Marcellus Drilling News

Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Washington County | Wastewater

Range Resources to Close Wastewater Pond in Washington County, PA
July 22, 2014July 22, 2014

So-called “investigative journalist” Amanda Gillooly maintains a “bash Range Resources all the time” blog site called Marcellus Monitor, on which she is reporting that Range Resources has filed a plan with the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection to close the Yeager wastewater impoundment in Amwell Township (Washington County), PA. Gillooly laughably says the impoundment is “the subject of myriad lawsuits and a federal probe.” Apparently two lawsuits is considered a myriad these days…
Read More “Range Resources to Close Wastewater Pond in Washington County, PA”
Harrison County | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio

MWCD Neighbor Asks District to Include Them in Future Lease Deal
July 22, 2014July 22, 2014

The Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD) was formed in 1933 to help control flooding and promote water conservation in the Muskingum River watershed area of Ohio, an area that covers 8,000 square miles. Over the past few years the MWCD has been aggressively leasing some of it’s 54,000 acres for shale drilling, a move that is making the organization big bucks (see MWCD Reinvesting $300M of Utica Shale Revenue over Next 10 Yrs). Some of the MWCD leases are for drilling under and around reservoirs (see Antero Pays $15K/Acre, 20% Royalties for MWCD Piedmont Lake Lease). Anti-drillers have, of course, tried to spoil it (see Anti-Drillers Win Minor Victory Against Muskingum Watershed Dist), but such efforts have been largely unsuccessful in their attempt to derail shale drilling on MWCD land. What you don’t usually hear about are stories like this one…
Read More “MWCD Neighbor Asks District to Include Them in Future Lease Deal”
Butler County | Deep Well Services | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Supply Chain

PA Snubbing Company Expands by 50 Jobs in Just 3 Months
July 22, 2014July 22, 2014

Another supply chain success story: Thanks to the Marcellus and Utica Shale, the only “snubbing” company located in Pennsylvania, Deep Well Services (DWS), has hired 50 new workers since May. By the end of this month they’ll have 128 employees on the payroll–almost all of them in PA, WV and OH. That’s more than 100 jobs added since 2012–thanks to shale drilling. Oh! What’s “snubbing” you ask?…
Read More “PA Snubbing Company Expands by 50 Jobs in Just 3 Months”
Energy Companies | Gastar Exploration | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Reserves (Proved and Unproved) | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Gastar Proved Reserves Up 43% – 3/4 of it in the Marcellus
July 22, 2014July 22, 2014

Gastar Exploration, a major driller in the Marcellus/Utica, posted a mid-year update on their proved (and unproved) reserves yesterday. When you lump all hydrocarbons together–natural gas, oil and condensate and natural gas liquids (NGLs)–Gastar’s estimated proved reserves totaled 78.0 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) as of June 30th. That’s up an eye-popping 43% over the same time last year. Where is all that gas coming from? Three-fourths of it is in the Marcellus/Utica, and one-fourth is in the Mississippi Lime/Woodford Shale in Oklahoma…
Read More “Gastar Proved Reserves Up 43% – 3/4 of it in the Marcellus”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | Supply Chain | West Virginia

Primoris Wins Another Round of Pipeline Work in PA/WV Marcellus
July 22, 2014July 22, 2014

A very short and light-on-specifics press release from Primoris Services Corporation says the pipeline building company, based in Dallas, TX, has just secured $80 million worth of contracts to build pipelines for “three major midstream operators” in the PA and WV Marcellus region. You may recall MDN also told you about several Primoris Marcellus Shale projects in June 2013 (see Rockford/Primoris Lands $92M in Marcellus Pipeline Contracts). Here’s the announcement of the latest round of work won by Primoris:
Read More “Primoris Wins Another Round of Pipeline Work in PA/WV Marcellus”
Energy Services | Halliburton

Halliburton Promotes Bean Counter to President – CEO in Waiting?
July 22, 2014July 22, 2014

The hated and reviled (by the left) oilfield services company Halliburton, whose CEO was once non other than that evil puppet master Dick Cheney, is promoting its executive VP and COO Jeff Miller, a CPA, to become president on August 1st. Miller will work closely with Dave Lesar, Halliburton’s chairman and CEO. Lest you get the wrong impression, our opening sentence was sarcasm for humorous effect. We love Halliburton! Although we’re not sure if appointing a bean counter to the top position is necessarily the best move…
Read More “Halliburton Promotes Bean Counter to President – CEO in Waiting?”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Crude Oil | Decline/Depletion Rates | Industrywide Issues

Peak Oil/Gas Site Roots for Frack Bans – Gets It Totally Wrong
July 22, 2014July 22, 2014

What happens when your theory is totally debunked as so much horse feathers? As in, the so-called “peak oil” and lately, “peak natural gas” theory? If you’re a website dedicated to propping up your discredited theories, like Oilprice.com, you just double down and keep publishing more “peak” articles–even in the face of overwhelming evidence that you’re wrong. The latest “peak” Oilprice article is a real laugher that says you ought to move away from investing in shale drilling companies cause one or two towns around the country (like Denton, TX) may ban fracking. The article attempts to turn that into a “trend” and, well, if you’re really really really smart and if you can read the stitches on a fastball, the ban fracking fastball is coming–fast…
Read More “Peak Oil/Gas Site Roots for Frack Bans – Gets It Totally Wrong”
Commodity Price | Industrywide Issues | Weather

Marcellus/Utica 3-Month Weather Forecast: Cool, Warm, Warm
July 22, 2014July 22, 2014

