Marcellus Drilling News

Allegheny County | Butler County | Lease & Royalty Payments | Pennsylvania

East Allegheny, PA Leases School Property for Marcellus Drilling
November 11, 2014November 11, 2014

Earth to Mars (PA): To the anti-drilling parents in the Mars School District in Butler County, cast your eyes to the south in neighboring Allegheny County. The school district in East Allegheny, PA has just signed a lease with EQT to drill shale wells on district-owned property–in one case 500 feet away from the middle school! Now what was that about a well pad 3/4 of a mile from a Mars school–on non-school property–that has you so enraged? (see Rex Gets Permits to Drill Near Martian School, Antis Apoplectic) Back here on earth, the East Allegheny school board unanimously voted last night to lease 170.28 acres of district-owned land (in 14 parcels) to EQT. The terms are…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Butler County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Rex Energy

Rex Drilling Operation Near Mars School Put on Hold
November 11, 2014November 11, 2014

Nearly two months ago Rex Energy received permits to drill five wells on a single well pad in Middlesex Township (Butler County), PA. The site is something like 3/4 of a mile from a school and some of the dunderheaded anti-drilling parents at the school are opposing it (see Rex Gets Permits to Drill Near Martian School, Antis Apoplectic). Those parents should take a short trip south to Allegheny County where the East Allegheny School District has just leased school property for drilling (see today’s lead story). Anywho, even though the Delaware River Basin is clear across the state and hundreds of miles from Middlesex Township, THE Delaware Riverkeeper along with another virulent anti-drilling group, Clean Air Council (also from the Philly area), have launched a challenge against Rex Energy to prevent them from drilling on the opposite side of the state. Talk about sickos…
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Columbia Pipeline Group | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | NiSource | Northampton County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines

Columbia Hits Resistance to Compressor Upgrade in SE PA
November 11, 2014November 11, 2014

A year and a half ago MDN told you that Columbia Gas, a subsidiary of NiSource, was planning to upgrade a compressor station in Forks Township (Northampton County), PA (see Columbia’s SE PA Pipeline Project Includes Compressor Upgrade). The upgrade is part of Columbia’s East Side Expansion project, a project that includes 16 miles of new pipelines to carry cheap Marcellus Shale gas to a natural gas-powered electric generating plant (and other customers) across the border in New Jersey. Last year we reported that the neighbors of the project were just fine with the upgrade. Today, that’s changed, although how much opposition is yet to be fully determined…
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CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | EXCO Resources

CONSOL, EXCO and Low Natgas Prices in the Marcellus
November 11, 2014November 11, 2014

An interesting article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by the only reporter they have left that still reports objectively on the Marcellus Shale: Anya Litvak, formerly from the Pittsburgh Business Times, tackles the topic of the Marcellus and other shale plays as being a “long game” for energy companies. In fact, some producers still don’t turn a profit in this “low price” environment. As part of her article, she shares two pieces of information that caught our eye: How much it costs CONSOL Energy per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) to get the gas, and when we can expect to see EXCO Resources return to active drilling in the Marcellus…
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Ashtabula County | Ohio | Utica Shale

Utica Shale Drilling in Ashtabula, OH “On Hold” for Now
November 11, 2014November 11, 2014

Ashtabula County, OH, tucked into the northeastern most corner of the state, will not see active Utica (or Marcellus) Shale drilling any time soon, according to political leaders in the county. The reason? Basic economics, and, according to those officials, the low price of oil. According to State Rep. John Patterson, the county will be on hold “for a while”…
Read More “Utica Shale Drilling in Ashtabula, OH “On Hold” for Now”
Industrywide Issues | Research

Latest EIA Report Shows Marcellus Production Passing 16 Bcf/d
November 11, 2014November 11, 2014

