Marcellus Drilling News

Baker Hughes | Energy Services | Halliburton | Industrywide Issues | M&A

Halliburton Shotgun Divorce – Forced to Sell Certain Divisions
April 8, 2015April 8, 2015

Some interesting news from Halliburton concerning their takeover of Baker Hughes (see Halliburton & Baker Hughes Vote to Approve Shotgun Wedding). It seems the table has been turned on Halliburton. In order to avoid anti-trust violations, Halliburton will, grudgingly, sell off several profitable divisions: Fixed Cutter and Roller Cone Drill Bits, Directional Drilling and Logging-While-Drilling (LWD)/Measurement-While-Drilling (MWD). Yesterday Halliburton said they will likely have the merger with Baker Hughes done before selling off those divisions. They stressed it will be business as usual for customers while the divorce, er, sale proceeds…
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Industrywide Issues | Research

USA is #1 Natgas and #1 Oil Producer in the World in 2014
April 8, 2015April 8, 2015

Some astonishing new numbers from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. For the third year in a row, when you add both natural gas and oil together, the United States has been the #1 producer of hydrocarbons in the world. But this is even more astonishing and something MDN’s friends disbelieve when we tell them: for the third year in a row the U.S. has produced more natural gas than another other country in the world (namely Russia, who is #2). And get this: for two years running the U.S. has produced more oil than any other country in the world, including Saudi Arabia. When was the last time you heard that on the evening news? Yeah, NEVER. Fracking is nothing short of a miracle that has radically changed the energy outlook of this country–and it’s a miracle that should be celebrated every chance we get. Here’s the numbers and story from the EIA with news that once again, USA is #1!!!…
Read More “USA is #1 Natgas and #1 Oil Producer in the World in 2014”
Carroll County | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Utica Shale

New Utica-Powered Electric Plant Breaks Ground in Carrollton, OH
April 8, 2015April 8, 2015

A new Utica Shale-powered electric generating plant to be built in Carroll County, OH was first announced back in 2013 (see New NatGas Powered Electric Plant Coming to Carroll County, OH). Advanced Power Services’ Carroll County Energy LLC plans to plunk down $900 million to build an electric plant north of Carrollton. Good news: the company now has all of its approvals and will break ground later this week…
Read More “New Utica-Powered Electric Plant Breaks Ground in Carrollton, OH”
Belmont County | Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio

Barnesville Officials “Didn’t Think” When Signing Gulfport Water Deal
April 8, 2015April 21, 2015

A few weeks ago MDN told you about a legal battle shaping up in Belmont County. Gulfport Energy has sued the town of Barnesville over a contract dispute (see Gulfport Energy Sues Barnesville, OH for Access to Water in Reservoir). Barnesville signed a contract with Gulfport to sell them water for drilling and fracking from the Slope Creek Reservoir–for 1 penny per gallon. Then Barnesville signed a contract with Antero Resources to lease land, and of course Antero needs water too (and apparently went to the head of the water line). Barnesville now says the reservoir has been drawn down too low to sell water to Gulfport (other drillers dipping in the reservoir?) so Barnesville wants to renege on the contract and now finds themselves in federal court. Now the 4,100 residents of Barnesville will pay out the nose for outside legal council to defend the town because of their leaders “didn’t think”…
Read More “Barnesville Officials “Didn’t Think” When Signing Gulfport Water Deal”
Forced Pooling | Industrywide Issues | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV House Republican Pat McGeehan Takes Aim at Forced Pooling
April 8, 2015April 8, 2015

Pat McGeehan is a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates. His district includes Hancock and northern Brooke counties, which is the very tippy top of the northern panhandle in WV. Pat was born in Oklahoma (an Okie! LOVE Oklahoma) and he lives and works in and loves West Virginia (LOVE West Virginia!). Pat is an author, having penned “Printing Our Way to Poverty–The Consequences of American Inflation” and a new book coming out this spring titled, “Liberty and the Christ: Why Christians Should Embrace Political Freedom.” Pat is a Republican and a strong supporter of the shale drilling industry. He’s also against forced pooling. Pat is a man after our own heart. He recently penned an excellent and eloquent article taking direct aim at forced pooling in WV…
Read More “WV House Republican Pat McGeehan Takes Aim at Forced Pooling”
Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH

ET Rover Pipeline Launches New Website, Updated Route Maps
April 8, 2015April 8, 2015

