Marcellus Drilling News

Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Pass One Last Joint for John Hanger
March 18, 2014March 18, 2014

John Hanger, the former Secretary of the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection under Gov. Ed Rendell, withdrew from the Democrat primary for governor last week. John is an “all of the above” kind of guy–in favor of wind and solar as much as natural gas. He’s also a very left-leaning liberal, in favor of legalizing pot smoking in the Keystone State. A few months ago we coined the phrase “pass a joint for John,” to, you know, give his campaign a boost (see PA Gov. Corbett’s Bold Plan for More Drilling in State Forests).

But our best efforts to give John a boost apparently fell short. John supports restrictions on shale drilling. He even refused to denounce the crazies in his own party who want to ban all new Marcellus drilling (now part of the PA Democrat Party’s official platform, see PA Democrat Party Votes to End Marcellus Shale Drilling Statewide). Even so, the crazies just couldn’t stomach someone like John who gives even the smallest credence to fossil fuels. So John is now out of the running. He should have concerned himself more with the wacko left in his own party rather than repeatedly rail against the Tea Party…
Read More “Pass One Last Joint for John Hanger”
Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Processing Plants | Shell

Shell Using GTL Technology to Convert Natural Gas to Motor Oil
March 18, 2014March 18, 2014

What if a company perfected a method to convert natural gas into motor oil–a motor oil extremely pure and high quality, because there are no impurities associated with using crude oil? Shell has already done it–is doing it at their massive gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant in Qatar. Shell issued a press release last week to make sure everyone knows they are (so far) the only company that converts natural gas to motor oil on a full production scale. The oil they produce is used in their premium brands: Pennzoil Platinum® and Pennzoil Ultra® Platinum Full Synthetic.

So far no American shale gas is being used in Shell’s Middle Eastern GTL operations. Perhaps with abundant, cheap natural gas here at home Shell will consider setting up an operation somewhere on American shores? Here is the very interesting technology Shell is using, that may one day arrive here commercially…
Read More “Shell Using GTL Technology to Convert Natural Gas to Motor Oil”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Mar 18, 2014
March 18, 2014March 18, 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, Mar 18, 2014”
Braskem | Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Odebrecht | Processing Plants | West Virginia | Wood County

Odebrecht’s WV Ethane Cracker has The Big Mo–Momentum
March 17, 2014March 17, 2014

The Shell ethane cracker plant announced for Beaver County, PA has been a roller coaster ride about whether or not it will ever get built over the past two years since it was announced. Just last week the pendulum swung again and the mood turned decidedly gloomy (see Shell’s Shale Pessimism Signals Worry for Some re PA Cracker). In stark contrast to the Shell cracker, the cracker announced late last year by Odebrecht–to be built in Parkersburg, WV–seems to have an air of optimism and inevitability (see WV Ethane Cracker – Cautious Optimism in the Mountain State). Odebrecht officials are careful to say it’s not a 100% done deal yet and that we are “very early” in the process of making this multi-billion dollar project a reality. But what MDN notices about the Odebrecht cracker is forward momentum. Rapid progress. Enthusiasm. It just “feels” like the Odebrecht project is going to happen.

Here is an update on the progress made to date on Odebrecht’s planned ethane cracker complex in Parkersburg, and what will happen next…
Read More “Odebrecht’s WV Ethane Cracker has The Big Mo–Momentum”
Industrywide Issues | Landfills | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Drill Cuttings in Landfill Bill Passes in Record Time
March 17, 2014March 17, 2014

Last Thursday MDN told you legislation to codify into law a current directive by the state’s Dept. of Environment Protection to allow higher volumes of drill cuttings in WV landfills may get a second chance (see WV Drilling Cuttings in Landfill Bill May Get 2nd Life, If…). It already passed! On Friday during a special session of the legislature called by Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, House Bill (HB) 4411 was one of ten pieces of legislation listed by the governor for consideration. The bill was voted on and passed (full copy of the bill embedded below). HB 4411 passed in record time after being dropped for consideration during the regular session. It is a certainty that Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin will sign it since he wanted it on the docket in the first place.

