Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Sep 11, 2015
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:
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Analyst Richard Zeits Reveals Why Marcellus Production has Soared
One of our favorite Seeking Alpha author/analysts, Richard Zeits, has just published another sterling piece analyzing the profound impact the Marcellus/Utica has had on the natural gas market in the United States. In January 2014, Zeits wrote a piece predicting the Marcellus/Utica would hit 20 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of production “within 3-4 years,” which at the time seemed wildly ambitious (see Marcellus Shale: A 20 Bcf Per Day Natural Gas Tsunami). In October 2014, Zeits revised his estimate up by another 10 Bcf/d (see Natural Gas: Marcellus Pipeline Boom Sets Stage For A 30 Bcf A Day Tsunami). Bombshell: According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Marcellus/Utica production passed 20 Bcf/d in late August. Zeits’ newest article points out the Marcellus tsunami came 10 years early! What really piqued our interest about Zeits’ latest article is the reason why Marcellus/Utica production has increased faster than everyone, including Zeits, thought it would…
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Antero Resources | Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Companies | Hall Drilling | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Statewide WV | West Virginia
Scores of “Nuisance” Lawsuits Against WV Drillers Combined
We have a troubling development to report about the future of drilling in West Virginia–something that has happened largely under the radar, until now. More than 200 residents in WV (likely those who don’t own the mineral rights under their land) began filing “scores” of “nuisance” lawsuits over the past couple of years against Antero Resources and Hall Drilling, in places like Doddridge County. The lawsuits claim excessive traffic, odors and noise from nearby drilling make it “impossible” for them to enjoy their homes. Each lawsuit has its own unique circumstances and should be handled separately–one size does not fit all. The troubling development is that all of these lawsuits (dozens? hundreds?) have been rolled up into one mega lawsuit that sits before the WV Mass Litigation Panel…
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Bentek: August NatGas Production Nearly as High as July Record
Click to view larger version Even though active drilling rigs have been decreasing, dramatically, for months, natural gas production is holding steady. Which is an amazing feat. Platts’ analytics firm Bentek Energy is reporting natural gas production in the lower 48 United States averaged 72.1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in August, which is nearly flat, compared to the July average (down less than 1%). Bentek previously reported that July natgas production was a new record high (see Bentek: U.S. Hits Record High for Natgas Production in July). August production was just a shade lower. Bentek is predicting a new average high for natgas production in 2015. Why the continued strong production numbers given rigs laying down left and right? One word: Northeast…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kentucky | Kinder Morgan | Pipelines | Tennessee Gas Pipeline
Kinder Morgan Sabotages Itself with Some Kentucky Landowners
In June MDN updated you on Kinder Morgan’s plans to repurpose part of the existing Tennessee Gas Pipeline that currently runs south to north, reversing the flow to send natural gas liquids (NGLs) southward (see KM’s SECOND Binding Open Season for Utica/Marcellus NGL Pipeline). One of the biggest pockets of resistance are landowners in Kentucky. One such landowner/farmer, who has had five pipelines crisscross his property over the years, relates a story about talking with a pipeline rep a few years ago who essentially threatened to bury him in lawsuits. We don’t like hearing these kinds of stories…
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Bradford County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Talisman Energy
PA Landowners Can’t Cancel Lease for Delayed Payments
Pennsylvania landowners Andrew and Sally Dewing signed a 10-year lease for 493 acres of land in Bradford County, PA with Central Appalachian Petroleum in April 2001. The lease was later sold to a consortium including Abarta Oil & Gas Co., Talisman Energy USA and Range Resources. The terms of the lease require rent payments of $5 per acre per year ($2,465) for each year when their property has not be drilled on or under. After not receiving payments on time in 2010, the Dewings served the drillers notice of nonpayment. Eventually the three partners figured out who was supposed to pay and made the payment–but because the payment was late (more than 60 days late), the Dewings claimed the lease was terminated under the original terms of the lease. To make a long story short, Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled last Friday that no, the terms of the lease do not allow the Dewings to get out of the lease because the payment was late…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Pipelines | Research | Tennessee Gas Pipeline
Research: New Englanders Save Billions if NED Pipeline Gets Built
Kinder Morgan has just released a study that they commissioned (paid for), but researched by the independent ICF International. The study, titled “New England Energy Market Outlook: Demand for Natural Gas Capacity and Impact of the Northeast Energy Direct Project” (full copy below), finds that New Englanders would have saved $3.7 billion in wholesale electricity costs during the 2013-2014 ‘Polar Vortex’ winter had the proposed Northeast Energy Direct Project (NED) been in service at the time. The study also finds the additional gas capacity that NED would provide will generate $2.1 billion to $2.8 billion in annual savings going forward for New England electric consumers, under normal weather conditions. Plus there are many other benefits (aside from cost savings) from building NED, including lower air pollution throughout New England…
