those cases, Chesapeake v. Buell, was decided last week. It has big implications for both drillers and mineral rights owners…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Crude Oil | Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Regulation

Dictator-in-Chief B.H. Obama Rejects Keystone XL Pipeline
November 9, 2015November 9, 2015

Dictators do as dictators want to do. Last week the U.S. Dictator (used to be called President), Barack Hussein Obama, decided to cave to his kook left enviro-Nazi fringe and rejected granting permits to build the TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline–a pipeline that would flow oil from the tar sands of Canada all the way to the Gulf Coast for refining. It’s a huge blow to our relationship with our neighbors to the north and sets back U.S./Canadian relations by decades. It also prevents 20,000 jobs from being created. But dictators don’t care about any of those trifling details. They want what they want and you have to live with it–because you’re a serf. A dullard. You don’t know what kind of energy you should buy and use–so our Dear Leader will do it for you. No this isn’t a story about the Marcellus/Utica strictly speaking, but it is illustrative of what we are all up against–fossil fuel hysteria–the flames of which are fanned by people like Obama. Below is reaction from a number of senators, labor unions, the oil and gas industry and others to this travesty…
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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research

Report: Fracking Reduces CO2 Emissions 13x Faster than Solar
November 9, 2015November 9, 2015

A new report out from the conservative think tank Manhattan Institute finds that fracking–and NOT so-called renewables like solar–is the “single most effective tool” for reducing carbon dioxide emissions. The report, much to the consternation of the greenies, finds that fracking helped reduce CO2 emissions 13 times faster than solar power. Did you know that solar and wind together generated LESS electricity in the first half of 2015 than they did in the first half of 2014? Here’s the report the greens don’t want you to know about…
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About MDN | Calendar

Calendar of Events for Nov 9 – Feb 8 (90 Days)
November 9, 2015November 9, 2015

Below are upcoming events for the next three months (90 days). To see the full list of future events, visit this page: //marcellusdrilling.com/calendar/.

NOTE: To have an item included, please email it to: calendar@marcellusdrilling.com.
Read More “Calendar of Events for Nov 9 – Feb 8 (90 Days)”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Nov 9, 2015
November 9, 2015November 9, 2015

The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: shale drillers struggle with low prices; Philly Fed prez says Marcellus has peaked for now; FERC says Columbia/Antero deal too cozy; Chesapeake’s Utica production drops; USPS investigating Chesapeake; skewed poll finds majority of PA residents want frack tax; working gas in storage at record levels; woe is Canada; and more!
Read More “Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Nov 9, 2015”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Companies | Exxon Mobil | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY AG Targets/Accuses ExxonMobil of Lying about ‘Climate Change’
November 6, 2015November 6, 2015

Eric Schneiderman, NY AG

We’ve written before about the lawless Attorney General from New York–Eric T. Schneiderman. He attacks his own constituents like landowners in the state (see NY AG Schneiderman Files to Dismiss JLCNY Lawsuit Against Cuomo), threatened the Delaware River Basin Commission that he would sue them if they allowed fracking (see NY AG Schneiderman Threatens New DRBC Lawsuit over Fracking), and he regularly bullies oil and gas companies (see NY Attorney General Schneiderman Subpoenas Shale Drillers and More on NY AG Schneiderman’s Bullying of Anadarko & EOG Resources). Schneiderman has just performed a breathtaking act of chutzpah: He’s launched an investigation and subpoenaed ExxonMobil, the largest oil company in the United States (4th largest in the world), accusing them of making false statements about so-called man-made global warming. He’s saying they contribute to global warming and they’re lying about their role in it–that they’ve made false statements to the public that contradict what their own internal research has found. That is, he is using the same strategy used against tobacco companies 20 years ago…
Read More “NY AG Targets/Accuses ExxonMobil of Lying about ‘Climate Change’”
Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies

Magnum Hunter Refinances Again, Dodges a Bullet…Just Barely
November 6, 2015November 6, 2015

Magnum Hunter Resources (MHR) issued an interesting press release yesterday to notify investors that they dodged a bullet–for the moment–by refinancing certain loans and getting a new $60 million loan which will let them make their $29 million bond payment on Nov. 15 (see Magnum Hunter’s Latest Woes: More Investor Unrest, $29M Payment Due). The statement also said in light of “ongoing discussions regarding its capital structure” they won’t issue a press release on third quarter financials, and they won’t hold a conference call with investors. Not a good sign. One analyst we read rhetorically asks, Does this mean they avoid bankruptcy? “The short answer is NO,” was his reply. He maintains “working on capital structure” means they are headed for a prepackaged bankruptcy. The only question is, when will it happen? Here’s the latest MHR statement in what (sadly) feels like a death watch…
Read More “Magnum Hunter Refinances Again, Dodges a Bullet…Just Barely”
Energy Companies | Rice Energy

Rice Energy 3Q15: $59M Profit, $750M LOC, Selling Gas Outside NE
November 6, 2015November 6, 2015

