Marcellus Drilling News

Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Education | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Lackawanna County | Pennsylvania

PA Teacher Pollutes Minds of 7th Graders Against Electric Plant
May 4, 2015May 4, 2015

An anti-drilling teacher is brainwashing her seventh grade students into opposing the Invenergy natural gas-fired electric plant proposed for Jessup. Using lessons she’s teaching her students about the great Aristotle and his teachings on rhetoric, Ms. Grace Piconi-Augelli claims her students can sniff out fraud and subterfuge when they see it–and they (or rather Ms. Piconi-Augelli) see it with Invenergy and their plan to use clean burning Marcellus Shale gas to power what will be the state’s largest natural gas-fired electric plant. Ms. Piconi-Augelli is teaching her students about rhetoric, but apparently she skimmed over the section on Aristotle’s teachings on logic…
Read More “PA Teacher Pollutes Minds of 7th Graders Against Electric Plant”
About MDN | Calendar

Calendar of Events for May 4-17, 2015
May 4, 2015May 4, 2015

Below are upcoming events for this week and next. 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 May 4-17, 2015”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, May 4, 2015
May 4, 2015May 4, 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, May 4, 2015”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide OH | Williams

Constitution Pipeline Re-Files for NY DEC Permit, Clock Resets
May 1, 2015May 1, 2015

Something troubling for MDN. The Constitution Pipeline, a 125-mile pipeline that will stretch from the gas fields of Susquehanna County, PA into New York–to Schoharie County, has been approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), a multi-year process. The only thing keeping Williams from starting up the backhoes and beginning to lay pipeline is New York State–specifically the state’s Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC). The DEC must grant what’s called a 401 Water Quality Certificate that allows the Constitution to lay pipe through and under swamps, creeks and other bodies of water. The DEC ran a series of public hearings on it, one of which MDN editor Jim Willis attended in January (see Pro-Drillers Out in Force at Constitution Pipeline Hearing in Binghamton). The DEC was legally due to complete its review and either grant or not grant the certificate by May 8. But they’ve asked for more time, so Williams/Constitution have re-filed their permit request which starts the clock again, giving the DEC and extra two weeks to accept public comment. And therein lies our concern…
Read More “Constitution Pipeline Re-Files for NY DEC Permit, Clock Resets”
Energy Companies | EXCO Resources

EXCO Looks to “Restructure” (Sell?) 150K Marcellus Acres
May 1, 2015May 1, 2015

Just yesterday we brought you the news that (no surprise) EXCO Resources has suspended any more drilling in their 150,000 acres of Marcellus acreage (see EXCO Resources Continues Marcellus Drilling Moratorium in 1Q15). EXCO’s newly appointed executive chairman, who also happens to be Bluescape’s executive chairman (along with other EXCO top management), held an analyst call to discuss first quarter results and the call was peppered with references to “restructuring.” We count at least 15 “restructuring” references in the call transcript. Among the things that will potentially get “restructured” is EXCO’s Marcellus joint venture with BG Group. BG is being bought out by Shell (see LNG Love Story: Shell Makes Play to Buy BG in $69.7B Megamerger). In light of that buyout, EXCO is looking to “restructure” their deal–by which we take to mean they’re shopping their Marcellus acreage. The term “Appalachia” came up a few times on Wednesday’s analyst phone call…
Read More “EXCO Looks to “Restructure” (Sell?) 150K Marcellus Acres”
Crime | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Regulation | Trumbull County | Wastewater

Youngstown Injection Wells Previously Shut Down Resume Operation
May 1, 2015May 1, 2015

Book ’em, Danno!” Remember that phrase from the original Hawaii 5-0 television series that aired from 1968-1980? Jack Lord was great as Steve McGarrett. That’s the image we immediately had when reading a story about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency executing a search warrant at a Vienna Township, OH brine injection well. The EPA was looking for evidence in an “environmental crime.” We have to confess we find the whole concept of “environmental crime” somewhat silly. You have violations of regulations–sometimes egregious and yes, criminal. But we detect a shift by anti-drillers to move the debate into turning what are sometimes pure accidents, other times neglect, but rarely intentional activities into “crimes.” The law-breaking Attorney General of Pennsylvania, Kathleen Kane, is famous for this. After taking office she targeted XTO Energy for what she says is a “crime” that happened several years before she took office. The “crime”? An accidental spill of wastewater. That’s how these people operate. Salem witch hunt kind of attitude–they’re frackers, burn them at the stake! Back to Vienna. The EPA in search of a crime worked with the OH Attorney General’s office and the OH Bureau of Criminal Investigation to raid the injection well facility to find “evidence” of a crime after a recent spill at the facility…
Read More “Youngstown Injection Wells Previously Shut Down Resume Operation”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Washington County

