Marcellus Drilling News

Allegheny County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Venango County | Wastewater

PA Driller Slapped with $250K Fine for Dumping Brine, Erosion
August 27, 2014August 27, 2014

UPDATE: An alert MDN reader from Venango County with industry knowledge contacted MDN to say he very much doubts Henderson has done any Marcellus Shale drilling. Henderson’s history is as a shallow/conventional driller and not a shale driller. Thanks for that clarification!

William Henderson, the president and operator of three companies–Titusville Oil & Gas Associates Inc., Eagle Line Corporation, and Olympia Oil Services Inc.–has been fined $250,000 by the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) for violations of the Clean Stream Law, Solid Waste Management Act, and Oil and Gas Act. The DEP says Henderson and his companies have caused environmental damage from illegal discharges of production fluids (brine), for causing erosion, and more. The violations occurred from 2010 to 2014. It’s not clear to MDN that any of the violations were from Marcellus Shale drilling activities, but it seems likely. Here’s what the DEP said, along with information not provided by the DEP that MDN has dug up on Henderson from 2011…
Read More “PA Driller Slapped with $250K Fine for Dumping Brine, Erosion”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Transco | Williams

Williams to Expand Transco Pipeline Again, More Marcellus to NE
August 27, 2014August 27, 2014

There’s no doubt that Williams is a major midstream player in the Marcellus and Utica Shale. Williams is in the process of growing–massively–by purchasing Access Midstream (see Big News: Williams Partners Buying Access Midstream for $6B). Williams is also the owner of the Transcontinental (or Transco) pipeline, a 10,200-mile pipeline system, extending from South Texas to New York City. Williams wants to further expand the Transco with it’s Atlantic Sunrise project to bring Marcellus gas to the northeast and southern states (see Williams Plans $2.1B Transco Pipeline Expansion, 100% Sold Already). Yesterday Williams announced an open season (period of time when new customers can sign up) for yet a another expansion of the Transco, this time to bring more Marcellus Shale gas to places like New Jersey and New York City. This newest expansion is being called the Diamond East Project and Williams expects to pony up $500-$800 million to make it happen by 2018…
Read More “Williams to Expand Transco Pipeline Again, More Marcellus to NE”
Accidents | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Wastewater | Westmoreland County | WPX Energy

DEP Says WPX Needs to Replace 3rd Water Supply in SW PA
August 27, 2014August 27, 2014

In July, MDN told you the water wells for two of three families living near a WPX recycled frack wastewater impoundment (i.e. “pond”), near Ligonier (Westmoreland County), PA, were determined to have been contaminated by that impoundment. That is, the Kalp impoundment leaked into the ground, according to the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), and that has caused a long-term problem with those wells (see WPX Wastewater Impoundment Source of Water Contamination in W PA? and our follow-up story Important Update on WPX Energy Leaking Impoundment in SWPA). The DEP has made a final determination that the third family’s well, the elderly Ken and Mildred Geary, was also affected and that WPX will need to find a permanent water replacement solution for them too…
Read More “DEP Says WPX Needs to Replace 3rd Water Supply in SW PA”
Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Wastewater | West Virginia

Mystery Solved: GreenHunter Pipelines to Terminate Near…
August 27, 2014August 27, 2014

Now that U.S. Coast Guard’s comment period for barging frack wastewater is officially closed and a positive decision to move forward is likely, we expect to see more movement from GreenHunter Water on building out their barge facility near Wheeling, WV. As part of GreenHunter’s master plan, the company announced at the end of June that they will build three new (short) pipelines, one each dedicated to brine/wastewater, fresh water, and condensate (see 3 New (Short) Pipelines from GreenHunter in Tri-state Area). The three pipelines will all terminate in the same location–but until now, GreenHunter has been cagey about where (see GreenHunter’s Unidentified Barge Facility Pipeline Destination). We said at the time the betting money is on GreenHunter’s facility in Wheeling. Were we right?…
Read More “Mystery Solved: GreenHunter Pipelines to Terminate Near…”
Energy Companies | Forced Pooling | Hilcorp Energy | Industrywide Issues | Lawrence County | Pennsylvania | Regulation

PA DEP Rescedules Hilcorp Forced Pooling Hearing 4th Time
August 27, 2014August 27, 2014

Hearings on Hilcorp’s request to force a few recalcitrant property owners with a total of 35 acres in the middle of land leased by Hilcorp to allow Hilcorp to drill have now been rescheduled for the end of October. This is the fourth time these hearings have been rescheduled by the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP). Why the ongoing delays for these hearings?…
Read More “PA DEP Rescedules Hilcorp Forced Pooling Hearing 4th Time”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Wastewater

