Marcellus Drilling News

Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Williams

Constitution Pipeline Update from Cabot – Final EIS Due Any Day
July 25, 2014July 25, 2014

The Constitution Pipeline, as MDN has covered numerous times before, is a 30-inch, 124-mile pipeline from Susquehanna County, PA to Schoharie County, NY to carry cheap, abundant Marcellus Shale gas to markets that include New York City and New England (see Vicariously Attend FERC Scoping Hearing on Constitution Pipeline). The $683 million project will be built by Williams, although Cabot is also a partner in the project. In fact, the pipeline will carry mostly Cabot natural gas–another half billion cubic feet of Cabot gas per day will flow through it. So it was no surprise that Cabot CEO Dan Dinges took time to mention the Constitution in an analyst call yesterday. Here’s what he said about timing for the project:
Read More “Constitution Pipeline Update from Cabot – Final EIS Due Any Day”
Energy Companies | Noble Energy

Noble Energy 2Q14: 249 Mmcf/d Marcellus Production, Up 120%
July 25, 2014July 25, 2014

Noble Energy is a big on- and off-shore driller with operations that span the world. A very successful single off-shore project in the Mediterranean, just off the coast of Israel, has essentially made Israel energy independent–no longer relying on Arab countries for natural gas. Noble also has a big presence in the Marcellus Shale–especially in West Virginia. Noble issued their second quarter 2014 update yesterday. MDN has extracted two sections from the update for MDN readers. The first is the general introductory overview, the second the operations update for the Marcellus with particulars on number of wells drilled, where, etc….
Read More “Noble Energy 2Q14: 249 Mmcf/d Marcellus Production, Up 120%”
Anadarko | Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Bradford County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Southwestern Energy | Sullivan County

Save the Loyalsock Coalition Attempts a New Spin Job Against DCNR
July 25, 2014July 25, 2014

Another anti-drilling spin job by the partisan, biased “reporters” at PBS’ StateImpact Pennsyvlania. The reliably anti-drilling Marie Cusick–who (going by her previous articles) hasn’t encountered a fossil fuel she likes–is once again trying to stir the anti-drilling pot against legitimate, legal and ethical drilling in the Loyalsock State Forest in central Pennsylvania. Anadarko Petroleum owns mineral rights for 25,000 acres of the Forest. Anadarko presented a plan in March 2012 (!) to drill there, a plan that STILL has not been approved by the Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources (see PA DCNR Blocks Drilling in Loyalsock State Forest – For Now). Finally, there have been some baby steps toward granting Anadarko access to what they legally have a right to do…
Read More “Save the Loyalsock Coalition Attempts a New Spin Job Against DCNR”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Cuyahoga County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Regulation

OH City Ban on Drilling Heads to Court – Implications for Utica?
July 25, 2014July 25, 2014

Last week two Ohio drillers filed a lawsuit against Broadview Heights, OH, a suburb of Cleveland, for the city’s recently passed ban on drilling oil and gas wells. According to the lawsuit, only the state (via the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources) has the sole legal right to allow or deny a given oil/gas well from being drilled. That is, this is yet another so-called “home rule” court case. This particular case is interesting on a lot of levels. Number one, contrary to the understanding of those commenting on a story about the case in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the oil and gas wells that have been drilled and those that may be drilled in the future in Broadview Heights–are not fracked shale wells. They are conventional shallow wells. Even so, the case could have implications for Utica (unconventional fracked) drilling…
Read More “OH City Ban on Drilling Heads to Court – Implications for Utica?”
Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Talisman Energy

Repsol Eyes Talisman Energy for “Assets” – Takeover Target?
July 24, 2014July 24, 2014

MDN told you last October that evil corporate raider Carl Icahn had begun to sink his claws into his next shale victim. Like he had done at Chesapeake Energy, Icahn started snapping up stock in Canadian company Talisman Energy (see Carl Icahn Snaps Up 6% of His Next E&P Victim: Talisman Energy). Icahn quickly became the puppet master pulling the strings, forcing the company to begin selling assets (see Icahn Now Throwing His Weight Around at Talisman, Like Chesapeake). You knew what was coming when he scored two seats on the board of the directors just a few months later, in December 2013 (see Carl Icahn’s Claws Go Deeper into Talisman – 2 New Board Members). Indeed, what we feared is now coming true. Talisman is now actively considering a buyout/takover from Spanish oil company Repsol…
Read More “Repsol Eyes Talisman Energy for “Assets” – Takeover Target?”
Energy Companies | EQT Corp

