Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Jan 5, 2015
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:
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Southwestern Energy on a Tear – Doubles Marcellus Budget for 2015
Southwestern Energy is on a tear in the Marcellus/Utica region. In 2014, the company picked up 413,000 acres and some 1,500 wells from Chesapeake Energy for $4.975 billion and paid another $394 million to Statoil as part of that same deal (to get more ownership of the jointly-owned acreage); Southwestern purchased all of WPX’s acreage–46,700 acres and 63 Marcellus Shale wells–in northeast Pennsylvania for $300 million; and Southwestern cut a deal with DTE Energy to significantly expand their pipeline gathering system in northeast PA. They’ve also been busy in several other shale plays. On Monday, Southwestern issued a company update and guidance for 2015. The very notable thing about that update: Southwestern, contrary to almost every other major and minor shale player, is increasing spending on shale drilling in 2015, by $200 million…
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Accidents | Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Washington County | Williams
Explosion, Fire at Meter Station Along Williams Ethane Pipeline in SWPA
A meter station along the Williams Ohio Valley Ethane pipeline reportedly exploded and caught fire in in Chartiers Township (Washington County), PA–about four miles from Houston, PA–on Christmas Eve. The fire has caused the shut-down of the ethane pipeline that runs some 50 miles from Marshall County, WV to an ethane hub in Houston…
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Moundsville Leases Park Land for $5K/Acre, 18% Royalties
Moundsville (Marshall County), WV recently signed a deal with Chevron that allows Chevron to drill under (not on) the municipal-owned Valley Fork Park. The deal leases the park’s 14.95 acres for $5,000 per acre plus 18% royalties when the gas begins to flow. Moundsville received $74,750 up front in lease bonus payments…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | CNG/LNG | Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Maryland | Regulation | Statewide MD
Anti Groups Ask FERC to Stop Construction on Cove Point LNG Plant
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) recently concluded a years-long process of evaluating all of the ins and outs, environmental and otherwise, for the proposed LNG (liquefied natural gas) export facility in Cove Point, Maryland. FERC decided, after years of research, untold thousands of comments and hundreds of hours of testimony, to approve the project (see Dominion Gets Final Fed Approval to Build Cove Point LNG Plant). Dominion has since broken ground and is actively building the new plant. So what do the environmental extremists from the Allegheny Defense Project (ADP) and Wild Virginia, people who hate fossil fuels, do? They tell FERC, “You didn’t do your job right, stop Dominion’s construction until we can file a lawsuit to block the project.” Before ADP and Wild Virginia can file a lawsuit, they must first get a “rehearing” with FERC, something they’ve requested. FERC takes its time with these things, and the groups are afraid Dominion’s construction will get far enough along that the project can’t be stopped. So ADP and Wild Virginia are asking FERC to temporarily stop the Dominion project until the rehearing, the inevitable ruling in favor of Dominion, and then a newly-minted lawsuit can be filed in federal court. In other words, ADP and Wild Virginia want FERC to help them stack the deck against Dominion. FERC isn’t playing along…
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GreenHunter Cancels Deal with Michigan Co to Build 3 Pipelines
In June, GreenHunter Resources (water subsidiary of Magnum Hunter) announced it would build three new shortish pipelines in the Tri-state area–one each for brine/wastewater, fresh water, and condensate (see 3 New (Short) Pipelines from GreenHunter in Tri-state Area). We later learned that the three pipelines would terminate at a facility located near Wheeling, WV (see Mystery Solved: GreenHunter Pipelines to Terminate Near…). GreenHunter cut a deal with Major Pipeline of Michigan, which was supposed to build and operate the pipeline system on behalf of GreenHunter. But something happened on the way to the Forum. Major Pipeline couldn’t raise the money it needed to fund the projects, so GreenHunter has canceled the plan to use Major Pipeline…
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Remarkable Change in PA Jobs Since Pro-Gas Corbett Lost Gov Race
Funny how prior to the election on Nov. 4 you couldn’t read, watch or listen to a mainstream media report about employment in Pennsylvania without hearing how the job market under the Satantic Gov. Tom Corbett (Republican) sucked big-time. Ole Tom had sold his soul to Big Gas, ya see, with the promise of jobs jobs jobs. And guess what? No jobs. And if there were more jobs–they all went to foreigners–people from exotic places like Texas and Oklahoma and Louisiana. We can’t count how many such (false) stories we saw. After Nov. 4? Voilà. Something changed. Even though the pure-as-the-wind-driven-snow Angelic Gov.-elect Tom Wolf (Democrat) hasn’t yet taken office–somehow, magically, unemployment is at historic lows and there’s jobs popping up everywhere in the Keystone State. Why? The Marcellus Shale, of course…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Statewide VA | Virginia
Rural Virginians Want Internet, but Not Natgas Energy to Access It
The publisher of Virginia Business, Bernie Niemeier, has a fascinating perspective on Dominion’s proposed $4.5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline project that would run through the Old Dominion state. Niemeier supports the pipeline, not the least of which because it will provide a huge economic boost ($450 million in direct benefit to the economy) and a jobs creator (2,800 jobs to build it). Niemeier notes the rapid objections to the pipeline–the “not here, not now, not ever” crowd that has come out of the woodwork. He compares their knee-jerk objections to efforts to build out internet access in rural areas, another project that would cut through the same “wilderness” areas and cause environmental “damage”. We love his observation at the short-sighted obtuseness of those who want access to the internet, but not the power that allows them to access it…
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When Will the Price Drillers Fetch for Marcellus Gas Increase?