Most media stories, stoked by anti-drillers, focus on the “limitless” aspect of the directive-now-passed-law. That is, the law lifts arbitrary small caps on the amount of drill cuttings (leftover rock and dirt from drilling) that can be hauled to a landfill. Those stories would have you imagine this new law means that any municipal landfill can willy nilly now accept mountains of “radioactive” dirt–and that consequently West Virginia will become a radioactive hot zone. Zombies everywhere. Yes, limits are lifted under this bill. But, at the same time, the law stipulates that if a landfill accepts larger amounts of cuttings (over the previous lower cap), it must build a special, separate cell where the cuttings will be stored. The landfill must also monitor leachate from the cell to ensure nothing nasty leaks out. And the landfill must install radiation detectors to monitor truckloads of cuttings coming into the landfill. In other words, this is a good bill that not only gives drillers a safe place to dispose of drill cuttings–it protects WV citizens. But you wouldn’t know that from reading most stories…
Read More “WV Drill Cuttings in Landfill Bill Passes in Record Time”
Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | West Virginia | Wetzel County

Magnum Hunter Marcellus/Utica Update: 8 New Wells Coming Online
March 17, 2014March 17, 2014

It’s often hard to get heard in our 24/7 news-saturated culture. How do you get folks to focus on your good news? Issue a press release, of course. While these bits of self-promotion are often eschewed and overlooked by the mainstream press, MDN delights in bringing them to you because they often contain a lot of really good information. To wit: on Friday Magnum Hunter Resources issued an update (i.e., press release) updating the world on their good news in the Marcellus and Utica Shale region. MH says they will bring 8 new wells online within the next 30 days in West Virginia–and those wells will flow gas through MH’s very own pipeline system in the area. It’s nice to not only own the wells but the pipeline system too.

Here is the MH update with lots of details on lateral lengths, locations, robotic drilling rigs and more…
Read More “Magnum Hunter Marcellus/Utica Update: 8 New Wells Coming Online”
Housing | Industrywide Issues | Mahoning County | Ohio | Supply Chain | Utica Shale

OH KOA Campground Says No Better Guests than Shale Workers
March 17, 2014March 17, 2014

One of the refrains from anti-drillers who desperately seek ways to bash shale drilling is to say that when shale drilling comes to town, so too do higher rents (making it impossible for welfare slugs to get a decent apartment), and loud, carousing, hell-raising men who spread sexually transmitted diseases all over the place (see Shale Gas Drillers Spread STDs Says PA Democrat Legislator).

And then there’s the truth. A KOA campground in eastern Ohio is now open in the winter as well as summer because of the demand from the Utica Shale drilling industry. The campground is full to capacity with shale workers and reports that after workers have put in a 10-12 hour shift, they just want a place to rest and relax. The campground even holds a “family food night” for the men, serving them a free meal once a week as their token of appreciation. Once again, the truth is far different from the fictional lies spun by those who oppose drilling…
Read More “OH KOA Campground Says No Better Guests than Shale Workers”
Lackawanna County | Luzerne County | Pennsylvania

Will Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Ever See Marcellus Drilling? Depends
March 17, 2014March 17, 2014

Both Lackawanna and Luzerne counties in northeastern Pennsylvania have been largely drill-less when it comes to the Marcellus Shale bonanza happening all around them. One reason is that both counties are urban–Lackawanna is home to the city of Scranton, and Luzerne home to Scranton’s twin-joined-at-the-hip Wilkes-Barre. However, the bigger reason why there has been no gas drilling is because of the geology under both counties. A few test wells have been drilled in the past–all of them unsuccessful.

