Marcellus Drilling News

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

NJ Gov. Christie Vetoes Frack Waste Ban 2nd Time
August 12, 2014August 12, 2014

Two years ago, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (Republican) vetoed a bill given to him by the NJ Democrat legislature that would ban the treatment and disposal of frack wastewater in NJ–presumably coming from Pennsylvania (see NJ Gov. Christie Vetoes Frack Wastewater Ban Bill). That didn’t stop ardent anti-drillers and wackos from organizations like the Sierra Club and the odious Food & Water Watch from trying again. They did, using their reliable (and dimwitted) allies in the NJ legislature. A second bill was passed by both the Senate (S1041) and Assembly (A2108). The bill went to Christie’s desk and we pondered whether or not Christie would stick to his principles (see Will NJ Gov Christie Veto Frack Wastewater Ban a 2nd Time?). The good news is that Christie has stuck to his principles and last Friday he vetoed this latest anti-drilling snow job…
Read More “NJ Gov. Christie Vetoes Frack Waste Ban 2nd Time”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA

Post-Gazette Does About Face on Story Critical of CSSD
August 12, 2014August 12, 2014

Does MDN owe the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette an apology? We’re not quite ready to go that far, but something we saw in yesterday’s edition sat us right down, we will admit that. Lately the PPG has been running decidedly anti-drilling, anti-Marcellus articles. The most recent was an article last week essentially regurgitating the baseless, false charges made by the shadowy, nefarious “Public Accountability Initiative” (see PPG article Watchdog group faults center for links to oil and gas industry). We called out the PAI’s bogus report in an article yesterday (see PAI Says 3rd Enviro Group – PennFuture – Abandoned CSSD). Later yesterday, in a surprise of all surprises, the editorial board published their opinion that PAI’s so-called report is a “sloppy screed.” Whoa! What happened in the cubicles at the PPG? This is truly an about face for them–completely discrediting their own reporter’s article from the week before…
Read More “Post-Gazette Does About Face on Story Critical of CSSD”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Aug 12, 2014
August 12, 2014August 12, 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, Aug 12, 2014”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PAI Says 3rd Enviro Group – PennFuture – Abandoned CSSD
August 11, 2014August 12, 2014

The shadowy (we’d call it sinister) “non-profit” anti-drilling organization called the Public Accountability Initiative (PAI) released a “report” last week targeting the Center for Sustainable Shale Development (CSSD) once again, claiming it’s a front group for the shale drilling industry. The PAI was previously responsible for closing a new shale research institute at University at Buffalo (see Univ at Buffalo President Shuts Down (Censors) Shale Institute) and for giving researchers at the University of Texas a black eye in mainstream media (see Soros-backed PAI Makes University of Texas Look Foolish). The very same PAI, with ties to billionaire lefty George Soros, tried to assassinate the CSSD last year. It didn’t work–not fully. So they’re back to try and finish the job…
Read More “PAI Says 3rd Enviro Group – PennFuture – Abandoned CSSD”
Energy Services | MarkWest Energy

MarkWest 2Q14: 5 Major New Projects Go Online, More Coming
August 11, 2014August 11, 2014

We’re still catching up on all of the second quarter 2014 reports recently issued. The largest and arguably most important midstream (pipelines and processing plants) company to update last week is MarkWest Energy. MarkWest has super busy in 2Q14. Highlights include: placing into service five major infrastructure projects, which include two processing plants with 320 MMcf/d of capacity in the Marcellus Shale, a 200 MMcf/d processing plant in the Utica Shale, 20,000 barrels per day of ethane and heavier fractionation in the Marcellus Shale, and a 40,000 barrels per day de-ethanization facility in the Utica Shale. Whew! On top of that, they also announced seven new infrastructure projects that will add 720 million cubic feet per day of processing capacity and 110,000 barrels per day of fractionation capacity. Here’s the busy beaver report from MarkWest…
Read More “MarkWest 2Q14: 5 Major New Projects Go Online, More Coming”
Energy Companies | Gastar Exploration

