Marcellus Drilling News

CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Noble Energy

CONSOL Energy/Noble Energy Rumors Continue to Swirl
July 20, 2015July 20, 2015

Following up on our CONSOL Energy/Noble Energy rumor from last Friday, MDN now has a second source that delivers a bit more information about the rumor–refining it for us. We told you on Friday that a persistent rumor among those working for or with CONSOL Energy is that Noble Energy is lining up to buy the gas division, CNX (see Rumors Circulate that CONSOL May Sell Itself to Noble Energy). A new source tells MDN that a complete buyout of CNX is not necessarily in the cards–but that Noble Energy is “taking over” the joint venture acreage the two currently hold in a 50/50 deal in the Marcellus/Utica…
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Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Carrizo Oil & Gas | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Equinor/Statoil | Exxon Mobil | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Range Resources Corp | Research | Rice Energy

Goldman: Cabot O&G, Range Resources Among Top Takeover Targets
July 20, 2015July 20, 2015

With all of this talk about CONSOL Energy and Noble Energy and mergers/acquisitions and workforce reductions, we came across an interesting story and analysis by SNL Financial summarizing a Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research report issued last Friday. The Goldman report evaluates 38 exploration and production (E&P) companies on their suitability and desirability as mergers and acquisitions candidates based on asset quality, potential upside returns to the buyer as oil and gas prices improve, and low break-even operations. That is, of all the E&Ps out there, which ones are most likely to be targeted for a takeover, and by whom? The surprising answer is that Cabot Oil & Gas and Range Resources, both huge Marcellus drillers, are among the takeover targets. And the super majors interested in doing the taking over? Exxon Mobil and Statoil…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Lorain County | Medina County | NEXUS Pipeline | Ohio | Pipelines | Spectra Energy | Statewide OH | Wood County (OH)

NEXUS Pipeline Sues for Survey Access, Wins Most of the Time
July 20, 2015July 20, 2015

An update on a story we brought you one week ago. Last Monday MDN told you that the NEXUS pipeline, primarily a project of Spectra Energy, sued four Medina County, OH landowners who refuse NEXUS surveyors access to their property (see NEXUS Pipeline Sues 4 Medina County Landowners for Survey Access). On Friday, a Medina County Common Pleas judge rejected NEXUS’ request for a restraining order that would allow them access. The case goes to trial on September 24. But lest we leave the wrong impression, judges in just about every other Ohio county where NEXUS has had to sue for survey access have granted NEXUS the restraining orders they were seeking…
Read More “NEXUS Pipeline Sues for Survey Access, Wins Most of the Time”
Energy Companies | Hilcorp Energy | Industrywide Issues | Lawrence County | Pennsylvania | Regulation

Hilcorp Well Pad Approval Conundrum in Lawrence County Resolved
July 20, 2015July 20, 2015

In May MDN told you about an unusual case in Pulaski Township (Lawrence County), PA where all three Board of Supervisors had a potential conflict of interest if they proceeded to approve a well pad for Hilcorp (see Conflict of Interest Prevents Hilcorp Wellpad Approval, What Now?). The proposed well pad would sit on one of the supervisors’ property. A second supervisor owns land adjacent to the first and his land would presumably be located in the first’s drilling unit. So they were both out of the running to make a motion. The third supervisor works for Hilcorp, so she couldn’t make the motion. We asked the question, what next? Now we know. A provision in Pennsylvania state law, according to a legal notice filed by Hilcorp, states that a decision “is deemed to have been rendered in favor of the applicant” after Hilcorp published legal ads on July 9 and 16. Anyone who wants to challenge it has 30 days to do so in the PA Court of Common Pleas (county court). No comment from anti-drillers at The Fracking Resistence, Lawrence County, PA (so far) other than to note that on their Facebook page that Supervisor Sam Varano will get a well pad after all…
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Energy Companies | Stone Energy

Stone Energy’s Marcellus Production Pleasantly Surprises in 2Q15
July 20, 2015July 20, 2015

Two weeks ago Stone Energy Corporation, one of the smaller drillers in the Marcellus Shale region, issued a drilling and production update. No, Stone has not suddenly begun drilling in the Marcellus again. As we told you earlier this year, Stone hit the pause button on new drilling in the Marcellus after 1Q15 (see Stone Energy 1Q15: No New Marcellus Drilling, But More Production). The recent drilling/production update from Stone is mostly about their Gulf of Mexico deepwater operations. But notice the final paragraph where they mention Marcellus (Appalachia) production…
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Energy Companies | Warren Resources

