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    Local Town Slows CONSOL’s Plan to Drill at Pittsburgh Airport

    More than a year ago the Pittsburgh International Airport, located about 20 miles west of downtown Pittsburgh, elicited bids to have shale drilling done on 9,263 acres of airport-owned land. After some toing and froing, CONSOL Energy was awarded the contract. After some more toing and froing, CONSOL raised the lease signing bonus to 50 million smackeroos (see CONSOL Increases Bonus Offer to Pgh Airport by 2.4 Times to $50M). Then the real work began. CONSOL has put together a plan to drill 47 wells on 6 well pads, building three water impoundments (see CONSOL Energy Reveals Drilling Plan for Pittsburgh Airport). CONSOL is going to extraordinary lengths with the airport project, including the use of all-electric drilling rigs (a first in the Marcellus). Problem is, three people on the Findlay Township board have the power to approve, or not, the permits to drill. Findlay has CONSOL by the proverbial short hairs, especially since the right to zone oil & gas activities by local municipalities was upheld when the Act 13 law was trampled by seven PA towns that sued and won in state Supreme Court–a decision handed down just a few months ago.

    Last night CONSOL presented their safety plan to the three Findlay board members and interested local residents who attended the board’s regular meeting. The bone of contention (for some local residents) is the location for one of the proposed drill pads–about a half mile from a populated neighborhood. When the hour plus presentation by CONSOL was over, and local residents had had their say, the Findlay board members decided to postpone a decision to approve CONSOL’s permits, yet again…
    Read More “Local Town Slows CONSOL’s Plan to Drill at Pittsburgh Airport”

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    OH Gov. Kasich’s One-Track ‘Tax the Utica’ Mindset

    You have to hand it to Ohio’s RINO Gov. John “foreigner hunter” Kasich–he has a single-track mind when it comes to taxing Utica Shale drilling. He wants a piece o’ that drillin’ pie so he can transfer the money from those who produce (the drillers and the landowners), to those who don’t (voters). Kasich is hell-bent on assessing a 2.75% tax on all Utica Shale drilling. The Ohio Oil and Gas Association (OOGA), which did support a smaller increase, is pushing back against Kasich’s latest demand saying it’s “unacceptable to the association.” Good for them–someone needs to be the voice of reason on this issue.

    Here’s more on Kasich’s desire to take the easy way out–to tax more–instead of manning up and doing the right thing–cutting more:
    Read More “OH Gov. Kasich’s One-Track ‘Tax the Utica’ Mindset”

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    Fired ODNR Official Returns with Views on Best Locations in Utica

    Larry Wickstrom used to be Ohio’s official state geologist and chief of the ODNR’s Division of Geological Survey. He was fired in May 2012 because he updated and released a map showing new boundaries for the Utica Shale–where the best places to drill would be located (see Did This Map Get the Ohio State Geologist Fired?). The map update caused some of the previous lines to change, and that upset a few people, especially Larry’s political bosses. That map has since changed by quite a bit. Drilling has drifted south to counties like Harrison, Guernsey, Belmont, Noble and Monroe.

    The very talented Wickstrom had been employed for 29 years by ODNR, but his exit didn’t mean he was washed up. Far from it. Larry is back (in private business). Last week he shared his keen and experienced insights with the 1,500 people who attended the recent Ohio Oil and Gas Association winter meeting in Columbus on the latest thinking about the best places to drill in the Ohio Utica. He notes that the sweet spot for Utica drilling is much smaller than folks thought just a few years ago…
    Read More “Fired ODNR Official Returns with Views on Best Locations in Utica”

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    Forced Pooling Circus (ie Hearing) Coming to Lawrence County, PA

    The circus will come to town in New Castle (Lawrence County), PA on March 25 and 26. No, not Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, but something sure to be far more entertaining. There will be a PA Dept. of Environmental Protection hearing on Hilcorp’s request to force four landowners to allow drilling under their property. We first brought you this story last October (see Hilcorp Uses PA Forced Pooling Law Against Lawrence Cty Landowner). MDN has always held a dim view of forced pooling, so you can’t say we didn’t warn them. Hilcorp has brought this on themselves by invoking a 1961 PA law to sue the landowners to allow drilling.

    Here’s the latest, including details on where the circus, er, hearing will be held…
    Read More “Forced Pooling Circus (ie Hearing) Coming to Lawrence County, PA”

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    WV Drilling Cuttings in Landfill Bill May Get 2nd Life, If…

    Two days ago MDN told you about the West Virginia legislature’s failure to act on House Bill 4411 that would codify into law the current directive from the Secretary of the Dept. of Environmental Protection that provides guidelines on accepting drill cuttings at landfills (see WV Legislature Fumbles the Ball on Landfill Bill, Does Nothing). It’s possible that the bill will get a second chance at legal life–if Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin calls for a special session and if the bill is on his list to consider. In WV the legislature meets for 60 calendar days at the beginning of they year, each year. They need to get their work done during those two months. After that, the Governor can call them back, but they can only take up those bills specified by the Gov.