AAF Fails to Get Many to Oppose Barged Frack Wastewater
August 27, 2014August 27, 2014

Americans Against Fracking (AAF), a loose confederation of virulent anti-drilling groups who oppose fossil fuels and their use in society, has issued a press release to commemorate/mourn the closing of the comment period on whether or not the U.S. Coast Guard and a myriad of other federal agencies should allow barging of frack wastewater on the Ohio River. Even though AAF has multiple groups backing it–including the odious and misnamed Food & Water Watch–they were only able to get 3,400 people to sign form letters opposing federal approval for barging of frack wastewater. And so the propaganda machine at AAF has tried to spin that into a positive. What other choice do they have?…
Read More “AAF Fails to Get Many to Oppose Barged Frack Wastewater”
Butler County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Rex Energy

Rex Energy Chimes In on MarkWest Expansion Announcement
August 27, 2014August 27, 2014

Yesterday MDN told you the news that MarkWest Energy is building two additional natural gas processing plants at their Keystone processing complex in Butler County, PA–one for EdgeMarc Energy and the other for Rex Energy (see MarkWest Expanding Again in Butler County, PA with Rex & EdgeMarc). Today we bring you Rex Energy’s press release announcing the same news. We don’t detect any real new news in Rex’s version of the release, although there are a few additional details not found in the MarkWest release. We bring it to you because it’s always fascinating to us to see how different companies present news that highlights what they want it to highlight…
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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Aug 27, 2014
August 27, 2014August 27, 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, Aug 27, 2014”
Allegheny County | CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania

Sky is the Limit: CONSOL Begins Drilling at Pittsburgh Airport
August 26, 2014August 26, 2014

Yesterday was a special day at Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT). Yesterday CONSOL Energy, winner of the right to drill on airport property, broke ground in a big ceremony that included Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, Allegheny County Chief Executive Rich Fitzgerald, and CONSOL Energy President and CEO Nick DeIuliis. A host of other politicians and business leaders were also present. CONSOL previously paid PIT a $50 million signing bonus, after initially floating a lowball offer of $20.8 million for a signing bonus, plus 18% royalties (see CONSOL Increases Bonus Offer to Pgh Airport by 2.4 Times to $50M). CONSOL later raised their price and won the contract, which will eventually pay out something like $500 million to PIT. Beyond drilling 45 wells in the Marcellus layer, CONSOL has the option to later drill even more wells in the Utica and Upper Devonian layers at PIT. In other words, the sky’s the limit for both CONSOL and PIT…
Read More “Sky is the Limit: CONSOL Begins Drilling at Pittsburgh Airport”
Lease & Royalty Payments | Marshall County | Pleasants County | Statewide WV | West Virginia | Wetzel County

State of WV Looks to Lease Area Under Ohio River for Drilling
August 26, 2014August 26, 2014

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin is a pro-drilling Democrat–an unusual occurrence. In fact, Tomblin is so pro-drilling, he’s looking to lease the land underneath the Ohio River for drilling! That’s sure to give the nutters in the WV Sierra Club heartburn. The governor and his Commerce Secretary, Keith Burdette, have published an official notice seeking bids from drillers. Tomblin and Burdette want a signing bonus AND a hefty royalty to boot. Although a target per-acre bonus amount has not been specified, Tomblin has publicly stated he’d like to see a 20% royalty on any such under-the-river leases…
Read More “State of WV Looks to Lease Area Under Ohio River for Drilling”
Chief Oil & Gas | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Tug Hill Operating

Tug Hill’s Wandering Eye – JV with Quantum Targets Non-Marcellus
August 26, 2014November 13, 2014

Tug Hill, Inc., an investment firm owns an oil and gas drilling subsidiary called Tug Hill Operating. Tug Hill, to date, has been bosom buddies with Chief Oil & Gas in the Marcellus Shale region (see these MDN articles). Together Tug Hill and Chief have established a lease position of a massive 600,000 Marcellus Shale acres. But what’s this? Tug Hill has a new dance partner. While Tug Hill is not abandoning Chief and their current joint drilling program in the Marcellus, they went looking and found some big money backing from Quantum Energy Partners, a Houston, TX-based private investment firm. Quantum and Tug Hill together (mostly Quantum) is pumping $450 million into a brand new joint venture between the companies to drill in other shale (and perhaps non-shale) plays across the U.S….
Read More “Tug Hill’s Wandering Eye – JV with Quantum Targets Non-Marcellus”
CONE Midstream | CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Noble Energy | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA

CONSOL & Noble Energy Form New Marcellus Midstream Company
August 26, 2014August 26, 2014

Rather than contract with MarkWest Energy, Williams, or another midstream company, CONSOL Energy and Noble Energy, who together have a joint venture to drill in certain areas of the Marcellus Shale (or “upstream” venture), have now decided to form their own “midstream” (or pipeline) company too. Dubbed CONE Midstream–perhaps some weird amalgamation of the CONSOL and Noble Energy names–the new midstream company will take the form of a master limited partnership, or MLP. So far CONSOL and Noble have only filed paperwork and announced who will sell units (rough equivalent of shares of stock). While the announcement from CONSOL doesn’t say who will operate the new midstream company, it sure looks to us like CONSOL will be the one calling the shots…
Read More “CONSOL & Noble Energy Form New Marcellus Midstream Company”
Beaver County | Butler County | EdgeMarc Energy | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Rex Energy

MarkWest Expanding Again in Butler County, PA with Rex & EdgeMarc
August 26, 2014August 26, 2014

When you have a good thing going, like MarkWest Energy does with its Keystone processing complex in Butler County, PA, you keep growing it. And that’s just what MarkWest is doing. The company announced today they have a couple of new customers for the complex–Rex Energy and EdgeMarc Energy. The new customers will each get their own 200 million cubic feet per day (Mmcf/d) processing plants in the Bluestone facility–part of the Keystone complex that includes Bluestone and Sarsen facilities. In addition, MarkWest is also adding an additional 40,000 barrels per day (Bbl/d) of de-ethanization capacity and over 20,000 Bbl/d of additional propane and heavier NGL fractionation capacity. It means more capacity, more production, more money for landowners, and more major money will be invested in Butler County…
Read More “MarkWest Expanding Again in Butler County, PA with Rex & EdgeMarc”
Antero Resources | Energy Companies

Antero Boasts 5K Potential Drilling Locations in Marcellus/Utica
August 26, 2014August 26, 2014

Antero Resources continues to impress. The company has now amassed 493,000 acres of leases in the Marcellus/Utica, which includes access to the Devonian layer as well. As we told you a month ago, their drilling program is rapidly expanding (see Antero Resources: Marcellus/Utica Program Going Gangbusters). And as we told you barley three weeks ago, they had a tremendous second quarter (see Antero Resources 2Q14: Gas Production Doubles, NGLs Quadruple). Following on their 2Q14 update, MDN has located a copy of the Antero PowerPoint slide deck, recently updated and jam-packed with charts and maps and graphs. One very interesting statistic is Antero’s 3P (proved, probable and possible) drilling locations…
Read More “Antero Boasts 5K Potential Drilling Locations in Marcellus/Utica”
Air Quality | Beaver County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Odebrecht | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell | West Virginia | Wood County

Cracker Race Continues: Odebrecht Files Remediation Application
August 26, 2014August 26, 2014

The race continues to see who will build the first multi-billion dollar ethane cracker plant in the Marcellus/Utica region. Yesterday MDN brought you the news that Shell had filed, back in May, a detailed air pollution application with the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) for their proposed cracker plant in Beaver County, PA (see Details for Shell Ethane Cracker Revealed in Air Pollution Application). Although arriving on the scene several years after Shell’s project, Odebrecht announced last November they want to build a cracker plant near Parkersburg, WV (see WV Announces Brazilian Company to Build Ethane Cracker Complex). Odebrecht has now filed a similar document–a Voluntary Remediation Program application–with the WV Dept. of Environmental Protection (WVDEP)…
Read More “Cracker Race Continues: Odebrecht Files Remediation Application”
Broome County | Chenango County | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Delaware County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Schoharie County | Susquehanna County | Williams

Final EIS for Constitution Pipeline Delayed Another 2 Months, Ugh
August 26, 2014August 26, 2014

The Constitution Pipeline, which MDN has covered for more than two years, is a $683 million Williams pipeline project with backing from Cabot Oil & Gas that will run from Cabot’s gas fields in Susquehanna County, PA all the way to Schoharie County, NY. It’s an important project for Cabot Oil & Gas since it will move an additional half billion cubic feet of natural gas per day for the company. A month ago MDN told you the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was due “any day” (see Constitution Pipeline Update from Cabot – Final EIS Due Any Day). The EIS was already delayed, and now we learn that it’s delayed yet again. According to top energy blogger and analyst Richard Zeits, the EIS for the Constitution is now delayed until the end of October–another two months…
Read More “Final EIS for Constitution Pipeline Delayed Another 2 Months, Ugh”