Marcellus Drilling News

Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

OH State Geologist Predicts 19K New Utica Wells in Next 19 Years
March 19, 2014March 19, 2014

The Ohio State Geologist, Mike McCormac, predicts that 19,000 new Utica Shale wells will be drilled in Ohio in the next 19 years. Which sounds a bit ambitious to us–but then he’s the geologist and expert and we are not. We did, however, check the most recent available ODNR numbers and as of last Friday there have been 770 Utica wells drilled–in the last 3+ years. Hmmm. A thousand wells a year for 19 years?

McCormac has drafted a new report with his predictions. It’s not been released to the public–yet. But apparently a copy was released to the Akron Beacon Journal. Intrepid reporter Bob Downing files this report, with a number of other interesting predictions and observations:
Read More “OH State Geologist Predicts 19K New Utica Wells in Next 19 Years”
Broome County | Chenango County | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Delaware County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Otsego County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Schoharie County | Susquehanna County | Williams

Leatherstocking to Tap Constitution Pipeline for Local Deliveries
March 19, 2014March 19, 2014

Rural residents (and an aerospace manufacturer) located in New York’s Southern Tier and Central New York areas have a lot to be thankful for with the upcoming Constitution Pipeline–a natural gas pipeline that will deliver natural gas from the Marcellus Shale gas fields of Susquehanna County, PA all the way to two major interstate pipelines near Schoharie, NY (see New Marcellus Constitution Pipeline Announces “Final” Route). Williams is building the 124-mile pipeline with backing from Cabot Oil & Gas, whose gas will flow through it.

However, a regional gas pipeline company (think gas utility) founded just a few years, Leatherstocking Gas, will tap into the Constitution at (so far) four different locations along the pipeline so they can deliver that homegrown Marcellus gas to rural customers who are not being served by the big utilities like New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG, owned by Iberdrola). Yesterday Williams and Leatherstocking announced the deal to tap into the Constitution Pipeline in four locations…
Read More “Leatherstocking to Tap Constitution Pipeline for Local Deliveries”
Energy Companies | Penn Virginia Corporation

Penn Virginia the Latest Plaything for Billionaire George Soros
March 19, 2014March 19, 2014

Penn Virginia is an interesting company. They are an independent E&P (exploration and production) company incorporated in Virginia in 1882–but their headquarters is in Radnor, PA (near Philly). They drill for oil, NGLs and natural gas mostly in…Texas and Oklahoma! They also have operations and acreage in the Mid-Continent, Mississippi and last (and sorta least)–the Marcellus Shale. According to NGI’s Shale Play Factbook, Penn Virginia has leased 38,000 in the Marcellus. According to the latest MDN Databook, Penn Virginia has received permits for two well sites in the past two years–precisely squat. We don’t think they’ve actually drilled a single well in the Marcellus.

Why are we going on about who Penn Virginia since (so far) they are a bit player in the Marcellus? Because yesterday liberal Democrat billionaire George Soros got his claws into the company. Why did he invest? To instill good LibDem values like lifetime employment, free condoms, etc. in the capitalist heathens at the company? Nope. Soros invested $29.1 million in Penn Virginia, grabbing a 9.1% ownership, so he can force them to sell themselves…
Read More “Penn Virginia the Latest Plaything for Billionaire George Soros”
Industrywide Issues | Landfills | Luzerne County | M&A | Pennsylvania | Supply Chain

Small Marcellus Drill Cuttings Company Gobbled Up by Bigger Fish
March 19, 2014March 19, 2014

A small and rapidly growing company–Susquehanna Services, Inc.–uses a special process to safely process and dispose of drill cuttings (leftover rock and dirt) from shale drilling in the Marcellus, Utica and Green River (WY) shale plays. The company was founded in 2010 (near Scranton, PA) and it’s been nothing but rapid expansion ever since. The founder and president of Susquehanna Services, John Yarosz, has just realized his American Dream. His company was bought out by a bigger fish: Specialty Waste Operating Partners. Yarosz will stay on as president and continue to run the operation day to day–at least for now.

