Marcellus Drilling News

Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies

Chesapeake Gets $4B Line of Credit Refinanced Extra 5 Yrs
December 17, 2014December 17, 2014

With numbers that are really too large to get your head around, Chesapeake Energy announced yesterday that their creditors have agreed to give them another five years to pay back $4 billion–and the deal will allow them to borrow up to another $1 billion along the way! To be fair, it is an “unsecured revolving credit facility.” That is, a line a credit. Write a check and if you haven’t borrowed up to the maximum, the check will clear. The announcement does not say how much of that $4 billion, originally due in December 2015, has been used and how much is left to be used. Here’s what Chessy did say yesterday:
Read More “Chesapeake Gets $4B Line of Credit Refinanced Extra 5 Yrs”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA Sen Brewster’s “Excrement for Education” Severance Tax Bill
December 17, 2014December 17, 2014

Pennsylvania State Sen. Jim Brewster (Democrat from Allegheny & Westomoreland counties) wants to be known as the politician that killed Marcellus drilling in the Keystone State. That’s the only thing we can conclude from his efforts to introduce (yet again) a bill that would tax Marcellus drilling into idleness. Brewster’s plan calls for KEEPING the impact fee and ADDING a severance tax to it–but deducting impact fee payments from the severance tax. Complicated cockamamie? Yeah. Brewster proudly calls his bill/plan “Extraction for Education” because it will give all of the severance portion raised (5% or whatever portion it works out after impact fees) to teachers’ unions. We call it “Excrement for Education”…
Read More “PA Sen Brewster’s “Excrement for Education” Severance Tax Bill”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA Senators to Re-Introduce Impact Fee Bill for Pipelines
December 17, 2014December 17, 2014

Two Philadelphia-area state senators, John Rafferty (Republican from Collegeville), and Andrew Dinniman (Democcrat from West Chester), will introduce legislation in January that would extend the Act 13 impact fee to include newly built gathering and transmission pipelines in the state. The new fee/tax would be based on the amount of acreage used by the pipeline, which includes the entire right-of-way on either side of the pipeline. According to the senators, most of the revenue generated would stay with the local counties and towns where the pipeline is located, in keeping with the intent of an impact fee. The industry is pushing back, saying pipelines have a minimal impact…
Read More “PA Senators to Re-Introduce Impact Fee Bill for Pipelines”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Dec 17, 2014
December 17, 2014December 17, 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 17, 2014”
Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Utica Shale | Washington County

Range Resources Drills Highest-Ever Initial Producing Utica Well
December 16, 2014December 16, 2014

Yesterday Range Resources released an announcement with two big pieces of news. The first (and lesser) news is this: Range is trimming its 2015 exploration and production budget by 18% compared to what they spent this year. The 2015 capital expenditure budget is now set at $1.3 billion. However, the company says production will continue to increase, even with less spending on drilling. The second and more important news: Range has drilled a Utica Shale well that has dethroned Magnum Hunter’s Utica well (see Magnum Hunter Takes the Prize: Top Producing Utica Well) as being the most initially productive horizontal shale well ever–in the Marcellus, Utica or any other shale play. Range says their Utica well is producing an initial production rate of a mind-blowing 59 million cubic feet per day (Mmcf/d). In the course of a single month, that one well produces enough gas to heat more than 25,000 U.S. homes for an entire winter. Oh…and just where is Range’s new gargantuan Utica well located? In Washington County, PA…
Read More “Range Resources Drills Highest-Ever Initial Producing Utica Well”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Maryland | Regulation | Statewide MD

Maryland Gets Ready to Frack! Gov O’Malley Files New Regulations
December 16, 2014December 16, 2014

You’ll be hard pressed to find a reference to some of the most important news over the past four years when it comes to Maryland and fracking–but it happened last Friday when Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley filed a copy of draft regulations to be printed in the next edition of the Maryland Register. What does it mean? It means once the rule is published, after a certain period of time it goes into effect and the moratorium on shale drilling in the state will be lifted. This is truly momentous news and the only source talking about it (so far) is the odious Food & Water Watch…
Read More “Maryland Gets Ready to Frack! Gov O’Malley Files New Regulations”
Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Talisman Energy

Spanish Respol Buys Marcellus E&P Talisman Energy for $8/Share
December 16, 2014December 16, 2014

It’s no longer rumor and innuendo. Looks like corporate raider Carl Icahn has chased Talisman Energy into the arms of Spanish oil giant Repsol. Talisman released a statement this morning to say Repsol is buying the company lock, stock and barrel for $8 per share (U.S., $9.33 per share Canadian). The board of directors for both companies have unanimously approved the deal. Now the PR campaign begins to convince regulators in Canada (and Spain) that it’s a good deal and should be approved. Here’s the official announcement from Talisman…
Read More “Spanish Respol Buys Marcellus E&P Talisman Energy for $8/Share”
Health Impacts | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Research | Statewide NY

NY Gov Cuomo Teases (Again) Health Report Ready “This Year”
December 16, 2014December 16, 2014

