Marcellus Drilling News

Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Regulation | Washington County

Robinson Twp, PA Offers a Preview into Future of NY Frack Debate
August 8, 2014August 8, 2014

One of the original seven selfish townships in Pennsylvania that sued the state over the Act 13 Marcellus Drilling law because of its zoning provisions–and won–has just become less selfish. In fact, the town, Robinson Township in Washington County, PA, has done a complete reversal. Two of the three anti-drilling supervisors were voted out of office last November. On their way out they tried to pull a fast one by passing super restrictive zoning (in December). Last night, the incoming two supervisors who are pro-drilling repealed the law and passed one of their own that’s favorable to the drilling industry. Below we take a look at Robinson’s complete reversal, which offers a fascinating preview into what’s coming to townships across New York State when Gov. Andrew “man child” Cuomo finally decides to make a decision to allow fracking…
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Antero Resources | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Ethane | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Sunoco Logistics

Antero Signs Deal to Export Marcellus/Utica Ethane to Sweden
August 8, 2014August 8, 2014

Borealis AG, an Austrian petrochemical company (majority-owned by International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) of Abu Dhabi) announced yesterday that it has signed a deal with Marcellus and Utica Shale powerhouse driller Antero Resources to buy some of Antero’s Utica/Marcellus ethane. The ethane will be pipelined to the Marcus Hook refinery near Philadelphia via the Sunoco Logistics Mariner East Pipeline. That’s if Sunoco can get the Mariner East Pipeline operating, given the current legal entanglements (see Setback for Mariner East NGL Pipe – Judges Say Not Public Utility). From Philly, the ethane will be loaded on container ships and sent to a Borealis ethane cracker plant in Stenungsund, Sweden…
Read More “Antero Signs Deal to Export Marcellus/Utica Ethane to Sweden”
Antero Resources | Energy Companies

Antero Resources 2Q14: Gas Production Doubles, NGLs Quadruple
August 8, 2014August 8, 2014

Antero Resources, one of the biggest drillers in the Marcellus/Utica, had a very impressive second quarter 2014. The company reported on Wednesday that 2Q14 production for natural gas and equivalents was up an impressive 94% over the same period last year–to 891 million cubic feet per day. Closing in on that elite 1 Bcf/d Club! Antero’s natural gas liquids production was 20,237 Bbl/d, an astonishing 387% increase over the same period last year. Antero now has deals to sell ethane to three different cracker plants–two in the northeast and one in Sweden (see today’s story on that)–as well as agreements to sell natural gas to Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass LNG export facility. It’s all Marcellus/Utica and all cylinders firing for Antero…
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Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

ETP 2Q14: ET Rover Marcellus/Utica Pipeline Already 91% Sold Out
August 8, 2014August 8, 2014

Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) recently announced a major new Marcellus/Utica Shale pipeline infrastructure project yesterday that will transport up to 3.25 billion cubic feet per day of northeast shale gas to markets in the Midwest and Canada (see Big News: ETP “Rover” Marcellus/Utica Pipeline to Midwest/Canada). ETP provided the following quarterly update yesterday, which includes the interesting tidbit that ETP has already signed up customers for 91% of the available capacity of the ET Rover pipeline when it’s built…
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American Energy Partners | Belmont County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | Jefferson County (OH) | Marshall County | Monroe County | Ohio | Pipelines | Regency Energy Partners | Utica Shale | West Virginia

McClendon Invests in New Utica Pipeline Project, JV with Regency
August 8, 2014August 8, 2014

It was only in June, less than two months ago, that MDN brought you the news that it sure seems like Aubrey McClendon is building a new company that looks a lot like the first company he built, Chesapeake Energy (see Aubrey McClendon Gets Back into the Midstream Business). McClendon is not only high on Utica and Marcellus drilling with his newly formed American Energy Partners company, he’s also high on building the pipelines needed to conduct the gas out of the borehole. His new midstream division was set up to work on such projects. And less than two months later, we have the first of those projects. Yesterday McClendon’s new midstream division and Regency Energy Partners announced a joint venture to build the Utica Ohio River Project for $500 million…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH | Summit Midstream | Utica Shale