Here’s the press release announcing the deal:
Read More “Small Marcellus Drill Cuttings Company Gobbled Up by Bigger Fish”
Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA NARO Alert: Tell Your State Rep to Vote YES on HB 1684
March 19, 2014March 19, 2014

The Pennsylvania chapter of the National Association of Royalty Owners (NARO) sent out a flash alert email yesterday asking members to contact their state representatives to encourage a “yes” vote on House Bill (HB) 1684–the Guaranteed Minimum Royalty Act. This bill is partially in response to the apparent gouging Chesapeake Energy has done with respect to royalty payments. A vote may come as early as TODAY.

Here is the text of the email from PA NARO president Jackie Root:
Read More “PA NARO Alert: Tell Your State Rep to Vote YES on HB 1684”
Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Supply Chain

Marcellus Midstreamers Turn to Calif. Company for Compressor Power
March 19, 2014March 19, 2014

Even companies as far away as California are successfully selling their manufactured products to the Marcellus and Utica Shale industry–albeit the products they manufacture are pretty specialized. Capstone Turbine Corporation of Chatsworth, CA issued a press release yesterday to announce three midstream operators in the Marcellus/Utica have placed orders with the company for power plants that will power multiple compressor stations and pipeline interconnections. Captstone doesn’t name the customers, but we can certainly guess who they may be (although we won’t).

To be honest, this is pretty obscure (i.e. uninteresting) stuff for most. Our point? Big supply chain bucks (millions) have just been spent–and it’s money that could potentially be spent with manufacturers closer to home, if those manufacturers exist, and if they get plugged into the northeast shale supply chain. So pay attention companies that manufacture power plants! Here’s the Capstone press release with a few more details…
Read More “Marcellus Midstreamers Turn to Calif. Company for Compressor Power”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | CNG/LNG | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Maryland | Statewide MD

Chesapeake Climate Action Asks Obama to Nix Cove Point LNG Exports
March 19, 2014March 19, 2014

The unreasonable (not able to be reasoned with) and irrational (incapable of rational thought) fossil fuel-haters of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) and other similar-minded groups sent President Obama a letter requesting that he should (surprise!) slow down/reconsider/kill exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Dominion’s planned Cove Point, MD LNG export facility (see Celebrate! Dominion Wins DOE Approval for MD LNG Export Facility). Why? Global warming, of course.

Yes boys and girls, so-called environmentalist organizations like CCAN, 350.org, the Sierra Clubers and other unheard of groups just blame it all on global warming. Drill in shale deposits? Nope–too much global warming. Encourage electric generating facilities to convert from polluting coal to cleaner-burning natgas? Nope. That’ll lead to global warming. Build new pipelines to New England to relieve sky high natgas prices for consumers? Nope–global warming. Export some of our huge abundance of natgas to places like India and Japan (U.S. allies) who desperately need it? Nope! That will increase global warming too. You see just how unreasonable and irrational they really are. Below is the press release and letter from the unreasonable and irrational who oppose Cove Point…
Read More “Chesapeake Climate Action Asks Obama to Nix Cove Point LNG Exports”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues

RIT Professor Says Jail Those Who Don’t Believe in Global Warming
March 19, 2014March 19, 2014

This is not out of the Spanish Inquisition folks–this is today. Now. A so-called professor of philosophy at the Rochester Institute of Technology says people like MDN editor Jim Willis should go to jail because we’re not Kool Aid drinkers who believe in the myth of man-made global warming. First Amendment free speech? Nah, that Constitution is just a musty old document. Time to leave it behind. All men are created equal and have certain inalienable rights like liberty? What a fanciful, outdated notion.

When the high priests of Science declare “the time for debate is over, the SCIENCE is settled”–by God, it’s over. So says RIT prof Lawrence Torcello. You disagree? Off to jail with you, you heretic! Next step is “Off with their heads,” or maybe, “Burn them at the stake.” You think we’re joking?…
Read More “RIT Professor Says Jail Those Who Don’t Believe in Global Warming”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Mar 19, 2014
March 19, 2014March 19, 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, Mar 19, 2014”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

Pittsburgh TODAY’s CSSD Propaganda Piece – Gag Me with a Spoon
March 18, 2014March 18, 2014

A masterful piece of propaganda written by Pittsburgh TODAY appears on the Washington Observer-Reporter website promoting the so-far underwhelming Center for Sustainable Shale Development (CSSD). The CSSD, announced exactly one year ago this week, is a joint effort between a few big drilling industry players and a few environmentalist organizations–an uneasy partnership created to make shale drilling palatable to crazy anti-drillers (see Important: Drillers & Enviros Form New Group, Launch Cert Program). If we might summarize, the article about the CSSD on the anniversary of its debutante ball adopts the the classic “against all odds” storytelling formula.

