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Marcellus Drilling News
  • Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Landfills | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Wastewater

    CT May Pass Frack Wastewater Ban; Should PA Pass CT NatGas Ban?

    April 15, 2014April 15, 2014

    Even though there is no frackable shale under the ground in Connecticut, state legislators on Monday advanced a bill that will ban frack wastewater and (presumably) drill cuttings from states with fracking operations–like Pennsylvania. We’re reasonably certain no frack wastewater or drill cuttings have ever been hauled to Connecticut for disposal, so this bill seems to be yet another empty gesture. However, the bill does seem to be headed for passage by a May 7 deadline.

    So MDN would like to propose a new bill for PA legislators: How about a law that prohibits the sale of natural gas extracted by fracking to states like Connecticut that don’t want to help out with waste disposal? Seems fair to us. It’s not like Connecticut residents would have to go without natural gas–they can buy it from Russia’s Gazprom for oh, $100-$150 per thousand cubic feet (instead of purchasing PA’s Marcellus gas for $3-4 per Mcf). How about it PA? Let’s play a little hardball and see how those conceited New Englanders like a little taste of their own legislative medicine…
    Read More “CT May Pass Frack Wastewater Ban; Should PA Pass CT NatGas Ban?”

  • Best of the Rest

    Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Apr 15, 2014

    April 15, 2014April 15, 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, Apr 15, 2014”

  • Earthquakes | Energy Companies | Hilcorp Energy | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Regulation | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

    ODNR Says Youngstown Earthquakes “Probably” Caused by Fracking

    April 14, 2014April 14, 2014

    probablyAlthough they don’t know for certain, the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) is assuming that Hilcorp’s Utica Shale drilling and fracking in the Youngstown area a month ago is the “probable” cause of a series of earthquakes in the area (see # of Youngstown Earthquakes go from 2 to 11 – Fracking to Blame?). A few of the earthquakes were barely felt by some people. Most of the 11 quakes were not noticeable by humans on the surface. On Friday the ODNR instituted a new policy requiring drilling and fracking near known faults and active earthquake areas to use a seismic monitor. If a 1.0 or higher quake occurs during drilling and fracking, all drilling will stop until it’s investigated.

    If we assume the Ohio quakes in March were caused by fracking over a “previously unknown microfault” as the ODNR assumes, this would be the fourth such instance of fracking itself causing an earthquake–out of 60,000+ horizontally fracked wells (see Fracking has (so far) Triggered Earthquakes 3x – Out of 60K Wells). Statistically speaking it’s still zero. It’s important to a) acknowledge it can happen, but b) keep it in perspective. You have a greater chance of being struck by lightening than of experiencing a fracking-triggered earthquake. It only happens in specific, rare circumstances. Here’s the statement (and map) from the ODNR on how they’re going to treat drilling near faults and previous earthquake zones…
    Read More “ODNR Says Youngstown Earthquakes “Probably” Caused by Fracking”

  • Energy Companies | EnerVest | EQT Corp | EV Energy Partners | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

    Utica Shale Oil Far from Dead – EnerVest, EQT Try Again

    April 14, 2014April 14, 2014

    In September 2012 EV Energy Partners/EnerVest put 539,000 Ohio Utica Shale acres on the auction block. It didn’t sell. A year ago they announced they would begin selling sections piecemeal, a strategy that has netted a few sales since then (see EnerVest Strategy: Sell Utica, Drill Vertical, Expand Midstream). However, EnerVest still retains a lot of Utica acreage–in fact they are the largest Utica acreage holder according to the NGI’s Shale Play Factbook (with 903,000 acres, more than Chesapeake!).

    A recent article in the Akron Beacon Journal takes a look at EnerVest’s interest in figuring out how to get the oil that everyone knows is present in the Utica, out of the ground. The company recently got approval from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources to drill two Utica wells targeted at getting oil in southern Tuscarawas County. EnerVest is not the only driller who is taking another run at striking oil in the Utica…
    Read More “Utica Shale Oil Far from Dead – EnerVest, EQT Try Again”

  • Accidents | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Regulation | Wastewater

    Range Resources Fined $75K by PA DEP for Brine Spill

    April 14, 2014April 14, 2014

    On Friday the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection slapped Range Resources with a $75,000 fine for a brine spill of 3,066 gallons at its Cornwall Mountain Hunting Club Unit A well pad in Lewis Township, Lycoming County. The spill occurred in July 2012, but according to the DEP it took Range nearly a year to remediate the spill, resulting in the fine.

