Marcellus Drilling News

CNG/LNG | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

DOE Changes Way They Evaluate/Approve LNG Export Facilities
May 30, 2014May 30, 2014

The news came fast and furious yesterday from various quarters of the Obama administration. Almost lost in the shuffle was a major announcement from the Ernest “Hair” Moniz’s Dept. of Energy. The DOE plays a major role in deciding which (or whether) a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility is allowed to be built. Since 2010 some 25 LNG export facilities have been proposed, seeking DOE approval. How many have been approved? Precisely one–a new facility by Cheniere Energy for a facility along Louisiana’s Gulf Coast…
Read More “DOE Changes Way They Evaluate/Approve LNG Export Facilities”
Accidents | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Washington County

MarkWest Update on Still-Closed PA Plant After Lightening Strike
May 30, 2014May 30, 2014

Wednesday evening around 6:00 lightening struck the MarkWest gas processing plant in southwestern PA at Chartiers (see Lightening Strike at MarkWest Chartiers Plant Causes Evacuation). Yesterday MarkWest issued the following update about the incident…
Read More “MarkWest Update on Still-Closed PA Plant After Lightening Strike”
Energy Companies | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | Landfills | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Regulation | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | Washington County | West Virginia

Curious: Everyone’s Happy with WV Ban on Imported Drilling Sludge
May 30, 2014June 16, 2014

Earlier this week MDN told you that a couple of containers with drilling sludge (mud, leftover rock and dirt) from Range Resources containing low levels of radioactivity were sent to a landfill in Bridgeport, WV for disposal (see Range Radioactive Containers Sent to WV for Disposal). The WV Dept. of Environmental Protection caught wind of it and has banned any further out-of-state shipments of drilling sludge from disposal in WV…
Read More “Curious: Everyone’s Happy with WV Ban on Imported Drilling Sludge”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide PA | Sunoco Logistics

StateImpact PA Claims Another Scalp for their Anti-Drilling Wall
May 30, 2014May 30, 2014

Earlier this month MDN told you about the anti-drilling advocacy organization pretending to be a news organization, StateImpact Pennsylvania, and their crowing over their efforts to get a law firm to withdraw from representing Sunoco Logsitics and their Mariner East Pipeline project (see PA Reporter Gets Law Firm to Withdraw from Sunoco Pipeline Case). StateImpact is back with a new scalp to add to their collection. They’ve just cowed the chairman of the PA Public Utilities Commission, Rob Powelson, into resigning from the Greater Philadelphia Energy Action Team–a Chamber of Commerce organization aimed at promoting business and all forms of energy in the state…
Read More “StateImpact PA Claims Another Scalp for their Anti-Drilling Wall”
Crawford County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Supply Chain | Universal Well

Marcellus Supply Chain Success Story: Universal Well Services
May 30, 2014May 30, 2014

There is an inescapable fact in business: those who take risks are the ones who get the rewards. A corollary is this: Those who take the biggest risks get the biggest rewards. And so it is for Meadville (Crawford County), PA company Universal Well Services, a company that specializes in pressure-pumping wells, cementing well pads and other well services. Ten years ago Universal’s business was 100% servicing the needs of conventional oil and gas drillers. The company decided to take a leap of faith–they temporarily suspended their work for conventional drillers and instead worked on a single Marcellus Shale (unconventional/shale) project. It was a huge risk for a relatively small company…
Read More “Marcellus Supply Chain Success Story: Universal Well Services”
Energy Companies | Halcon Resources | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio | Pipelines | Regulation | Trumbull County

Girard City Council Approves Pipeline Easement for Halcon
May 30, 2014May 30, 2014

Girard City (Trumbull County), OH Council members made a smart move. Earlier this month the Girard City Council voted to approve a right-of-way agreement that allows a natural gas transmission line to run through part of the Girard Lakes property. The 14-mile pipeline will service and run from Hilcorp Utica wells near Vienna to a fuel depot near Lordstown. Why was it a smart move?…
Read More “Girard City Council Approves Pipeline Easement for Halcon”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PEC Slams Bill Separating PA Conventional/Unconventional Regs
May 30, 2014May 30, 2014

Earlier this month MDN told you that three Pennsylvania state senators would soon introduce new legislation to separate regulations for oil and gas drilling between conventional/vertical only and unconventional/shale (see New PA Bill Would Separate Conventional/Unconventional Regulations). The new legislation was introduced, as Senate Bill 1378. At the time we said we believe the bill has good intentions, but we’re kind of skeptical. So MDN found it unusual (and somewhat distressing) that the anti-drilling Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC) is on the same side we’re on!…
Read More “PEC Slams Bill Separating PA Conventional/Unconventional Regs”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, May 30, 2014
May 30, 2014May 30, 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, May 30, 2014”
Accidents | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Washington County

