Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Feb 11, 2015
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:
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PA Senators Have Some Tough Questions for DEP Nominee John Quigley
As the time approaches for hearings on newly-elected Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s choices to head up key agencies, like John Quigley nominated to heard the Dept. of Environmental Protection, some senators will have some pointed questions for him. MDN has covered some of Mr. Quigley’s controversial positions–things he’s written on his blog and the time he has spent at the anti-drilling PennFuture (see In His Own Words: Quigley’s Positions on Fracking, NY Ban, Etc.). He’s a true believer in global warming and thinks the heavy hand of government should do more to stop it. He’s also on record as saying in PA “in large measure, we have not gotten it right in the past”–referring to Marcellus Shale drilling (see Quigley Says Opportunity to Get Marcellus Drilling “Right” in PA). It’s statements like that that are giving some senators, according to Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, “indigestion”…
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Columbiana County | Energy Companies | Hilcorp Energy | Lawrence County | Mahoning County | Mercer County | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Trumbull County | Utica Shale
Full Speed Ahead for Hilcorp in the Northern Utica in 2015
In 2014 Hilcorp spent some $400 million on drilling in the *northern* Utica Shale play–an area that virtually everyone else has abandoned for the more alluring wet gas to be found in the southeaster portion of the play. According to Hilcorp, they are enjoying success in the northern Utica and that’s where they will continue to focus their efforts…
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Devon Puts 2 Utica Wells Up for Sale, Not Happy with OH Utica
Devon Energy has put Wayne County, OH’s lone Utica shale well up for sale, along with another Utica well they own in Guernsey County. To which we say we were surprised. We had forgotten Devon had drilled (or owned) any Utica wells in the first place. Perhaps the reason they’re dumping the Wayne County well, which the say has “future utility,” is because it hasn’t produced a thing–oil or natural gas. The well in Guernsey also appears to be a bust. Here’s the brief blurb we caught on Devon exiting the Utica…
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Energy Services | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | Marathon Petroleum | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH
Marathon Announces Open Season on New Wet Gas Pipelines
Marathon Pipe Line and Ohio River Pipeline, both subsidiaries of Marathon Petroleum Corp., announced binding open seasons on two new pipeline projects in Ohio and beyond. The first is called Cornerstone Pipeline is a 16-inch pipeline for condensate, natural gasoline, diluent and butaine (NGLs) that will begin in Harrison County, OH and run for about 50 miles to Marathon’s refinery in Canton, OH. Along the way it has the potential to connect various processing facilities. The second project is something they’re calling the Utica Build-Out Projects–a pipeline or pipelines that will carry product beyond Canton to other Midwest refineries, reaching Chicago and even into Canada…
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Belmont County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Monroe County | Ohio | Pipelines | Rice Energy | Rice Midstream
Rice Midstream Building New “Zeus” Pipeline in Belmont/Monroe OH
MDN picked up on a bit of news we had not previously heard about. Rice Midstream, the newly formed subsidiary of Rice Energy launched in December (see Rice Midstream IPO Falls Short of Goal by Approx. $134M), is busy at work. They are building eight miles of 30-inch pipeline through portions of Belmont and Monroe counties (in Ohio) as part of their “Zeus” project. This is the first time we’d heard of Zeus (the pipeline). The project will last four months and employ 350 temporary union workers–welders and construction workers…
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Columbia Pipeline IPO Blows By Rosiest Expectations, Nets $1.1B
Last week MDN told you that NiSource was launching an initial public offering (IPO) and spinning off its Columbia Pipeline Group subsidiary into its own subsidiary. NiSource and Columbia were hoping to raise upward of a huge $1 billion (see Columbia Pipeline Floats IPO, Hopes for Upward of $1B). Guess what? They got MORE than $1B! They ended up netting $1.1 billion after pricing units at $23 each (their target was $19-$21). When the units started to trade, they hit $28.01 per unit for a time before falling back to $26.79. How did Columbia’s IPO measure up with some other recent northeast midstream IPOs, like CONSOL, Rice Energy and Antero Resources?…
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Canadian EmberClear Aborts Plan to Build $1B GTL Plant Near Philly
Nearly a year ago MDN told you about another plan to build a gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant in Berks County, near Philadelphia (see Another New Gas-to-Liquids Plant Coming in PA – Near Philly). GTL plants convert natural gas into other products, like diesel fuel. Canadian company EmberClear planned to sink $1 billion into the project, but almost immediately the wacko anti-drillers came crawling out of the woodwork (see 0.0024 of Berks County Population Opposes New $1B GTL Plant). Even though fairly small in number, they are mouthy and they are dedicated. So much so that EmberClear has just announced they’re giving up on the project, partially (mostly?) because of the wackos who oppose it…
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OH Coal Company Sues McClendon to Obtain Copies of Leases
Robert Murray, who owns a coal company that operates under the name Murray Energy, sued Aubrey McClendon in 2013 when McClendon used the name American Energy Partners for his new company. Murray, you see, owns a subsidiary company in Ohio named American Energy Corp. Murray says ole Aubrey has infringed on his company’s name and trademark, so he sued (see McClendon Gets Sued in OH Over New Company’s Name). That was the last we had heard of it, until now. It seems the case is alive and well and Murray has just filed brief saying ole Aubrey should be forced to produce copies of leases he has with landowners in Ohio…
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New Research: USGS In-Depth Study of Fracking from 1947-2010