    Here’s what happened (and when), and what the DEP said about it…
    Read More “Range Resources Fined $75K by PA DEP for Brine Spill”

  • Antero Resources | Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

    Anti-Drillers Win Minor Victory Against Muskingum Watershed Dist

    April 14, 2014April 14, 2014

    Last October MDN told you about a lawsuit filed by a Guernsey County, OH couple seeking to stop drilling and fracking under Seneca Lake (Ohio). The Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD) approved a $40.3 million lease with Antero Resources to allow drilling around and under 6,400 acres, including the Seneca Lake. It’s not surprising that the odious Food & Water Watch is behind the lawsuit (see Muskingum Watershed Taken to Court by Anti-Frackers (Yawn)). Last week a Franklin County judge ruled that the lawsuit brought by Leatra Harper and her husband Steven Janstro (strong anti-drillers) can move forward.

    Below is the story of their minor victory, a decision that simply means the lawsuit continues, for now. However, it brings up an important issue. Later this week the MWCD is due to sign another lease with Antero–this one for drilling around and under 6,700 at Piedmont Lake (see MWCD Close to Signing Utica Lease for Piedmont Lake, OH Property). Will this small victory at Seneca Lake embolden the odious Food & Water Watch to find sympathetic, fossil fuel-hating landowners around Piedmont to stir up yet another new lawsuit?…
    Read More “Anti-Drillers Win Minor Victory Against Muskingum Watershed Dist”

  • Accidents | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Pipelines | West Virginia | Williams

    Williams Restores Service on Ruptured WV Pipeline, More Details

    April 14, 2014April 14, 2014

    Last Friday MDN told you that Gastar had given a helpful update on the Williams 12-inch pipeline that had ruptured after a landslide in Marshall County, WV on April 5th (see Gastar Helpfully Provides Update on Williams WV Pipeline Outage). We gently prodded Williams and told the PR department it needs to get in gear and start talking. Well, they did. Friday afternoon Williams issued a short statement on their Williams in the Northeast website (see it below). According to the statement, full service was restored as of 1:30 pm Friday afternoon.

    Now as for the rupture and explosion itself, we learn from a news story that the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection continues their investigation. We also learn the explosion created a 10-foot crater and scorched trees for two acres around the blast site. No wonder some of the neighbors down the road hightailed it out of there, even without being told. Here’s the latest on the Williams pipeline explosion in Marshall County…
    Read More “Williams Restores Service on Ruptured WV Pipeline, More Details”

  • Antero Resources | Energy Companies

    Antero Resources Update: Marcellus Nice & Gassy, Utica Nice & Wet

    April 14, 2014April 14, 2014

    Antero Resources is sharing some good news today about their operations and production. Year over year the company is producing 105% more daily gas equivalent production now than they did a year ago at this time–thanks in large part to the Marcellus and Utica Shale. Antero reports their Marcellus wells are nice and gassy (average 180-day production rate of 8.1 MMcfe/d, which is 25% above their other wells), and their Utica wells are nice and wet (average 30-day production rate of 15.3 MMcfe/d in ethane rejection, 50% liquids).

    Antero is a major Marcellus and Utica driller–and one to watch. Here’s the latest update…
    Read More “Antero Resources Update: Marcellus Nice & Gassy, Utica Nice & Wet”

  • Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Supply Chain | Trumbull County | Utica Shale

    Fabricating Plant CEO Thinks Utica Drilling will Head North Soon

    April 14, 2014April 14, 2014

    Evets Oil & Gas Construction Services recently opened a new 20,000-square-foot facility serving the oil and natural gas drilling industry in Hubbard (Trumbull County), OH. The company has been around since 1968 and designs and builds everything from pipelines and compressor plants to billion dollar gas and oil processing facilities. The new facility in Hubbard converted a brownfield into a greenfield, something Evets is justifiably proud of.