EQT 2Q14 Update: Profit & Production Way Up
July 24, 2014July 24, 2014

EQT posted their second quarter update today, and wow, what an update! Profit for the company is up 28% and production increased by double digits–thanks to the Marcellus Shale. Gas production was up 17% and the company’s midstream division saw a whopping 33% increase in revenue. The company says they’re still on track to produce 465-480 billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent this year…
Read More “EQT 2Q14 Update: Profit & Production Way Up”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Health Impacts | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

The Supreme Arrogance of SWPA Environmental Health Project
July 24, 2014July 24, 2014

You may recall an anti-drilling group that calls itself the Southwest Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project (SWPA-EHP) is trying to prove Marcellus drilling makes people sick (see Health “Study” of Whopping 27 People Blames Drilling for Symptoms and more recently, Anti-Drilling Group Distributes Air Monitors, Calls it Research). In an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, a media spokesman for SWPA-EHP makes the breathtakingly arrogant statement that his organization is the public health organization representing people affected by shale drilling in the U.S….
Read More “The Supreme Arrogance of SWPA Environmental Health Project”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Research | Statewide PA

Former DEP Sec. Krancer Skewers Auditor General “Report”
July 24, 2014July 24, 2014

Yesterday MDN brought you the news of Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale’s politically-motivated critical report of the state’s Dept. of Environmental Protection (see Anti-Drilling PA Auditor General Criticizes DEP in “Report”). We pointed out the huge conflict of interest on the part of DePasquale (he supports a renewable energy agenda). Today we have reaction from Michael Krancer, a former Secretary of the DEP during 2012, secretary during one of the four year period covered in DePasquale’s report. In his frank style, Krancer skewers the report, while keeping a smile on his face…
Read More “Former DEP Sec. Krancer Skewers Auditor General “Report””
Health Impacts | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA’s Sec of Health Fires Back at Reckless Accusations Against Dept
July 24, 2014July 24, 2014

The latest anti-drilling push in Pennsylvania is to plant seeds of fear and doubt that Marcellus “may be” harming some people’s health. That tactic has worked wonders in liberal New York, so the anti-fossil fuel crowd in PA have also glommed onto. First to appear are stories planted by anti-drilling PBS “reporters” accusing the state’s Dept. of Health of muzzling its own employees (see StateImpact Pennsylvania’s story Former state health employees say they were silenced on drilling). That story about a so-called buzzword list that supposedly would trigger a “don’t talk about it” rule (which is utter nonsense) was picked up and endlessly repeated in the liberal mediasphere–over and over and over and over again. That’s how yellow journalism works. Michael Wolf, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, has had enough and is now pushing back…
Read More “PA’s Sec of Health Fires Back at Reckless Accusations Against Dept”
Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Research | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Benesch Shale Report 2Q14: Ohio’s New Top Utica Well
July 24, 2014July 24, 2014

Each quarter the Ohio law firm of Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff LLP produces an Ohio shale update. MDN often shares their updates–well worth your time to read. The latest edition, covering Utica Shale activity in the second quarter of 2014, is embedded below. This issue highlights Ohio’s new top producing Utica Shale well–drilled by recent upstart Rice Energy in Belmont County. They also talk about the likely forthcoming increase in Ohio’s Utica Shale severance tax–from 1% to 2.5%. It’s less than what Gov. John “foreigner hunter” Kasich wants, but something that apparently Ohio’s squishy Republicans can live with. Take time to read this well-crafted summary (will only take you a few minutes)…
Read More “Benesch Shale Report 2Q14: Ohio’s New Top Utica Well”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Where Do Things Stand with NY Fracking? ProPublica “Explainer”
July 24, 2014July 24, 2014