According to PT, the CSSD is the story of a (very few) brave men and women who dared to buck the odds and sit down at the table to discuss their differences on shale drilling–people from both the industry and (more importantly of course) from environmentalist wacko groups. These brave men and women faced challenges, both internal (they agonized in their souls, am I selling out?) and external (they fought their own organizations and their brethren in other companies/green organizations). Against all odds, they stuck to it, found “common ground” (i.e. industry caved), and in the end, they “hammered out” 15 standards that if adopted (at extreme cost by the industry) will mean precious Mother Earth will survive this nasty, filthy activity called shale drilling after all. The End.
Read More “Pittsburgh TODAY’s CSSD Propaganda Piece – Gag Me with a Spoon”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

Happy 65th Birthday…Fracking!
March 18, 2014March 18, 2014

If it were a person, fracking would now be eligible to start receiving Social Security checks. According to the American Petroleum Institute, what MDN calls the miracle of hydraulic fracturing (fracking for short) turned 65 years old yesterday. And we celebrate it. We are jumping up and down and hollering. Way to go! Glad you were born! We hope you’re around another 65 years!!

Regardless of the constant lies from anti-drillers like Josh Fox and his fictional Gasland flicks, the loony left has not been able to fully demonize fracking (partially, but not fully). The process of fracking a well is actually a very small part of shale drilling–but because the word itself sounds so naughty it’s used as a proxy to mean all of the shale drilling process. (As an aside, anti-drillers have never been able to successfully demonize “horizontal drilling” the way they have fracking. We tried to help them out. See our story MDN Proposes a New Phrase for Anti-Drillers to Use, sure to give you a smile.) Here’s the birthday announcement from API for our beloved fracking…
Read More “Happy 65th Birthday…Fracking!”
Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

OH Landowners Question Chesapeake’s Royalty Calculations
March 18, 2014March 18, 2014

The bad news for Chesapeake just keeps rolling in. Not only are landowners in Pennsylvania up in arms over minuscule royalty checks (see Bradford PA Landowner Rally over Chesapeake Royalty Shenanigans), so too are Ohio landowners now questioning whether or not they’re getting the shaft from Chessy.

As we mentioned last week, the anti-drilling site ProPublica published an “investigative” article trying to lay the blame for Chesapeake’s current bad behavior on the previous CEO (and founder) Aubrey McClendon (see Chesapeake Shafting Landowners out of Royalties Mess Gets Messier). In Ohio Chessy shows a big, fat zero in the column for post-production expenses deducted from the royalty payment. Some say that’s a lie…
Read More “OH Landowners Question Chesapeake’s Royalty Calculations”
Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies

Chesapeake Rushes to Spin Off Oilfield Services into New Company
March 18, 2014March 18, 2014

Three weeks ago MDN brought you the news that Doug “the ax” Lawler, nominal CEO of Chesapeake Energy (his boss corporate raider Carl Icahn really runs the show) had decided to either spin off or sell Chessy’s oilfield services division (see Chesapeake Energy Looks to Dump Oilfield Services Division). Doug and Carl are impatient men–they’re on a mission to fatten Carl’s bank account. Since there were no immediate takers for this latest fire sale item, Doug and Carl announced yesterday they’re spinning the oilfield services division out into it’s own company–a company that will be named Seventy Seven Energy Inc.