Gastar 2Q14: Liquids 48% of Production, 72% of Revenue
August 11, 2014August 14, 2014

Last week Gastar Exploration, an important driller in the Marcellus and Utica Shale, reported their second quarter 2014 operations and financial update. Among the important highlights: nearly half (48%) of Gastar’s production is now liquids (oil, condensate and NGLs). That 48% of production brought in 72% of Gastar’s revenue–the more liquids, the higher the profit. Also, Gastar fracked its first Utica Shale well in 2Q14. Below is the quarterly update followed by an interesting transcript of the analyst call from Gastar’s CEO Russell Porter…
Read More “Gastar 2Q14: Liquids 48% of Production, 72% of Revenue”
Energy Companies | Gastar Exploration

Gastar Adds 2 New Independent Directors to Board
August 11, 2014August 11, 2014

Gastar Exploration, a major driller in the Marcellus/Utica, has added two new independent directors to its board of directors–bumping the number of directors from five to seven. “Independent” means what it sounds like–no prior affiliation or agenda other than to help the company grow and expand. Often times board directors are populated with major investors or, unfortunately, corporate raiders like acolytes of Carl Icahn who infest the board at Chesapeake Energy. The two new board members at Gastar have no such agendas: one is the previous Chairman of the Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M, and the other is a petroleum engineer with 30 years of experience. Just the kind of people you want to have guiding the management team at one of the most important drillers in the Marcellus/Utica…
Read More “Gastar Adds 2 New Independent Directors to Board”
Energy Companies | Stone Energy

Stone Energy Drills 1st Utica Well in 2Q14
August 11, 2014August 11, 2014

Stone Energy released its second quarter financial and operational update last week. Among the highlights: the company drilled its first Utica Shale test well. The company also drilled 9 new Marcellus wells and completed 18 more Marcellus wells. Here’s a few selected portions of the Stone update from last week:
Read More “Stone Energy Drills 1st Utica Well in 2Q14”
Access Midstream Partners | Cardinal Gas Services | Energy Companies | Energy Services | EnerVest | EV Energy Partners | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Pipelines | Total | Utica Shale

Cardinal Gas Courts S Koreans to Invest in Utica JV
August 11, 2014August 11, 2014

Cardinal Gas Services is a midstream company (pipelines and processing plants) concentrating on the Ohio Utica Shale. Cardinal is actually a joint venture between Access Midstream (formerly Chesapeake Midstream, now being bought by Williams), the U.S. subsidiary of French driller Total, and EnerVest Energy Partners. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any more complicated, it does. Reuters is reporting the rumor that a new consortium including South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) and South Korean gas seller E1 Corp are making a play for 34% of Cardinal…
Read More “Cardinal Gas Courts S Koreans to Invest in Utica JV”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Research | Statewide PA

Earthworks Attacks PA DEP, Post-Gazette Gives Them Helpful Hand
August 11, 2014August 11, 2014

The increasingly anti-drilling Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PPG) has once again written an article that is woefully lacking. MDN has written numerous times about the Earthworks, an virulent anti-drilling and anti-fossil fuel organization. Based in Washington, D.C., Earthworks hasn’t met a molecule of carbon they like–perhaps to the point of self-loathing the carbon in their own bodies (the human body is made up of 18.5% carbon). On the “heels” of a sham report by Pennsylvania’s anti-drilling auditor general, Eugene DePasquale (see Anti-Drilling PA Auditor General Criticizes DEP in “Report”), the PPG continues to slam the sterling job done by the men and women at the state’s Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) by quoting from a “study” issued last week by Earthworks…
Read More “Earthworks Attacks PA DEP, Post-Gazette Gives Them Helpful Hand”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Broome County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide NY | Statewide PA

Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin Pair of Drive-by Anti-Drilling Articles
August 11, 2014August 11, 2014

