Marcellus Drilling News

Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Meigs County | Ohio | Regulation | Wastewater

GreenHunter Seeks Approval for Barge Facility in Meigs County, OH
July 8, 2014July 8, 2014

Over the past few years GreenHunter Water, a subsidiary of Magnum Hunter Resources, has purchased seven barge facilities along the Ohio River with the stated intent to transport frack wastewater from up the river in places in Pennsylvania and West Virginia and even Ohio, to further down the river in Ohio–where it would be offloaded and disposed by injection well. We wrote in May 2013 of the long road to receiving federal approval for such a plan (see The Long (Federal) Road to Approve GreenHunter’s Barge Terminals). Then in October it seemed like an approval from the U.S. Coast Guard was imminent (see Coast Guard Green Lights Barge Transport of Frack Wastewater). Here we are in July 2014–and still no Coast Guard approval in sight, which is disappointing…
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Electrical Generation | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Spectra Energy

Spectra Energy to the Rescue! New England Pipeline Expansion
July 8, 2014July 8, 2014

Seems that Kinder Morgan and their planned expansion of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline across Massachusetts isn’t the only company to respond to the plea from New England’s governors to get more natural gas coming to the region (see Blue State Blues: 6 New England States Want New Natgas Pipeline). Spectra Energy has responded to the call to get more gas going to New England. Last week Spectra announced plans 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…
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Energy Services | Enterprise Products Partners | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Pipelines | Sunoco Logistics | Williams

Envelope Please: 4 of 5 Top Midstream Companies in Marcellus/Utica
July 8, 2014July 8, 2014

Who’s the “best of the best” when it comes to the midstream sector–for the entire country? It probably won’t surprise you to learn that the #1 midstream company in the Marcellus, by size of operations in the Marcellus, claimed the top spot in EnergyPoint Research’s 2014 Oil & Gas Midstream Services Customer Satisfaction Survey. That company is, of course, MarkWest Energy. What may surprise you is that Sunoco Logistics, currently under an intense smear campaign by anti-drillers who want to prevent the Mariner East natural gas liquids pipeline from beginning operation, came in at #2. Two other companies with major operations in the northeast are also in the top 5…
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Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Supply Chain

Shale Gas Adding 150K New Supply Chain Jobs by 2020
July 8, 2014July 8, 2014

The Energy Equipment and Infrastructure Alliance (EEIA), a trade association representing the companies and people that provide contractor services, equipment, materials and labor to shale oil and gas exploration and production, infrastructure, transportation and processing, says a new report shows that shale gas production through 2020 will create an additional 150,000 new supply chain jobs in the U.S. The EEIA also says if the U.S. government gets its act together and approves more LNG export facilities, that would create another 10-20,000 additional jobs…
Read More “Shale Gas Adding 150K New Supply Chain Jobs by 2020”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Jul 8, 2014
July 8, 2014July 8, 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: Tue, Jul 8, 2014”
Accidents | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Wastewater | Westmoreland County | WPX Energy

WPX Wastewater Impoundment Source of Water Contamination in W PA?
July 7, 2014July 7, 2014

Three families near a WPX Energy wastewater impoundment near Ligonier (Westmoreland County), PA say their well water has been contamined by wastewater leaking from the impoundment. The case is just coming to light (at least for MDN) although the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has known and has investigated the “leaky impoundment” for going on two years now…
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Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Pennsylvania | Washington County

EQT Offers Neighbors Near Finleyville Drill Pad $50K for Nuisance
July 7, 2014July 7, 2014

ProPublica has a new story claiming that Marcellus driller (and midstream company) EQT has done something really unusual in Washington County, PA. The company, last year, was in the process of drilling 12 wells on a single pad. With all of the trucks and noise and dust, it didn’t take the neighbors long to start complaining. EQT attempted to address those concerns, meeting with neighbors and conducting air tests, etc. However, after apparently growing tired of the hassles, EQT finally just offered each household/neighbor near the pad $50,000–if those neighbors would sign a “nuisance easement” that pretty much says the neighbors absolve EQT from any damages for anything related to their drilling and pipeline operations…
Read More “EQT Offers Neighbors Near Finleyville Drill Pad $50K for Nuisance”
Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Pennsylvania | Warren Resources | Wyoming County (PA)

Warren Resources Buys Marcellus Acreage/Wells from Citrus Energy
July 7, 2014July 7, 2014

