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    Survey Says! OU Survey of Local OH Officials on Utica’s Impacts

    Two days ago the Ohio University Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs released the findings of its much anticipated Ohio Shale Development Community Impact Survey. During summer of 2013, the Voinovich School distributed more than 500 surveys to local elected officials across 17 counties experiencing the majority of shale activity and development in Ohio. The survey assesses the impact of shale development within 17 counties in eastern Ohio, with a focus on population, housing, public safety, infrastructure, environment, local employment, area business activity, and economic development. Some 200 of those surveys were returned and the data tabulated.

    What did the survey find? Ohio’s local elected officials say Utica Shale drilling has caused an marked increase in jobs and the occupancy rate at hotels. But Utica drilling has also caused some pollution issues and a big increase in the demand for water supplies. This is a very interesting study (full copy embedded below)…
    Read More “Survey Says! OU Survey of Local OH Officials on Utica’s Impacts”

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    Range Resources’ Laser Focus on the Marcellus Continues into 2014

    Range Resources, the first and one of the largest drillers in the Marcellus Shale, issued their fourth quarter 2013 and full year 2013 financial and operational update yesterday. Range has a lot of good news to report. They averaged 940 million cubic feet equivalent of natural gas production per day during the year, but as MDN noted in December last year, they have now exceeded 1 billion cubic feet per day average (see Range Resources Inducted into the Marcellus “1 Bcf/d Club”). Proved reserves were up for Range by 26%, to 8.2 trillion cubic feet. Cash flow was up 25%, to $943 million. Perhaps the only “bad news” was that profits in the fourth quarter were down by 47%, to $28.2 million, mainly because of the low commodity price of natural gas. Everything else appears to going quite well for this Marcellus powerhouse.

    In 2014 Range plans to spend $1.52 billion on capital expenditures (drilling and associated costs). The vast majority of that–87%–will be spent in the Marcellus. They expect to boost production another 20-25% in 2014. The company is on a tear! Below are details of how many wells Range drilled in the Marcellus in 2013, and how many they plan to drill in 2014, along with loads of other details about their drilling operations…
    Read More “Range Resources’ Laser Focus on the Marcellus Continues into 2014”

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    Carrizo CEO Says Transition to Focus on Oil “Now Completed”

    Last November MDN told you that Carrizo was de-emphasizing the Marcellus and instead focusing on more oily and wet gas plays, like the Utica (see Carrizo Down on Marcellus, Up on Utica and Other Wet/Oil Plays). In releasing their 2013 fourth quarter and full year results yesterday, Carrizo’s CEO Chip Johnson said, “We began our shift from gas to oil back in 2010, and I’m pleased to say that we’ve now completed the transition. Crude oil now accounts for more than 60% of our proved reserves, and even though we sold almost 45% of our 2012 U.S. reserve base through our Barnett Shale and other non-core divestitures, we were still able to increase our PV-10 by 44% in 2013. Oil also now accounts for the majority of our production, as we expect it to be approximately 60% of 2014 volumes.”

    Does that mean Carrizo is exiting the Marcellus completely? Not according to the update. Carrizo drilled 6 Marcellus wells in 4Q13. They complain that midstream (pipeline) delays continue to “impact” their operations in the Marcellus, along with really low commodity prices. So for now they’ve pulled back. For 2014 they plan to complete the wells they’ve already drilled–24 in all, and finish up drilling 3 wells already begun. According to our trusty NGI’s Shale Play Factbook, Carrizo owns leases on 49,200 acres in the Marcellus (and 21,700 acres in the Utica). Here’s yesterday’s update which clearly details the oil/wet gas direction of the company…
    Read More “Carrizo CEO Says Transition to Focus on Oil “Now Completed””

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    Latest Hypocritical Protest of PA’s State Forest Drilling Plan

    A handful of anti-drilling nutters–mostly washed up hippies from the 60s–held a protest rally in Harrisburg at the PA State Capitol yesterday to object to the very thing one of their icons, Ed Rendell (and his DEP Secretary John Hanger) themselves did: allow a little bit of drilling under (not on) state forests for natural gas. The hypocrisy was on full display as a small group, inflated by media reports as some sort of huge, massive movement thing, gathered to get their photo op before retiring to the nearest Starbucks to sip coffee created by machines operating on natural gas in a shop heated with natural gas to discuss how great it feels to relive the good ole days of protesting.

    Here’s how the reliably anti-drilling StateImpact Pennsylvania reported the so-called “rally”…
    Read More “Latest Hypocritical Protest of PA’s State Forest Drilling Plan”

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    Checking in on ecorpStim’s 100% Waterless Fracking, New Video

    checking inecorpStim has poked their heads up again to try and catch a bit of attention for their innovative waterless fracking solution. A press release issued yesterday by the company (full copy below) touts a new short video about their technology and promises that their “non-flammable propane stimulation” solution, developed in “2013,” will roll out in field demonstrations by “the end of this year.” We gave the video a watch a liked it (see it below).

