Marcellus Drilling News

Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

The Urgent Case for a Ban on Food & Water Watch
September 18, 2014September 18, 2014

The anti-drilling nuts at Food & Water Watch (FWW) just keep getting nuttier. FWW is a highly partisan, highly anti-drilling non-profit that raises huge sums of money to fund faux research and efforts to get fracking, shale drilling–anything to do with fossil fuels–banned. We often refer to them as “odious” because that’s precisely what they are. They lie so often about shale drilling it’s hardly worth mentioning any more. Their lies aren’t doing the trick, so they’ve amped it up a notch and have just issued a brand new report titled, “The Urgent Case for a Ban on Fracking” (full copy below). Hence the title of this article. We think there’s a much stronger case to be made to ban FWW than to ban fracking…
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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Thu, Sep 18, 2014
September 18, 2014September 18, 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, Sep 18, 2014”
Greene County (PA) | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research

Federal NETL Study: Fracking Doesn’t Contaminate Water Supplies
September 17, 2014September 17, 2014

This is a very important story that MDN has been following for more than two years. In June 2012, MDN reported the launch “out of nowhere” of a study by U.S. Dept. of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) to test whether or not faults, or large cracks that sometimes exist through multiple rock layers, can create a pathway for hydraulic fracturing fluids to migrate to aquifers (see NETL Study of Faults & Fracking, Are We Being Set Up?). We were a tad skeptical at first, but we were soon reassured this is real and unbiased science (see Update on NETL Faults & Fracking Study). A year later, the preliminary data reported by NETL was encouraging (see Breaking: Obama DOE Says Study Shows Fracking Fluids Don’t Migrate). The final version of the study, more than two years in the making, was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday (full copy below). What did it show? According to the headline of an AP story: “Landmark fracking study finds no water pollution”…
Read More “Federal NETL Study: Fracking Doesn’t Contaminate Water Supplies”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Spectra Energy

Spectra Energy New England Pipeline Gets a Name & a Partner
September 17, 2014September 17, 2014

Yikes. Pipelines planned for the northeast continue to spring up. They’re needed, that’s to be sure. And they bring with them billions of investment (and loads of jobs). All good things. Ultimately it will mean lower utility costs for gas and electric, particularly in New England–if these companies can get them built. One of the most recent entrants is Spectra Energy with their announcement in July to expand the Algonquin and Maritimes pipeline systems adding an additional 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day by 2017, much of it slated for New England’s electric generating plants (see Spectra Energy to the Rescue! New England Pipeline Expansion). That project now has a name and a new partner. It’s being called the Access Northeast project and Spectra has picked up a partner in Northeast Utilities to help shoulder the expense, pegged at $3 billion to build it…
Read More “Spectra Energy New England Pipeline Gets a Name & a Partner”
Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Eureka Midstream | Industrywide Issues | M&A

Morgan Stanley Buys Partnership in Eureka Hunter for $65M
September 17, 2014September 17, 2014

Yesterday Magnum Hunter, a Marcellus/Utica driller with a number of subsidiaries, including midstream company Eureka Hunter, announced that Morgan Stanley is becoming a partner in Eureka Hunter. Price tag for becoming a partner? $65 million. According to Magnum Hunter and Morgan Stanley, Eureka Hunter is now worth $1 billion. The deal itself is complicated and includes multiple subsidiaries and names you’ve likely never heard of (like Ridgeline Midstream and ArcLight Capital Partners). We just told you the news in a nutshell. Below is the press release from Magnum Hunter announcing that news–a press release obviously written by lawyers, rendering it virtually unreadable for the rest of us…
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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Portage County | Research | Utica Shale

OH Village Water Study Finds Utica Drilling Doesn’t Pollute
September 17, 2014September 17, 2014

Smart people in Garrettsville, Ohio. Garrettsville is a small village (population 2,325) located in Portage County, OH. In 2011 there were five Utica Shale wells being drilled near the village. Some of the residents were concerned that the drilling may affect sources of public drinking water the village relies on. So the village Board of Public Affairs contacted and arranged to have the Natural Gas and Water Resources Institute at Youngstown State University monitor some 20 water wells in the area to see if Utica drilling affected any of them. The study began in 2012 and is “ongoing.” What has it found?…
Read More “OH Village Water Study Finds Utica Drilling Doesn’t Pollute”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lebanon County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | UGI Energy Services | Williams

Pavlovian Opposition Continues Against PennEast, Atlantic Sunrise
September 17, 2014September 17, 2014