Does that mean that all Marcellus drilling in Lackawanna and Luzerne will be barren forevermore? Not necessarily…
Read More “Will Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Ever See Marcellus Drilling? Depends”
Industrywide Issues | Lackawanna County | Luzerne County | Pennsylvania | Taxation

Update on Project Using Marcellus $ to Treat PA Acid Mine Water
March 17, 2014March 17, 2014

Late last year MDN brought you the story of how $1 million of Marcellus Shale Act 13 impact fee money (about to dry up thanks to seven PA litigious townships) was awarded as a grant to help fund a project that will clean up one of PA’s biggest ongoing environmental disasters and the single largest source of pollution for the Chesapeake Bay–acid mine drainage from the Old Forge borehole near Scranton, PA (see Specifics on Marcellus $ Helping to Clean Chesapeake Bay Pollution). Susquehanna Mining Solutions plans to build a plant to strip out the minerals from the water that comes from long-abandoned coal mines.

A quick update on the project:
Read More “Update on Project Using Marcellus $ to Treat PA Acid Mine Water”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

NJ Congressman Wants Permanent Drilling Ban in Dela. River Basin
March 17, 2014March 17, 2014

U.S. Congressman Rush Holt from New Jersey is, by all accounts, a pretty smart guy. He worked as a nuclear physicist and starred on Jeopardy! (going up against the Watson robot) before joining Congress in 1999. Holt is also an anti-drilling Democrat, apparently under the vise grip of far-left environmentalist organizations. He and his far-out enviro pals (including Sierra Clubers) took the opportunity of last week’s announcement of the new incoming head of the Delaware River Basin Commission (see DRBC Selects Steve Tambini as New Leader, Enviro Groups Unsure) to call for a permanent ban on fracking in the Delaware River Basin. Oh, and just for good measure, they also want all new shale drilling in the PA and WV to stop immediately, until “someday”…when Holt and his “smart” friends determine whether or not it’s really safe.

If Holt thinks that 60,000+ safely drilled shale wells is not enough proof, maybe Holt, who is (thankfully) not running again this November, is not so smart after all…
Read More “NJ Congressman Wants Permanent Drilling Ban in Dela. River Basin”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA Environmental Council Appoints New Leader, Ties to CSSD
March 17, 2014March 17, 2014

The mostly anti-drilling Pennsylvania Environmental Council has a new leader. We say “mostly” in deference to being corrected by the PEC a few years ago when we called them outright anti-drilling (see Pennsylvania Environmental Council Publishes New “Green Lease” Guide). On Friday the PEC named Davitt B. Woodwell to the position of president and chief executive officer, succeeding Paul M. King, who is retiring. The PEC is not dogmatically opposed to Marcellus drilling like many similar organizations in the environmentalist movement. The PEC at least allows there will be some drilling (they’re pragmatic). But make no mistake–they really wish there was no shale drilling in the state. They wouldn’t say that out loud in polite company–but that’s what they think and talk about behind closed doors.

The newly promoted Mr. Woodwell is a participant in the so-far underwhelming Center for Sustainable Shale Development (CSSD)–an uneasy partnership between the shale drilling industry and environmentalists (see CSSD’s Andrew Place Talks About 3-Leg Approaches & Firehoses). Woodwell belongs to the Standards and Evaluation Committee of the CSSD. We’ll keep a close eye on the PEC and Mr. Woodwell for signs of Marcellus trouble-making. Meanwhile, here’s Friday’s announcement and brief bio (with lots of enviro-cred) for Mr. Woodwell:
Read More “PA Environmental Council Appoints New Leader, Ties to CSSD”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Meetings | Statewide VA | Virginia

Anti-Drillers Turn Out in VA to Disrupt Forum on Drilling
March 17, 2014March 17, 2014

Ignorant anti-drillers–typically old hippie retreads and hippie wannabes–seem to derive meaning from their miserable existence by turning up at meetings where drilling will be discussed so they can cause trouble. They don’t listen because their minds are closed. They simply want to be heard. Real communication takes place when there is both a sender and a receiver (Speech 101). Anti-drillers are simply stuck on “sender” mode–they never open up and receive.