    MDN has had our eye on eCORP, ecorpStim’s parent company, since 2012 when they attempted but ultimately failed to cut a deal with landowners in Tioga County, NY to lease a large swath of land and potentially use a waterless fracking technology (from Canadian GASFRAC) to avoid New York’s ongoing moratorium (see Tioga County, NY Lease Deal with eCORP Falls Apart). It was after the wheels came off that deal that ecorpStim changed gears to develop their own waterless fracking solution.
    Read More “Checking in on ecorpStim’s 100% Waterless Fracking, New Video”

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    Fracking Debate at Binghamton U: Holko vs Steingraber

    Last night MDN editor Jim Willis attended a “You Defend It” debate at Binghamton University between pro-driller John Holko, president of Lanape Resources (Buffalo area), and anti-driller Sandra Steingraber, a so-called “scholar in residence” at Ithaca College and founder of New Yorkers Against Fracking. The debate was on the topic of whether or not New York should allow high volume hydraulic fracturing (shale fracking). The format was interesting and refreshing–NO audience participation allowed. No cat calls or clapping or hooting characteristic of hippie anti-drillers was allowed. Also, the debaters were not allowed to question each other or respond to the other’s arguments. It was the moderator (Binghamton attorney Rob Kilmer) asking them questions in turn–and that’s it. The audience, which MDN would estimate at 250-300 people, heard the best pro and con arguments from both sides. Refreshing. And, enlightening.

    If we could step back and make an observation about the poise and demeanor of the debaters, John Holko was relaxed and worked from no notes. Sandra Steingraber, whom we have perhaps uncharitably called nutty, was nuttier than ever. She looked tense and had many notes and every response to a question started and ended with how fracking leads to an environmental holocaust that’s killing Mother Earth. When grilled by Kilmer as to why fracking doesn’t seem to be creating widespread damage in Pennsylvania the way she portrays it would in New York, she responded (amazingly) it really is. Steingraber maintains “everyone” is hushed up by legal gag orders in PA that don’t allow residents to tell the truth of what’s happening. So you see, she was simply off the rails–yet again…
    Read More “Fracking Debate at Binghamton U: Holko vs Steingraber”

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    Chesapeake Energy Looks to Dump Oilfield Services Division

    Doug “the ax” Lawler, CEO of Chesapeake, continues to swing his ax to get rid of assets the company worked so hard to create. The latest asset Lawler (and his boss corporate raider Carl Icahn) want the company to get rid of is Chesapeake Oilfield Services, or COS. Chessy issued a press release yesterday stating they want to either spin COS off into it’s own company, or sell it outright. Not in the cards: keeping it and expanding it.

    Here’s the latest from “the ax”…
    Read More “Chesapeake Energy Looks to Dump Oilfield Services Division”

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    Magnum Hunter’s 4Q13 Update: 2 Wells, 2 Formations, Same Pad

    Magnum Hunter (MH) issued their fourth quarter 2013 and full year 2013 financial and operational update yesterday. Below we’ve selected out the operations portion leaving the financial discussion behind. What does it show? MH sold off their Eagle Ford assets in 2013 for $401 and has invested that money in the two remaining regions in which the focus–the Marcellus/Utica and the Bakken Shale (or Williston Basin). MH is currently operating 6 drilling rigs–3 in the Marcellus/Utica and 3 in the Bakken. They drilled 8 new wells in the northeast in 4Q13 and 15 new wells in the Bakken (so you see where their attention is going–to the more oily play).

    Of interest, buried in the narrative, is mention of the recent Stadler 3UH Utica Shale well recently brought online in Monroe County with a peak rate of 32.5 MMcf/d (see Magnum Hunter’s Prolific (& Dry) Utica Well in Monroe County, OH). Here’s the interesting part: MH is also right now completing the Stalder 2MH well on the same pad–except the 2MH is a Marcellus (not Utica) well. So MH is targeting two different formations on the same pad. It will be fascinating to compare the production from the two wells. Here’s select portions of yesterday’s update:
    Read More “Magnum Hunter’s 4Q13 Update: 2 Wells, 2 Formations, Same Pad”

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    3 Anti-Drilling MD Commissioners Want Fracking Delayed…Surprise!

    It’s been a loooong road in Maryland, evaluating whether or not they should, and if so how, to move forward with hydraulic fracturing of shale in two counties in the state. Failed Gov. Martin O’Malley appointed a commission nearly three years ago to study it. A couple of studies have been created with two more still to go–due by August 1st of this year. The two remaining studies are nebulous “heath effects” (sound familiar?) and economic impacts from drilling. MDN has always joked that Maryland was the only state more dysfunctional than New York when it comes to shale drilling. We were wrong–New York is at the bottom of the heap. We think Maryland could actually beat us to the drill bit. Maybe.

