Marcellus Drilling News

Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Shale Jobs Make Slight Increase, Wages Up Avg $2,400/Year
October 15, 2014October 15, 2014

According to the 2011 West Virginia Horizontal Well Control law, the Dept. of Commerce’s Workforce West Virginia agency is required to file an annual report detailing the number of jobs created (or lost) in the shale drilling industry in the state. The report is due by Nov. 1 each year. Last year, the 2013 report showed a big jump of 20%, with wages going up $5,500 in just one year–to $75,580 (see Looking for a Job in the Marcellus? Think WV). A lot of WV’s employment is tied to building pipelines. The report for 2014 is fresh out. What does it show? It shows 1,100 more people found jobs in the industry this year–however, many pipeline projects ended and with them, jobs working on those pipelines. In the end, according to the report, only 69 net new jobs were created throughout the industry over the past year when you add the new workers and take out the temp jobs now ended. However, the average wage for all workers in the oil & gas sector in WV went up again–another $2,400 per year…
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Broome County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Statewide NY

Cornell’s Dr. Cathles to Discuss Methane Migration on Radio Program
October 15, 2014October 15, 2014

Mark your calendar now. MDN is happy to announce “Another Good News Table Talk” radio program, coming to you on Nov. 2 from 7-8:00 pm on Binghamton’s WNBF (AM) Radio 1290 (also available online at WNBF.com). Two Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY) Field Directors, Victor Furman and Frank Cherenga (both MDN subscribers, by the way), will interview Cornell Professor Dr. Larry Cathles about methane migration and other issues related to shale drilling. Please tune in to this one-hour interview to hear the facts presented! You may recall MDN has reported on Dr. Cathles a number of times…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Statewide VA | Statewide WV | Virginia | West Virginia

Trout Unlimited Volunteers to Watch GWNF for Fracking Effects
October 15, 2014October 15, 2014

Two anti-drilling groups with benign-sounding names, Trout Unlimted and Wild Virginia, are training volunteers to monitor streams for effects from (so far) non-existent shale drilling in the George Washington National Forest. Trout Unlimited has been doing this sort of training/testing for years in places like the Delaware River Basin (see TU: Just Eyeball Those Streams, You Know What Shouldn’t Be There). Testing, testing, testing. And what have they found from all of their testing? An environmental holocaust from fracking shale wells? Some mild environmental impacts? Nope. They’ve found nothing. Zero. Nada. But they keep on testing…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Chemung County | Industrywide Issues | Landfills | New York

NY Anti Drillers Apoplectic Over Soil in Chemung Co. Landfill
October 15, 2014October 15, 2014

A bunch of ~~former hippies who are now~~ anti-drilling activists in the Twin Tiers area of New York (Elmira/Corning area) protested at the Chemung County legislature meeting last night. Protesting what? That the Chemung County landfill, which has been accepting drill cuttings from PA shale drilling for something like two years now, is considering expanding the landfill to make more money from PA’s drillers. Accepting drill cuttings is the only way New Yorkers currently make money from the shale drilling revolution (thank you Gov. Ditherer). Once again protesters are claiming area residents will start glowing in the dark–any time now…
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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Oct 15, 2014
October 15, 2014October 15, 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, Oct 15, 2014”
About MDN | Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Maryland | MDN Resources | New York | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Statewide MD | Statewide NY | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide VA | Statewide WV | Virginia | West Virginia

MDN Research: $58B in NE Infrastructure Projects, List of Top 5
October 14, 2014October 14, 2014

Marcellus Drilling News collaborates with the excellent ShaleNavigator service to publish a series of research reports called the Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook. MDN editor Jim Willis is very excited to announce that Volume 2 for the 2014 Databook series has just been released–and it is, without question, our best-ever. Among the pearls in this newest edition: Jim completely updated a comprehensive list of Marcellus/Utica Shale midstream and infrastructure projects (pipelines and processing plants) that first appeared in Vol. 2 of last year’s series. At that time, in 2013, projects either under construction or planned added up to a staggering $40 billion of investment coming to the northeast. This year? It’s even more mind-blowing. Infrastructure projects planned for the northeast now tally $58 billion–a 45% increase! Read on for the list of the top 5 big-money projects planned for the Marcellus/Utica…
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Crestwood Midstream | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA

Crestwood Midstream Marcellus Volume Up 10%, New NEPA Pipeline
October 14, 2014October 14, 2014

Crestwood Midstream filed their latest quarterly operations update yesterday, for third quarter 2014. Crestwood has pipeline gathering/processing systems in three major U.S. shale gas plays: the Marcellus, the Niobrara and the Barnett. They also have an oil pipeline gathering system in the Bakken Shale. The Marcellus is the largest of their natgas gathering systems, and according to the update, flows for the Marcellus system were up another 10% in 3Q14. At one point, the system hit a new daily average high of 700 million cubic feet per day (Mmcf/d). With a couple of new compressor stations coming online, the system will have a capacity of 875 Mmcf/d…
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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

Corbett Starting to Cave on Taxing Natgas? Sort of…
October 14, 2014October 14, 2014

In a fight for his political life, PA Gov. Tom Corbett is dipping his toe in waters he has, until now, not been willing to enter. In an interview with the anti-drilling PBS reporters at StateImpact Pennsylvania, Corbett talked about the possibility of a “transmission tax” on natural gas. He still doesn’t support a severance tax (thank God), but he is talking about a new tax on gas flowing through pipelines in the state. Dangerous talk, if you ask us. Corbett’s best shot at re-election is to NOT cave on the issue of unfairly taxing the drilling industry so grubby politicians in Harrisburg can redistribute the wealth, spending it on their own pet projects (pork barreling)…
Read More “Corbett Starting to Cave on Taxing Natgas? Sort of…”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Butler County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Rex Energy