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New Waterless Frack Tech – Using NatGas to Frack for NatGas
Canadian oilfield services company Millennium Stimulation Services has just introduced a new fracking process that claims “a virtually complete replacement of water” used in fracking. The new tech uses what they call Energized Natural Gas (ENG) as a fluid solution. We find it kind of cool that they’re using natural gas in order to frack for natural gas. Here’s the Millennium announcement…
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Minor Setback: Fed Court Tells States “No Delay, Yet” re Obama CPP
Ohio and 15 other states sued the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to stop implementation of Obama’s draconian coal and natural gas-killing Clean Power Plan while their larger lawsuit challenging the entire CPP winds its way through court (see Ohio and 15 Other States Ask EPA to Delay Clean Power Plan). Those states were dealt a minor setback yesterday when a federal court refused to stay the CPP plan…
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Rex Energy’s Bankers Recommit to $350M Credit Line
Pennsylvania-based Marcellus driller Rex Energy, which we’ve long called our “little energy company that could, and does,” has had a string of bad news this year. Even though production was up 61% in the second quarter of 2015, revenue was down 37% (see Rex Energy Financial Update for 2Q15: Rev Down 37%). Rex’s stock is down more than 80% over the past year, down 37% in just the past 3 months (see Analyst Says Don’t Worry Even Though Rex Energy’s Stock Down 80%). It should be pointed out that Rex is not the only company facing tough times since the price of oil and gas crashed a year ago. Even with plenty of bad news, here is a spot of good news for Rex: the company’s bankers aren’t throwing in the towel just yet…
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Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Thu, Sep 10, 2015
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Elk County | Indiana County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Wastewater
Grant Twp, PA Calls DEP “Chicken $h*t” re Injection Well Permit
Grant Township in Indiana County, PA has a problem: They’ve hired a potty mouth lawyer to represent them who has a HUGE conflict of interest. Grant’s town attorney is also the lawyer for (and executive director of) the litigious and extreme left-wing group Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF), a group committed to ending the use of fossil fuels. We’ve written plenty about the antics of the CELDF, including their lawsuit on behalf of an ecosystem (see It Speaks! An “Ecosystem” has Filed to Join a Lawsuit in PA). CELDF/Grant Twp. attorney Thomas Linzey is calling the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) “chicken shit” for their decision to delay a decision on whether to grant a permit for an non-controversial injection well in the township…
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EQT Looks to Drill on Abandoned Golf Course in Pittsburgh Suburb
Is Marcellus drilling about to come to a suburb of Pittsburgh? It appears the answer to that is a resounding, “Yes!” EQT, according to a landman that works for the company, plans to put a mega drill pad with up to 14 wells on an abandoned golf course in the eastern burbs of Allegheny County. EQT has approached neighbors surrounding the property, attempting to sign them to leases. Predictably, some of the neighbors are for it, and some are against it…
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Ineos Gets Ready to Begin Ethane Exports from Marcus Hook, PA
Click image for larger version As MDN told you in June, exporting of Marcellus/Utica ethane from the Marcus Hook facility near Philadelphia will become a reality later this year when Ineos Olefins & Polymers, one of Europe’s largest petrochemical companies, begins loading two Large Gas Carriers (LGCs) with ethane bound for Norway and Scotland (see Marcellus/Utica Ethane to be Exported to Europe Starting This Year). We get an update on that €600 million ($671 million) Ineos export project from the Financial Times, along with a very interesting tidbit we’ve not heard before: ethane from Marcus Hook will also head to an ethane-powered electric generating plant in Panama…
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Boardwalk Pipeline Partners | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH
Northern Supply Access Proj. Expands OH to Gulf Pipeline Capacity
Click map to view larger version Last week MDN told you that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) had approved a project by Boardwalk Pipeline Partners to reverse the flow on their Texas Gas Transmission pipeline to haul natural gas from the Utica/Marcellus to the Gulf Coast (see FERC Approves Important Utica-to-Gulf Coast Pipeline Reversal). We have word on a second project, called the Northern Supply Access Project, also related to the Utica/Marcellus and the Texas Gas Transmission pipeline. FERC recently announced they will conduct an Environmental Assessment (EA) on the Northern Supply Access Project…
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Phila. Gas Works: Will Take 45 Years to Upgrade Unsafe Pipelines