Warren Resources Boasts Lowest Breakeven Cost in Marcellus
July 20, 2015July 20, 2015

Last week MDN told you that Warren Resources, a small, independent exploration and production company headquartered in New York City with a very small Marcellus drilling program (just two wells this year) is looking for a new CEO (see Help Wanted: Warren Resources Launches Search for New CEO). Warren Resources also issued an operations update last week. The update shows Warren is done drilling their two planned Marcellus Shale wells for 2015 and has now begin the completions process, which is expected to be done sometime in August. Below is the introduction and Marcellus portions of Warren’s operational update from last week, which includes the boast that Warren has the lowest breakeven cost in the Marcellus…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Athens County | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio | Regulation

Athens, OH Antis Win Court Approval for Anti-Injection Well Vote
July 20, 2015July 20, 2015

You have to give the anti-drilling nutjobs one thing: they’re persistent. And we need to be just as persistent if we’re going to overcome their lunatic objections to fossil fuels. Case in point: In February the Ohio Supreme Court, once and for all, struck down so-called “home rule” legislation passed by local municipalities where anti-drillers are able to convince enough citizens to vote for it (see OH Supreme Court Strikes Down Home Rule in Gas Drilling Case). When it comes to creating local laws and zoning ordinances that prohibit or otherwise try to control oil and gas drilling and associated activities, Ohio state law stipulates only the State regulates it–not towns and villages and cities. That’s the law, and that’s the law the Supreme Court upheld. Athens County, hotbed of anti-drilling radicalism, has put numerous ballot measures before its citizens in an attempt to stop shale drilling. They finally won one last November (see 3 of 4 Frack Ban Ballot Measures in Ohio Fail – Athens Exception). However, the Supreme Court decision renders the Athens ballot initiative null and void. But that doesn’t stop the crazies in Athens. They’re back again with another ballot measure–this one targeting wastewater injection wells. A lower court judge gave them clearance last week to put their proposed measure, illegal as it is, on the ballot in November…
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Columbia Pipeline Group | Energy Services | Kanawha County | West Virginia

Columbia Pipeline Worker Risks His Life to Save a Stranger in WV
July 20, 2015July 20, 2015

Countless times we’ve seen the oil and gas industry demonized by people who hold to strange philosophies–like oil and gas are fossil fuels and fossil fuels threaten the climate of Mother Earth and the use of said fossil fuels must be ended. It’s a cockamamie and frankly false philosophy–but it motivates many to demonize not only the industry, but those who work in it (or support it). Sometimes it helps to put a face on people who work in the industry. Like Michael Marques, who works for Columbia Pipeline Group–a major pipeline company headquartered in Houston, TX but with a major presence in the Appalachian (Marcellus/Utica) region. Marques was on his way to a service call in Kanawha County, WV when he noticed a local resident caught in the Pocatalico River during a flash flood. Without hesitating, Marques jumped in, risking his own life, to save the life of a man he didn’t know. That’s the kind of salt-of-the-earth people who work in the oil and gas industry. Here’s the story of Michael Marques–a hero–and his action to save local resident Bobby Lawson…
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Belmont County | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Supply Chain

Supply Chain Success: Slinging Burgers & BBQ at Utica Drill Pads
July 20, 2015July 20, 2015

We love a good supply chain story. A story about a local businessperson who figures out how to sell his or her services to the Marcellus and Utica Shale industry. Here’s a tasty one for you: How about the story of a local food delivery service that slings burgers and barbecue for workers at drilling sites in the Ohio Valley? Meet Dean Barath, owner of Ideal Provisions, who makes a great living by serving the Utica Shale industry in his neck of the woods…
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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

Killer Weeds Attack! Shale Drilling Causes “Invasive” Plant Growth
July 20, 2015July 20, 2015

Just when you’ve think you’ve heard it all when it comes to how evil and nasty fracking and shale drilling are, along comes another story of the horrors of shale drilling. An article in the most recent issue of the journal Invasive Plant Science and Management says shale and pipeline drilling in Colorado’s Piceance Basin (pronounced “pee awns”, located in northwestern Colorado) disturbs the dirt and because the dirt gets disturbed it gives non-native, “invasive” plants a chance to grab hold and choke out all other vegetation–or some such thing. Apparently the housing boom in Colorado that digs up more dirt than all of the drill pads and pipelines combined doesn’t have the same effect on the invaders. Maybe invasive plants don’t like the construction workers and backhoes that dig up dirt for a house foundation like they do construction workers and backhoes that dig up dirt for a drill pad or pipeline. Wait–they’re the same construction workers and backhoes? Shhh. Don’t tell the invasive plant species…
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About MDN | Calendar

