Marcellus Drilling News

Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lancaster County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Transco | Williams

Atlantic Sunrise Changes Course in Lancaster County, PA
June 13, 2014June 13, 2014

Once again anti-drillers who were denied the chance to bleat and blat before a microphone behaved like the adult babies they are–by staging a “sit in” and chanting at an open house hosted by Williams to talk to landowners and others about the much-needed and excellent Atlantic Sunrise Expansion pipeline project. This particular misbehaving group was composed of anti-drillers and hippies from Lancaster County, PA, not dissimilar (maybe some of them the same) as those from neighboring Lebanon County (see Lebanon, PA Group Coaches Blind Followers to Oppose Pipeline). When denied a public forum to act like asses, anti-drillers go ahead and make asses of themselves anyway. And that’s just what a group calling themselves Lancaster Against Pipeline did Wednesday night. Meanwhile, the adult and sane-acting Williams representatives announced they heard the concerns about the route in Lancaster County and have changed the route to avoid going through a couple of nature preserves…
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American Energy Partners | East Resources | Energy Companies | Erie County (NY) | New York

Fascinating Connection Between NFL & Marcellus/Utica
June 13, 2014June 13, 2014

In our strange and nutty world, is there a direct connection between the National Football League and the Marcellus/Utica Shale? Indeed, it seems that there is! The connection also includes the Buffalo Bills, Aubrey McClendon and even the National Hockey League! Let us explain…
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CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Noble Energy | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA

CONSOL & Noble to Form New MLP Midstream Subsidiary
June 13, 2014June 13, 2014

In 2011 CONSOL Energy had amassed some 750,000 Marcellus Shale acres but didn’t have enough money to drill it all on their own. So they did what many energy companies do–they got a joint venture partner. CONSOL cut a deal with Noble Energy to split the proceeds 50/50, with CONSOL drilling in the dry gas areas and Noble drilling in the wet gas areas (see Noble Energy and CONSOL to Partner on Marcellus in $3.4B Deal). The two jv partners announced yesterday their intent to form a master limited partnership (MLP) that will form a new midstream company (pipelines) to service their vast drilling operations…
Read More “CONSOL & Noble to Form New MLP Midstream Subsidiary”
Energy Companies | Energy Services | EQT Corp | Equitrans/EQT Midstream | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | West Virginia | Wetzel County

EQT Announces New Marcellus/Utica Pipeline to Southeastern US
June 13, 2014June 13, 2014

Yesterday CONSOL Energy and Noble Energy announced a new gathering pipeline company plan (see MDN’s story published today). Not to be outdone, EQT announced yesterday an open season for the Mountain Valley Pipeline project–a new Marcellus/Utica pipeline. According to the announcement, EQT and NextEra US Gas Assets intend to build a 330-mile pipeline from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA to deliver abundant, cheap Marcellus and Utica Shale gas to markets throughout the southeast. An “open season” is a chance for drillers to contract a portion of the pipeline over the long term (15-20 years), commitments needed before companies like EQT will pony up the hundreds of millions needed to build a major project like this one…
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CNG/LNG | Exporting | Industrywide Issues

Marcellus/Utica Shale Gas Exports by End of 2015? Maybe…
June 13, 2014June 13, 2014

Will Marcellus and Utica Shale gas be exported to places like India and Spain in the next few years? The answer is, quite probably. And it won’t be because of the Marcus Hook terminal near Philadelphia. If it happens in the next few years, it will be from a new LNG export facility under construction right now in Louisiana…
Read More “Marcellus/Utica Shale Gas Exports by End of 2015? Maybe…”
Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio | Utica Shale

Patience Gone: OH County Recorder Threatens to Sue for More Space
June 13, 2014June 13, 2014

The County Clerk–or in some places County Recorder–is usually a pretty low-key person in a low-key job. It’s that person’s job to keep track of land deeds and official paperwork for the county. MDN has previously pointed out an early indicator of where there will soon be drilling is when the County Clerk/Recorder’s office gets busy. In some cases, land agents have camped out overnight waiting to get in to a deed records office (see Title Researchers Camp Out at Tyler County (WV) Clerk’s Office). Harrison County, OH’s County Recorder is Tracy Boyer. The records office where she works has been hopping busy going on two years now. Tracy is normally a patient person, but her patience, after two years, has run out. She’s threatening to sue Harrison County commissioners over the need to expand the physical space her office needs to accommodate the ongoing flood of people who use it…
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Dominion Exploration | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Westmoreland County

Muchas Gasias: Beaver Run Reservoir Hires Auditor for Royalties
June 13, 2014June 13, 2014

Waaaaay back in March 2009, when MDN was still in it’s blog infancy, we told you that Westmoreland County, PA supervisors had voted to lease land at the Beaver Run Reservoir to Dominion to drill five Marcellus Shale wells (see Westmoreland County, PA Supervisors Vote to Approve Drilling on County Land). The reservoir provides drinking water to some 60,000+ customers in five southwestern PA counties. What! Marcellus wells next to–even under–a fresh water reservoir? Say it ain’t so!! But it is, and it’s worked out so well (with NO water contamination issues), that over the years those initial five wells have sprouted to become 37 wells with more on the way. The wells at Beaver Run Reservoir are raising so much money for the county they’ve hired a “drilling auditor” to keep track of royalty revenues, which this year will exceed $6 million…
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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA

New Duke Study Shows Shale Drilling Benefits Municipalities
June 13, 2014June 13, 2014