Whenever a major new interstate pipeline is proposed, especially in the northeast where more such pipelines are desperately needed, anti-drillers jump up and begin protesting immediately. It’s like a knee-jerk reaction–a Pavlov’s dog experiment gone awry. They don’t even know why they oppose it–they just do. Can’t help themselves. And so earlier this week we have two anti-pipeline meetings–one in New Jersey against the PennEast Pipeline project, the other in Pennsylvania against the Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline project. Whenever these nuts gather their conversation turns to the shrill and irrational. Try this one on. The proposed PennEast Pipeline will “cut a wide ‘virgin’ path along the entire western edge of the county” in Hunterdon County, NJ, according to Sierra Clubers at an anti-pipeline meeting on Monday. Kind of conjures up rape, does it not? That’s just what they intend with their incendiary language…
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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation

Mich. AG Continues to Target Chesapeake, Racketeering Charge
September 17, 2014September 17, 2014

In June 2012 Reuters tried to stir up trouble against Chesapeake Energy by broadcasting “leaked” (Watergate anyone?) emails that somehow magically appeared on the Reuters doorstep that supposedly show Chesapeake trying to collude with Encana Energy to keep the price of Michigan state land oil and gas leases artificially low (see Did Reuters Break the Law with Latest Chesapeake Story?). Eventually the Michigan Attorney General’s office filed charges against Chesapeake, even though the federal government had investigated and didn’t find anything worth pursuing (see Feds Clear Chesapeake & Encana in Collusion Case, Michigan Next?). Michigan is still hell-bent on shaking down Chesapeake (see Michigan AG (Unbelievably) Files More Charges Against Chesapeake). The same Michigan Attorney General, Bill Schuette, has also filed charges against Chesapeake’s leasing arrangements with private landowners. On Monday, a Michigan court said Chessy must face a trial on one charge of racketeering (a felony) and 20 counts of using false pretenses to allegedly defraud private landowners in the state…
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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies

Chesapeake Hires New Mouthpiece
September 17, 2014September 17, 2014

Chesapeake Energy has a new mouthpiece: Brad Sylvester. The company announced (a few weeks ago) that Sylvester is joining Chesapeake as its new Vice President of Investor Relations and Communications. He has his job cut out for him. The company is being sued and hauled into court in multiple states over leasing practices. Michigan, as we highlight in another MDN story today, continues to press the attack on Chesapeake–this time with a racketeering charge in federal court (a felony). Sylvester was most recently employed by Southwestern Energy. He’ll report to Chesapeake’s Chief Financial Officer, Nick Dell’Osso. Nick, you may recall, is one of Aubrey McClendon’s fair weather friends (see McClendon Exits Chesapeake, Well-Bonused “Friends” Replace Him). Here’s the Chessy announcement that Sylvester is stepping into the lion’s den:
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Centre County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania

‘Marcellus Shale Documentary Project’ opens Sept. 23 @ Penn State
September 17, 2014September 17, 2014

Penn State will debut the “Marcellus Shale Documentary Project” in State College, PA on Sept. 23 at the Palmer Museum of Art. We don’t know for certain, but we’re 99.9% sure this is more anti-drilling clap trap dressed up as a serious pursuit of the truth behind the Marcellus. The project “features photographic images that tell the personal stories of Pennsylvanians affected by the Marcellus Shale gas industry.” As part of this “important” new exhibition, a series of events are planned, referred to as a “museum crawl” (something like a pub crawl, only you get drunk on “art” instead of booze). A panel discussion to bash fossil fuels and “extractive industries” will happen in late October as part of the project. The panel is being sponsored (paid for) by Penn State, the Institute for the Arts and Humanities, and something called The Rock Ethics Institute. Bet you didn’t know that rocks have ethics, did you?…
Read More “‘Marcellus Shale Documentary Project’ opens Sept. 23 @ Penn State”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA

New Study Finds Well Casings, Not Fracking, Cause Methane Migration
September 16, 2014September 16, 2014

Another new “study” and already the headlines are blaring. A research team led by Ohio State University and composed of researchers at Duke, Stanford, Dartmouth, and the University of Rochester have just published their findings that methane migrates from some shale wells into local water wells. It certainly doesn’t sound like earth-shattering news, but the headlines across the country range from “Bad fracking wells taint water, scientists find” (Sacramento Bee) to “Weak wells not fracking caused US gas leaks into water” (BBC). The media has picked up on this latest study and, depending on the view of the reporter, has spun it to either say fracking is the culprit, or fracking isn’t the culprit–and just about everything in between. Once again MDN will break it down for you and tell you what the study really says. And, we have a copy of the published findings (embedded below) so you can read it for yourself and make up your own mind…
Read More “New Study Finds Well Casings, Not Fracking, Cause Methane Migration”
Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Norse Energy | Regulation | Statewide NY | Tompkins County

