Marcellus Drilling News

Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | UIL Holdings

UIL CEO “Disappointed” by Phila. Gas Works Deal Abortion
December 15, 2014December 15, 2014

We’re left with one, very strong recommendation, after the abortion of the deal to sell Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) to UIL Holding, a Connecticut utility company: Philadelphia City Council members need to be investigated to see whose pockets have gotten fatter since the deal was aborted. The head of UIL has spoken on the record about the deal for the first time. In an interview last Friday, UIL CEO James Torgerson said he had met privately “multiple times” with all but two (of 17) Philly City Council members and by his count 9 of them would have voted “yes” on a deal to sell PGW to UIL. The only conclusion we can reach is that money has changed hands to stop the deal from going forward. What other conclusion can a sane, rational, thinking person reach? It’s time for an investigation–in particular of Councilwoman Marian Tasco, who refused to meet and talk with UIL even once. Tasco chairs the Philadelphia Gas Commission. Too bad Pennsylvania’s Attorney General, Kathleen Kane, refuses to investigate people from her own party. We say it’s time for a special prosecutor to be appointed…
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Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Talisman Energy

Rumor: Resol Close to Official Offer to Buy Talisman Energy
December 15, 2014December 15, 2014

MDN has been following the rumors that Talisman Energy may be sold to Spanish oil giant Repsol (see Rumor Mill: Repsol Once Again Interested in Buying Talisman). The rumors continue–and Talisman’s stock price is inching up, thanks to those rumors. Talisman stock rocketed up 35% on Friday on news that a bid from Repsol is imminent. How much is Repsol offering for the Canadian Talisman, a company with an active Marcellus Shale drilling program?…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

Big Education Political Contributions Dwarf Marcellus Spending
December 15, 2014December 15, 2014

The far-left (and partisan) Common Cause PA, along with the co-opted-by-the-left Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania, issued a “report” in November that claims the Marcellus drilling industry has spent upwards of $49 million on lobbying and political contributions in the Keystone State since 2007 ($8 in contributions to political campaigns, $41 spent on so-called “lobbying”). What these two partisan groups don’t tell you is that Big Education and Big Government (teacher and government employee unions) spent $71 million on campaign contributions and lobbying over the same period of time–much of it money paid by taxpayers. Convenient how they leave that little fact out, isn’t it?…
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Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide OH

ET Rover Pipeline’s 800-Mile Journey Begins with FERC Filing
December 15, 2014December 15, 2014

Energy Transfer Partners plans to build an 800-mile, $4.4 billion pipeline that will connect the Marcellus and Utica Shale region to Canada (see ET Rover Pipeline Fully Subscribed, Project Scope Revised Up). The pipeline will connect Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio and cross the Buckeye State going northwest before entering Michigan and eventually taking a dog-leg into Ontario (see the map embedded below). These kinds of projects take multiple years to complete–with many steps. On Friday, ET filed their draft Resource Reports of environmental survey data with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). It’s one of the first steps on an 800-mile journey…
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Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio | Statewide OH

4 Important Dormant Mineral Act Cases with OH Supreme Court
December 15, 2014December 15, 2014

In September, MDN shined a light on an important issue for both landowners and drillers in the Ohio Utica Shale: the Dormant Minerals Act, or DMA (see Video: OH Lawyers Explain Dormant Minerals Act & Impact on Utica). The Ohio Supreme Court currently has four cases before it that deal with the DMA. The high court could rule on any one (or all) of them at any time. Here’s a helpful summary of the situation from legal beagle David Wigham, from the firm Critchfield, Critchfield & Johnston, in Wooster, Ohio…
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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research

New Report: Managing the Risks of Hydraulic Fracturing
December 15, 2014December 15, 2014

Yes Virginia, there are risks with fracking. No one ever said there aren’t risks. The straw man argument put forward by those who hate fossil fuels is that fracking is too “risky,” hinting that only a level of no risk is the acceptable level. How does one counter that argument? By pointing out there are risks in everything. There are risks when you leave your front door every morning and get in a car, or on a train, and head off to work (at least for Republicans, people who still go to work). All energy sources have risks–upsides and downsides–including natural gas that comes from fracking. A new study has just been released by the Canadian Fraser Institute that takes an open and honest look at the risks in fracking–and how to manage them. The study is called “Managing the Risks of Hydraulic Fracturing” (full copy below). What does it say?…
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CNG/LNG | Industrywide Issues | Lackawanna County | NG Vehicles | Pennsylvania

Trucking Co Building CNG Station in Scranton, PA for New Fleet
December 15, 2014December 15, 2014

C.A.T. Inc. (formerly Canadian American Transportation) is taking the plunge. They’ve decided to convert nearly a third of their tractor trailer fleet (100 out of 325) to compressed natural gas (CNG). C.A.T. is leasing 100 new CNG tractors from Ryder for their national fleet. In order to ensure those trucks can fuel up, they’ve contracted with U.S. Oil to build five new GAIN® Clean Fuel compressed natural gas (CNG) stations. One of those stations will be located in the heart of the Marcellus Shale–in Scranton, PA–using clean, abundant Marcellus Shale gas to keep the big rigs rolling…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues

Country’s Biggest Anti-Drilling Groups Profit from O&G Investments
December 15, 2014December 15, 2014

Here’s some (more) rank hypocrisy from the so-called environmental movement. They demand that you stop using fossil fuels and that investors stop investing in companies that mine fossil fuels–yet these very same “environmental” organizations have oil wells on their property and continue to invest in oil and gas companies themselves! Here’s the repugnant details about The Nature Conservancy, Sierra Clubbers, National Resources Defense Council, World Wildlife Fund and the Ocean Conservancy…
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About MDN | Calendar