The American shale revolution continues–at a brisk pace. Yesterday our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released our favorite report–the monthly Drilling Productivity Report (DPR). Lots of acronyms! In viewing total production across the seven major commercially active shale plays in the U.S., which include both the Marcellus and the Utica, one thing stands out: Every single play saw an increase in both oil and natural gas production over the past 30 days. In the case of the Marcellus, natgas production is forecast to increase another whopping 214 million cubic feet per day (Mmcf/d) in the next 30 days. The Marcellus will officially pass the 16 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) mark–forecast for a 16.1 Bcf/d average in December. Utica natgas production is forecast to grow 86 Mmcf/d and hit a 1.67 Bcf/d average during December. Here’s the full November DPR from the EIA that gives you the 411 on the Bcf’s…
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Eclipse Resources | Energy Companies

Eclipse Resources 3Q14: 16 New Utica Wells Drilled, 13 in Prod
November 11, 2014November 11, 2014

Eclipse Resources, an exploration & production company totally focused on the Utica and Marcellus Shale region, issued their third quarter 2014 update yesterday. During 3Q14 Eclipse reports drilling 16 new Utica Shale wells, completing 17 Utica wells and bringing 13 Utica wells online for production. The company produced an average of 85.8 million cubic feet per day of natural gas, a 104% increase from the same period last year. Here’s the details…
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Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies

Magnum Hunter CEO Evans Says Natgas is the Future, Not Oil
November 11, 2014November 11, 2014

Magnum Hunter Resources is a Texas-based driller that concentrates mostly on the Marcellus and Utica Shale. Magnum’s CEO Gary Evans was on CNBC last week (watch it below) to say some interesting things. Among his comments, Evans said that natural gas, and not oil, is the key to U.S. energy production and the future of energy in this country. Evans also said he sold most of his company’s oil leases two years when the market was high, proving to be a prescient move now that the price of oil has collapsed and appears to be going lower since Saudi Arabia has committed to lowering their price for the foreseeable future. How low will the price of oil have to go before the rigs stop drilling here at home?…
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Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

How Will Wolf Appointment of McGinty Affect Marcellus Drilling?
November 11, 2014November 11, 2014

Get this: From 2003-2010 PA Democrat Gov. Ed Rendell ran Pennsylvania over an economic cliff during his administration by raising taxes and raising spending even more. The mess was so bad it took current Gov. Tom Corbett several years to fix it and put the state back on the road to economic sanity. It’s not hyperbole to say that Corbett saved Pennsylvania from bankruptcy. The thanks Corbett got for saving the state? He got fired. Democrat Tom Wolf came along promising the moon–and (using $10 million of his own money and another $10 million of Californian “environmentalist” Tom Steyer’s money) he won. Yesterday Wolf named a former head of the Dept. of Environment Protection (and Wolf’s former opponent in the Dem primary for governor) Katie McGinty to be his chief of staff. Oh, did we mention that both Wolf and McGinty were cabinet members in the Rendell administration? Nothing like getting the band back together so you can take the state right back over the same economic cliff again. Leaving aside the larger economic issues for PA, we wonder how McGinty’s appointment will affect Marcellus drilling in the state…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Washington County

NEPA Anti-Driller Gets Permanent Injunction Against Trespassing
November 11, 2014November 11, 2014

Vera Scroggins, outside of NEPA a little-known anti-driller from Susquehanna County, PA with a potty mouth (see this video of Vera harassing filmmaker Phelim McAleer), has been permanently barred from stepping foot on property leased (or owned) by Cabot Oil & Gas. This has been a long-running court case/issue in northeast PA. Scroggins refuses to stop her so-called tours of Cabot well sites where she brings along fellow anti-drillers to point out…what? A drilling rig? A little, tiny well head sitting on an acre of land so small you can’t see it from 100 feet away? A truck lumbering up a road? She continually endangers herself and those she carts along on her trespassing adventures. Cabot had to sue to keep her off their land. Scroggins was slapped with a temporary injection last year (see NE PA Anti-Driller Slapped with Trespassing Injunction). The temporary injunction has just been made permanent by a Susquehanna County judge…
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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Nov 11, 2014
November 11, 2014November 11, 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, Nov 11, 2014”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY’s Anti-Drillers Fail to Make a Difference in Elections
November 10, 2014November 10, 2014

