Marcellus Drilling News

Energy Companies | Gastar Exploration | Marshall County | West Virginia | Wetzel County

Gastar Update: Drilling 1st Utica & More Marcellus Wells in WV
June 12, 2014June 12, 2014

A month ago MDN reported on the quarterly analyst call from Gastar Exploration–a sizable Marcellus Shale driller in West Virginia (see Gastar Top Brass Discusses 1Q14 Results, Drilling Program in WV). Gastar said at that time they are looking to move their drilling operations further south in West Virginia–to Wetzel County. However, they haven’t abandoned their plans for Marshall County for the balance of this year. In fact, Gastar is currently drilling a Utica well in Marshall County right now. A quick update from Gastar, released last Friday:
Read More “Gastar Update: Drilling 1st Utica & More Marcellus Wells in WV”
Endeavour International | Energy Companies | McKean County | Pennsylvania | Potter County | SM Energy

Endeavour International’s Stock Tanks – Why?
June 12, 2014June 12, 2014

In 2011, Endeavour International, an independent energy company from Houston, TX, cut a deal with SM Energy for 50,000 Marcellus Shale acres, three producing wells and a pipeline in McKean and Potter counties in Pennsylvania (see Endeavour International Buys Lease for Additional 50K Marcellus Acres & Local Pipeline in PA from SM Energy). At the time Endeavour had around 33,000 Marcellus Shale acres. However, by the end of 2011, Endeavour backed out of the deal (see Endeavour Leaves SM Energy at the Altar, SM Ready to Sue). After two and a half years of litigation, the two sides settled in April, costing Endeavour $19.25 million (see Endeavour & SM Energy Settle Lawsuit over PA Marcellus Properties). However, Endeavour’s stock price continues to bump along at the bottom of the barrel–something that has them mystified…
Read More “Endeavour International’s Stock Tanks – Why?”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research

Canadian University Research Finds Fracking & Shale Drilling Safe
June 12, 2014June 12, 2014

A pair of reports were released last week by researchers at Cape Breton University (Canada). The first report on fracking and water says fracking does not contaminate water aquifers (groundwater supplies). The second report on well integrity says that while not industrial process like drilling a well can 100% prevent any leakage (of methane), current technologies are pretty darned good and getting better and there’s nothing to worry about (our paraphrase of course). These reports will help clear the way for fracking in Canada (hopefully where the Canadian Utica Shale is located, in Quebec). MDN has included more excerpts below, along with full copies of both reports that say shale drilling and fracking are A-OK for Canada…
Read More “Canadian University Research Finds Fracking & Shale Drilling Safe”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Thu, Jun 12, 2014
June 12, 2014June 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: Thu, Jun 12, 2014”
Accidents | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Washington County | Wastewater

Range Resources’ Brine Pond Leak Contaminates Groundwater in SWPA
June 11, 2014June 11, 2014

Range Resources built an open-air frack wastewater and brine impoundment in Amwell Township (Washington County), PA in 2009–the Jon Day Impoundment. At the time, they installed a monitoring system under the impoundment to alert them (and the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection) in case the impoundment–essentially a big pond with a rubber liner–sprung a leak. The monitoring system included 4-inch perforated pipes under the impoundment located inside trenches of gravel. The theory was/is if anything leaks, it will hit one of those pipes and come out the end. According to the DEP the monitoring system was “over and above” DEP requirements at the time. Unfortunately, the monitoring system somewhere along the way failed and the impoundment sprung a leak and now we have some 15,000 tons of “contaminated” soil which has nearly all been removed from the site…
Read More “Range Resources’ Brine Pond Leak Contaminates Groundwater in SWPA”
Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Last Gasp in Dimock Couple’s Quest for Riches
June 11, 2014June 11, 2014

Scott and Monica Ely, who once willing leased their land to Cabot Oil & Gas in Dimock, PA, then saw big bucks when their water turned cloudy, ostensibly from methane they say was the result of nearby shale drilling from Cabot, have won the right to have their “negligence” lawsuit against Cabot to continue. The single count of negligence is the only thing U.S. District Magistrate Judge Martin C. Carlson said could continue. All other claims made by the couple have been dismissed by Judge Carlson…
Read More “Last Gasp in Dimock Couple’s Quest for Riches”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Public Opinion | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA Voters Like Marcellus Fracking – Analyzing the Latest Q-Poll
June 11, 2014June 11, 2014