Rice Energy, a very young but important pure play driller in the Marcellus/Utica, released its third quarter update yesterday. Bucking the trend of other northeast drillers, Rice earned $119 million in profit before interest, taxes and all that jazz (called EBITDAX), and they earned $59 million after all that jazz. In the black. No paper loss. It’s all good. One of the secrets to Rice’s success is that they’re selling their gas for an average of $0.38 higher per Mcf than others because of deals with the REX and Texas Eastern pipelines that carry Rice’s gas to markets outside of Appalachia. Production was 609 million cubic feet equivalent per day (Mmcfe/d) in 3Q15. The company reports expanding their line of credit at the bank to $750 million and transferring ownership (called a “drop down”) of their water services business from Rice Energy the driller to Rice Midstream the subsidiary, netting Rice Energy a nifty $200 million on paper. In essence they transferred money from one pocket to another. Here’s the full update from one of our favorite Marcellus/Utica drillers…
Read More “Rice Energy 3Q15: $59M Profit, $750M LOC, Selling Gas Outside NE”
Energy Companies | Gastar Exploration

Gastar 3Q15: Production Up but Still Shopping Marcellus/Utica
November 6, 2015November 6, 2015

Yesterday Gastar Exploration, with active drilling programs in the Marcellus/Utica and in the Midcontinent region, issued their third quarter 2015 financial and operational update. What do we glean from it? The company lost $191.8 million for the quarter–but almost all of it was a paper loss and not actual money out the door (from writedowns). As we’ve previously noted (see Gastar Puts All Marcellus/Utica Assets (Leases/Wells) Up for Sale), Gastar continues to shop their Marcellus/Utica assets and said as much in this update. Net production in the northeast rose in 3Q15–8,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, or Boe/d in 3Q15 vs 5,300 Boe/d in 3Q14. They didn’t drill a single new well in 3Q15 nor will they drill any in 4Q15 and for the foreseeable future. They’re trying to sell it…
Read More “Gastar 3Q15: Production Up but Still Shopping Marcellus/Utica”
Carrizo Oil & Gas | Energy Companies

Carrizo O&G 3Q15: No New Drilling in the Utica/Marcellus
November 6, 2015November 6, 2015

Carrizo Oil & Gas, a Houston-based driller, issued their third quarter 2015 financial and operational update on Wednesday. Carrizo actively drills in the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas, the Delaware Basin in West Texas, the Utica Shale in Ohio, the Niobrara Formation in Colorado, and the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania. Carrizo reports losing $708.8 million in 3Q15, but like other drillers, it was a paper loss–a requirement to reevaluate and write down the value of their holdings based on low oil and gas prices. According to the update, Carrizo didn’t drill or complete any new wells in the Utica or Marcellus during 3Q15, nor do they plan to any time soon. They’re concentrating their time and effort in oil plays like the Eagle Ford. Below are select portions of yesterday’s update applicable to the Utica/Marcellus…
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Energy Services | Spectra Energy

Spectra Energy 3Q15: Pipeline Project Updates, $20B+ in Development
November 6, 2015November 6, 2015

On Wednesday, Spectra Energy, a large midstream (pipeline) company released its third quarter 2015 update. The interesting part for us is an update on their various pipeline projects in the northeast–projects that will haul Marcellus and Utica Shale gas out of the region to other markets. It’s noteworthy that Spectra Energy made $243 million in 3Q15, down just a hair from 3Q14’s $254 million. Also noteworthy: the first segment of Spectra’s OPEN project (Ohio Pipeline Energy Work) was placed into service six weeks early. Here’s selected sections from Spectra’s 3Q15 update…
Read More “Spectra Energy 3Q15: Pipeline Project Updates, $20B+ in Development”
Energy Companies | Energy Services | National Fuel | Seneca Resources

NFG Update: Seneca Paper Loss, Production Shut-in; New Pipes Done
November 6, 2015November 6, 2015

National Fuel Gas Company, parent of driller Seneca Resources and also an important midstream (pipeline) company, issued their quarter update yesterday. We always have to explain this. NFG counts their quarters different. Everyone else counts July through September as a calendar year third quarter. For NFG, it was their fourth quarter fiscal year. The company had a big $188 million loss for their 4Q15, vs a $57 million gain in 4Q14. However, like many others, NFG’s was a “paper loss” and not an actual money-out-the-pocket loss. The decrease is largely due to a $241 million writedown of the value of Seneca’s oil and natural gas reserves. Other news: Seneca’s production was down in 4Q15 because they decided to voluntarily shut-in 13 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of production they otherwise could have sold–due to the low price of natural gas they receive in the Marcellus. Seneca’s proved reserves (available to drill) went up 27% for fiscal year 2015. On the pipeline front, as of Nov. 1 NFG put the Westside Expansion & Modernization and Tuscarora Lateral projects into service, and they’re close to completing the Northern Access 2015 expansion project, a joint project with Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s Niagara Expansion. Here’s the full update with plenty of interesting news for the Marcellus/Utica…
Read More “NFG Update: Seneca Paper Loss, Production Shut-in; New Pipes Done”