Calendar of Events for Dec 15-28, 2014 [Free]
December 15, 2014December 15, 2014

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.
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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Dec 15, 2014
December 15, 2014December 15, 2014

The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:
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Baker Hughes | Energy Services | Halliburton | Schlumberger

Marcellus Oilfield Services Cos Being Forced to Discount
December 12, 2014December 12, 2014

MDN editor Jim Willis attended the Platts Global Energy Outlook Forum yesterday in New York City. (New York at Christmas time is truly a sight to behold.) One of the more interesting things Jim learned was from a purely off-the-cuff remark made by John Hill, vice chairman and managing director of First Reserve, one of the world’s largest energy-focused private equity and infrastructure investment firms. John was talking about the downward pressure energy companies are making on oilfield services companies–like Schulmberger and Halliburton and Baker Hughes–forcing them to discount their prices. In the case of Halliburton, which is buying Baker Hughes (see Shotgun Wedding: Halliburton Forces Baker Hughes to Sell), Hill said energy companies are telling Halliburton they WILL lower their prices (by 20%) or else. Or else the energy companies will squawk to regulators in Washington that the proposed buyout is creating an unfair monopoly. The energy companies kind of have Halliburton over the proverbial barrel…
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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Research

PwC Report: “Shale Effect” has Major Effect on U.S. Manufacturing
December 12, 2014December 12, 2014

A new report released yesterday by PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) says not only is the “shale effect” changing the energy picture globally, it’s also boosting U.S. manufacturing by saving money boatloads of money and creating tons of new jobs. The new report titled, “Shale Gas: Still a boon to US manufacturing?” (full copy of the 12-page report below) estimates that the continued shale effect on U.S. manufacturing could bring an annual cost savings of $22.3 billion by 2030, assuming a high natural gas recovery and low price scenario. In terms of job creation, PwC estimates that continued shale gas activity will create 930,000 shale gas driven manufacturing jobs by 2030 and 1.41 million by 2040. Talk about a boom! (Meanwhile, the anti-drilling nuts in NY are bleating about banning fracking with their Not One Well campaign–go figure.) According to PwC’s managing partner in the Pittsburgh office…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues

Anti-Drilling Investor Groups Issue 2nd Fracking Scorecard
December 12, 2014December 12, 2014

Last year a group of four smug, self-righteous investor groups–As You Sow, Boston Common Asset Management, Green Century Capital Management, and the Investor Environmental Health Network (IEHN)–released their first so-called “scorecard” on energy companies that use hydraulic fracturing (see Eco-Nut Investor Groups Trot Out Faux Report on Fracking “Risks”). Their claim is that they want to force energy companies to be more forthcoming about the risks (to investors’ money) about fracking. You have to take them seriously because they represent people with billions of dollars to invest. The foursome is back with an update and a new scorecard, and once again a number of Marcellus and Utica drillers are on the list. In fact, a majority of the 30 companies listed have operations in either the Marcellus, the Utica, or both…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Ohio River Valley Anti-Drilling Groups Meet in WV to Plot Strategy
December 12, 2014December 12, 2014

Extremist so-called environmental groups can’t get much traction on their own, so increasingly national groups–like the odious Food & Water Watch and infamous Sierra Clubbers–form alliances and umbrella groups. It makes it look like that there are millions and millions who oppose shale drilling (when such is not the case). What works for the big guys ought to work for the little guys too, right? The trend we see is for small fringe groups to also throw in their lot together (strength in numbers). A group of tiny fringe enviro groups in the Ohio River Valley (WV and OH) recently got together in Huntington, WV to swap lies and collude on their next attack strategies…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Madison County | New York | Pipelines

The 2 Types of Opponents to a NY Compressor Plant
December 12, 2014December 12, 2014

In June 2014 Dominion filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to, among other things, build two new compressor stations in upstate New York: one in Chemung County, the other in Madison County–both along an existing pipeline. It’s part of Dominion’s New Market project (see Dominion’s NY Compressor Plants to Move More Marcellus Gas). Some residents in Madison County are opposed to the new 10,880 horsepower compressor that would be built near some homes. More than 150 residents spoke out against it at hearings held by FERC this year (public comments closed on Dec. 5). What struck us, in a recent story about opposition to the plant, is the dichotomy that exists among those who oppose it…
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Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues

Who’s Building Natgas-Fired Electric Plants in the Marcellus?
December 12, 2014December 12, 2014

You might think the companies most bullish on using Marcellus Shale gas to generate electricity would be utility companies–what is called, in the business, an LDC or local distribution company. LDCs love low-cost Marcellus gas to redistribute to their customers and are doing so. Case in point: UGI Central Penn now sources 80% of the natural gas it delivers to customers in northeast and central Pennsylvania from the Marcellus Shale on its doorstep (see UGI Central Penn Natgas Rates Go Down Thanks to the Marcellus). However, it’s not utilities, local–like UGI–or national–like NRG–that are building new electric generating plants that use natural gas. It is, instead, private equity firms–investors–like Panda Power Funds, building two new plants in NEPA (see Plugging in to Panda Power’s Electric Generation Supply Chain). Why is it that private equity funds are building these plants–not only in the Marcellus but also in other regions–and not utility companies? Bloomberg explains…
Read More “Who’s Building Natgas-Fired Electric Plants in the Marcellus?”