Marcellus Drilling News

CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Noble Energy | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide PA | Wastewater

PA Allows Wastewater Pipelines to be Buried – With No Regulations
November 4, 2015November 4, 2015

A last minute change made to proposed new drilling regulations in Pennsylvania will mean (if adopted) that drillers can bury wastewater pipelines instead of being required to run them on top of the ground. Companies typically use pipelines in areas where it would be disruptive to have multiple truck trips in and out of an area. They’re also used to lower the cost of transporting wastewater (cheaper through a pipeline than by tanker truck). The change came after a letter-writing campaign launched by CONSOL Energy and their joint venture partner Noble Energy. But there’s a bit of controversy over the new standard that permits lines to be buried: the buried wastewater lines aren’t regulated. Not yet anyway…
Read More “PA Allows Wastewater Pipelines to be Buried – With No Regulations”
Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Sand/Proppant | West Virginia

Unimin Energy Expands Frac Sand Terminal in Benwood, WV
November 4, 2015November 4, 2015

Unimin Energy Solutions – Marcellus/Utica Terminal Network – click for larger version

A Texas-based company, Unimin Energy Solutions, has 11 frac sand terminals throughout the Marcellus/Utica region (see the map). The most recent terminal they opened was this past June in Jerry Run, WV (see Unimin Energy Opens 11th Marcellus/Utica Frac Sand Terminal). Another of those 11 sites is in Benwood (Marshall County), WV. Last week Unimin held a grand opening of its 2nd unit train capable terminal at Benwood. The Benwood terminal now has almost 20,000 tons of silo storage capacity and can load up to 55 frac sand trucks per hour. CSX Railroad shuttles unit trains continuously to replenish frac sand inventory at the site. Details on last week’s soirée…
Read More “Unimin Energy Expands Frac Sand Terminal in Benwood, WV”
Chautauqua County | Electrical Generation | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | NRG Energy | Regulation

Dunkirk, NY Coal-Fired Electric Plant Closing in January 2016
November 4, 2015November 4, 2015

As MDN previously reported, a coal-fired electric generating plant near Buffalo (in Dunkirk) was slated to be converted to burn natural gas–a win/win for everyone (see Dunkirk, NY Electric Plant Saved – Converting from Coal to NatGas). Oh sure, radical environmentalists like the Sierra Club opposed it, but that’s to be expected. Crazy people do crazy things. Everything seemed to be fine until a competitor hauled NRG, the plant’s owner, into court to dispute the change from coal to natgas. Sounds equally crazy that a competitor can stop the change, but NRG says fighting the case will take years, so they’re just going to close the plant down (see Lawsuit Prevents NY Power Plant from Converting to NatGas, Closing). Sadly, last week the New York State Independent System Operator (NYISO) gave its blessing to NRG to close down the Dunkirk plant. This is an economic nuclear bomb for that community. The Town of Dunkirk gets 40% of its tax revenue from the plant. What will they do now?…
Read More “Dunkirk, NY Coal-Fired Electric Plant Closing in January 2016”
Columbia Pipeline Group | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

Columbia Pipeline 3Q15: Update on Numerous Pipeline Projects
November 4, 2015November 4, 2015

Yesterday Columbia Pipeline Group (CPG) issued its very first, fully independent quarterly update and financial report since being separated from NiSource into its own 100% independent company. Income was up year over year. The CPG update includes a section devoted to the status of pipeline projects they’re working on. It’s a considerable list of important (for the Marcellus/Utica) projects, including: East Side Expansion, Mountaineer XPress, Gulf XPress, Leach XPress, Rayne XPress, WB XPress, Washington County (PA) Gathering project, Big Pine Expansion project and the Pennant Joint Venture. Here’s the update…
Read More “Columbia Pipeline 3Q15: Update on Numerous Pipeline Projects”
CONE Midstream | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

CONE Midstream 3Q15: Continued Pipe Expansion in West Virginia
November 4, 2015November 4, 2015

CONE Midstream is a joint venture between CONSOL Energy (the CO in CONE) and Noble Energy (the NE in CONE), formed in August 2014 (see CONSOL & Noble Energy Form New Marcellus Midstream Company). Yesterday CONE issued their third quarter 2015 update. While CONE touted their exponential growth in the volume of gas flowing through their system earlier this year (see CONE Midstream’s Strong Beginning, Hits 500 Mmcf/d 6 Mos Early), there was no mention of current or predicted future flow volumes in the update, nor in the investors conference call. Although there was one vague reference that we found. The 3Q15 update (below) provides the financials for the company and does mention where they have been spending money to expand their system–mainly in West Virginia. Here’s the low down…
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Crestwood Midstream | Energy Services

Crestwood Midstream 3Q15: Marcellus/Utica Pipeline Volumes Drop
November 4, 2015November 4, 2015

The Houston, TX-based Crestwood Midstream, which these days calls itself Crestwood Equity Partners, operates midstream businesses in multiple shale resource plays across the United States. Crestwood is engaged in the gathering, processing, treating, compression, storage and transportation of natural gas; storage, transportation, terminalling, and marketing of NGLs; and gathering, storage, terminalling and marketing of crude oil. Whew. Lots of different things! Yesterday Crestwood issued its third quarter 2015 financial and operational update. We’ve snipped out just those brief sections that touch on the Marcellus/Utica region, below. Among the news you’ll be interested in: The gathering pipelines operated by Crestwood in the southwest saw lower volumes in 3Q15 than in 3Q14, a result of low prices for natural gas and drillers deciding to shut-in some of their production. Crestwood continues to believe Antero Resources will soon complete 22 wells that will hit the Crestwood system sometime in 2016. And in the northeast part of the play, Crestwood expects to complete an expansion of the MARC I pipeline, connecting to the mighty Transco, “in the coming weeks.” Meanwhile, system volumes in the northeast are also down year over year…
Read More “Crestwood Midstream 3Q15: Marcellus/Utica Pipeline Volumes Drop”
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?…
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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…
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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

8/4/17: 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

Noble 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

Yesterday 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

Stone 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

Rex 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

In 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

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”