In the past, researchers at North Carolina’s Duke University have published some really sloppy research when it comes to shale drilling (see What’s Missing in Latest Duke “Radioactive” Study? Real Science). Then at other times, it seems as if a different set of profs and students would turn around and do some real research (see Duke/Kent State Publish New Research on Marcellus Wastewater). We always felt like Duke picked on the Marcellus as a way to score more grant money. So when we saw a new Duke study–this one on the economic benefits or lack thereof for municipalities–we were skeptical. However, the new study, titled “Shale Public Finance: Local government revenues and costs associated with oil and gas development” (full copy embedded below) seems to indicate all in all, shale drilling is a benefit to local municipalities…
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Commodity Price | Industrywide Issues | Research

NGSA Predicts Summer Natgas Prices Will Rise
June 13, 2014June 13, 2014

The Natural Gas Supply Association (NGSA) is fresh out with their own prediction for where the price of natural gas may be heading in the near-term–meaning this summer. According to a press release and PowerPoint presentation (both embedded below), the NGSA says natgas prices will be slightly higher this summer compared to last summer, mainly due to the brutal winter and drawdown in stored supplies. Those low storage volumes mean producers have to fill them back up and that will lead to a bit more demand and in an almost pure commodity market like natural gas, more demand matched to the same or slightly more supplies means prices will go up. Here’s what the NGSA says…
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Access Midstream Partners | Energy Services | EnLink Midstream | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Stark County | Statewide OH | Supply Chain | Utica Shale

Important Supply Chain Takeaways from Chamber Midstream Meeting
June 13, 2014June 13, 2014

The Canton, OH Regional Chamber of Commerce recently hosted the Midstream Ohio 2014 event to help connect companies seeking to sell to the Utica drilling industry with those drilling and building pipelines. By all accounts it was a huge success for both sides. Here’s some great takeaways from the event, to help supply chain companies that want to sell, or sell more, to the Utica industry:
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Industrywide Issues | Jobs

Looking for a Shale Industry Job? API’s New Website Can Help
June 13, 2014June 13, 2014

Want a job in one of the greatest (and fastest growing) industries in the world? We’re talking of the oil and gas industry, of course. IHS reports by 2030 the oil and gas industry will need an additional 1.3 million new workers. Yikes! Time to get busy plugging people into jobs, so the American Petroleum Institute has just launched a new website called Oil & Gas Workforce (www.oilgasworkforce.com) to do just that. The website’s aim is to help you find a job or get trained/certified for a job in the oil and gas (including shale drilling) industry…
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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Jun 13, 2014
June 13, 2014June 13, 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: Fri, Jun 13, 2014”
Accidents | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Wastewater | XTO

XTO Energy Files to Have AG Kane’s Lawsuit Dismissed
June 12, 2014June 12, 2014

It’s now obvious to everyone that Pennsylvania’s Attorney General Kathleen Kane abuses her office to selectively prosecute high-profile cases to support her own anti-drilling agenda. During her campaign in 2012 Kane pledged to fight to end fracking in PA. She’s doing her best to keep her promise. Example 1: Kane is persecuting/prosecuting a small business owner and his family, including his wife, mother and father (see Minuteman Enviro Says PA AG Office “Terrorized” Family Members, Filing Lawsuit). Example 2: Kane is attempting to criminalize the accidental spill of a small amount of recycled wastewater by XTO that happened years before she took office (see PA AG Abuses Her Authority, Files Criminal Charges Against XTO). XTO filed a motion on Monday to dismiss Kane’s case against the company, pointing out her anti-drilling bias to the judge…
Read More “XTO Energy Files to Have AG Kane’s Lawsuit Dismissed”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Landfills | MAX Environmental | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Washington County

New Landfill Expansion in SWPA Aimed at Marcellus Drillers
June 12, 2014June 12, 2014

Max Environmental has operated the Bulger hazardous waste landfill in Smith Township (Washington County), PA since 1958. The company plans to expand the landfill by 21 acres in order to handle an increase of drill cuttings and even liquid waste (which they will turn to solid waste) coming from Marcellus Shale drilling. First up is a public information meeting (sure to be a must-attend, and controversial) being held later this month. Then Max will file a formal application with the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection. Max officials say it will likely take a good five years to receive a permit–such is how mind-numbingly slow the regulatory wheels turn these days…
Read More “New Landfill Expansion in SWPA Aimed at Marcellus Drillers”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Public Opinion | Statewide PA | Taxation

New PA Poll Shows Vast Majority Favor Jobs Over Severance Tax
June 12, 2014June 12, 2014

A newly released poll of Pennsylvania voters completely deflates the Democrat call for high taxes on Marcellus Shale drillers–and it has some Democrats, like reporters for the Harrisburg Patriot-News, scrambling to provide propaganda cover lest the truth become known. And what is that truth? Although a majority of voters in PA polled nominally “support” a severance tax (55%), when asked if such a tax were to result in job loss and drillers leaving the state, those same voters say they would NOT support a severance tax (58%). Huh. You don’t hear that being reported by PA’s mainstream media–unless it’s “reporter” Matt Zencey bashing the poll with Democrat talking points…
Read More “New PA Poll Shows Vast Majority Favor Jobs Over Severance Tax”
Energy Companies | Gastar Exploration | Marshall County | West Virginia | Wetzel County

Gastar Update: Drilling 1st Utica & More Marcellus Wells in WV
June 12, 2014June 12, 2014

A month ago MDN reported on the quarterly analyst call from Gastar Exploration–a sizable Marcellus Shale driller in West Virginia (see Gastar Top Brass Discusses 1Q14 Results, Drilling Program in WV). Gastar said at that time they are looking to move their drilling operations further south in West Virginia–to Wetzel County. However, they haven’t abandoned their plans for Marshall County for the balance of this year. In fact, Gastar is currently drilling a Utica well in Marshall County right now. A quick update from Gastar, released last Friday:
Read More “Gastar Update: Drilling 1st Utica & More Marcellus Wells in WV”