PA DEP Gets an Earful About New Drilling Rules at Public Hearing
May 1, 2015May 1, 2015

The first two of three public hearings being held by the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection on proposed new drilling rules, which were changed at the last minute by the incoming Gov. Tom Wolf administration, have now been held. What happened? What always happens at these things. Anti-drillers parading before the cameras and microphones to demand this and that, and (in this case) pro-drillers commenting on their dim view of the last minute changes made by the DEP. It seems that Wolf and his Acting Secretary of the DEP, John Quigley, have made precisely no one happy with their meddling with the rules…
Read More “PA DEP Gets an Earful About New Drilling Rules at Public Hearing”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | NGLs | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide OH | Statewide PA

First Step in KM’s 1,000 Mile Y-Grade Pipeline Journey
May 1, 2015May 1, 2015

We have a lot of information to boil down and convey regarding what was once called Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s (TGP) “Y-Grade Pipeline”–a natural gas liquids (NLG) pipeline some 1,000 miles long that will stretch from Pennsylvania to Texas (see our 2013 article for background: Kinder Morgan/MarkWest Proposed NGL Pipeline Gets a Nickname, Map). The Y-Grade Pipeline is now called the Utica Marcellus Texas Pipeline Project (UMTP). TGP has a series of 6 parallel pipelines that currently run from Louisiana to western Pennsylvania–carrying natural gas from the Gulf Coast to the northeast (and to points in between, running through Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio). The northeast and southeast doesn’t need that much gas from the Gulf given the enormous production coming from the Marcellus/Utica. The plan is to “abandon” some of the lengths of those pipelines and repurpose the “abandoned” pipelines, reversing the flow and instead of flowing natgas, flowing NGLs from the northeast to the Gulf–eventually (with a new pipeline) from LA into TX. That is the plan for UMTP. Kinder Morgan, owner of TGP, recently filed official paperwork with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to “abandon” certain sections and beef up the remaining pipelines with new compressor stations. We have the full details, including details about four new compressor stations to be built in Ohio…
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Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Pipelines | Regency Energy Partners

ETP Seals the Deal – Buyout of Regency Energy for $25B Complete
May 1, 2015May 1, 2015

MDN told you about the big money buyout midstream company Regency Energy by midstream company Energy Transfer Partners for $25 billion (see Energy Transfer Partners Buys Regency Energy for $25B). As we had also reported, the date for the buyout was April 28 (see ETP Buyout of Regency Energy Has a Date: April 28). The deed is now done and, at least on paper, Regency Energy is no more…
Read More “ETP Seals the Deal – Buyout of Regency Energy for $25B Complete”
Statewide WV | West Virginia

More Info on Rogersville Shale Drilling Coming to WV
May 1, 2015May 1, 2015

We’ve noticed the odd story from time to time mentioning the Rogersville Shale, a formation that sits 9,000-14,000 feet below the surface and is found in southwestern West Virginia and eastern Kentucky. Just a few weeks ago we told you that Cabot Oil & Gas is flirting with the Rogersville in WV (see Cabot Drills Test Well in WV Rogersville Shale, More on the Way?). The anti-drilling Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition (OVEC) pushed out a press release about the Rogersville in WV in March. The aim of the press release is to scare people, but there’s actually some good information in the release about where current development in the Rogersville is happening, along with good advice for any landowner anywhere contemplating a lease–such as don’t sign anything without a lawyer’s review, get your water checked before they start drilling, etc…
Read More “More Info on Rogersville Shale Drilling Coming to WV”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues

The Anti-Fracking Game Plan – Courtesy Saul Alinsky
May 1, 2015May 1, 2015

MDN spotted a post on the always-excellent Natural Gas Now website authored by MDN subscriber and friend Curt Coccodrilli–and we liked it so much we’re repeating here, in full. Curt has the fortunate/unfortunate luck to live in the Delaware River Basin and he’s been an astute observer of the antics by anti-drillers in his neck of the woods for years. Curt noticed how their behavior seems to match that proffered by the now infamous Saul Alinsky in his book, “Rules for Radicals.” Some of Alinsky’s devotees and followers are Bill and Hillary Clinton and Barack Hussein Obama. Alinsky is largely responsible for launching a whole generation of people (like Obama) who call themselves “community organizers.” They are, in fact, community agitators–those who tear down instead of building up. Curt read the book and offers up his take on how anti-fracking zealots have adopted Alinsky’s “rules” and how they employ them today. He calls it Rules for Radicals: The Fractivist Edition…
Read More “The Anti-Fracking Game Plan – Courtesy Saul Alinsky”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Guernsey County | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio | Pipelines