Calendar of Events for Jul 20 – Oct 19 (90 Days)
July 20, 2015July 20, 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.
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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Jul 20, 2015
July 20, 2015July 20, 2015

The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:
Read More “Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Jul 20, 2015”
CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | M&A | Noble Energy

Rumors Circulate that CONSOL May Sell Itself to Noble Energy
July 17, 2015July 17, 2015

MDN doesn’t do this (too) often, but we’re going to engage in a little Friday idle speculation. A tad bit of rumor mongering. So take this for what’s it worth. MDN has a contact in the Pittsburgh region that tells us that *all* of CONSOL Energy’s field engineers received an email at 3:30 am–this morning–requesting that they report to the center in Canonsburg, PA to discuss dismissal packages. Our contact says CONSOL’s plan is to lay down the rest of their active drilling rigs as soon as existing wells are completed and that they will not drill any new wells for the next 18 months. The really big bombshell is this: rumors are swirling that CONSOL’s CNX gas division is getting ready to sell itself to Noble Energy…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Pipelines | Tennessee Gas Pipeline

KM Board Approves Scaled-Back New England Pipeline for $3.3B
July 17, 2015July 17, 2015

Yesterday the board of directors for Kinder Morgan approved a $3.3 billion investment in the company’s proposed Northeast Energy Direct pipeline project–a huge project that includes a new supply pipeline from Susquehanna County, PA to Schoharie County, NY, and a new market delivery pipeline from Schoharie County, NY to Dracut, MA. It is the market delivery pipeline as it passes through both Massachusetts, into New Hampshire and then back into Massachusetts that seems to be stirring up the most controversy that the board approved yesterday with a price tag of $3.3B. But beneath the headline news that the board has given the OK to spend big money is the “real” story–which is that KM has chosen to build a smaller 30-inch pipeline rather than the pre-filed 36-inch pipeline they had hoped to build. Why? Because they haven’t gotten any major new customers to sign on for capacity in the pipeline since the initial open season (see Kinder Morgan Fails to Sign Up New NED Customers in Last 8 Mos). The smaller pipeline means smaller compressor stations. It also means a little less disruption when it’s built as KM will need less space to store pipes. But the more modest environmental impacts don’t assuage anti-fossil fuelers who want to eliminate all fossil fuels and, we suppose, go back to the stone ages with camp fires and animal skins for clothes…
Read More “KM Board Approves Scaled-Back New England Pipeline for $3.3B”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Pipelines | Regulation | Tennessee Gas Pipeline

NH Gov Hassan Asks FERC to Schedule More Hearings for KM Pipeline
July 17, 2015July 17, 2015

New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan seems to be playing both sides of the fence in the debate to bring cheap, abundant Marcellus Shale gas to New England to help relieve sky-high electric and natural gas prices in the region–particularly in the winter months. Hassan is one of six New England governors who previously backed the concept of a new natural gas pipeline to the region (see Blue State Blues: 6 New England States Want New Natgas Pipeline). Yet lately, Hassan, one of the five Democrat governors supporting a pipeline, seems to be backing away from the concept and calling on Kinder Morgan with its proposed Northeast Energy Direct (NED) pipeline plan to bend over backwards, sideways and any which way it can to please her lib constituents. The latest in her escalating rhetoric is a letter sent Wednesday to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) asking them to schedule more than just three scoping hearings. As we’ve often commented, anti-drilling nutters need cameras and open forums to feel good about themselves. They parade and preen and behave in the wackiest ways when they know a camera and microphone are present. Hassan wants to provide more such opportunities for her supporters…
Read More “NH Gov Hassan Asks FERC to Schedule More Hearings for KM Pipeline”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Regulation | Statewide OH

Ohio DNR Enacts Expensive New Utica/Horizontal Drilling Rules
July 17, 2015July 17, 2015

Yesterday the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) implemented new horizontal drilling rules that regulate the construction of horizontal well pad sites for Utica Shale and other shale drilling. The new rules require drillers to first submit a detailed well pad site plan, certified by a professional engineer, and then the plan will be reviewed by the ODNR before permits are issued. The ODNR claims the new requirements (full copy below) are “the most comprehensive and proactive horizontal well pad regulations in the country.” Translation: It’s going to cost Utica drillers more money to drill in the Buckeye State starting today…
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