A perfect example is a meeting held last week in Virginia. The Virginia Outdoors Foundation (VOF) sponsored a forum in Fredericksburg to look at the issue of whether oil and gas drilling should be allowed on land protected from other development by conservation easements. Shale drilling may soon come to land with easements–easements that otherwise prohibit development but allows drilling–in the Taylorsville Basin, along the eastern/central part of the state around Caroline County, VA (see Fracking Finally on the Way in Virginia? Maybe Yes, Maybe No). The VOF invited Mike Ward, executive director of the Virginia Petroleum Council, to speak and answer questions about potential drilling. In typical fashion, closed-minded anti-drillers turned out to pester Mr. Ward…
Read More “Anti-Drillers Turn Out in VA to Disrupt Forum on Drilling”
About MDN | Calendar

Calendar of Events for Mar 17-30, 2014 [Free]
March 17, 2014March 17, 2014

Below are upcoming events for this week and next.
Read More “Calendar of Events for Mar 17-30, 2014 [Free]”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Mar 17, 2014
March 17, 2014March 17, 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, Mar 17, 2014”
Energy Companies | Shell

Cuts Coming to Shell’s Marcellus Shale Operations
March 14, 2014March 14, 2014

In a statement issued yesterday, and from comments made by Shell’s CEO Ben van Beurden on a “management day” analyst phone call, Shell has signaled they aren’t happy with the return they’re getting from their shale plays in the U.S., including the Marcellus. Specifically Shell has said they plan to decrease spending and investment, and trim operations, in dry gas (methane only) shale areas starting this year. Trim by how much? The statement they issued says 20%, but van Beurden is reported to have said 30% in his statements on the analyst call. In either case, look for Shell to sell some of the their 900,000 acres of Marcellus Shale leases and trim back on the 300 workers they currently have working in the Marcellus play.

It was just four years ago that Shell bought all of East Resources and their Marcellus operations (see East Resources Sells to Royal Dutch Shell for $4.7 Billion, Deal Includes All of East’s Marcellus Shale Operations). Apparently they now believe that was a bit of “irrational exuberance,” to borrow a phrase from Alan Greenspan. The odd thing for us is that much smaller companies, like Cabot Oil & Gas, make money hand over fist in dry gas-only areas of the Marcellus, but the big boys like Shell are hamstrung and don’t make money. Why is that? What gives the smaller players a leg up that simply can’t be matched by companies like Shell?…
Read More “Cuts Coming to Shell’s Marcellus Shale Operations”
Beaver County | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell

Shell’s Shale Pessimism Signals Worry for Some re PA Cracker
March 14, 2014March 14, 2014

The Shell emotional roller coaster continues to gyrate up and down when it comes to the fate of a multi-billion dollar ethane cracker plant previously announced by Shell for Beaver County, PA. We knew it would be a years-long process just to make a decision, and told you that two years ago almost to the day (see Shell’s Cracker Plant Actually “Years Away”?). Since that time it seemed at one point like all was lost (see Rumor Mill: PA Ethane Cracker Plant on Shell Chopping Block?). Over the past two years we’ve written dozens of stories, at first it seemed like a sure thing, then it wasn’t, then it was again, then it wasn’t again… you get the idea (see our list of Shell cracker stories here).

According to a Morningstar analyst interviewed by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the pendulum has now swung back to the pessimistic side again in light of Shell CEO Ben van Beurden’s comments yesterday knocking U.S. shale (see our companion story today). van Beurden said Shell is triming back on U.S. shale investments this year, “restructuring” those assets (which is CEO talk for selling a good portion of it). Although the ethane cracker will be fed by Marcellus and Utica Shale gas, Shell’s impotence when it comes to turning a profit from shale drilling doesn’t mean they will walk away from a huge petrochemical plant. Such big projects are what they think they’re best at doing. Still, van Beurden’s comments have at least one analyst wondering if the PA cracker plant is now down the list of Shell’s priorities…
Read More “Shell’s Shale Pessimism Signals Worry for Some re PA Cracker”