Natural gas customers in Philadelphia could have had all of the outdated and unsafe pipes belonging to the aging Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) pipeline network replaced within 5-10 years, paid for by UIL Holdings Corporation, a Connecticut-based gas and electric utility holding company that offered to buy PGW in a deal brokered by Democrat Mayor Michael Nutter. But the corrupt Philadelphia City Council torpedoed the deal (see Philly City Council Kills the Phila. Gas Works $1.86B Deal). Now PGW ratepayers are going to see an increase–instead of a decrease–in their utility rates in order to “speed up” the pace of replacing unsafe natural gas pipes throughout the city. What does “speed up” mean for a government-owned utility?…
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One of our favorite Seeking Alpha author/analysts, Richard Zeits, has just published another sterling piece analyzing the profound impact the Marcellus/Utica has had on the natural gas market in the United States. In January 2014, Zeits wrote a piece predicting the Marcellus/Utica would hit 20 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of production “within 3-4 years,” which at the time seemed wildly ambitious (see 
We have a troubling development to report about the future of drilling in West Virginia–something that has happened largely under the radar, until now. More than 200 residents in WV (likely those who don’t own the mineral rights under their land) began filing “scores” of “nuisance” lawsuits over the past couple of years against Antero Resources and Hall Drilling, in places like Doddridge County. The lawsuits claim excessive traffic, odors and noise from nearby drilling make it “impossible” for them to enjoy their homes. Each lawsuit has its own unique circumstances and should be handled separately–one size does not fit all. The troubling development is that all of these lawsuits (dozens? hundreds?) have been rolled up into one mega lawsuit that sits before the WV Mass Litigation Panel…
In June MDN updated you on Kinder Morgan’s plans to repurpose part of the existing Tennessee Gas Pipeline that currently runs south to north, reversing the flow to send natural gas liquids (NGLs) southward (see 
Pennsylvania landowners Andrew and Sally Dewing signed a 10-year lease for 493 acres of land in Bradford County, PA with Central Appalachian Petroleum in April 2001. The lease was later sold to a consortium including Abarta Oil & Gas Co., Talisman Energy USA and Range Resources. The terms of the lease require rent payments of $5 per acre per year ($2,465) for each year when their property has not be drilled on or under. After not receiving payments on time in 2010, the Dewings served the drillers notice of nonpayment. Eventually the three partners figured out who was supposed to pay and made the payment–but because the payment was late (more than 60 days late), the Dewings claimed the lease was terminated under the original terms of the lease. To make a long story short, Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled last Friday that no, the terms of the lease do not allow the Dewings to get out of the lease because the payment was late…
Kinder Morgan has just released a study that they commissioned (paid for), but researched by the independent ICF International. The study, titled “New England Energy Market Outlook: Demand for Natural Gas Capacity and Impact of the Northeast Energy Direct Project” (full copy below), finds that New Englanders would have saved $3.7 billion in wholesale electricity costs during the 2013-2014 ‘Polar Vortex’ winter had the proposed Northeast Energy Direct Project (NED) been in service at the time. The study also finds the additional gas capacity that NED would provide will generate $2.1 billion to $2.8 billion in annual savings going forward for New England electric consumers, under normal weather conditions. Plus there are many other benefits (aside from cost savings) from building NED, including lower air pollution throughout New England…
Ohio and 15 other states sued the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to stop implementation of Obama’s draconian coal and natural gas-killing Clean Power Plan while their larger lawsuit challenging the entire CPP winds its way through court (see 
Pennsylvania-based Marcellus driller Rex Energy, which we’ve long called our “little energy company that could, and does,” has had a string of bad news this year. Even though production was up 61% in the second quarter of 2015, revenue was down 37% (see 
Grant Township in Indiana County, PA has a problem: They’ve hired a potty mouth lawyer to represent them who has a HUGE conflict of interest. Grant’s town attorney is also the lawyer for (and executive director of) the litigious and extreme left-wing group Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF), a group committed to ending the use of fossil fuels. We’ve written plenty about the antics of the CELDF, including their lawsuit on behalf of an ecosystem (see 
Is Marcellus drilling about to come to a suburb of Pittsburgh? It appears the answer to that is a resounding, “Yes!” EQT, according to a landman that works for the company, plans to put a mega drill pad with up to 14 wells on an abandoned golf course in the eastern burbs of Allegheny County. EQT has approached neighbors surrounding the property, attempting to sign them to leases. Predictably, some of the neighbors are for it, and some are against it…
Natural gas customers in Philadelphia could have had all of the outdated and unsafe pipes belonging to the aging Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) pipeline network replaced within 5-10 years, paid for by UIL Holdings Corporation, a Connecticut-based gas and electric utility holding company that offered to buy PGW in a deal brokered by Democrat Mayor Michael Nutter. But the corrupt Philadelphia City Council torpedoed the deal (see