ET Rover is a now 711-mile (down from 830-mile) Marcellus/Utica natural gas pipeline that will serve mostly U.S. customers that will cost $3.7 billion (down from $4.4 billion) to build and run from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and eventually into Canada (see ET Rover Pipeline’s 800-Mile Journey Begins with FERC Filing). As with all Marcellus/Utica pipeline projects, ET Rover hasn’t been without its detractors and legal issues (see OH Law Firm Asks FERC to Stop ET Rover Pipeline Eminent Domain). Yesterday Energy Transfer Partners, the company that will build ET Rover, announced a new website. They also provided updated maps to county libraries along the proposed path of the pipeline’s route…
Read More “ET Rover Pipeline Launches New Website, Updated Route Maps”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Maryland | Regulation | Statewide MD

Maryland Republican Senator Votes to Delay Fracking (Say What?)
April 8, 2015April 8, 2015

Another “with friends like these, who needs enemies” stories when it comes to fracking in Maryland. It had seemed as though fracking in the Old Line state might take off–perhaps not soon, but at least at some point in the next year or two (see Maryland Gets Ready to Frack! Gov O’Malley Files New Regulations). We should have known former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, a lefty Democrat, only issued new fracking regs on his way out of office because he wants to run for president (he never wanted fracking). Still, we take our victories any way we can get them. But then the House and Senate started larding up the issue by passing all sorts of bills that would throttle or even prevent fracking. Last week the Maryland House passed a moratorium for three years, and on Monday of this week, the Maryland Senate passed a mortatorium for two years. The curious thing is that Maryland Republican State Senator George Edwards, whose district in Western Maryland is about the only district that would conceivably see fracking, voted FOR the two year moratorium! He supposedly supports fracking. Wait…did we miss something? Did logic and common sense just go out the window? More politics as usual?…
Read More “Maryland Republican Senator Votes to Delay Fracking (Say What?)”
About MDN | MDN Resources

Will the Marcellus/Utica Overtake the Henry Hub? We Have an Answer
April 8, 2015April 8, 2015

MDN Editor Jim Willis had the pleasure of hosting a webinar yesterday on behalf of NGI – Natural Gas Intelligence. Jim’s “other day job” includes helping NGI with marketing their great publications–including Shale Daily, Daily Gas Price Index, Forward Look and more. Yesterday Jim moderated a webinar provocatively named “Will the Marcellus/Utica Overtake the Henry Hub?” On the call was NGI’s in-house expert Pat Rau, director of strategy and research for NGI, who laid out a top-notch analysis of what’s coming down the pike for the Marcellus, and his thinking on whether or not the venerable Henry Hub delivery point (in south Louisiana), which is used as a proxy for the average price of natural gas, might one day be replaced with a different “basis” point–say Dominion South (from the Marcellus). The whole shebang went about 45 minutes.

MDN readers can listen to the on-demand replay and download the slides for free by going to: www.naturalgasintel.com/webinar.
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Apr 8, 2015
April 8, 2015April 8, 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: Wed, Apr 8, 2015”
Energy Companies | Energy Services | EV Energy Partners | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH | Williams

Williams Buys Out EVEP Interest in Utica East Ohio Midstream for $575M
April 7, 2015April 7, 2015

In early February, MDN told you that EV Energy Partners, a company with a huge amount of leased acreage in the Ohio Utica Shale region, was looking to sell its 21% interest in Utica East Ohio (UEO)–a midstream/pipeline company operating in Ohio (see EVEP Wants to Sell Interest in Utica East Ohio/More Utica Acreage). Yesterday EV announced they found a buyer–none other than Williams, EV’s partner in UEO. Williams currently owns 49% of UEO and is paying EV $575 million in cash to relieve them of their 21%, for a grand total operating interest of 70% ownership…
Read More “Williams Buys Out EVEP Interest in Utica East Ohio Midstream for $575M”
Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pipelines | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Mountain Valley Pipeline Sues 103 WV Landowners for Survey Access
April 7, 2015April 7, 2015

A month ago MDN told you that some West Virginia landowners were complaining about strong-arm tactics being used by EQT and NextEra US Gas Assets and their Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project to build a 330-mile pipeline from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA (see WV Landowners Say They’re Bullied by Mountain Valley Pipeline). At the time, MVP threatened to sue over 100 landowners who were not allowing their survey crews access in order to survey and find the best path for the pipeline. It’s not a threat any more. Last Friday MVP filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Beckley, WV asking the court to force three corporations and 103 other property owners in 10 WV counties to let survey crews on their land. As we pointed out a month ago, such a lawsuit depends on eminent domain. The problem is, MVP isn’t yet approved by FERC, so the right of eminent domain doesn’t exist yet–at least that’s our understanding of how it works…
Read More “Mountain Valley Pipeline Sues 103 WV Landowners for Survey Access”
Chesapeake Energy | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Southwestern Energy | Statewide PA

