Marcellus Drilling News

Butler County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Rex Energy

MarkWest Beefs Up Bluestone Plant in NWPA – Mostly for Rex Energy
June 3, 2014June 3, 2014

Good news for drillers in northwestern Pennsylvania–particularly Rex Energy. MarkWest announced yesterday they doubled the processing capacity at their Bluestone plant in Butler County, PA. The Bluestone II plant is now online and operating and processing an additional 120 million cubic feet of gas per day. In addition to the new plant, MarkWest has added ethane and heavier fractionation capabilities to the original Bluestone plant–20,000 barrels per day. And they’ve completed a 32-mile ethane pipeline which connects to the Mariner West pipeline, flowing ethane all the way to Sarnia, Ontario…
Read More “MarkWest Beefs Up Bluestone Plant in NWPA – Mostly for Rex Energy”
CNG/LNG | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

Watch Who’s For & Against Change in DOE’s LNG Approval Process
June 3, 2014June 3, 2014

Last week MDN told you about the Dept. of Energy announcement that they’re changing the way they approve potential LNG (liquefied natural gas) export projects to non-free trade countries (see DOE Changes Way They Evaluate/Approve LNG Export Facilities). We said at the time that while we appreciate that the DOE wants to streamline and turn a two-stage process into a single approval process, we have some deep reservations about the change-up. So we noticed, with interest, that the anti-drilling Sierra Club praised the change, and the pro-gas Center for LNG (CLNG) expressed deep reservations, not unlike our own, which verifies our own thinking and skepticism about this policy change…
Read More “Watch Who’s For & Against Change in DOE’s LNG Approval Process”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, June 3, 2014
June 3, 2014June 3, 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, June 3, 2014”
About MDN | Industrywide Issues | MDN Resources | Research

MDN Launches 2014 Marcellus/Utica Databook – 3rd Year!
June 2, 2014June 2, 2014

Marcellus Drilling News is today launching the third series of our Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook! The 2014 edition of the Databook, Volume 1, officially launches today. Never in our wildest dreams did we think back in 2012 that the Databook would become so popular. We’ve now published two complete series–the 2012 and 2013 series (3 volumes each, or six volumes total) and today begins the third series–for 2014. The heart and soul of the Databook is a series of maps–one for every county where permits for drilling have been issued–throughout Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. The “secret sauce” for the Databook is to visually, through maps and charts (87 of them in this edition), show you who is drilling right now or soon will be–and where they are drilling…
Read More “MDN Launches 2014 Marcellus/Utica Databook – 3rd Year!”
Decline/Depletion Rates | Guest Post | Industrywide Issues

Guest Article: Decline Curves Demystified – Chris Acker
June 2, 2014June 2, 2014

Ack is back! MDN is pleased to bring you another guest post from our very good friend Chris Acker. Chris is a geological engineer with an MBA. He grew up in the oil fields of Venezuela where his father, a petroleum engineer, was a drilling contractor for all the major players, onshore and off. Chris’ interest in energy economics and policy found him working for Exxon, Petroleum Industry Research Associates and Petroleos de Venezuela. He bought a parcel of land in the PA countryside twenty-five years ago and later semi-retired to work on antique pianos (see www.PianoGrands.com). A few years ago, it was established that Chris’ property in Susquehanna County sits atop one of the Marcellus shale’s most prolific areas. He is now happily engaged once again in energy economics, with emphasis, naturally, on gas. In this post Chris gives us the lowdown on what every landowner with a well sooner or later wants to know: How fast will production from my well peter out? It’s called a “decline curve” and Chris gives us a great understanding of the fundamentals…
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CNX Resources | Columbiana County | CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Ohio | Utica Shale

CONSOL Energy Pulls Out of Northeastern Ohio
June 2, 2014June 2, 2014

Yet more evidence that drillers are abandoning northern Ohio. CONSOL Energy has opted to not renew a lease at the Columbiana County Port Authority’s industrial park in Leetonia. CONSOL leased 10,000 square feet at the industrial park in March 2012 for $252,199 per year. That’s a half million bucks for two years. Now gone. Why? Leaky roof? Bad neighbors? Nope. CONSOL loved the facility. They said the decision to not renew was because…
Read More “CONSOL Energy Pulls Out of Northeastern Ohio”
Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Guernsey County | Ohio | Utica Shale

Rumor Mill: EQT May be Leaving Guernsey County, OH
June 2, 2014June 2, 2014

Buzz buzz buzz… The rumor mill is chattering in southeast Ohio–and the rumor going around is that EQT is leaving town. Indeed, has the company already left? An enterprising Ohio reporter fired off an email to EQT asking them to confirm or deny. And the reporter got an answer, from none other than Steve Schlotterbeck, executive vice president and president, Exploration and Production for EQT Corp. What did Schlotterbeck say?…
Read More “Rumor Mill: EQT May be Leaving Guernsey County, OH”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Statewide VA | Virginia

Virginia Reviews Fracking Regs with Eye to Allow Shale Drilling
June 2, 2014June 2, 2014

This Wednesday the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME) will have a first meeting to look at the state’s existing rules on fracking. A panel of state officials, a representative from the drilling industry, and “others” (environmentalist wackos?) will assemble in Richmond to review the regulations on the books now, and make recommendations on things to change in anticipation of drillers who have expressed an interest in drilling in some of Virginia’s shale plays. No, the shale drillers are interested in is not the Marcellus (found along the western fringes), but instead is the Taylorsville Basin, located south and east of Fredericksburg, VA (see Virginia Inches Closer to Shale Drilling in Taylorsville Basin)…
Read More “Virginia Reviews Fracking Regs with Eye to Allow Shale Drilling”
Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV DEP Launches New Website to Assist with Storage Tank Law
June 2, 2014June 2, 2014