Norse Energy Appeals Town Ban Case Back to NY High Court
September 16, 2014September 16, 2014

In April MDN reported on the rumors that Norse Energy, the ill-fated company that bet big on New York State with 180,000 acres of leased land in NY, had been sold at bankruptcy court (see Highest Bid for Norse Energy $2.65M – Was it Sold & Who Bid?). As we pointed out in the story, we don’t know if the company was actually sold, and if it was, who the actual buyer was. We still don’t know. What we do know is that the only thing left to sell were Norse’s leases, since they had already sold off all of the hard assets (see Lights Turned Off, Door Closed – Good Night, Norse Energy). However, the Norse trustee retained at least some of the leases assets so the company could continue their lawsuit against New York for bankrupting them. Try to get back at least some of that money. Then the double-whammy: The New York Court of Appeals (our highest court) ruled against Norse and said local towns can ban fracking (see Shale Drilling in NY is Over – High Court Upholds Town Bans). The new news, just coming to light for us, is that Norse appealed that decision back to the Court of Appeals for a second time, based on a recent decision in a Colorado court…
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Butler County | Carroll County | Energy Companies | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Rex Energy | Utica Shale

Rex Energy: Utica Wells Pump Liquids; New Rig in PA; LOC +$100M
September 16, 2014September 16, 2014

Rex Energy yesterday issued an interim third quarter 2014 update on results for their recently drilled and completed Utica Shale wells in Ohio, and on operations in Butler County, PA. Rex’s OH Utica wells coming online in Carroll County, OH showed low daily output for methane–2.1 million cubic feet per day–but more than made up for it with big output for condensate (“natural gasoline”) and natural gas liquids: one set of Rex’s Utica wells averaged 454 barrels per day of condensate and 433 barrels per day of NGLs. Rex also announced they are adding a third drilling rig in their Butler, PA area starting in early 2015 after picking up 208,000 acres from Shell (see Rex Energy Takes Shell to the Cleaners – Picks up 208K Acres). And, the company got a $100 million increase in their line of credit…
Read More “Rex Energy: Utica Wells Pump Liquids; New Rig in PA; LOC +$100M”
Energy Companies | Vantage Energy

Vantage Energy IPO Target Goes from $400M to $601M
September 16, 2014September 16, 2014

In July, Colorado-based Vantage Energy, with a major operation in the Marcellus Shale, filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering (IPO) in which they said they want raise $400 million (see Marcellus Driller Vantage Energy Files for $400M IPO). That’s out the door. Yesterday, Vantage announced it is moving forward with an IPO later this month and they now hope to sell up to 23,550,000 shares of common stock and raise $601 million–a pretty healthy jump. Vantage owns 48,000 acres in the Marcellus Shale–in Greene County, PA. They also have a sizable stake in the Barnett Shale (in Texas). Vantage is a relatively young company, founded in 2006 by the former president of EnCana, Roger Biemans…
Read More “Vantage Energy IPO Target Goes from $400M to $601M”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

Athens, OH Anti-Frackers Demand Army Corps Count Each Form Letter
September 16, 2014September 16, 2014

The silly (and vacuous) “protesters” who don’t want GreenHunter to build a barge facility on the Ohio River (where there are what, dozens, hundreds of such facilities?) think that if they can convince enough like-minded (we use the term “minded” loosely) anti-fossil fuelers to sign their John Hancock on form letters that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers should count each form letter individually instead of lumping them together. So instead of a “massive” 4,000 form letters received, the Corps records getting “fewer than 1,000” so-called protest letters against the wastewater barge facility. Appearances and raw numbers are all that matter to the carbon energy-allergic members of the Athens County Fracking Action Network (ACFAN). What’s the answer for this small group of people whose lives have no meaning apart from being against something? According to ACFAN and their odious backers at Food & Water Watch–sign more form letters to demand the Corps count their previous form letters!…
Read More “Athens, OH Anti-Frackers Demand Army Corps Count Each Form Letter”
Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Taxation | Utica Shale

Kasich to Laser Focus on Hiking Utica Severance Tax
September 16, 2014September 16, 2014

Apparently Ohio’s RINO Gov. John Kasich–he who calls skilled gas field workers from Texas and Oklahoma “foreigners” (although he loves the money and jobs provided by companies headquartered there)–hasn’t been “focusing” on the issue of soaking Utica drillers with high taxes and apparently that’s why it hasn’t yet happened. So Gov. Kasich will center himself, hum a mantra and focus really hard on screwing the Utica Shale industry in the coming year and that, he hopes, will do the trick to raise the severance tax rate in his state…
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