Yet another pair of drive-by articles on shale drilling appeared in the Sunday edition of the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin. First, a front page story built on a false premise–that the recent sham report by the politically ambitious (and anti-drilling) Auditor General of Pennsylvania issued three weeks ago contains “lessons to be learned” for New York. Pennsylvania’s anti-drilling Democrat Auditor General Eugene DePasquale took office promising to conduct an anal exam of the Dept. of Environmental Protection. Apparently he couldn’t find good dirt on the agency from 2012 onward, so he went back in time using the wayback machine to dig up old news and try to construct a report that says the PA DEP has big problems (see Anti-Drilling PA Auditor General Criticizes DEP in “Report”). That sham report, written by a man who’s seeking to make a name for himself so he can run for governor of PA in the future (and someone who heavily promoted wind farms, the energy source that “lost” to shale gas), is used as the basis for an article by a Gannett reporter to further the meme that shale drilling in NY is too risky and should not happen…
Read More “Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin Pair of Drive-by Anti-Drilling Articles”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Randolph County | West Virginia | Wetzel County

Hula Hoops & Tall Tales from WV Anti-Drillers Opposed to Pipeline
August 11, 2014August 11, 2014

We never tire of reading about (and witnessing) stupid antics and statements from anti-drillers. Frankly, it amuses us. It doubly amuses us when we point it out and make fun of them in their own absurd behaviors and statements. The latest instance are those opposing new pipelines in West Virginia. At a meeting last Thursday’s Randolph County, WV Commission meeting, one anti-driller used a hula hoop, and another made the wild claim that methane causes cancer. All in a day’s work for the anti-drilling ignorant…
Read More “Hula Hoops & Tall Tales from WV Anti-Drillers Opposed to Pipeline”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lancaster County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Supply Chain | Transco | Williams

Lancaster, PA Business Adds Pipeline Manufacturing Facility
August 11, 2014August 11, 2014

Don’t tell the anti-drillers in Lancaster, PA (and nearby Lebanon, PA), but the prospect of a new pipeline coming through that area, along with increased drilling in the Marcellus, is helping to drive the expansion of a Lancaster business. Goodhart Sons Inc., an industrial fabricator in Lancaster announced last week the development of a new pipe fabrication facility at their Lancaster, PA headquarters. Anti-drillers have opposed the pipeline proposed by Williams called the Atlantic Sunrise Project (see Williams to Lay Pipeline in “Pristine” Lancaster County, PA). Now, the hated pipeline will help to drive economic expansion and new jobs at the 79 year-old Goodhart Sons manufacturing operation in Lancaster. Anti-drillers are on the horns of a dilemma!…
Read More “Lancaster, PA Business Adds Pipeline Manufacturing Facility”
About MDN | Calendar

Calendar of Events for Aug 11-24, 2014 [Free]
August 11, 2014August 11, 2014

Below are upcoming events for this week and next.

NOTE: To have an item included, please email it to: calendar@marcellusdrilling.com.
Read More “Calendar of Events for Aug 11-24, 2014 [Free]”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Aug 11, 2014
August 11, 2014August 11, 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, Aug 11, 2014”
Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Regulation | Washington County

Robinson Twp, PA Offers a Preview into Future of NY Frack Debate
August 8, 2014August 8, 2014

One of the original seven selfish townships in Pennsylvania that sued the state over the Act 13 Marcellus Drilling law because of its zoning provisions–and won–has just become less selfish. In fact, the town, Robinson Township in Washington County, PA, has done a complete reversal. Two of the three anti-drilling supervisors were voted out of office last November. On their way out they tried to pull a fast one by passing super restrictive zoning (in December). Last night, the incoming two supervisors who are pro-drilling repealed the law and passed one of their own that’s favorable to the drilling industry. Below we take a look at Robinson’s complete reversal, which offers a fascinating preview into what’s coming to townships across New York State when Gov. Andrew “man child” Cuomo finally decides to make a decision to allow fracking…
Read More “Robinson Twp, PA Offers a Preview into Future of NY Frack Debate”