Why is the price that drillers in the northeast receive for natural gas so much less than what drillers get in other areas of the country? In a word–pipelines. Or rather, lack of them. When will the infrastructure constraints that cause northeast prices to remain low be resolved? At least several years, according to one analyst…
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Top 15 Most-Read Stories on MDN for 2014
Yes it’s trite, yes it’s overdone, yes it’s a lazy way for an editor to gin up another story (aren’t you glad we’re honest?)…but we’ll do it anyway. MDN wondered, of the 2,500+ stories we published in 2014, which ones garnered the most views? Bear in mind that non-paying readers sometimes read entire articles (if they find them via a Google search). So we looked at overall, for paying and non-paying readers, what caught your interest in 2014? Here’s the top 15 most-read stories in 2014…
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Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Dec 31, 2014
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, Dec 31, 2014” -
Bradford County | Health Impacts | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Research | Statewide NY | Statewide PA
PA Public Health Expert Destroys NY Health Study, Frack Ban
The Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY) is a 70,000-member group of frustrated landowners who have had their Constitutional property rights stripped away by a spineless governor. In an effort to get the truth out about shale drilling and its affects–both good and bad–the JLCNY has taken to the airways with a periodic (every 3-4 weeks) radio program that airs Sunday evenings for an hour on Binghamton’s WNBF 1290 AM radio station. This past Sunday night the latest program aired and it was a must-listen program. The special guest was Dr. Theodore Them, MD, MS, PhD, MPH. Dr. Them is a specialist in environmental medicine working at Guthrie, the 19th largest health care system in the United States. Dr. Them lives in Bradford County, PA, within five miles of 100+ Marcellus Shale gas wells. Dr. Them was on the program to discuss the so-called “health impacts” report recently delivered by New York State Commissioner of Health Dr. Howard Zucker (see After 6+ Years, Andrew Cuomo Bans Fracking in New York). Dr. Them, in our considered opinion, completely destroyed the “findings” in Zucker’s report. We have the full one-hour program below for your listening edification…
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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA
Chesapeake & PA Landowners Settle Royalty Lawsuit…Again
In September 2013 MDN told you that Chesapeake Energy had “settled” a lawsuit that would reimburse Pennsylvania landowners for post-production costs Chesapeake had deducted from royalty checks, leaving some landowners with checks for pennies (see Chesapeake Settles PA Royalty Lawsuit for Pittance: $7.5M). As we said at the time, it was a pittance that Chessy would pay $7.5 million to be shared among “several thousand” landowners, with 1/3 of it going to lawyers. The suit was never settled because some landowners sued to block it while they filed their own, separate lawsuit. The disagreeing landowners have finally joined and have (now) accepted an offer from Chesapeake to settle–for $11 million. Still peanuts if you ask us, but perhaps something is better than nothing?…
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WV Sees Slower Drilling, Crews Go Home for Winter
According to an article today in the Logan (WV) Register-Herald, most fracking crews operating in the Mountain State have gone home for the winter with “don’t call us we’ll call you” instructions. Drilling rigs are idled in WV. Why? According to the article, because of the low-and-getting-lower commodity price of natural gas. While the WV economy is still booming, certain businesses, like restaurants and hotels, are taking a hit due to the absence of drilling activity. When will it improve again?…
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Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pipelines | Statewide VA | Virginia
Dominion Sues VA Landowners to Allow Survey for Pipeline