Summit Midstream 2Q14: Marcellus Rockets to #2 Operation
August 8, 2014August 8, 2014

Summit Midstream is a Dallas, TX-based company with growing operations in the heart of the Marcellus and Utica Shale. Summit’s first foray into the Marcellus was when they purchased Mountaineer Midstream–a pipeline gathering system in Doddridge County, WV–from MarkWest back in June 2013 (see MarkWest Sells Doddridge County, WV Pipeline System to Raise Cash). Summit’s second foray, this time in the Utica, was last December when the company bought out Gulfstream’s interest in Ohio Gathering (see Summit Midstream Buys Gulfport’s Interest in Ohio Gathering). The revenue they’re generating from those purchases has helped improve Summit’s bottom line: earnings increased 30.5% over the same period last year…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | NGLs | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide PA | Sunoco Logistics

Sunoco Logistics Update on Mariner East Pipeline
August 8, 2014August 8, 2014

On Wednesday midstream company Sunoco Logistics released their second quarter 2014 update. There’s essentially no discussion or reference to the Mariner East pipeline, which is currently bogged down in litigation and regulation (see Setback for Mariner East NGL Pipe – Judges Say Not Public Utility). However, in the follow up and ubiquitous analyst call that usually accompanies the release of these updates, Sunoco’s top management had quite a bit to say about Mariner East 1 and 2, as well as other projects in the Marcellus/Utica…
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Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies

Magnum Hunter Moving its HQ from Texas to…Texas?
August 8, 2014August 8, 2014

Magnum Hunter Resources sold off its Eagle Ford (TX) assets in April 2013 and the drilling and midstream company has become laser focused on the Marcellus and Utica Shale region–in West Virginia and Ohio–since that time. They also maintain operations in the Bakken Shale of North Dakota and Canada, but the Marcellus/Utica is where they are focused. Magnum also has several divisions that concentrate their work in the northeast–GreenHunter Water, Triad Hunter, Eureka Hunter Pipeline, Alpha Hunter Drilling. Like many companies they have a list of subsidiaries a mile long (see the list below)–most of them either wholly or mostly concentrated in the northeast. So when Magnum Hunter decided it was time to move out of their Houston headquarters, where did they decide to move? Pittsburgh, PA? Charleston, WV? Columbus, OH? Nope. They’re moving to…
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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Aug 8, 2014
August 8, 2014August 8, 2014

The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:
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Accidents | Chevron | Energy Companies | Greene County (PA) | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania

DEP Issues Final Report – What Caused Chevron Well Fire?
August 7, 2014August 7, 2014

In early February, a well already drilled and completed by Chevron in Greene County, PA was in the process of being connected to a pipeline system. The well caught fire and exploded, eventually spreading to a second well close by (see Explosion & Fire at Chevron Well in SWPA – 1 Person Missing). The fire and explosion killed a worker at the site, a contractor with Cameron International (see Remains of Chevron Contractor Found at Greene County Well Site). The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection did a thorough investigation and has just released its After Action Review of the incident (below). Here, in a nutshell, is what the DEP says caused the fire and death…
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Bradford County | Electrical Generation | Energy Services | IMG Midstream | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County | Wyoming County (PA)

7 Small Marcellus-Powered Electric Plants Coming to NEPA
August 7, 2014August 7, 2014

With the recent war on coal announced by President Obama and his administration’s EPA (and make no mistake, it is a purposeful war to eliminate the use of coal), the big story in the coming years will be a massive change to powering electric generating plants with…solar? wind? Nope. Natural gas is the big winner–the only source of energy that can meet our growing demand for electricity. We’ve been following, with interest, the story of the Panda Liberty and Panda Patriot Marcellus gas-powered electric plants being built in Bradford and Lycoming counties, respectively (see Plugging in to Panda Power’s Electric Generation Supply Chain). Panda is spending a massive $1.3 billion to build the two plants. Each one will generate 829 megawatts of electricity. Now comes word that IMG Midstream is planning to build a dozen (!) small electric generating plants across Pennsylvania–seven of them in the same region of northeast PA as Panda’s two plants…
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Accidents | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Regulation | Washington County | Wastewater