A poll by Quinnipiac University of Pennsylvania voters released last week has turned up some interesting insights into the prevailing attitudes of PA voters with respect to Republican Gov. Tom Corbett, the issue of Marcellus Shale drilling and the issue of whether or not to allow drilling under (not on) state lands in PA. All of the mainstream media focused on a single number: 57% of those polled oppose Corbett’s executive order to allow a tiny bit more drilling, after former Gov. Ed Rendell had thrown the door wide open during this tenure, under PA’s state lands and parks. That’s the headline, the narrative, and the “it’s all over for Corbett as soon as the fat lady sings” talking points they all work from. MDN has a different take on the numbers and what they mean…
Read More “PA Voters Like Marcellus Fracking – Analyzing the Latest Q-Poll”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lebanon County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Transco | Williams

Williams’ Smart Open House in Lebanon County Confounds Antis
June 11, 2014June 11, 2014

Anti-drillers are so predictable. When they’re denied a public forum where they can squeal and moan and put on a “look at me” show, they get all testy. Which is why the way Williams conducts their public open houses is so utterly brilliant. Instead of hosting the typical “3 people on the stage addressing the crowd” followed by an open microphone where anti-drilling zombies get up to read their talking points, Williams sends about 75 representatives to a local school or fire house, rolls out miles of maps, and talks one-on-one with residents–to address specific questions and concerns. That’s the way they did it last night at the Annville-Cleona High School (Lebanon County, PA) with the Atlantic Sunrise Expansion project. And sure enough, anti-drillers from the so-called “Lebanon Pipeline Awareness” complained they couldn’t show off their drama skills at the meeting last night…
Read More “Williams’ Smart Open House in Lebanon County Confounds Antis”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA | Transco | Williams

Coordinated Media Attack on Williams Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline
June 11, 2014June 11, 2014

It appears there is a coordinated attack by both national and local media against Williams and their Atlantic Sunrise Expansion project. We’ve located one Associated Press story that’s been endlessly published in local newspapers, and one anti-drilling screed by a Lancaster County, PA newspaper, that says, in essence, Williams paid more fines in PA last year than any other pipeline company; Williams wants to build a new pipeline; ergo, Williams should not be allowed to build it because they’re a bad actor…
Read More “Coordinated Media Attack on Williams Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Butler County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Rex Energy

Adams Twp, PA Votes to NOT Block Drilling “Near” Mars School
June 11, 2014June 11, 2014

Back in March, MDN questioned the sanity of the Mars School District school board (Butler County, PA) in turning down $1 million to lease 175 acres of school land for drilling (see Earth to Mars (School District) – Time to Check into Funny Farm?). The school board and a number of parents were against drilling close to the school. Unfortunately they also wanted to trample on the property rights of people living about a mile from the school. A group of areas residents tried to get the board of supervisors to prohibit drilling on the Bob and Kim Geyer property. Fortunately their anti-drilling efforts failed…
Read More “Adams Twp, PA Votes to NOT Block Drilling “Near” Mars School”
Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Attention WV Drillers: Time to Register Your Above Ground Tanks
June 11, 2014June 11, 2014

MDN previously reported on the new West Virginia law that regulates most above ground storage tanks. The new law was passed after an accident with tanks containing chemicals from coal mining leaked and temporarily polluted the drinking water for some 300,000 West Virginians (see Coal Industry Blamed for West Virginia Chemical Spill). Although shale drilling had nothing to do with the spill, the new regulation passed earlier this year will greatly affect WV drillers (see Impact of WV’s New Chemical Tank Law on Marcellus Drillers). The new law went into effect last week and the WV Dept. of Environmental Protection announced above ground tank registration is now open…
Read More “Attention WV Drillers: Time to Register Your Above Ground Tanks”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA Media in the Anti-Drilling Tank for Tom Wolf/Tom Steyer
June 11, 2014June 11, 2014