    Here’s more detail of what went on “behind the scenes” as WV legislature grappled with HB4411 during the closing days of the regular session:
    Read More “WV Drilling Cuttings in Landfill Bill May Get 2nd Life, If…”

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    Earth to Mars (School District) – Time to Check into Funny Farm?

    We wonder what they teach at the Mars Area School District (Butler County, PA). One thing they don’t teach is logic and scientific inquiry. Probably too busy showing American Idol re-runs to the kiddies to bother with heftier education pursuits. How else can you explain a school board, and parents, who turn down $1 million+ to lease 175 acres of school land for shale drilling that would happen more than a mile below solid rock with no adverse affects and with no surface disturbances? We’d call it mass insanity (time to check into the local psychiatric hospital)–but that would be unkind.

    Tuesday night the Mars Area School District school board voted 9-0 to reject an offer from Rex Energy to lease the school’s property, which sits next to private property Rex has already leased and will still drill on anyway. The Rex offer was $4,000 per acre up front as a signing bonus, and another $330,000 in advance royalties, for a grand total of $1 million. Drilling will go on all around the school, but those sharp-as-a-tack board members have now denied the children $1 million they could of had. Hey, it’s always for “the children,” right? Heartless board. The anti-drillers present for the vote were positively orgasmic that the school board voted it down unanimously. Go figure…
    Read More “Earth to Mars (School District) – Time to Check into Funny Farm?”

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    NTSB Faults NiSource/Columbia for WV Pipeline Explosion in 2012

    accident waiting to happenOn December 11, 2012, a portion of the Columbia Gas Transmission pipeline (owned by Nisource) exploded near Sissonville, WV, 10 miles north of Charleston. The resulting fire burned for more than an hour and shut down a portion of nearby Interstate 77 for days (see Columbia NatGas Pipeline Explodes Near Charleston, WV). It’s been a long time coming, but on Monday the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), that did a full investigation of the explosion, turned in their final report. It was pretty damning for NiSource/Columbia. The conclusions of the investigators are that a) the pipe had corroded in that section–a long time ago, and b) Columbia hadn’t inspected that section of pipeline since (unbelievably) 1988. In other words, it was an accident waiting to happen.

    Below we have the press release from the NTSB with their high level findings, then the full 32-page report released Monday, and finally, the lame response issued by NiSource/Columbia “thanking” the NTSB for just ripping them a new one…
    Read More “NTSB Faults NiSource/Columbia for WV Pipeline Explosion in 2012”

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    April EIA DPR: Marcellus Continues Reign as King of the Shale

    A periodic check-in of our favorite Energy Information Administration report, the Drilling Productivity Report (DPR), shows the Marcellus Shale continues to be the United States’ (and world’s!) leading shale play when it comes to production of natural gas. The April DPR, released two days ago, shows the Marcellus is forecast to increase production by an average 288 million cubic feet per day (Mmcf/d) in April over March. The increase, as always, comes from a mix of newly drilled wells coming online and previously drilled wells.

    Below we have analysis of the latest numbers, along with the full DPR for April, yesterday’s EIA Today in Energy update (which talks about the increasing efficiency of new wells in the Marcellus), and screen shots of two charts on the DPR home page, charts they don’t include in the PDF (for whatever reason, but should be)…
    Read More “April EIA DPR: Marcellus Continues Reign as King of the Shale”

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    Noble Energy’s Huge Vote of Confidence in the Marcellus

    Noble Energy has big plans for the Marcellus. Yesterday the company confirmed they will be new tenants in a huge new office building going up in the Southpointe business park near Pittsburgh. The new building being built by Horizon Properties will be 208,000 square feet, of which Noble is leasing 138,000 square feet. Noble’s president & CEO David Stover says the Marcellus is “the premiere gas play in the United States,” and the Marcellus figures prominently in Noble’s future plans.

    Noble plans to employ 200 people in the new facility by the end of this year, and eventually–400-450 people at the facility. PA welcomes Noble to the Marcellus!…
    Read More “Noble Energy’s Huge Vote of Confidence in the Marcellus”

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    MDN’s Guide to New TENORM Rules for OH Utica Drillers

    Last year, the Ohio state legislature passed an omnibus “everything but the kitchen sink is in there” bill (HB59) that covered, among other things, a requirement that oil and gas drillers need to test drilling waste for TENORM–or Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material. Drillers need to test for TENORM (or naturally occurring radioactivity) in wastewater and drill cuttings under certain conditions, according to the legislation. MDN tracked down House Bill 59 and read it. We include the relevant section from the massive 699-page law below.