As MDN previously reported, the coal industry accident in West Virginia where a chemical tank leaked, temporarily polluting the drinking water for 300,000 WV residents not only affected the coal industry, but the natural gas drilling industry too. In the closing hours of the most recent WV legislative session, lawmakers passed a new storage tank law that affects gas drillers (see Impact of WV’s New Chemical Tank Law on Marcellus Drillers). The WV Dept. of Environmental Protection has just launched a new website to assist drillers and others affected by the new law…
Read More “WV DEP Launches New Website to Assist with Storage Tank Law”
Belmont County | Energy Companies | Hess | Industrywide Issues | Jefferson County (OH) | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Ohio | Utica Shale

Hess Wins Case Against One OH Landowner, Settles with Others
June 2, 2014June 2, 2014

Last October MDN told you about a court case that Hess lost in a lower Ohio court. Hess promised to “vigorously challenge” the decision and appeal it to a higher court (see Hess Will Challenge OH Court Decision to End Lease). The crux of the case: Hess purchased leases from Mason Dixon Energy and didn’t live up to the terms of the lease–they didn’t drill within five years and didn’t make an extra payment–then tried to make up for it at the last minute with payments to extend the leases. Three landowners won that original case, but on appeal, Hess has won against one of the landowners and it appears Hess is ready to settle with the other 300 or so landowners in the area that are affected…
Read More “Hess Wins Case Against One OH Landowner, Settles with Others”
Accidents | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Range Resources Corp | Washington County

Range Update on MarkWest Houston Processing Plant Outage
June 2, 2014June 2, 2014

MDN has been following the story of the lightening strike at the MarkWest Chartiers gas processing plant in Washington County, PA last week that closed the plant (see Lightening Strike at MarkWest Chartiers Plant Causes Evacuation and MarkWest Update on Still-Closed PA Plant After Lightening Strike). The plant is still closed and so Range Resources, one of the primary customers of the plant, issued a statement…
Read More “Range Update on MarkWest Houston Processing Plant Outage”
Allegheny County | Meetings | Pennsylvania

Unique Product/Service for Marcellus? Pitch it @ SI Tech Showcase
June 2, 2014June 2, 2014

Recently the Ben Franklin Shale Gas Innovation & Commercialization Center (SGICC) awarded four $25,000 prizes to companies or people they believe have unique products and services that will benefit the Marcellus Shale industry (see Shale Innovation Winners of $100K in Prize Money Named). Each year the SGICC also sponsors a Technology Showcase which it runs the day before the Shale Insight event begins–in tandem with the event (one of the best such events in the Marcellus/Utica). MDN editor Jim Willis attended the Technology Showcase last year and thought it was speed dating meets Wall Street. As the SGICC describes it, they want those with applications and technologies ready for “field testing” to make 8-minute pitches to describe their product or service. If you have a new product, are looking for funding or a partner to get it launched, and want to present at this year’s Technology Showcase, the deadline to apply is July 25th…
Read More “Unique Product/Service for Marcellus? Pitch it @ SI Tech Showcase”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Supply Chain

Innovative Solar Powered Access Control Gate for Well Pads
June 2, 2014June 2, 2014

Quick–for those lucky enough to have visited an active drill site in the Marcellus or Utica (or really, any active shale drilling site anywhere), what’s the first thing you notice? Think back to when you arrived. Before you’re even allowed onto the drill pad, the first thing you encounter is a security guard who exits a small security shack to find out who the heck you are and what the heck you want. The guards we’ve met have been very pleasant. They’ll record your name and license plate number, and hand you a hard hat–to be worn at ALL times that you’re visiting the drill site. Safety first and always! We’re certainly not out to fire security guards, but a Colorado company has invented a pretty ingenious gate/barrier (think the gates that come down at railroad crossings) that is battery operated, recharged on solar power, and even has an intercom–all of it totally unattended. No security guard. Punch in a keycode or a keycard, the gate goes up, person goes through…
Read More “Innovative Solar Powered Access Control Gate for Well Pads”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, June 2, 2014
June 2, 2014June 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: Mon, June 2, 2014”
Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

Obama Report “Praises” Fracking Ahead of Ominous EPA Carbon Rules
May 30, 2014May 30, 2014

Every body hold your breath–literally. And get ready to turn the lights out or be forced into rolling blackouts. The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is about to release guidelines for how much carbon you exhale and in the process assassinate states rights. That will happen with the release, on June 2, of new EPA “guidelines” (i.e. jackbooted regulations) for how much carbon (the stuff you breathe out with every breath) can be emitted from electric generating power plants. The new rules are expected to harm–perhaps mortally–states like Pennsylvania, the second largest electric generator in the country…
Read More “Obama Report “Praises” Fracking Ahead of Ominous EPA Carbon Rules”
Albany County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Pivotal Court Date Next Week for Future of NY Fracking
May 30, 2014May 30, 2014

Next week will prove to be one of the most important weeks in the entire debate over whether or not fracking will ever come, in a significant fashion, to New York State. MDN editor Jim Willis is often asked, “When will New York see fracking begin?” Our answer for the past year-and-a-half has been the same: When the Dryden/Middlefield town ban cases are finally decided. Next Tuesday oral arguments in those twin (and joined) cases will be heard in Albany…
Read More “Pivotal Court Date Next Week for Future of NY Fracking”