Martian Chronicles: Delaware River Basin Shifts to Western PA?
October 14, 2014October 14, 2014

The Martians are getting an assist from THE Delaware Riverkeeper herself (Maya van Rossum). Get this: The Delaware Riverkeeper, along with another anti-drilling group called The Clean Air Council (both based near Philadelphia), have filed an appeal with Adams Township (Butler County), PA over the town’s decision to grant Rex Energy permits to drill gas wells 3/4 of a mile away from the Mars public school. In June, Adams Township supervisors voted 4-1 to allow drilling to commence, subject to getting permits from the Dept. of Environmental Protection (see Adams Twp, PA Votes to NOT Block Drilling “Near” Mars School). Just a month ago, Rex got the permits from the DEP to begin drilling (see Rex Gets Permits to Drill Near Martian School, Antis Apoplectic). Some Martian parents objected, and found a sympathetic wallet all the way across the state in Philadelphia with van Rossum. What does Butler County, on the western edge of PA have to do with van Rossum’s Delaware River Basin group, which is focused exclusively on the eastern edge of PA? NOTHING. Except for her personal hatred of fossil fuels and willingness to spend her own (and other people’s) money to fight shale drilling wherever it happens…
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Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Supply Chain | Washington County | West Virginia

Painting a Different Picture of Pipeline Companies
October 14, 2014October 14, 2014

You might think, when reading the claims of some groups, that pipeline companies are callous and will run their pipeline any ole place they want, landowners be damned. “See that hayfield? Who cares! Run that steel right on through it!” That’s the (false) impression you get from some people. The reality is, of course, far different. Let’s hear it straight from the horse’s mouth–from the people who do the surveying to figure out the route a pipeline will take…
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Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Luzerne County | Pennsylvania

Balancing Act for New Natgas-Fired Electric Plant in NEPA
October 14, 2014October 14, 2014

Something’s gotta give. The Obama EPA has declared war on coal energy. In case you didn’t know, something like half (or more) of the electricity you use in your house comes from electric generation plants powered by coal. Because of much stricter new regulations, many coal generating power plants will close in the coming few years. We either face rolling blackouts from lack of electricity–or something else steps up to the plate to produce that electricity. That something else is most likely natural gas. Either existing coal plants have to change out their technology to be fired by natgas, or new plants built. That’s going to inconvenience some folks. There aren’t enough “isolated” spots to build electric plants that are close to the population centers they serve. We (collectively, as a society) face a balancing act, as Moxie Energy is facing with a planned natgas-fired electric plant near Wilkes-Barre, PA…
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Dominion Energy | Energy Services

Dominion Midstream IPO Seeks $350M for Cove Point Work
October 14, 2014October 14, 2014

Last week MDN brought you the news that Dominion would launch an initial public offering (IPO) and spin out the subsidiary Dominion Midstream into its own company (see Dominion Launches Public Offering for Midstream Subsidiary). At the time we didn’t know how much then intend to raise nor why. We now have some insight into those answers…
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Braskem | Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Odebrecht | Processing Plants | West Virginia | Wood County

Odebrecht WV Cracker Plant Decision “By End of 2015”
October 14, 2014October 14, 2014

An update on the progress being made by Odebrecht and their planned ethane cracker plant and petrochemical manufacturing facility planned for Parkersburg (Wood County), WV. At the recent Global Plastics Summit in Chicago, Braskem (sister company to Odebrecht) vice president of business development, Renato Monteiro, said a final decision on building the proposed cracker plant will be made “by the end of 2015.” Here’s a few other tidbits about the cracker plant that came from Monteiro at the conference, including when the first PE (polyethylene) might be manufactured at the plant…
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Endeavour International | Energy Companies

Endeavour Intl Files for Bankruptcy, Blames North Sea Projects
October 14, 2014October 14, 2014

Since 2011 MDN has covered the story of driller Endeavour International’s aborted attempt to buy 50,000 Marcellus Shale acres from SM Energy. Five months after signing the deal, Endeavour pulled out of the deal (see Endeavour Leaves SM Energy at the Altar, SM Ready to Sue). Two and a half years of litigation later, the two sides finally settled (see Endeavour & SM Energy Settle Lawsuit over PA Marcellus Properties). Although Endeavour has no active drilling program in the Marcellus/Utica, they do still have acreage under lease in the Marcellus. Last Friday, with plenty of excuses (seems to be their standard operating procedure), Endeavour filed for bankruptcy protection and their stock has been suspended on the NYSE…
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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Oct 14, 2014
October 14, 2014October 14, 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, Oct 14, 2014”
Atlas Energy | Energy Companies

Atlas Energy/Pipeline Sells Itself (Again) – for $7.7 BILLION!
October 13, 2014October 13, 2014

Breaking news as we go to press: Pittsburgh-based Atlas Energy and Atlas Pipeline, both with operations in the Marcellus/Utica (part of which was previously sold to Chevron for $4.3 billion, see The Unconventional Rise & Sale of Atlas Energy), has just sold what was left of itself–again. This time the buyer is Targa Resources for a truly atounding $7.7 billion…
Read More “Atlas Energy/Pipeline Sells Itself (Again) – for $7.7 BILLION!”