Marcellus Drilling News

eCORP Stimulation Technologies | Energy Services | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research

ecorpStim Says New Manufacturing Process Lowers Non-Water Frack Cost
July 28, 2014July 28, 2014

Every now and again eCORP Stimulation Technologies, or “ecorpStim” as they are known, pokes its head up to say, “Hey, we’re still here and we still have a great non-water-based fracking solution!” To which we always say, “Great!” However, non-water-based solutions have a common problem: they’re really expensive. ecorpStim’s technology uses non-flammable liquefied propane as the fluid for fracking. It has the benefit of turning back into a gas and coming back out of the hole–captured and sold at a profit (or captured and re-used). ecorpStim poked their head up again today with their latest press release to say they’ve figured out how to lower the cost of their technology…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Pipelines | Tennessee Gas Pipeline

What’s Really in the Crosshairs in New England?
July 28, 2014July 28, 2014

The headline for a story in the Worcester (MA) Telegram & Gazette blares, “Natural gas pipeline expansion has Worcester and surrounding communities in crosshairs.” Yes, bet you didn’t know that those dastardly pipelines, like the Tennessee Gas Pipeline with its plan to deliver much-needed natural gas to New England, “targets” communities. You know, like a gun? Bang bang. That’s how environmentalist wacko editors write headlines. If you read far enough down in the Worcester story you’ll find a sad bit of news: comedian Bill Cosby is against the pipeline expansion (comes too close to his multi-million dollar estate, apparently). It’s not shocking that a celebrity is completely ignorant about such an issue–happens all the time (a la Susan Sarandon and Yoko Ono’s infamous fossil-fuel belching bus tour of Susquehanna County, PA, see Looney Toons Anti-Fracking Celebrities Visit Montrose, PA). What is shocking, however, is the massive willful ignorance of a former member of the Bolton Conservation Commission who says he doesn’t think natural gas is any cleaner than coal for generating electricity. Looks like he’s been “Howarthed” into believing a fairly tale…
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Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Regulation

EPA Inspector General: Bring Out the Jackboots on Methane
July 28, 2014July 28, 2014

What do you call it when the U.S. Attorney General won’t do his job to police an out-of-control president who tramples the Constitution? We’d call it political incest. What do you call it when a so-called independent division within the federal Environmental Protection Agency, the Inspector General for the EPA, “criticizes” the EPA and says they aren’t doing enough to stop leaky methane? We’d call it regulatory incest. If it weren’t so tragic and serious, we’d be laughing. But we’re not. Because a report issued by the IG of the EPA last Friday calls on the EPA to start bringing out the jackboots to force compliance with cockamamie and unrealistic standards for what they say is too much methane leaking from pipelines. They couch it in terms of how much money is lost every year, but of course their real motivation is to address “fugitive” methane’s contribution to mythical man-made global warming (that isn’t happening)…
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Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Research

Researchers Look at Coming Changes to Electric Power Generation
July 28, 2014July 28, 2014

On June 2 the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it’s “kill coal” campaign which they dubbed the Clean Power Plan or CPP (see Obama’s Climate Madness Metastasizes – EPA Kills Coal Electricity). As we said then and still say today–when that abomination actually starts to take effect, you can expect rolling blackouts because there won’t be enough electricity generated due to coal-fired plants shutting down. The brainiacs at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the Rhodium Group, both research organizations, combined forces to take a close look at how they believe the CPP will fundamentally change American power generation. Their preliminary findings are embedded below…
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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Regulation

Fracking Policy Monitor – 2nd Issue
July 28, 2014July 28, 2014

A few weeks ago the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) released their second quarterly issue of what they call the Fracking Policy Monitor. IPAA in partnership with PIRA Energy Group author this quarterly pub that provides analysis and information on the latest legislative, regulatory and litigation developments on hydraulic fracturing. According to the IPAA, it showcases some of the battles being fought by the industry (and why and how your dollars go to good use in supporting the IPAA). Here’s the latest rundown on what’s happening, including an excellent summary for both Pennsylvania and New York…
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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Jul 28, 2014
July 28, 2014July 28, 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: Mon, Jul 28, 2014”
Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Greene County (PA) | Pennsylvania | Utica Shale

EQT Takes the Plunge: Drilling 1st Utica Well in SWPA
July 25, 2014July 25, 2014

Yesterday EQT released an update for second quarter 2014 (see EQT 2Q14 Update: Profit & Production Way Up). The top brass for EQT also held an analyst phone call/update to discuss that update–to elaborate and add some color and additional information. It was an informative phone call. Among the most interesting items to be discussed is that EQT has finally found its way on the Utica. They plan to begin drilling what is likely the deepest Utica well ever drilled at a depth of 13,500 feet–in Greene County–Pennsylvania’s most southwestern county…
Read More “EQT Takes the Plunge: Drilling 1st Utica Well in SWPA”
Energy Companies | Energy Services | EQT Corp | Equitrans/EQT Midstream | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

EQT Midstream: 2 Major Pipeline Projects Advance, 1 Doesn’t
July 25, 2014July 25, 2014

In addition to yesterday’s big news that EQT has decided to “take the plunge” and drill what is thought to be the deepest Utica Shale well yet, in Greene County, PA (see MDN’s related story today), EQT also announced yesterday their plans for their midstream operations over the coming months. CEO David Porges said EQT Midstream will spend “over $350 million” on midstream projects in 2014. The company has three major pipeline/midstream projects on the books. Porges said two of those projects are advancing while one is going “on the back burner”…
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Energy Companies | EQT Corp

EQT Analyst Presentation: Acreage Maps, Decline Curves & More
July 25, 2014July 25, 2014

It’s “EQT Day” on MDN. In addition to two other stories on EQT–one about the company drilling their first-ever Utica well in SWPA, the other about which pipeline projects made the cut and will get built–we bring you the latest analyst presentation slide deck (below). Full of interesting charts and graphs from the July 24, 2014 analyst presentation given by EQT’s management team. Here’s a guide to our favorite slides (just about all of them are our favorites!)…
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Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Cabot O&G: Afterburners Kick in on Rocket to the Moon
July 25, 2014July 25, 2014

MDN has an admitted soft spot for Cabot Oil & Gas. We know a number of Cabot personnel–all extremely talented and top-drawer professionals. Cabot has been (in our opinion) unfairly maligned for “causing Dimock” which is still a rallying cry for hacks like Josh Fox and his Gasland fictional movies. Even though we have an admitted crush on Cabot, the fact is, they are a stellar performer by everyone’s standards. Yesterday the company released second quarter results for 2014 and they report, among many interesting things, that the company produced an average 1.26 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from their wells in Susquehanna County, PA. Folks, the entire country produces 70 Bcf/d (see U.S. Hits New Daily Production Record Thx to Marcellus/Utica). If you do the math, the amount of gas a single driller is producing from a single PA county (Cabot/Susquehanna County)–is nearly 2% of all gas produced in the U.S. every day. Simply astonishing…
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Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Susquehanna County | Williams

Cabot CEO Dinges Talks Marcellus, Midstream Challenges
July 25, 2014July 25, 2014

MDN brought you the Cabot Oil & Gas second quarter update today in a related post. The company released their update yesterday. They also held a call for analysts and investors in which CEO Dan Dinges talked pretty frankly about his frustrations with Williams over problems with pipelines in Susquehanna County, PA where Cabot has drilled all of their PA Marcellus wells–to date anyway. Seems that Williams had some difficulties during the harsh winter and those difficulties stretched into 2Q14 as well…
Read More “Cabot CEO Dinges Talks Marcellus, Midstream Challenges”
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:
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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…
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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?”