Once again New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is being a tease with regard to the fracking issue. Question is, do we believe him this time? Or is this yet another empty promise? During this fall’s single/only gubernatorial debate, Cuomo was asked about the fracking issue and he said a report from the state Dept. of Health on the fracking issue is due by the end of this year (now two weeks away). At the time, his harried campaign staff ran around after that off-the-cuff remark to “explain” what he really meant by it (see Cuomo Staff Explains “End of Year” Deadline for Frack Report). It’s all about managing expectations, and if you’re a Democrat, managing stupid voters (witness comments by Jonathan Gruber and how he and others hookwinked stupid voters to sell passage of Obamacare). Yesterday in a radio interview, Cuomo once again mentioned the fracking health report and said it is “on time” for delivery THIS year. That caught the eye of the Independent Oil & Gas Association of New York…
Read More “NY Gov Cuomo Teases (Again) Health Report Ready “This Year””
Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH | Summit Midstream | Utica Shale | XTO

XTO Gets Serious in OH Utica, Hires Summit for Gathering System
December 16, 2014December 16, 2014

XTO Energy, wholly-owned subsidiary of ExxonMobil, has an active drilling program in the Marcellus and Utica Shale region. But when was the last time you heard anything about new wells or activity by XTO? The company largely stays off the radar. According to MDN’s Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook, the company gets somewhere between 20-25 new permits every four months to drill in the PA Marcellus. So far this year, XTO has received 11 and 17 permits (Jan-Apr and May-Aug respectively) for new wells in the Ohio Utica Shale, which is the first appreciable drilling done by the company in the Utica. With Utica drilling under way, it must be time to build pipelines to connect the wells–and right on cue, we have an announcement from Summit Midstream Partners that they’ve signed a contract with XTO to build a gathering pipeline network…
Read More “XTO Gets Serious in OH Utica, Hires Summit for Gathering System”
Accidents | Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Monroe County | Ohio | Regulation | Triad Hunter

ODNR Weighs in on Triad Hunter Well Blowout in Monroe County, OH
December 16, 2014December 16, 2014

Yesterday MDN brought you news that Triad Hunter had a well blowout in Monroe County, OH at their Stalder 3UH well (see Triad Hunter Well Blowout in Monroe County, OH – No One Injured). We have a brief update from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources on that incident…
Read More “ODNR Weighs in on Triad Hunter Well Blowout in Monroe County, OH”
Landowner Coalition News | Lease & Royalty Payments | Pennsylvania | Washington County

Go it Alone? Or Join a Landowner Coalition/Group?
December 16, 2014December 16, 2014

Not every landowner can belong to a group that negotiates a lease to allow Marcellus or Utica Shale drilling. In some areas (like PA, WV and OH), much of the large tracts of land is already leased. However, if you can belong to such a group, MDN believes it is in your best interests to do so. For example, take the experience of landowners in Washington County, PA…
Read More “Go it Alone? Or Join a Landowner Coalition/Group?”
Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA “High” Society Meeting Yields News Related to Marcellus
December 16, 2014December 16, 2014

It’s interesting and instructive that when members of the Pennsylvania Society, the so-called “cream of Pennsylvania’s elite” get together for their annual soiree, they go to…New York City. And they party. At this year’s meeting there were several pieces of news that related to the Marcellus Shale. In fact, three of the four major pieces of news are closely tied to the Marcellus. They include: corrupt Philadelphia City Council President Darrell Clarke wants to run for mayor; incompetent PA Attorney General Kathleen Kane will run for a second ignominious term; and new PA Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman appears to be a RINO like the outgoing Senate Majority Leader…
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Commodity Price | Crude Oil | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

How are Low Oil Prices Affecting Marcellus-Focused Law Practices?
December 16, 2014December 16, 2014

We continue to see stories mentioning the collapse of the oil price and its potential ramifications on shale drilling in the northeast. Yesterday we brought you insight into how low oil prices may (or may not) be affecting Ohio Utica Shale drilling (see OOGA Says Some Drilling in OH Stopped by Low Oil Price). Today, we have a story about how the low price of oil may or may not be affecting the legal industry that serves the Marcellus and Utica industry. When it comes to whether or not lawyers are seeing a slow down, it all depends on what part of the industry they serve…
Read More “How are Low Oil Prices Affecting Marcellus-Focused Law Practices?”
Commodity Price | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH

Dominion East Ohio Says Natgas Prices Stay “Moderate” This Winter
December 16, 2014December 16, 2014

Dominion East Ohio, a natural gas utility operating in the Buckeye State, issued a statement yesterday for the benefit of its customers to say, in essence, the price of natural gas this winter shouldn’t spike like they did last year with the polar vortex. In fact, Dominion East says rates will likely be lower. Characterizing the rates for this winter as “moderate,” Dominion East said the overall rate will not exceed $6 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf). Why? Because of the natural gas being produced in the prolific Marcellus and Utica Shale…
Read More “Dominion East Ohio Says Natgas Prices Stay “Moderate” This Winter”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Dec 16, 2014
December 16, 2014December 16, 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: Tue, Dec 16, 2014”
Accidents | Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Monroe County | Ohio | Triad Hunter | Utica Shale

Triad Hunter Well Blowout in Monroe County, OH – No One Injured
December 15, 2014December 15, 2014

On Saturday, Triad Hunter, wholly-owned drilling subsidiary of Magnum Hunter Resources, lost control of a Utica Shale well in Monroe County, OH. The well had been drilled and temporarily plugged as the company planned to drill three more wells at the pad. However, “the well began to flow uncontrollably while recommencing production operations” according to a statement released by Magnum Hunter. Well pad personnel along with 28 homes located within a mile and a half were evacuated. Wild Well Control of Houston has been contacted and (presumably) now on site to contain the well. No injuries have been reported…
Read More “Triad Hunter Well Blowout in Monroe County, OH – No One Injured”