Marcellus Drilling News

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2015 Northeast Oil & Gas Awards: A Quick Recap & List of Winners
March 27, 2015March 27, 2015

This is a shout out to the marvelous people we (meaning me, Jim Willis) met in Pittsburgh on Wednesday at the 3rd Annual Oil & Gas Awards. I was truly humbled and thrilled to meet so many MDN readers! You gave me some great feedback on MDN–feedback that has me thinking about some new initiatives going forward. So stay tuned for the future and what I believe will be some good things coming. During the day I was privileged to host two panel discussions. A special thank you to the panelists on the “Minimizing Environmental Impact” panel: Melissa Hamsher, Vice President at Eclipse Resources; Lauren Parker, Principal at Civil & Environmental Consultants; and Gregg Stewart, Permitting Manager with PennEnergy Resources. And a special thank you to the panelists on the “Health and Safety” panel: Charlie Dixon, Safety and Workforce Director with Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program; Frank Harrison, President of Areion Energy; and Chad McCutcheon, Communications Professional with McCutcheon Enterprises. Stellar panelists all! They made me look good, and that’s a hard thing to do. 😉 There were about 150 attendees at the Industry Summit during the day. MDN will bring you videos (when they become available) for each of the sessions. The evening was the “main” event–a gala awards ceremony with folks decked out in tuxedos and evening gowns. We have the complete list of winners for the 2015 Northeast Oil and Gas Awards below…
Read More “2015 Northeast Oil & Gas Awards: A Quick Recap & List of Winners”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Mar 27, 2015
March 27, 2015March 27, 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, Mar 27, 2015”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Taxation

Obi-Wan Quigley: These are Not the TAB Droids You’re Looking For
March 26, 2015March 26, 2015

Pennsylvania’s Acting Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary, John Quigley, continues to come under fire from PA Republican legislators over his (so far) less-than-transparent operation of the department–especially over firing the former Oil & Gas Technical Advisory Board members and replacing them with his own people, including so-called “non-voting” members (see Why did PA DEP Acting Sec Quigley Mass Fire Gas Advisory Board?). Since he’s losing the PR battle on that front, he’s changed tactics, referring to the TAB almost as window dressing…no big deal…they don’t even have any authority or power to really do anything…nothing to see here, these are not the droids you’re looking for, move along…
Read More “Obi-Wan Quigley: These are Not the TAB Droids You’re Looking For”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA Counties Line Up Against Wolf Severance Tax, Distrust Assurances
March 26, 2015March 26, 2015

Pennsylvania counties are saying “no thanks” to PA Gov. Tom Wolf’s severance tax plan. They don’t believe (justifiably so) that they’ll make out just as well under a severance tax as they have under an impact fee. They’re not falling for Wolf’s “just trust me, ya’ll will be just fine” routine. Wolf is not in a political pickle because the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania is lining up against his high severance tax proposal. Wolf tells counties they’ll still get what they were getting under the impact fee. They’re telling him, politely, that he’s full of beans…
Read More “PA Counties Line Up Against Wolf Severance Tax, Distrust Assurances”
Bradford County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Susquehanna County | Tioga County (PA)

PA DEP Issues Drought Watch in 27 Counties, Including Marcellus
March 26, 2015March 26, 2015

Yesterday the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection issued a drought watch for 27 counties in the state, including some of the most heavily drilled Marcellus Shale well counties–including Susquehanna, Bradford and Tioga counties. A drought watch is, according to the DEP, the first and least-severe level of the state’s three drought classifications and calls for water users to voluntarily conserve 5% of the water they have been using…
Read More “PA DEP Issues Drought Watch in 27 Counties, Including Marcellus”
CNG/LNG | Dominion Energy | Economic Impact | Energy Services | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Maryland | Statewide MD

Dominion Needles Anti-Drillers by Throwing Party for Cove Point LNG
March 26, 2015March 26, 2015

Dominion hosted a party yesterday and anti-drillers weren’t invited. Dominion’s party sported the Japanese ambassador the U.S., Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and other dignitaries–international, state and local–to celebrate the fact that the Cove Point LNG export facility is now under construction. Japan and India have together spoken for 100% of all the natural gas that can be liquefied and pumped through the new facility once it’s built and begins operations in 2017 (see Dominion’s Cove Point LNG Facility Achieves Important Milestones). As near as we can tell this was a party just to have a party. That is, there was no particular portion of the project completed or other “milestone” reason to celebrate. They just wanted to celebrate and (judging from the language in the announcement below) needle anti-drillers (the “doubters” who said it couldn’t be done) to point out that Dominion has won–and they have lost–despite their best efforts to scuttle the project…
Read More “Dominion Needles Anti-Drillers by Throwing Party for Cove Point LNG”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues

Bonnie Raitt Gives Them Something to Talk About – Stupidity
March 26, 2015March 26, 2015

Bonnie Raitt has decided she’s going to give them something to talk about–and it’s not love. Raitt is the latest celebrity to mouth lies about fracking. She’s donating a couple of songs to a new album due out in June called “Buy This Fracking Album”–an attempt to fundraise for a losing effort. Raitt, whose musical talents cannot be denied (which makes this story so sad and painful to write), is regurgitating lies she’s been told. Raitt actually said fracking “destroys our water, our communities and our planet.” It’s just a shame that such a talent is so ignorant of the facts. The only way to get the attention of Raitt and the others contributing to the album is to never again buy a ticket to one of her concerts, never spend a penny on another song she sings, and deny her any kind of revenue. Money talks and it’s about the only language people like Raitt listen to, so let’s make sure she gets the message loud and clear…
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CNG/LNG | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Liberty Says “Non-Fracked” Trinidad Gas Better than Marcellus Gas
March 26, 2015March 26, 2015

For some time a controversy has been brewing in (where else?) New York State. But this controversy isn’t about fracking–at least not directly. Liberty Natural Gas filed a plan back in 2010, prior to the Marcellus Shale revolution, to construct an off-shore LNG import (not export) facility off the coast of New York and New Jersey–in the ocean. A floating LNG facility. A pipeline would run from the off-shore terminal to Jones Beach, NY and from there would connect to a Transco pipeline lateral. But something happened on the way to the forum–the Marcellus Shale boom. There is no longer a need for the terminal. Anti-drillers (anti-fossil fuelers, really) are dead set against it. The Marcellus revolution caught a lot of people by surprise, including Liberty. So did Liberty acknowledge the project is no longer needed? Nope. They’re trying to convince anti-drillers the project is still needed because it will bring in “non-fracked” gas from places like Trinidad. That is, they’re shooting the very industry they belong to right in the head, and attempting to appease the nutters on the other side that will never be appeased. Not a very smart move by Liberty…
Read More “Liberty Says “Non-Fracked” Trinidad Gas Better than Marcellus Gas”
Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Prof. Engineers Likely Need Contractor License to Keep Working
March 26, 2015March 26, 2015

If you’re a professional engineer (PE) working in the Marcellus/Utica Shale in West Virginia, listen up. You may (probably will) be required to become a licensed contractor in the State of West Virginia. It’s a bit convoluted under what circumstance you do and do not need a contractor’s license. This is how law firm Steptoe & Johnson (who just won the “Law Firm of the Year” award at the Oil & Gas Awards for the Northeast, congrats!) explains it…
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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Thu, Mar 26, 2015
March 26, 2015March 26, 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: Thu, Mar 26, 2015”
Chevron | Crime | Energy Companies | Greene County (PA) | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania

Man Confesses, Admits Why He Vandalized Chevron Well in SWPA
March 25, 2015March 25, 2015

Two weeks ago MDN told you about two men who had been indicted by a federal grand jury on felony charges of damaging a shale well (or wells) on Chevron’s Burchianti Pad in Greene County, PA in March 2014 (see 2 Men Indicted by Feds for Vandalizing Chevron Wells in SWPA). At the time we said it was too early to speculate what they were up to and why. Those words were prescient. We wondered if it was environmentalism gone amok. Or perhaps previous employees with an ax to grind. Or maybe a drunken stunt. It was none of those things. As it turns out, it was plain old, garden variety theft–of copper wire…
Read More “Man Confesses, Admits Why He Vandalized Chevron Well in SWPA”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

Marcellus Industry to DEP Tech Advisory Bd: You’re Out of Order!
March 25, 2015March 25, 2015