PA Democrat nominee for governor Tom Wolf is set to get something like $14.3 million from a big-time anti-driller from California, Tom Steyer (see CA Anti-Driller Tom Steyer Purchasing Tom Wolf PA Governorship). In other words, Steyer will buy the election for Wolf–all Wolf has to do is shut down Marcellus Shale drilling in the state. Such a small price to pay. You might think PA media would be all over such a story–but then, you would be wrong. Because PA’s state-run media is “in the tank” for Wolf and the fossil fuel-hating Steyer. So instead, we get stories from newspapers like the Philadelphia Inquirer that focus on drilling companies chipping in a few thousand here and there to Republican Tom Corbett’s campaign. It’s typical of the sleaze we’ve come to expect from PA’s mainstream media…
Read More “PA Media in the Anti-Drilling Tank for Tom Wolf/Tom Steyer”
Energy Companies | Penn Virginia Corporation

Penn Virginia Floats $250M Private Stock Offering, Stick in Soros’ Eye
June 11, 2014June 11, 2014

Penn Virginia Corporation is a very small bit player when it comes to drilling in the Marcellus Shale. According to NGI’s Shale Play Factbook, Penn Virginia still owns 38,000 acres of Marcellus leases. The last well they drilled in the Marcellus was, from everything we can tell, sometime in 2011 (see Penn Virginia Disappointed with Output from First Three Marcellus Shale Wells Drilled in PA). Three months ago Penn Virginia was in the cross hairs of billionaire corporate raider George Soros (see Penn Virginia the Latest Plaything for Billionaire George Soros). Soros wants the company to sell itself. It has not–and instead announced yesterday they’re floating $250 million of convertible preferred stock…
Read More “Penn Virginia Floats $250M Private Stock Offering, Stick in Soros’ Eye”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Jun 11, 2014
June 11, 2014June 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: Wed, Jun 11, 2014”
American Energy Partners | Doddridge County | East Resources | Energy Companies | Harrison County | Marion County | Monroe County | Ohio | Shell | SWEPI | Tyler County | West Virginia | Wetzel County

McClendon Buys 48K WV Marcellus Acres, 27K More OH Utica Acres
June 10, 2014June 10, 2014

Yet another major announcement yesterday from Aubrey McClendon, former CEO of Chesapeake Energy and current CEO of a new company he founded, American Energy Partners (AEP). Aubrey is spending another $1.75 billion to buy more acreage (and functioning wells) in both the Ohio Utica and now, for the first time, in the West Virginia Marcellus Shale. The WV acreage is in the wet gas areas of the state. According to the AEP press announcement, East Resources is the seller. Which is interesting to MDN since Shell bought all (or nearly all) of East’s northeast shale acreage in 2010 (see East Resources Sells to Royal Dutch Shell for $4.7 Billion, Deal Includes All of East’s Marcellus Shale Operations). So was the deal actually with Shell using the East name on paper? Or leftover vestiges of the old East Resources?…
Read More “McClendon Buys 48K WV Marcellus Acres, 27K More OH Utica Acres”
Crime | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Minuteman Environmental Services | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Wastewater

Minuteman Enviro Says PA AG Office “Terrorized” Family Members, Filing Lawsuit
June 10, 2014June 10, 2014

Yesterday MDN brought you the news that Pennsylvania’s anti-drilling Attorney General, Kathleen Kane, had spearheaded an “investigation” against Minuteman Environmental Services, a PA company that serves the shale industry with several different businesses (see PA’s Anti-Drilling AG Charges Minuteman with Enviro Crimes). It now appears it was less investigation and more witch hunt. Minuteman sent MDN a press release yesterday in which they make very strong allegations against the AG’s office, stating members of the family-owned business have been “terrorized” and its employees “abused” by the AG and her cadre of witch hunters. Minuteman states they are about to file a lawsuit against the AG and her office for abuses suffered at their hands…
Read More “Minuteman Enviro Says PA AG Office “Terrorized” Family Members, Filing Lawsuit”