More Problems for Range Resources with SWPA Impoundments
August 7, 2014August 7, 2014

Range Resources has had ongoing problems with the neighbors and townships where they’ve built and maintained several frack wastewater impoundments (large ponds) in Washington County, PA for the past several years. MDN has chronicled the push back, threats, lawsuits and shenanigans (see our list of Range impoundment stories here). The saga continues. Late last week residents living near the Cecil 23 impoundment–formerly known as the Worstell impoundment, located in Cecil Township–were informed by the town that the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) would be testing the ground (and water supplies?) following an alert from Range that the impoundment may have leaked in the past. Then, on Tuesday of this week, Range received a Notice of Violation from the DEP for leaks found at the Yeager impoundment in Amwell Township…
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Energy Companies | WPX Energy

WPX Energy 2Q14: No Mention of Marcellus; Focused on Oil
August 7, 2014August 7, 2014

WPX Energy, the former drilling arm of Williams spun off into its own company back in January 2012, issued their second quarter 2014 update on Tuesday. The company has lately focused their efforts on oil and it shows. They report a 57% increase in oil production and “stronger than expected natural gas production” than for the same period a year ago. That news sent WPX’s stock price soaring–the biggest increase the stock has seen since it debuted in 2012. Although WPX has invested $1 billion to drill 100 or so Marcellus Shale wells (all of them in Pennsylvania), the one word you don’t find anywhere in WPX’s 2Q14 update is, “Marcellus”…
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Crime | Industrywide Issues | Mahoning County | Ohio | Wastewater

Final Chapter for Youngstown Illegal Wastewater Dumper: Prison & Fine
August 7, 2014August 7, 2014

The long, sad and maddening saga of Ben Lupo is now just about complete. Lupo, previous owner of D&L Energy and its associated company Hardrock Excavating, directed employees to dump frack wastwater hauled by Hardrock into a drain that emptied into a stream that emptied into the Mahoning River near Youngstown, OH (see Youngstown Business Dumped >200K Gal of Untreated Wastewater). It was later discovered that from September 2012 to end of January 2013, Lupo was responsible for dumping at least 30 loads of frack wastewater literally down the drain and into the river. It was a breathtaking environmental crime, of that there is no doubt. After a long investigation and criminal charges, Lupo finally plead guilty and earlier this week he was sentenced–to 23 months in prison and a $25,000 fine (although it cost over $3 million to clean it all up)…
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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies

Chesapeake Energy 2Q14: Profits Down, Gas & Oil Production Up
August 7, 2014August 7, 2014

Chesapeake Energy issued their second quarter 2014 update yesterday–and there’s a lot in there. Chessy has been slashing and burning, selling assets all over the place, scaling back in certain areas, expanding in (precious few) others–all in the quest of “fiscal discipline” as is mentioned over and over in yesterday’s announcement. It may sound bad, but is being spun as good, that Chesapeake’s 2Q14 profits dropped 68% from a year ago at the same time. Meanwhile, net income for 2Q14 was $191 million, down from $457 million a year ago…
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Crestwood Midstream | Energy Services | Inergy

Crestwood Midstream 2Q14: Marcellus Volumes up 10%, Revenue Up
August 7, 2014August 7, 2014

Crestwood Midstream, which merged with (took over) Inergy Midstream last year, issued its second quarter 2014 financial and operational update yesterday. Crestwood/Inergy has a meaningful and growing presence in both the dry gas northeastern PA Marcellus and wet gas southwestern PA Marcellus region. Overall Crestwood reports Marcellus shale volumes flowing through their pipelines increased 10% in 2Q14 over 2Q13, resulting in higher revenues and smiling faces. Here’s a few select portions of yesterday’s update that touch on the Marcellus…
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