Envelope Please: Top 5 PA Marcellus Shale Gas Producers for 2014
April 7, 2015April 7, 2015

Who were the top 5 natural gas producers in Pennsylvania for all of 2014? The names of the companies won’t surprise you if you’ve read MDN for any length of time. But the order of the list may surprise you, and the number of active wells for some of them likely will surprise you…
Read More “Envelope Please: Top 5 PA Marcellus Shale Gas Producers for 2014”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA DEP Gives Public 45 Days to Comment on O&G Rule Changes
April 7, 2015April 7, 2015

The 2012 Act 13 law required the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) to update sections of the older 1984 PA Oil & Gas Act (see Rewrite of 1984 PA Oil and Gas Act Underway). That process was pretty much done and dusted under PA Gov. Tom Corbett. But then his Secretary of the DEP, Chris Abruzzo, resigned near the end of Corbett’s term, throwing the department into some disarray (see PA DEP Sec. Chris Abruzzo Resigns Following Porn Email Scandal). Tom Wolf won the governor’s race and installed John Quigley to head up the DEP and Quigley had other ideas about the rewrite that was nearly done (see PA DEP Sec Quigley Pulls a Fast One, Changes Drilling Rules). Now that Quigley has changed things up, he’s going to give the “public” a good long look. Instead of the typical 30 day comment period, Quigley’s DEP announced yesterday they will give the public three hearings and 45 days (ending May 19) in which to comment on their changed new rule changes…
Read More “PA DEP Gives Public 45 Days to Comment on O&G Rule Changes”
Butler County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

Why < 9% PA Towns Haven't Passed O&G Zoning Regs: Anti-Drillers
April 7, 2015April 7, 2015

There’s a reason that less than 9% of communities in the 33 Pennsylvania counties with shale drilling have passed ordinances specifically aimed at the drilling industry. They look at the grief experienced in places like Middlesex Township (Butler County) where Martians–a few parents from the local Mars School District–are agitating to prevent a shale well from being drilled 3/4 of a mile from the school (see Rex Drilling Operation Near Mars School Put on Hold). Those towns see how so-called non-profits like the Delaware Riverkeeper are operating outside of their jurisdictional (we would argue outside of their legal) parameters, costing communities like Middlesex big bucks (see Dela. RiverKeeper, Clean Air Council Cost Middlesex Residents $35K+). Other towns look at that festering mess and say, “no thanks,” which is kind of ironic since the towns themselves sued to overturn portions of the Act 13 law, giving them the right to enact their own oil and gas zoning regulations…
Read More “Why < 9% PA Towns Haven't Passed O&G Zoning Regs: Anti-Drillers"
Energy Services | Patterson-UTI

Patterson-UTI Rig Counts Drop More than 14% in 1Q15
April 7, 2015April 7, 2015

How much is drilling slowing down across all U.S. shale plays? This little statistic may illustrate it. Patterson-UTI operates (leases out) drilling rigs for shale and conventional drilling. They are one of the biggest rig firms in the Marcellus/Utica. If you were to average the first three months of the year–January through March–Patterson-UTI operated an average of 165 rigs in the U.S. and 8 rigs in Canada. But if you looked at just the month of March, Patterson UTI operated an average of 142 rigs in the U.S. and 4 rigs in Canada. That’s a pretty steep drop in numbers over the course of just a few months–more than 14%…
Read More “Patterson-UTI Rig Counts Drop More than 14% in 1Q15”
Industrywide Issues | Research | Reserves (Proved and Unproved)

EIA: Marcellus Biggest US Gas Field, Eagle Ford Biggest Oil Field
April 7, 2015April 7, 2015

Last week our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration, published an update to their U.S. Crude Oil and Natural Gas Proved Reserves research. The update/report, titled “Top 100 U.S. Oil and Gas Fields” (full copy below) shows the 100 largest U.S. oil and gas fields by their estimated 2013 proved reserves. That’s the top 100 oil fields, and a second list for the top 100 gas fields–based on 2013 estimates for reserves. It probably won’t surprise you to learn the #1 gas field in the U.S. is the Marcellus. It may (or may not) surprise you to learn the #1 oil field in the U.S. in 2013 was the Eagle Ford (again, based on reserves). It likely will surprise you, as it did us, to not find the Utica/Point Pleasant anywhere in either list! But then we remembered that the Utica was just getting under way in 2013. Still, not even in the top 100? Seems a bit off to us…
Read More “EIA: Marcellus Biggest US Gas Field, Eagle Ford Biggest Oil Field”