This action comes on the heals of selling off many (most? all?) of the remaining compressor plants owned by Chesapeake, including all 103 of the compressors they owned in the Marcellus (see Chesapeake Fire Sale Continues: Marcellus/Utica Compressor Plants). We have to ask–what is there left to sell at this point? Er, right–the company itself! However, no one will buy the company with the current cloud of accusations hanging over it that they’ve been cheating landowners out of royalties. Here’s the announcement that Chessy is saying sayonara to their oilfield services division…
Read More “Chesapeake Rushes to Spin Off Oilfield Services into New Company”
Energy Companies | Ohio | Rock Oil | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

New Houston-based E&P Targeting Oily Plays, Including Utica Shale
March 18, 2014March 18, 2014

A brand new shale exploration & production (E&P or what we calling driller) has formed in Houston, TX, but it has its eyes set on the Utica Shale–at least in part. Rock Oil Holdings recently began operations and received a nice little $250 million cash infusion from New York-based energy equity firm Riverstone Holdings LLC. Rock Oil says they will concentrate their efforts in the Eagle Ford Shale, the Utica Shale and the Permian Basin, “which are well suited to the Company’s land and technical capabilities.” In other words, they’re targeting “oily” shale plays–those with the potential for crude and for natural gas liquids (NGLs).

We’ll keep an eye out for Rock Oil in the coming months to see if they lease any Utica acreage. Meanwhile, here’s the announcement of Rock receiving start-up capital from Riverstone:
Read More “New Houston-based E&P Targeting Oily Plays, Including Utica Shale”
Electrical Generation | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lackawanna County | Luzerne County | Pennsylvania | UGI Energy Services

NatGas Replaces Coal to Generate Electricity in Steamtown USA
March 18, 2014March 18, 2014

Coal has been a fixture in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area for generations. It is so much a part of the fabric of the community that there is a National Park smack in the middle of downtown Scranton called Steamtown National Historic Site. Railroad engines used to run on coal back in the day–so it figures Scranton was a major nexus for trains–the city was really the coal capital of the northeast. So when natural gas displaced coal at a 50 year-old coal-powered electrical generating plant south of Wilkes-Barre a few years ago, that was interesting and noteworthy. The Hunlock plant was converted to run on natural gas by installing two new turbines. The waste heat from the new turbines now powers the old/original turbine once powered by heat from burning coal. It’s called “combined cycle” electric generation and it’s happening across the United States.

The Obama EPA has demonized coal to the point that electric generating plants are switching (by necessity) to natural gas in large numbers. Hey, *something* has to create electricity–a very small scintilla of electricity comes from so-called alternative sources like wind and solar. Fossil fuels will, for generations to come, bear most of the burden when it comes to creating the electricity that powers your smart phone, lights, and your (*cough*) electric car. That’s the stark reality. The following article is an intriguing look at how utilities convert aging coal-fired electric plants into less-polluting, more efficient natgas-fired plants–in this case plants that run on Marcellus Shale gas…
Read More “NatGas Replaces Coal to Generate Electricity in Steamtown USA”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Delaware County (PA) | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA Dems: No Leg to Stand on Criticizing $75M Forest Drilling Plan
March 18, 2014March 18, 2014

Another hypocritical PA House Democrat takes a potshot at the sitting Republican governor over the issue of drilling in PA state forests. As you may recall, Gov. Tom Corbett included a plan to raise $75 million for the state budget by allowing a bit more drilling than there already is in state forests (see PA Gov. Corbett’s Bold Plan for More Drilling in State Forests). The $75 million he would raise is out of a $29.4 BILLION budget–or exactly 0.00255 of the budget. Essentially a rounding error. And yet, hypocritical Democrats like State Rep. Greg Vitali (Delaware County, PA) chairman of the Pennsylvania House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, continue to heckle Corbett over that $75 million (see his letter below).

Here’s the hypocrisy that needs to be thrown right back in Vitali’s face: His committee previously approved plans that allowed then-Gov. Ed “Fast Eddie” Rendell (a Democrat) to raise $444 MILLION from doing the very same thing! It was only after Fast Eddie had his cash that he closed down drilling in state forests with an executive order. Corbett had the guts to lift that order and ask for another $75 million on non-invasive, under the ground (not on the surface) drilling to raise some more money for the budget, and the Dems throw a hypocritical cow. Shame on them…
Read More “PA Dems: No Leg to Stand on Criticizing $75M Forest Drilling Plan”