Marcellus/Utica Welder by Day, Prostitute by Night?
May 1, 2015May 1, 2015

MDN told you about the outrageous comments by Sandra Steingraber (from Ithaca College) in her address to a group of “feminists” in Pittsburgh last week (see Steingraber: Only Jobs for Women in Fracking are Maid & Prostitute). The obviously sexist Steingraber said this about jobs for women in the shale industry: “The jobs for women are ‘hotel maid’ and ‘prostitute’.” So when we spotted an article about a female welding instructor at Zane State College in Cambridge, OH–and how she trains both men AND women for welding jobs in the oil and gas industry (jobs that after a year or so on the job fetch a salary of $150,000), we thought we would share it with you. And no–the female welding instructor and her students are not a prostitutes by night. The headline was just a shameless ploy to draw you in and encourage you to read the article about these gutsy women doing hard, physical work in what Steingraber calls a “man’s world”…
Read More “Marcellus/Utica Welder by Day, Prostitute by Night?”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, May 1, 2015
May 1, 2015May 1, 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: Fri, May 1, 2015”
Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Washington County

Range Resources Drills #1 Producing Marcellus Shale Well in 1Q15
April 30, 2015April 30, 2015

Range Resources released their first quarter 2015 results on Tuesday. We’ve spotted a several news outlets trumpeting the “news” in the release that Range has drilled the highest-ever initial producing Utica Shale well at 59 million cubic feet per day (Mmcf/d)–the Claysville Sportsman’s Club No. 1 well in Washington County, PA. Thing is, we reported that news back in December (see Range Resources Drills Highest-Ever Initial Producing Utica Well). The Claysville Utica well is not new news. However, Range did report some new news on Tuesday: Range has drilled what they claim is the highest ever initially-producing Marcellus Shale well. This Marcellus monster well is a wet gas well that produced an initial rate of 43.4 million cubic feet equivalent per day (Mmcfe/d). Range does not identify the well by name but says it, like their monster Utica well, is located in Washington County, PA. Range reports production in 1Q15 hit a record high of 1,328 Mmcfe per day–26% higher than 1Q14. On the financial side, revenues for Range were up 1% in 1Q15 vs 1Q14, but net income was down 15%…
Read More “Range Resources Drills #1 Producing Marcellus Shale Well in 1Q15”
Allegheny County | CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Greene County (PA) | Marshall County | Monroe County | Noble County | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Utica Shale | Washington County | West Virginia | Westmoreland County

CONSOL Energy Narrows Future Marcellus/Utica Dev to 5 Counties
April 30, 2015April 30, 2015

CONSOL Energy released its first quarter 2015 update on Tuesday. Like virtually every other Marcellus/Utica driller, CONSOL’s 1Q15 profits dropped quite a bit–in this case 32%. But there was plenty of good news in Tuesday’s update. CONSOL reports Marcellus Shale production was up an impressive 75% year over year for the first quarter. They cut their costs in the Marcellus–from $3.18 per Mcfe in 1Q14 to $2.62 per Mcfe in 1Q15–$0.56 per Mcfe improvement (18%). The company achieved all-in cash costs of only $1.67 per Mcfe in the Marcellus Shale, which “continues to be the growth engine of the company.” Meanwhile, CONSOL continues to ramp up their Utica program. The company is currently drilling Utica wells in four counties: Greene and Westmoreland counties in PA; Monroe County, OH; and Marshall County, WV. CONSOL says the Utica wells they are currently drilling will come online in the second half of this year. However, given the current low price climate and cutbacks, CONSOL streamlined both its Marcellus and Utica operations in 1Q15. They’ve narrowed future Marcellus development to primarily Greene, Washington and Allegheny counties in PA; wet Utica development to Noble County, OH; and dry Utica development to Monroe County, OH…
Read More “CONSOL Energy Narrows Future Marcellus/Utica Dev to 5 Counties”
Antero Resources | Energy Companies

Antero’s Daily Natgas Production Surpasses Range in 1Q15
April 30, 2015April 30, 2015

Antero Resources, one of the largest Marcellus/Utica drillers, issued their first quarter 2015 update yesterday. They report an incredible 89% increase in average daily production for 1Q15 over 1Q14. Antero’s average daily production for 1Q15 was 1,485 Mmcfe/d (million cubic feet equivalent per day). Compare that to Range Resources, that had 1,328 Mmcfe/d. Antero’s daily output was 12% higher! The impression one always gets is that Range is the big boy in the Marcellus. While true, it’s interesting that Antero has now eclipsed Range in daily production. Something worth noting. It’s not all good news for Antero, however. Like other drillers, net income for Antero went down 20% year over year for the first quarter. Here’s the Antero update…
Read More “Antero’s Daily Natgas Production Surpasses Range in 1Q15”