Because the weather has a great deal to do with the price of natural gas, and the price of natural gas has a great deal to do with whether or not drillers are willing to drill for it, MDN brought you the Weather Services International long range forecast one month ago (see Global Warming, Global Cooling & Natgas Prices). WSI is back with an updated long range (next three months) forecast. What does it show?…
Read More “Marcellus/Utica 3-Month Weather Forecast: Cool, Warm, Warm”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Jul 22, 2014
July 22, 2014July 22, 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 22, 2014”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Crestwood Midstream | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | NGLs | Regulation | Schuyler County

NY Antis Resort to Violence After Vote Supporting Propane Facility
July 21, 2014July 21, 2014

Where to begin? New York’s anti-drillers have sunk to a new low in their irrational quest to eliminate fossil fuels. They’ve resorted to intimidation, threats and now violence against public officials. For extra good measure, they’re poisoning the minds of New York’s school children–using them as props because they can’t get traction from the public for their own bizarro ideas. Let us explain the latest outrage in the antis’ fight to prevent a badly-needed liquid propane storage facility in Schuyler County, NY…
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Energy Companies | Forced Pooling | Hilcorp Energy | Industrywide Issues | Lawrence County | Pennsylvania

Third Time the Charm? Hilcorp PA Hearing on Forced Pooling Resched
July 21, 2014July 21, 2014

In Pennsylvania, there is no forced pooling law for Marcellus Shale wells. Forced pooling laws typically say if a majority of landowners are leased in a drilling unit (640 acres, or one square mile), the driller can “force” the other landowners not signed to allow drilling under (not on) their land. However, there’s a loophole in PA for Utica wells. Because Utica wells sit below the Onondaga formation, a 1961 PA law allows forced pooling for Utica wells. Hilcorp is attempting to use that loophole in Lawrence County, PA to force a few recalcitrant landowners to allow drilling (see Hilcorp Lawrence County, PA Forced Pooling Case Update). Hearings on Hilcorp’s forced pooling request have been scheduled and canceled–twice (first in March, then in May). We now have a third date for the hearings–in September…
Read More “Third Time the Charm? Hilcorp PA Hearing on Forced Pooling Resched”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA Gov Corbett Cuts Deal with Enviro Devil on Forest Drilling
July 21, 2014July 21, 2014

Last week MDN told you that the litigious anti-drilling group Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Foundation (PEDF) waited all of about two hours after PA Gov. Tom Corbett signed the 2014 PA budget before filing a lawsuit to prevent the use of money from leasing more state forestland and parks for drilling under, not on (see Anti-Drilling Group Sues PA over Budget and $ from State Leases). The litigious PEDF sought an immediate injunction against the use of any lease money from new leases flowing to the PA budget–a lawsuit that could have screwed up the entire budget for the Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). With the gun of a lawsuit aimed at his head, PA Gov. Tom Corbett cut a deal with the ~~devil~~ PEDF to not lease any new state forest land until the lawsuit is heard–this fall at the earliest…
Read More “PA Gov Corbett Cuts Deal with Enviro Devil on Forest Drilling”
CNG/LNG | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

LNG Facility Planned for PA/NY Border Area Close to Binghamton
July 21, 2014July 21, 2014

This is a “how cool is that” story. A Scranton newspaper is reporting that Gulf Oil is planning to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in Great Bend (Susquehanna County), PA–about 15 minutes from MDN’s home base–just over the border from Greater Binghamton. The Great Bend facility, if built, will use gas from a Williams’ Windsor-Montrose-Washington gathering pipeline and compress it for storage and delivery as a liquid. For what purpose? Ah, there’s the beauty of it…
Read More “LNG Facility Planned for PA/NY Border Area Close to Binghamton”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

Good Move: PA Budget Cuts DRBC Contribution in Half
July 21, 2014July 21, 2014

In February MDN told you about PA Gov. Tom Corbett’s plan to trim Pennsylvania’s contribution to the Delaware River Basin Commission’s budget (see PA Dems, DRBC Squeal over Proposed Cut to DRBC Budget). The DRBC has been unfairly benefiting from PA residents for years. The other states that are part of the DRBC have cut back on their contributions leaving PA holding the bag. No more. As part of the recently passed state budget, PA has cut DRBC funding–in half…
Read More “Good Move: PA Budget Cuts DRBC Contribution in Half”
Air Quality | Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Washington County

Anti-Drilling Group Distributes Air Monitors, Calls it Research
July 21, 2014July 21, 2014

The Southwest Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project (SWPA-EHP) is an anti-drilling organization with a mission to prove what no one has been able to prove (after thousands of shale wells have been drilled): that Marcellus drilling makes you sick. They tried once before with a statistically invalid “survey” of 27 people (see Health “Study” of Whopping 27 People Blames Drilling for Symptoms). They’re back, trying again. This time they’ve handed over “over 100” air monitoring devices around Washington County, PA in another laughable attempt to “prove” that drilling makes you sick…
Read More “Anti-Drilling Group Distributes Air Monitors, Calls it Research”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lebanon County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Williams

Marcellus Money Funds Farm Land Preservation in Lebanon County PA
July 21, 2014July 21, 2014

Oh the delicious irony. For some time now MDN has poked fun at irrational anti-drillers in Lebanon County, PA who pretend the sky is falling if Williams runs a natural gas pipeline under the ground through their county (see this list of recent stories). Most of those opposed are garden-variety anti-drillers who want all Marcellus drilling stopped. It’s all about “land preservation” for the people in Lebanon Pipeline Awareness. So imagine our delight to learn that for the second year running, Lebanon County has helped fund the Lebanon County Agricultural Land Preservation Board with money from the Marcellus Shale Act 13 Impact Fee money–money from Marcellus drilling in other parts of the state, not even from Lebanon County…
Read More “Marcellus Money Funds Farm Land Preservation in Lebanon County PA”