Marcellus Drilling News

Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Seventy Seven Energy

Long Labor & Delivery: Seventy Seven Energy Born Yesterday
July 2, 2014July 2, 2014

A few weeks ago MDN told you that Chesapeake Energy had gone into labor with the prospect of birthing a spinoff of their oilfield services division. At the time labor began, we thought (based on Chessy’s statements) that the new baby would be born sometime around June 17 (see Chesapeake Oilfield Services Birth Date: June 17, 2014). Looks like it was an unusually long labor and delivery for the new baby company. Seventy Seven Energy (SSE) was born yesterday, on July 1…
Read More “Long Labor & Delivery: Seventy Seven Energy Born Yesterday”
Alternative Energy | Economic Impact | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Research

Bloomberg: Natgas, Solar Big Winners for New Investment by 2030
July 2, 2014July 2, 2014

Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) has just published a new report titled “2030 Market Outlook” in which they predict there will be $1.3 trillion of investment in new power generation capacity over the next 15 years. The big winner for that pile of new investment ($314 billion of it) will go to–you guessed it–natural gas-fired electric generating plants. Also a big winner, according to BNEF, will be solar ($231 billion for rooftop solar panels) and wind ($200 billion spent for onshore wind farms). BNEF also makes some gutsy predictions with respect to coal…
Read More “Bloomberg: Natgas, Solar Big Winners for New Investment by 2030”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA

Yet Another “Natgas Worse than Coal” Study from Tony Ingraffea
July 2, 2014July 2, 2014

Our old friend Tony “shut all fracking down” Ingraffea, who happens to (still) hold a job teaching at Cornell University, is back with yet another “research study” that (surprise!) bashes fracking. Or more properly shale drilling. This time around Tony, who has a lucrative side job by gallivanting from anti-drilling meeting to anti-drilling meeting to spread the word that fracking is evil (see Cornell Hydraulic Fracturing Expert Headlines First Meeting of New York Residents Against Drilling (NYRAD) in Vestal, NY), says shale wells have a higher rate of failure in the cement casings in Pennsylvania and he can prove it. How?…
Read More “Yet Another “Natgas Worse than Coal” Study from Tony Ingraffea”
Electrical Generation | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Tennessee Gas Pipeline

Officials: New England Faces Blackouts Without New Nagas Pipeline
July 2, 2014July 2, 2014

Listen up Massachusetts anti-drillers who don’t want Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline expansion running through your backyard (see Small Group in Ashfield, MA Vote to Oppose Kinder’s TGP Pipeline). Without that pipeline, you’re faced with impending blackouts. No electricity. For extended periods. And that’s according to the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources. At a joint meeting held in Manchaster, NH on Monday, officials warned that although there were no blackouts this past winter (a very brutal winter in New England), “That doesn’t mean that they can’t.”…
Read More “Officials: New England Faces Blackouts Without New Nagas Pipeline”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Jul 2, 2014
July 2, 2014July 2, 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: Wed, Jul 2, 2014”
Alternative Energy | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Otsego County | Regulation | Statewide NY | Tompkins County

MDN Calls on NY Towns to Ban Windmills; Boycott Cooperstown
July 1, 2014July 1, 2014

They’re noisy 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They use rare earth minerals in their manufacturing process and endanger Chinese workers who have to mine the toxic metals from the ground. They kill bald eagles and bats and all manner of birds. No one wants to live next to one going whup whup whup 24/7 (drives the neighbors insane). We’re talking of commercial windmills of course. Today MDN kicks off a campaign to get 170 New York townships to ban windmills. Oh, and while we’re at it, let’s also have town boards ban big solar farms too…
Read More “MDN Calls on NY Towns to Ban Windmills; Boycott Cooperstown”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Reaction to NY High Court’s Ill-fated Decision to Allow Town Bans
July 1, 2014July 1, 2014

Yesterday MDN brought you the sad news that New York’s highest court has sided with towns giving them the right to completely ban shale drilling (see Shale Drilling in NY is Over – High Court Upholds Town Bans). Today we bring you reaction from several New York pro-drilling groups, along with quotes from others, both for and against drilling. This is a really bid deal–a “10” on the news scale. So we need to devote some time to reactions to the court’s ill-fated decision…
Read More “Reaction to NY High Court’s Ill-fated Decision to Allow Town Bans”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA Budget Passes House & Senate with No Severance Tax
July 1, 2014July 1, 2014

Hats off to the Republican-controlled House and Senate in Pennsylvania. They passed a budget on time, before the midnight deadline last evening, and that budget contains just one new tax. Fortunately, it’s not a Marcellus Shale severance tax. So, kudos! However, the budget was not signed by PA Gov. Tom Corbett, also a Republican. He didn’t sign not because it because it didn’t include certain pension reforms he wants. One thing that the Democrats really wanted and the Republicans were only too happy to grant them: A new $2 per pack tax on cigarettes sold in Philadelphia, which is supposed to raise $80 million for Philly schools. Wait til they figure out everyone is fleeing to the suburbs to buy cheap cigs and the new tax fails!…
Read More “PA Budget Passes House & Senate with No Severance Tax”
Energy Companies | Rice Energy