    At the ribbon-cutting ceremony last week, Evets CEO Rex Ferry said he thinks Utica Shale drilling will drift northward in the next few years–in 2015 or 2016–and he’s betting their new location in Trumbull County will put the company in the catbird seat. Ferry’s opinion is certainly contrary to that of most others who believe Utica drilling has moved and will stay south for the foreseeable future. Is Ferry whistling past the graveyard? Or crazy like a fox? We’ll know in the next couple of years…
    Read More “Fabricating Plant CEO Thinks Utica Drilling will Head North Soon”

  • Blair County | Energy Services | HalenHardy | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Supply Chain

    Marcellus Entrepreneur Donny Beaver: Silica Dust, Mud & Heck Out

    April 14, 2014April 14, 2014

    Donny Beaver is a serial entrepreneur. He co-founded New Pig in the mid-1980s–a company that absorbs anything that leaks, drips, splatters or spills. In 2001 Donny founded what would become a series of exclusive fly fishing clubs/retreat centers called the HomeWaters Club across Pennsylvania. In January 2013 he co-founded and launched HalenHardy, which solves problems for the Marcellus (and by extension construction) industry. Donny would talk to Marcellus workers who frequented his HomeWaters Club and his natural curiosity landed him in a new venture to help solve problems for the industry.

    First up was the excellent and award winning Mobile Air Shower by HalenHardy (MASHH) units that remove silica dust from workers in 30 seconds (see HalenHardy Wins Ben Franklin EHS Award for Silica Air Shower). Next up is a device that removes mud from boots in 30 seconds. And after that? Portable barriers that will keep people away from dangerous construction sites or emergency scenes–as in “keep the heck out,” a product called Heck Out. Perhaps Donny’s key insight, something all entrepreneurs should learn and tattoo on their hearts: “People don’t care about companies; they care about stuff that helps them.” Smart guy. He surrounds himself with talented, creative people. Really smart guy…
    Read More “Marcellus Entrepreneur Donny Beaver: Silica Dust, Mud & Heck Out”

  • Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide OH | Statewide PA

    Marcellus/Utica Anti-Drilling Group Back with Impacts “Research”

    April 14, 2014April 14, 2014

    The Multi-State Shale Research Collaborative (MSSRC) attempts to pass itself off as a non-partisan, “just the facts ma’am” kind of organization dedicated to measuring the “impacts” of Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling. They are anything but. The organization is extremely partisan and anti-drilling, backed by the likes of the Heinz Endowments and Park Foundation, two organizations that back only anti-drillers when it comes to the issue of shale drilling (just ask Bobby Vagt, former president of the Heinz Endowments, Bobby Vagt Out as Pres of Heinz Endowments – Fracking Connection?).

    Last November the MSSRC issued a faux research “report” that said, “Nah, Marcellus/Utica doesn’t create all that many jobs after all” (see Anti-Drilling Cabal Issues Biased Report on Marcellus/Utica Jobs). The anti-drilling MSSRC is back with a series of four “case studies” on counties in the Marcellus/Utica and how they’ve fared with a number of metrics. As you might expect, the “study” found loads of negative impacts. It’s all crap, but we highlight it for you so you know that it’s crap and so you’re not taken in by their lame attempt at covering up who they really are and their insidious agenda…
    Read More “Marcellus/Utica Anti-Drilling Group Back with Impacts “Research””

  • Best of the Rest

    Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Apr 14, 2014

    April 14, 2014April 14, 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, Apr 14, 2014”

  • Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Education | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lackawanna County | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

    Cabot Oil & Gas Does it Again – $2.5 Million Gift to Lackawanna College

    April 11, 2014April 11, 2014

    do it againEveryone knows how mercenary and evil those oil and gas companies are. They’re just in it for the buck. Rape and pillage poor Mother Earth–pollute the air, pollute the water, pollute everything! Those shale drillers are actually some of the worst, ya know. That’s what the anti-drilling left would have you believe. That’s the meme constantly drummed by mainstream media. Throw in a “Halliburton loophole” and “Dimock” or maybe a “Pavillion, Wyoming” and you’re good to go with the typical mainstream coverage of our industry. Just a teeny, tiny problem…none of it is true.

    MDN previously told you about Cabot Oil & Gas’ largess in helping raise $4.4 million for a rural hospital in Montrose, PA (see Cabot Effort Raises $4.4 Million for PA Physicians Clinic). Of that $4.4 million, Cabot themselves donated $2.2 million to the kitty. That is serious money folks. And now, Cabot has done it again. Today, if you’re reading this on April 11, 2014, Cabot announced a $2.5 million gift to Lackawanna College (Scranton, PA). The gift will directly fund the School of Petroleum & Natural Gas located in New Milford, PA. It marks the largest single private donation in the history of Lackawanna College. Kudos to Cabot! Cabot is a sterling company–one of the backbones of the Marcellus Shale, the biggest (and best) shale play in the United States…
    Read More “Cabot Oil & Gas Does it Again – $2.5 Million Gift to Lackawanna College”

  • Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research

    Sierra Club Pumps Out More Yada Yada in Anti-Fossil Fuel “Report”

    April 11, 2014April 11, 2014

    yada yadaThe Sierra Club continues to marginalize itself as an extremist, out-of-touch, agenda-driven huckster of fascist idealism (we know how to run your life better than you do), as proven by their latest diatribe against the miracle of safe, clean hydraulic fracturing and all things fossil fuel. Yesterday the extremists at the Sierra Club vomitted out yet another so-called report called “Dirty Fuels, Clean Futures” (full copy embedded below) in which they espouse the same old same old yada yada yada. Solar is wonderful yada yada. Fracking is evil yada yada. Burning fossil fuels will fry the planet yada yada. Obama’s dictatorial ways are to be praised, Heil Barack! yada yada. Everything is “dirty” if it’s not on the Sierra Club’s approved list.

    And so it goes. Complete and utter refuse. (Please don’t EVER give the Sierra Club a dime of your money.) They even stoop so low as to profile Susquehanna County minor celebrity anti-driller Vera Scroggins in the report (page 23). Apparently Vera is a hero in the wacko world of enviro-extremists. Good–they can have her. We provide you with the so-called “press release” and a full copy of the so-called “report” below, simply because it’s a slow news day and we like to express our utter contempt and disgust with the lies pumped out daily by the odious Sierra Club…
    Read More “Sierra Club Pumps Out More Yada Yada in Anti-Fossil Fuel “Report””

  • Accidents | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Gastar Exploration | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Pipelines | West Virginia | Williams

    Gastar Helpfully Provides Update on Williams WV Pipeline Outage

    April 11, 2014April 11, 2014

    Last Saturday a 12-inch natural gas pipeline owned by Williams Partners in Marshall County, WV ruptured and caught fire, likely due to a landslide (see Williams Pipeline Rupture/Fire in Marshall County, WV). Not long after, one of (perhaps the) driller affected by the pipeline outage, Gastar, announced it had shut in their wells in the area–a necessary precaution to warn investors that certain targets may not be met because of the pipeline outage (see Gastar Shuts-in Marshall County Wells Due to Pipeline Explosion).

    We continue to get our best information on the pipeline outage from…Gastar! We haven’t spotted a single public statement from Williams about the outage (Williams PR department, get on the ball!). Yesterday Gastar said most of their gas is flowing again, through a different Williams pipeline. Gastar also says Williams told them the ruptured/down pipeline should be repaired and operating again in “approximately three weeks.” Thanks Gastar, for keeping us up to date on the Williams pipeline…
    Read More “Gastar Helpfully Provides Update on Williams WV Pipeline Outage”

  • Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

    JLCNY Says Nirav Shah Departure Won’t Slow Down Fracking Lawsuit

    April 11, 2014April 11, 2014

    Ya just can’t keep good help if you only pay ’em $130,000 a year. So says the man-child who is governor of New York–Andy Cuomo. In a vainglorious attempt to spin the very bad news (for him) that his top health official has had enough of his dithering ways, Gov. Cuomo yesterday told reporters the ongoing so-called health review of new fracking rules has nothing to do with Shah’s departure. Shah is heading as far from New York as he can get, to California. Cuomo’s convinced we’re all idiots and don’t see the truth (see our article from yesterday, State Health Com. Nirav Shah has Enough of Andy Cuomo, Leaving NY).

    In comments yesterday Cuomo said Shah makes $130,000 per year, when it’s actually $136,000. Like most politicians, Cuomo plays fast and loose with numbers. The health department first said Shah is leaving in June, but then Shah said no, I’m outta here on May 4th, and so the health department backpedaled, sputtered, and said well yeah, we guess it is May 4th after all. What a dysfunctional joke (that’s not very funny for the residents of NY). The Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY) is certainly not amused. They issued a statement yesterday that their lawsuit against Shah (and/or his replacement), and Gov. Cuomo and DEC Commissioner Joe Martens will proceed full speed ahead, regardless of Shah’s departure. We hope the JLCNY continues their lawsuit against Shah all the way to California for his collusion with Cuomo and Martens to prevent drilling for the past year and a half…
    Read More “JLCNY Says Nirav Shah Departure Won’t Slow Down Fracking Lawsuit”

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