Lightening Strike at MarkWest Chartiers Plant Causes Evacuation
May 29, 2014May 29, 2014

Around 6:00 pm last night lighting struck a release valve at the MarkWest gas processing plant in Chartiers Township (Washington County), PA. It caused a small fire that was quickly extinguished. However, the valve remained opened for a short period after the plant was shut down which allowed some natural gas to leak, creating a “plume” or cloud of gas near the plant. MarkWest, in what they say was “an abundance of caution,” asked about 50 residents living near the plant to evacuate. The residents were back in their homes by 10 pm…
Read More “Lightening Strike at MarkWest Chartiers Plant Causes Evacuation”
Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies

Magnum Hunter Sells $150M in Stock Deal to “Activist Investor”
May 29, 2014May 29, 2014

Magnum Hunter Resources (MHR) has quickly become a big player in the Marcellus/Utica region. They have a laser focus on northeast drilling, quickly building up a 200,000 acre position, largely in West Virginia and Ohio. Yesterday MHR announced they’ve cut a deal with Relational Investors LLC, granting Relational common stock and stock options in return for a tidy $150 million in cash–money MHR intends to use for more drilling in the northeast. Who’s behind Relational Investors, and should landowners (and MHR investors) be concerned? The answers may surprise you…
Read More “Magnum Hunter Sells $150M in Stock Deal to “Activist Investor””
Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PEDF Sues to Stop Corbett Under (Not On) Forest Drilling Plan
May 29, 2014May 29, 2014

The benign-sounding Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Foundation (PEDF) has as its mission of filing frivolous lawsuits against legitimate businesses (or governments) who want to engage in sensible and safe commerce that involves natural resources. Last Friday, May 23, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett signed an executive order that continues a ban on surface drilling in PA state forests but allows drilling under a little bit more of the forests if the drillers do so from adjacent private land (see Corbett Keeps New Surface Drilling Banned in PA Forests). Two weeks before Corbett issued his executive order, the PEDF filed a motion with PA Commonwealth Court to block his executive order…
Read More “PEDF Sues to Stop Corbett Under (Not On) Forest Drilling Plan”
Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

More Details/Proposed Route of Dominion Marcellus to NC Pipeline
May 29, 2014May 29, 2014

A month ago MDN told you the news that Dominion, a huge utility and midstream company operating in the Mid-Atlantic region, is considering building a 450-mile natural gas pipeline from West Virginia, through Virginia and all the way to southern North Carolina (see Dominion Announces 2 New Pipeline Projects from Marcellus/Utica). Dominion calls the potential pipeline the Dominion Southeast Reliability Project. A month later and mainstream media in that region finally woke up and has started reporting on “concerns” about the very preliminary and not yet decided project…
Read More “More Details/Proposed Route of Dominion Marcellus to NC Pipeline”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

Head of PA DEP Oil & Gas Division Departs
May 29, 2014May 29, 2014

Alan Eichler has worked in the Oil and Gas Management division of the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) for the past 28 years. For a number of years Alan has been the head of the Oil and Gas Management division. Now he’s gone…
Read More “Head of PA DEP Oil & Gas Division Departs”
Belmont County | Energy Companies | Hess | Ohio

Hess Drill Rig Ruins View for Warnock Cemetery’s Dead Residents
May 29, 2014May 29, 2014

There goes the neighborhood. Back in December MDN told you that Hess had the unmitigated gall to drill a Utica well next door to a cemetery in Belmont County, OH (see Hess Has Gall to Drill Utica Well Next Door to a Cemetery in OH). The dead folks and those visiting them have reason to complain–a “huge” drilling rig has sprouted next to the cemetery, ruining their view…
Read More “Hess Drill Rig Ruins View for Warnock Cemetery’s Dead Residents”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Thu, May 29, 2014
May 29, 2014May 29, 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: Thu, May 29, 2014”
Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Landfills | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Washington County | Wastewater

Range Drilling Mud Trips Radioactive Alarm at Landfill in SWPA
May 28, 2014May 28, 2014

Range Resources has confirmed that (run for the hills!) leftover drilling mud and dirt at a drill site in Washington County, PA has radioactivity levels slightly above background noise levels–a tad too high to be disposed of in a regular landfill. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette calls it “Marcellus Shale drilling sludge with radioactivity.” Which is laughable, since the PPG doesn’t report on the myriad of times medical waste from hospitals is rejected from the very same landfills for setting off radioactivity alarms. Why don’t we ever see stories about “radioactive needles”?…
Read More “Range Drilling Mud Trips Radioactive Alarm at Landfill in SWPA”