    It appears to MDN’s eye that if OH shale drillers recycle the waste and re-use it on site (in the case of fluids), there is no need to test. Likewise, if they cart fluids to another nearby drill site for re-use, no need to test. If they dispose of it via a Class II injection well–no need to test. That covers about all of the ways Utica drillers handle liquid waste. It seems to us the only real requirement will be to test drill cuttings (leftover rock and dirt) for radioactivity before disposing of them in landfills. The reason this is news now is because the Ohio Dept. of Health was charged with drafting guidelines for how such materials should be sampled and analyzed to determine whether TENORM levels are high enough to warrant special treatment. The DOH recently released those guidelines, which OH drillers will now need to pay attention to when it comes to testing at the drill site…
    Read More “MDN’s Guide to New TENORM Rules for OH Utica Drillers”

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    Impact of WV’s New Chemical Tank Law on Marcellus Drillers

    An important update on the new rules coming to West Virginia drillers impacting how they use above ground chemical storage tanks. As MDN previously reported, the WV legislature passed SB373 in the closing hours of the 2014 legislative session (see Fate of 3 WV Laws that Impact Marcellus/Utica Drilling). That bill was in response to a chemical leak that affected the drinking water for 300,000 WV residents. Even though the leak was not related to oil and gas drilling (it was related to coal mining), the new rules governing above ground storage tanks for chemicals affect a number of industries, including the Marcellus Shale drilling industry.

    Although the final language of the bill has yet to be set in stone and signed into law, enough of it is now known that it can be analyzed. The bright legal beagles at the energy law firm of Lewis Glasser Casey & Rollins, PLLC have done just that. Here is how the newly minted SB373, once signed into law, will impact WV’s oil and gas industry:
    Read More “Impact of WV’s New Chemical Tank Law on Marcellus Drillers”

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    Investment Firm Backs 3 Hotels, in Hunt for Restaurants in Utica

    Energy investment firm Drill Capital is not only in the process of building one hotel in the Utica Shale with plans on the boards to build two more (all in eastern Ohio), the company also wants to lure a restaurant chain to the Utica too. You don’t put up investors’ money to build hotels and restaurant in rural locations unless you firmly believe the business will be there for years to come. That’s precisely what Drilling Capital’s young founder and managing partner, Farid Guindo, believes…
    Read More “Investment Firm Backs 3 Hotels, in Hunt for Restaurants in Utica”

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    Chevron CEO Says Marcellus Drilling Scaled Back Due to Low Price

    When the annual analyst teleconference for a big oil company is forecast to go 2.5-3 hours long, you know the news will not be good. It doesn’t take that long unless you have explain and re-explain yourself multiple times. Although MDN did not participate in yesterday’s annual analyst call for Chevron, by all accounts, the news was negative and the company’s stock ticked down by the end of the day by $1.33 per share (1.1%).

    Chevron is a huge company–the second largest oil company in the United States based on market capitalization. The only thing MDN was interested in, aside from any mentions about the recent well fire in Greene County, PA (no mentions of the well fire in the call that we could find), is, What is Chevron up to in the Marcellus? The answer we got from looking at the slides and reading media reports of yesterday’s call is: not much. Chevron Chairman and CEO John Watson said “some” of the drilling in the PA Marcellus has been curtailed because of the low commodity price of natural gas. MDN’s Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook show Chevron’s permitting activity picked up a bit toward the end of 2013. It seems from Watson’s comments that they will continue to actively drill in the Marcellus in 2014, but likely not at the same levels seen in 2012 and 2013…
    Read More “Chevron CEO Says Marcellus Drilling Scaled Back Due to Low Price”

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    DRBC Selects Steve Tambini as New Leader, Enviro Groups Unsure

    Steve TambiniIt is the end of an ignominious era. Carol Collier, whose own anti-drilling views have stopped any forward progress on potential Marcellus Shale drilling in the Delaware River Basin, will tomorrow leave the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) that she has headed for 15 years. Last September when she announced she would retire this March, we predicted her platitudes about finalizing draft shale drilling plans would go nowhere. We were right (see DRBC Director Carol Collier Announces Her Retirement). It’s now goodbye and good riddance.

    In Collier’s place as the new executive director of the DRBC is Steven J. Tambini, currently vice president of operations at Pennsylvania American Water. Steve has been a water guy for over 30 years with lots of experience in water supply engineering and water resource planning. He will take over on August 1st. Until then, Steve is not saying much. The Marcellus Shale Coalition says they’re looking forward to working with Tambini to craft common sense regulations that will allow shale drilling in places like Wayne County, PA. The rabidly anti-drilling Delaware Riverkeeper organization says they don’t know Tambini. Translation: “He’s not one of us.” Which may indeed be a good sign…
    Read More “DRBC Selects Steve Tambini as New Leader, Enviro Groups Unsure”