The ProPublica website bills itself as “Journalism in the Public Interest.” Although the editors and writers on ProPublica tilt to the left of the political spectrum, we’ve found over the past year or two that most of the time their articles on fracking are pretty balanced–a surprising (and welcomed) aberration in the world of mainstream media. Such is the case with their latest article, a roundup on where things stand in the state of New York with respect to fracking. The writer (an intern!) does a good job of informing casual readers who may not follow the issue closely of just where things stand at this point. We liked the article and thought you might too…
Read More “Where Do Things Stand with NY Fracking? ProPublica “Explainer””
Accidents | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Equinor/Statoil | Halliburton | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Monroe County (NY) | New York | Regulation

OH Rep Hagan Doesn’t Let A Good Frack Accident Go to Waste
July 24, 2014July 24, 2014

Anti-drilling Ohio State Rep. Robert Hagan (Democrat, Youngstown) sent out a press release yesterday that says, essentially, “Na na na na na, told ya so, told ya so.” In just about that childish tone. Hagan has seized on a report that MDN and others highlighted yesterday from the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that alleges Halliburton, following the well pad fire in Monroe County on June 28, took five days to provide a list of chemicals at the site to the EPA (see EPA Reports on Enviro Damage from Statoil Well Fire in OH). What Hagan conveniently leaves out of his childish screed is that Halliburton promptly provided that list to the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources and local firefighters, the two agencies stipulated under Ohio law. The EPA is not stipulated to get a fast copy of the chemicals list–they’re not first responders to the accident. The EPA is there to watch, observe, assess and level hefty fines…
Read More “OH Rep Hagan Doesn’t Let A Good Frack Accident Go to Waste”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Thu, Jul 24, 2014
July 24, 2014July 24, 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: Thu, Jul 24, 2014”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Research | Statewide PA

Anti-Drilling PA Auditor General Criticizes DEP in “Report”
July 23, 2014July 23, 2014

Pennsylvania’s anti-drilling Democrat Auditor General Eugene DePasquale yesterday released a report (full copy below) criticizing the state’s Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) as being disorganized and ill-equipped to handle the rapid expansion of Marcellus Shale drilling in the state. What DePasquale forgot to mention in his report is his own whopping conflicts of interest. While he was a state legislator he pushed hard for so-called alternative energy programs to be funded by the state and as deputy secretary of the DEP he convinced a big wind farm operation to locate in the state. From his first day on the job, he was gunning for the Marcellus industry (see PA Auditor General Targets State’s Marcellus Drilling Industry)…
Read More “Anti-Drilling PA Auditor General Criticizes DEP in “Report””
Accidents | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Equinor/Statoil | Halliburton | Industrywide Issues | Monroe County | Ohio

EPA Reports on Enviro Damage from Statoil Well Fire in OH
July 23, 2014July 23, 2014

On June 28 a fire at Statoil’s Eisenbarth eight-well pad in Monroe County, OH quickly spread and engulfed some 20 trucks on the pad site, along with other equipment, chemicals and supplies stored at the site. It was a devastating fire (see Statoil Frack Trucks Catch Fire in Monroe County, OH). Local, state and even federal agencies quickly responded to the incident and fortunately no one was injured. One of the responding agencies was the federal Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA recently released their initial response report covering the period June 28 – July 5–a chronicle of actions taken, the facts known, and the EPA’s initial view on environmental damage caused by liquids escaping from the pad. We have the full EPA report (below), along with an update on the continuing fallout from that accident…
Read More “EPA Reports on Enviro Damage from Statoil Well Fire in OH”
American Energy Partners | Energy Companies

Aubrey Goes Shopping Again, Wants Another $2 Billion for Drilling
July 23, 2014July 23, 2014

Last week the news broke that wildcatter Aubrey McClendon, former CEO of Chesapeake Energy and current CEO of American Energy Partners (AEP), has filed the paperwork to form a new “blind pool investment” company called Energy 11 LP–controlled by AEP with the sole purpose of raising another $2 billion from investors to continue leasing and drilling in U.S. shale plays. As MDN has previously noted, it appears Aubrey continues to get the band back together (see Aubrey McClendon Gets Back into the Midstream Business). This time around, Energy 11 LP includes some of Aubrey’s old mates from Chesapeake who either left or were downsized by Carl Icahn and Doug Lawler during the Chesapeake purge. Let’s take a closer look at this latest effort by Aubrey, who has raised an average of $1 million per hour since he left Chessy last year!…
Read More “Aubrey Goes Shopping Again, Wants Another $2 Billion for Drilling”