The Marcellus Shale has a new driller in town. This morning, New York City-based Warren Resources announced they have acquired essentially all of the Marcellus assets owned by Colorado-based Citrus Energy for $352.5 million. Warren immediately takes title to several working Marcellus wells currently producing 82 million cubic feet of gas per day…
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Allegheny County | Energy Services | Fluid Delivery Solutions (FDS) | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Pennsylvania

3 Investment Cos Buy Fluid Delivery Solutions – Terms Not Disclosed
July 7, 2014July 7, 2014

Three private equity companies (investment firms) announced last week they have acquired a majority interest in Fluid Delivery Solutions (FDS), an oilfield water management company that provides fresh water transfer and storage for drillers in the Marcellus, Utica and other shale plays. Terms of the buyout were not disclosed, however, FDS’ management and staff will remain in place. Essentially FDS has transferred ownership to investors with deep pockets but have kept the keys to the company…
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Energy Companies | Greene County (PA) | Pennsylvania | Vantage Energy

Marcellus Driller Vantage Energy Files for $400M IPO
July 7, 2014July 7, 2014

Colorado-based Vantage Energy, with a major operation in the Marcellus Shale, has filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering (IPO) in which they hope to sell $400 million worth of stock. 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)…
Read More “Marcellus Driller Vantage Energy Files for $400M IPO”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

Opposition from Anti Drillers to ET Rover Pipeline in Michigan
July 7, 2014July 7, 2014

Why is it reporters, when writing about proposed pipelines, and talking about the gas that flow through them, always seem to use the same pejorative phrasing. Word for word out of the reporter anti-drilling stylebook it’s usually something like “gas extracted through the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking,” as Gannett reporter Keith Matheny writes in the Detroit Free Press when talking about the recently announced ET Rover pipeline from Energy Transfer Partners that will cross Michigan (see Big News: ETP “Rover” Marcellus/Utica Pipeline to Midwest/Canada). For their part, anti-drillers quoted in such stories always seem to use the same phraseology too…
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Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio | Statewide OH

OH Makes $150K Grant to Union to Train Utica/Marcellus Welders
July 7, 2014July 7, 2014

More highly skilled (and highly paid) welders will be on the way soon in the Utica and Marcellus Shale thanks to a $150,000 training grant by the State of Ohio to the Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 396. The grant, from the Governor’s Office of Appalachia, will train (or retrain) 40 union welders over the next one year. The money will put Ohioans back to work by working in the gas fields (no “foreigners” need apply). Here’s the official announcement:
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues

Some So-Called Churches Vote to Divest from Fossil Fuel Companies
July 7, 2014July 7, 2014

Once again so-called church denominations, including the United Church of Christ and more recently the Unitarian Universalist Association (they’re “so-called” because they’re about as far you can get from being a church in the classic sense of that word) are divesting their considerable investments from any company they deem to promote the use of fossil fuels. No more ExxonMobil stocks in their portfolios–eventually. They won’t divest all at once because that may cost them their precious filthy lucre…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA | Sunoco Logistics

Branding Squabble Among Sunoco Siblings over Mariner East Project
July 7, 2014July 7, 2014

For MDN, an interesting story in the Philadelphia Inquirer tackles the tricky issue of branding and the very visible brand of Sunoco. It seems Sunoco that sells you your gasoline at filling stations across the country is often confused with Sunoco Logistics, the company that builds pipelines, like the Mariner East pipeline. Mariner East would repurpose a pipeline that crosses the state of Pennsylvania from west to southeast and would deliver natural gas liquids, including propane, to the Marcus Hook refinery near Philadelphia. Mariner East has faced still opposition (see More Pushback from PA Residents on Proposed Mariner East Pipeline). Anti-drillers are trying to tarnish the Sunoco name and that has Sunoco the filling station company concerned…
Read More “Branding Squabble Among Sunoco Siblings over Mariner East Project”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Jul 7, 2014
July 7, 2014July 7, 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 7, 2014”
Ohio | Statewide OH

OH Natgas Production Doubles from 2012 to 2013 Thx to the Utica
July 3, 2014July 3, 2014

Yesterday the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) released production numbers for 2013 and the numbers were truly impressive. ODNR says all oil and gas wells (conventional and unconventional/shale) in Ohio produced 8 million barrels of oil and 171 billion cubic feet of gas in 2013. Compared to 2012, Ohio’s total oil production increased by 62% and natural gas production increased by 97%. The increase in natural gas is due almost entirely to the Utica Shale…
Read More “OH Natgas Production Doubles from 2012 to 2013 Thx to the Utica”