In September, Dominion committed full force to building a 550-mile, $5 billion natural gas pipeline that will run from West Virginia, through Virginia and into North Carolina (see Dominion Commits to Major New Marcellus/Utica Pipeline Project). The project, called the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, will transport Marcellus and Utica Shale gas to the southeast. In November, Dominion asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to begin an environmental review of the project (see Dominion Asks FERC to Start Environmental Review of SE Pipeline). In order to do a proper review and to finalize plans for the route, Dominion surveyors need to get on property of landowners in Virginia who have, so far, refused them entry. So Dominion has now taken 40 Virginia landowners to court to force them to allow a survey…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | MarkWest Energy | NGLs | Pipelines
KY Antis Now Opposing Kinder Morgan Y-Grade NGL Pipeline
Will Kentucky scuttle yet another pipeline project? A group of anti-drillers/anti-pipeliners, including a bunch of radical nuns, earlier this year successfully stopped the Bluegrass Pipeline project, a natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline proposed by Williams and Boardwalk Pipeline Partners that would run from the Marcellus/Utica region to the Gulf Coast (see Williams Stops Work on Bluegrass Pipeline, Boardwalk Says “It’s Not Dead”). In November, Boardwalk agreed with Williams that yes, the project is indeed dead as a doornail. The KY legislature, and later a KY judge, disallowed the use of eminent domain for the project, which effectively killed it (see Kentucky House Votes to End Eminent Domain for Bluegrass Pipeline and Judge Rules Bluegrass Pipeline Cannot Use Eminent Domain in KY). Mission accomplished for the anti-drilling faithful, like the nuns of Marion County (see Thank God the Bluegrass Pipeline will Bypass Marion County Nuns). But then Kinder Morgan and MarkWest came along with a plan to convert some 800 miles of the existing Tennessee Gas Pipeline, which runs through KY, into an NGL pipeline from the northeast to the Gulf (see Kinder Morgan Y-Grade NGL Pipeline from NE to SW Still Alive). The anti-drilling faithful are getting the band back together to go after this effort. They may not find it as easy to scuttle as the Bluegrass…
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Southwestern Energy is on a tear in the Marcellus/Utica region. In 2014, the company picked up 413,000 acres and some 1,500 wells from Chesapeake Energy for $4.975 billion and paid another $394 million to Statoil as part of that same deal (to get more ownership of the jointly-owned acreage); Southwestern purchased all of WPX’s acreage–46,700 acres and 63 Marcellus Shale wells–in northeast Pennsylvania for $300 million; and Southwestern cut a deal with DTE Energy to significantly expand their pipeline gathering system in northeast PA. They’ve also been busy in several other shale plays. On Monday, Southwestern issued a company update and guidance for 2015. The very notable thing about that update: Southwestern, contrary to almost every other major and minor shale player, is increasing spending on shale drilling in 2015, by $200 million…
Yes it’s trite, yes it’s overdone, yes it’s a lazy way for an editor to gin up another story (aren’t you glad we’re honest?)…but we’ll do it anyway. MDN wondered, of the 2,500+ stories we published in 2014, which ones garnered the most views? Bear in mind that non-paying readers sometimes read entire articles (if they find them via a Google search). So we looked at overall, for paying and non-paying readers, what caught your interest in 2014? Here’s the top 15 most-read stories in 2014…
The Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY) is a 70,000-member group of frustrated landowners who have had their Constitutional property rights stripped away by a spineless governor. In an effort to get the truth out about shale drilling and its affects–both good and bad–the JLCNY has taken to the airways with a periodic (every 3-4 weeks) radio program that airs Sunday evenings for an hour on Binghamton’s WNBF 1290 AM radio station. This past Sunday night the latest program aired and it was a must-listen program. The special guest was Dr. Theodore Them, MD, MS, PhD, MPH. Dr. Them is a specialist in environmental medicine working at Guthrie, the 19th largest health care system in the United States. Dr. Them lives in Bradford County, PA, within five miles of 100+ Marcellus Shale gas wells. Dr. Them was on the program to discuss the so-called “health impacts” report recently delivered by New York State Commissioner of Health Dr. Howard Zucker (see