What can we divine by reading the tea leaves from the recent election outcome in New York State vis-à-vis the relative strength of the anti-drilling agenda in the Empire State? A casual reference to media reports gives one the impression that those opposed to drilling–particularly in the Southern Tier area of New York–are on the rise. Yet in head-to-head contests (at least in the Southern Tier) pro-drilling candidates have now beaten anti-drilling candidates over the span of two election cycles. We can’t find a single race of consequence (anything bigger than town board level) where a pro-drilling candidate lost! Does that portend good things for New York State and the future of drilling?…
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Allegheny County | Chevron | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania

Chevron Scaling Back in the Marcellus/Utica? Maybe
November 10, 2014November 10, 2014

What a difference just a year or two makes–at least in the plans of a major oil and gas company like Chevron. It wasn’t so long ago that Chevron (2011) that Chevron bought out Atlas Energy and along with it 622,000 acres of Marcellus Shale leases. Chevron then picked up another 228,000 acres of Marcellus leases from Chief Oil & Gas. A little over a year ago Chevron got an initial approval to build a massive new 350,000 square foot headquarters in Moon Twp, PA, near Pittsburgh. Then the first red flag–Chevron put that project on hold in July of this year (see Chevron Puts Moon Twp, PA Office Building Project on Hold). Now a second, big red flag: Chevron is “restructuring” its northeast business unit. When a company throws around words like “become more efficient” and “long-term growth” that, frankly, does not foreshadow good things for some of the 700+ people who work in the Appalachia unit…
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Carroll County | Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio | Utica Shale

Shale Saves the Family Farm in Carroll County, OH
November 10, 2014November 10, 2014

Here’s a happy story that gets repeated again and again across the northeast: Shale drilling has saved the family farm. This particular story comes from the Utica Shale in Carroll County, OH where a farmer received an initial offer of $100 per acre–an offer that eventually went to $3,500 per acre signing bonus and 20% royalties. It was, according to the farmer, a fairy tale come true. Indeed, for a 233-acre farm, you do the math…
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Juniata County | Pennsylvania

Will Shale Drilling Come to…Juniata County, PA?
November 10, 2014November 10, 2014

Having tracked Marcellus (and Utica) drilling since 2009, MDN is familiar with all of the counties in the northeast that have had or are seeing active shale drilling. Some counties have had just a few wells, but many counties have had a lot of wells. So it’s always interesting when we run across a county that hasn’t had any active drilling but believes, for some reason, they may see it soon. Such is the case with Juniata County, PA. We had to look it up on a map–where the heck is that county?! Juniata is in central PA, more or less. Not too far from Centre County (where Penn State is headquartered). Juniata has to rank as one of (perhaps THE) most rural counties in all of PA, with a population of under 25,000 people. Recently a landowner from Tioga County, PA–where they’ve seen a LOT of Marcellus drilling–was a guest speaker at the Juniata County Association of Township Officials. He had some good advice for Juniata residents with respect to what to expect if shale drilling comes to the county…
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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA | Wastewater

Researchers: Frack Wastewater “Not quite as bad as we thought”
November 10, 2014November 10, 2014

What do you know–some real science has once again popped up with respect to shale drilling. A pair of researchers from Rice University published the results of their analysis of frack wastewater from the PA Marcellus Shale, the TX Eagle Ford Shale, and the NM Barnett Shale. The study, titled “Organic compounds in produced waters from shale gas wells” (full copy below) was just published in the October issue of the journal Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts. The study is a detailed breakdown of the chemical components found in shale wastewater. And what did the study find? According to one of the researchers, the results show the frack water “was not quite as bad as we thought”…
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