The U.S. Geological Survey recently released two new comprehensive studies on fracking. The publications are a “first of their kind” and look at the history of fracking and how it’s changed from 1947 to 2010. The report is a nationwide study of hydraulic fracturing trends, but most of the data comes from (unsurprisingly) Texas, where fracking was born. The report is an analysis of data on nearly one million hydraulically fractured wells and 1.8 million fracturing treatment records. Dunderheaded anti-drillers believe fracking is some new fangled, dangerous technology. It’s not. It’s been around for nearly 70 years! Horizontal drilling has been around for decades too. It is the combination of horiztonal drilling and fracking that is relatively “new”. The more you know about fracking, the more you love it. This pair of studies helps us understand how the technology has changed and evolved over the past seven decades…
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Vallourec Star Pipeline Plant in OH Shutting Down for 3 Weeks
Vallourec Star, a steel pipe manufacturer in Youngstown, OH, has had more business than it knows what to do with since it opened in 2012. That is, until recently. With the plunging price of oil and gas comes scaled back budgets for drilling in 2015. Vallourec Star has been experiencing a slow down. In anticipation of even more slowing down, they’ve announced a three week shut down of the plant, meaning hundreds of families will have a big hole in their family budgets. For those that can do without a paycheck for a while, the company is also offering a 6-month voluntary layoff, which signals they think the “slow down” may be with us for while…
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Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Feb 10, 2015
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:
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Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Wastewater
GreenHunter to Coast Guard, We’re Barging While You Fiddle Around
As MDN chronicled on Friday, there is a dispute between GreenHunter Resources and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) over what, exactly, constitutes “oil field waste” (see GreenHunter/Coast Guard War of Words — MDN Explains It). If we might toot our own horn for a moment, we were the first to understand and share that understanding of the key issue, which is whether or not produced water (“brine”) from horizontal wells is essentially the same chemically as produced water from vertical-only wells. That is what GreenHunter and the USCG disagree about. GreenHunter says it is the same thing, and the USCG isn’t so sure. On Saturday, our interpretation of that key issue was confirmed by USCG statements–they remain concerned that low levels of radiation, which may or may not be present in produced water from horizontal wells, DOES make shale well produced water potentially different from regular old produced water from vertical wells…
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Chief Oil & Gas | Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Marshall County | Ohio County | Tug Hill Operating | West Virginia
Lease Terms Revealed for Land Deal in Marshall County, WV
In November, MDN brought you the news that Tug Hill Operating, a privately-owned exploration and production company, did a deal with the Marshall and Ohio County Landgroup in West Virginia for a $100 million signing bonus for about 500 families (see Panhandle WV Landowners Broker $100M Deal with Tug Hill Operating). We later learned that Tug Hill’s CEO was at one time concurrently the COO of Chief Oil & Gas, meaning the two companies are “tight” and perhaps share a drilling program (see More Details on Tug Hill $100M Lease in WV Panhandle). In November we had precious few details, beyond the $100 million signing bonus and a claim that royalties may end up being another $400-$500 million. Can you imagine a half BILLION dollars rushing into the economy of those two panhandle counties? Astonishing. Behold the miracle of fracking! At any rate, we now have an inkling of what the terms may have been. The Marshall County Commission is considering signing a lease with Tug Hill for 72 acres behind the animal shelter. The deal isn’t done yet, but the we know the proposed terms, both for the signing bonus and the royalty…
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Anti-Drillers Don’t Like Being Considered Suspects in Crimes
Some children are never taught the life lesson that actions have consequences–and that you have to take responsibility for your actions. Some of those children grow into adulthood never learning that lesson. If you belong to groups that engage in “peaceful” blockades of fracking facilities or drill sites or pipeline sites, while shouting and screaming like you’re possessed, you might end up on a “watch list” by law enforcement. Why? Because some who act the very same way you’re acting tilt over into acts of lawlessness–sabotage and breaking things. It’s only prudent to keep an eye on groups of people who might be prone to such actions. But if you’re a spoiled child who grew up to be a spoiled adult, you take offense at being held to account for your actions because, well because YOUR actions shouldn’t have consequences. Your actions never had consequences when you were growing up–why should they now? We’re speaking about those who don’t like the fact that law enforcement–and yes, the drilling industry–keeps an eye on people who may be prone to breaking the law…
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EQT Shutters OH Utica Drilling, Still Likes PA/WV Utica Drilling
On an earnings call with analysts last Thursday, EQT’s top management said that they are “writing off” their Ohio Utica Shale acreage, taking a $162 million hit. The acreage performed “significantly below expectations.” However, that doesn’t mean EQT is giving up on the Utica–just their Utica acreage in Ohio. EQT owns a LOT of acreage in southwest Pennsylvania and West Virginia (over 400,000 acres) with dry gas Utica under much of it–and they’re eyeing the Utica in those locations very closely. EQT is in the midst of drilling two dry gas Utica test wells–one in Greene County, PA, the other in Wetzel County, WV…
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As the time approaches for hearings on newly-elected Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s choices to head up key agencies, like John Quigley nominated to heard the Dept. of Environmental Protection, some senators will have some pointed questions for him. MDN has covered some of Mr. Quigley’s controversial positions–things he’s written on his blog and the time he has spent at the anti-drilling PennFuture (see 
MDN picked up on a bit of news we had not previously heard about. Rice Midstream, the newly formed subsidiary of Rice Energy launched in December (see 
As MDN chronicled on Friday, there is a dispute between GreenHunter Resources and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) over what, exactly, constitutes “oil field waste” (see