SEC Investigates BlackRock over Dan Rice “Situation” 2 Years Ago
July 1, 2014July 1, 2014

Some stories have a sad ending, and some stories have a happy ending. This is one of the later. Just over two years ago MDN told you the news that BlackRock, a big-time multinational investment firm, fired the single most successful mutual fund manager in the U.S. for ten years running–Daniel Rice III (see BlackRock’s Screw-up with Dan Rice & Rice Energy). Dan was the manager for five energy-related funds at BlackRock, making the company beaucoup bucks. Dan went to his bosses and told them he was helping his boys start up a new northeast shale drilling company–Rice Energy. He made full and timely disclosure of his extracurricular activities. His bosses did nothing–they kept quiet–and when “the market” learned of Dan’s potential conflict of interest by investing in (or withdrawing investments from) companies that may be competitive with Rice Energy, his bosses fired him. Now, two years later, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating…
Read More “SEC Investigates BlackRock over Dan Rice “Situation” 2 Years Ago”
Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Portage County | Regulation | Wastewater

Anti-Drillers Try to Close Portage County, OH Injection Well
July 1, 2014July 1, 2014

Two anti-drilling groups–Concerned Citizens of Ohio and the the Virginia-based Center for Health, Environment and Justice–have filed a reckless complaint with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency alleging an injection well in Portage County, OH has been illegally accepting millions of gallons of frack wastewater. The Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) disagrees. Here’s a breakdown of the situation and the claims and counter claims…
Read More “Anti-Drillers Try to Close Portage County, OH Injection Well”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Roads | Statewide PA | Supply Chain

Another Supply Chain Success Story: Flagger Force
July 1, 2014July 1, 2014

The ingenuity of small business people never ceases to amaze us–especially that of small businesses finding ways to serve, and profit from, the Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling industry. In business circles it’s called the “supply chain”–those companies who find ways of profiting from drilling. The latest company to do so is Flagger Force–a company based in Lancaster County, PA that sends out flaggers (to control traffic) in many surround states beside Pennsylvania. Flagger Force is also a major vendor for drillers in PA…
Read More “Another Supply Chain Success Story: Flagger Force”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Jul 1, 2014
July 1, 2014July 1, 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 1, 2014”
Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Norse Energy | Regulation | Statewide NY

Shale Drilling in NY is Over – High Court Upholds Town Bans
June 30, 2014June 30, 2014

This is a very sad day indeed. We’ve just received word that New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, has reaffirmed two lower court rulings that allows entire townships in the state to strip away property owners’ rights to allow drilling, in contravention to the U.S. Constitution. The two cases, long chronicled here on MDN, are the “Middlefield” and “Dryden” cases (see NY Pro-Drillers File Final Briefs in Dryden/Middlefield Cases for background). What does it mean? In our opinion it means there will never be any meaningful shale drilling in New York. No driller in his right mind will roll the dice, lock up thousands of acres by spending millions of dollars, just to see it all disappear at the next town board election with a vote by 3 of 5 people. What a complete and utter tragedy this is for freedom-loving Americans who happen to live in the increasingly communistic state of New York. Below is a copy of the decision…
Read More “Shale Drilling in NY is Over – High Court Upholds Town Bans”
Accidents | Energy Companies | Equinor/Statoil | Industrywide Issues | Monroe County | Ohio

Statoil Frack Trucks Catch Fire in Monroe County, OH
June 30, 2014June 30, 2014

Crews were working to frack a Utica Shale well at a Statoil drill pad in Monroe County, OH around 9 am on Saturday when hydraulic tubing (not to be confused with the process called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking) from some of the equipment caught fire. The fire quickly spread to 20 trucks lined up at the pad, burning the trucks (some of them exploding) and creating thick, black smoke that billowed for hours. Fortunately no one was injured, although 20-25 families living within a mile of the well were evacuated…
Read More “Statoil Frack Trucks Catch Fire in Monroe County, OH”
Allegheny County | Exporting | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania

China Visits the Marcellus to Learn Our Secrets
June 30, 2014June 30, 2014

Calling Pittsburgh a “very beautiful city” and the “shale gas center of the United States,” a group from the China Shale Gas Delegation visited southwest PA last week to learn how America unlocks bountiful shale gas in a safe, economical manner. And of course they chose the biggest and best shale play to study: the Marcellus. Essentially the Chinese were here to learn our secrets–and being big-hearted Americans (and relatively stupid), we opened up and shared…
Read More “China Visits the Marcellus to Learn Our Secrets”
Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

3 New (Short) Pipelines from GreenHunter in Tri-state Area
June 30, 2014June 30, 2014

GreenHunter Resources, a subsidiary of Magnum Hunter Resources, is making small moves to compete with MarkWest Energy and Williams. Today, GreenHunter announced they are building (in a partnership with Major Pipeline LLC) three new, short pipelines. The three pipelines represent a total of 34 miles of new pipeline, when added together. One pipeline each will be dedicated to brine/wastewater, fresh water, and condensate. Two of the pipelines will originate in southwestern PA and one in WV. All of them will connect with one of GreenHunter’s barge terminals on the Ohio River. Also in the mix is a condensate “splitter”…
Read More “3 New (Short) Pipelines from GreenHunter in Tri-state Area”