The Marcellus industry in Pennsylvania is none too happy with the performance thus far of Acting Secretary of the Dept. of Environmental Protection, John Quigley. As MDN has noted, Quigley first fired the members of the DEP’s Oil & Gas Technical Advisory Board (see Why did PA DEP Acting Sec Quigley Mass Fired Gas Advisory Board?), then he pulled a fast one, changing up revised drilling rules that were already done and ready to go under Tom Corbett’s administration (see PA DEP Sec Quigley Pulls a Fast One, Changes Drilling Rules). Needless to say, Quigley isn’t impressing anyone so far. The reporters at Marcellus.com have noticed and selected out some choice comments by the industry, illustrating their frustration with the new regime. One comment even channels Al Pacino…
Read More “Marcellus Industry to DEP Tech Advisory Bd: You’re Out of Order!”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Maryland | Regulation | Statewide MD

Maryland’s Democrat House & Senate Pass Anti-Fracking Bills
March 25, 2015March 25, 2015

On his way out the door of the governor’s mansion in Maryland, then-Gov. Martin O’Malley decided to issue new rules to allow fracking (see Maryland Gets Ready to Frack! Gov O’Malley Files New Regulations). Which at the time we thought was really odd. O’Malley is an anti-drilling Democrat who obstructed fracking for the past four years he was in office. Why the change of heart on his way out the door? Now we know. He wants to run for president–and no one can run for president on a platform of stopping shale drilling. No matter what his motivation–what counts is that Maryland is seeing movement toward using the miracle of fracking. Except now both the Maryland House and Senate have just passed anti-fracking bills, one of which would slap a new moratorium on fracking for yet another three years. The good news is that Maryland’s new governor, Republican Larry Hogan, is pro-fracking and sure to veto any such nonsense…
Read More “Maryland’s Democrat House & Senate Pass Anti-Fracking Bills”
CNG/LNG | Energy Services | GASFRAC | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Millennium Stimulation

GASFRAC Bankruptcy Dims LPG Waterless Fracking; LNG Fracking Debuts
March 25, 2015March 25, 2015

In an effort to minimize the impact of shale drilling on the environment, perhaps the biggest prize of all is to figure out a viable alternative to using water in fracking. As MDN has pointed out numerous times–there’s nothing wrong with using water, as long as you recycle it and/or properly dispose of it. Water is used because it’s economical to do so, and it’s one of the best fluids to get the fracking job done. But still, there are locations, like the western part of the country, that are water-constrained. Plus, it would sure be nice to reduce all of those truck trips to the well pad. One technology that seemed to hold promise was liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) fracking, pioneered by Canadian company GASFRAC. The problem is, GASFRAC is close to the end of being sold off in bankruptcy court (see Bankrupt Waterless Fracking Co GASFRAC Sold to “Third Party”). Does the end of GASFRAC also mean the end of waterless fracking? Perhaps not. An intriguing new LNG (liquefied natural gas) fracking technology is now on the horizon…
Read More “GASFRAC Bankruptcy Dims LPG Waterless Fracking; LNG Fracking Debuts”
Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Even with Capex Budgets/Jobs Slashed, NE Production Still Rising
March 25, 2015March 25, 2015

Capital expenditure budgets slashed 20%, 30%, 40% and more. Mass firings in the thousands by oilfield services companies. The mad dash to raise cash to keep going. Shutting in wells to slow or stop production. Some days it seems like the news is all doom and gloom. But what’s this? Even though rig counts are down, capex is slashed and jobs are dwindling, production in the Marcellus/Utica will continue to go UP in 2015. You read that right. How can that be? According to some excellent research published by NGI’s Shale Daily, production will continue to go up because “efficiencies in drilling techniques and low operating costs are overcoming the energy industry downturn.” That is, good old American ingenuity is once again figuring out how to do more with less. What did the ace reporters at Shale Daily discover when they dug down into the data?…
Read More “Even with Capex Budgets/Jobs Slashed, NE Production Still Rising”
Economic Impact | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | PennEast Pipeline | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Research | Statewide PA

New Study Finds PennEast Pipeline to Save PA & NJ Residents $900M
March 25, 2015March 25, 2015

Concentric Energy Advisors Inc., an independent management consulting and financial advisory firm focused on the North American energy industry, has just published a new report that shows the economic impact from the PennEast Pipeline will be huge for both Pennsylvania and New Jersey residents. The study, titled “Estimated Energy Market Savings From Additional Pipeline Infrastructure Serving Eastern Pennsylvania And New Jersey” (full copy embedded below) finds that PA electric and natural gas customers will see a combined savings of over $500 million, while NJ electric and gas customers will see a combined savings of nearly $400 million…
Read More “New Study Finds PennEast Pipeline to Save PA & NJ Residents $900M”