    However, we noticed an op-ed written by three members of the Maryland Safe-Drilling Advisory Commission, all three anti-drilling, that argues Maryland should be *more* like New York and delay. They say, in essence, “Ain’t no way those two studies can done in time.” So the answer? Delay. Hey, the delay strategy has worked in spades for NY–why not try it in MD? Here’s the op-ed (and what you get when you appoint anti-drillers to a drilling commission)…
    Read More “3 Anti-Drilling MD Commissioners Want Fracking Delayed…Surprise!”

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    The Reason United Canceled Daily Flights Between Cleveland & OKC

    A few weeks ago MDN asked the question, Can a Single Canceled Airline Route Affect Utica Shale Development? United Airlines is canceling its daily flights to and from Cleveland’s Hopkins International Airport and Oklahoma City’s Will Rogers World Airport. It’s a big deal because the Utica’s top drillers, including Chesapeake Energy and Gulfport Energy, are headquartered in OKC, and introducing longer delays in getting from here to there may put a damper on Utica development. It’s not so far-fetched that a single canceled route could have a pretty significant impact.

    When we brought you that story two weeks ago, we assumed that UA just decided to willy nilly cancel it. But such is not the case. As Midwestern icon Paul Harvey used to say, here’s “The Rest of the Story”…
    Read More “The Reason United Canceled Daily Flights Between Cleveland & OKC”

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    State College Teens Help Out with Shale Network Water Sampling

    Penn State and other organizations sponsor an initiative called the Shale Network. The Shale Network is a group of volunteers who sample local rivers and streams to ensure Marcellus drilling is not having a negative effect on local waterways. So far, we’ve not heard of a single instance where the testing has turned up a problem.

    Part of the Shale Network is the Teen Shale Network, which involves local high school students from the State College, PA area to help with the testing–as a way to educate them on field science. To which we say, great! The kids were out freezing their derriere’s off recently, taking samples in Black Moshannon State Park…
    Read More “State College Teens Help Out with Shale Network Water Sampling”

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    CONSOL Feeling Heat over Ethane Exports to Europe, CEO Defends

    it's okCONSOL Energy’s CEO Brett Harvey must be getting some heat over the company’s recent announcement that they have signed an agreement to export ethane from the Marcellus to Europe (see CONSOL to Begin Ethane Shipments Next Year–to Europe?!). Why would we say CONSOL is getting blowback? Because Harvey penned an op-ed that appears in The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register giving a spirited defense of their decision. The gist of Harvey’s points, if we might summarize, is this: CONSOL has deep roots and is committed to WV; there’s plenty of ethane to go around, including for exports (and exports bring money into WV); CONSOL is also going to sell ethane to the Odebrecht ethane cracker when/if it gets built; in the meantime, selling ethane to Europe means CONSOL will have more money to invest in WV.

    Here’s Harvey’s “it’s OK” op-ed:
    Read More “CONSOL Feeling Heat over Ethane Exports to Europe, CEO Defends”

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    Williams Plans $2.1B Transco Pipeline Expansion, 100% Sold Already

    Amidst the bad news for Williams last week that the company is being targeted by corporate raiders (see Evil Corporate Raiders Double Investment (& Control) in Williams), was a little bright spot of good news. The company announced they plan to expand the Transco pipeline carrying cheap Marcellus Shale gas (mostly from PA) to the Eastern Seaboard–what they call the Atlantic Sunrise Expansion of the Transco. The good news is that nine drillers have signed binding contracts, already sopping up 100% of the planned 1.7 million dekatherms of expansion. The new customers were not named in the announcement.

    Williams plans to spend $2.1 billion on the expansion. They will file a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in March to get permission to…file a pre-filing. Yeah, it’s complicated–but that’s life in the midstream. Here’s the announcement from Williams:
    Read More “Williams Plans $2.1B Transco Pipeline Expansion, 100% Sold Already”

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    Expect “Frackgate” to be an Issue in Ohio for a While

    Anti-drillers in Ohio, like the Sierra Club, have dubbed the “revelation” that the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) once crafted a communications plan to deal with nutjobs (like them) a scandal, so they’ve take to calling it “frackgate” (see ODNR Ticks Off Anti-Drilling Sierra Club with Drilling PR Plan). Relatedly, we also told you about Gov. John Kasich already throwing in the towel and admitting defeat on the matter of drilling in a single state forest and two state parks (see The Disgusting PR Mess in Ohio – No One Smells Pretty).

    You can expect “frackgate” to continue to be an issue in Ohio for a while because of the upcoming governor’s race. As we previously pointed out, the liberal Dems never let a good manufactured controversy (or crisis) go to waste. They’re now whispering about Kasich’s “enemies list” from the ODNR plan (even though Kasich had nothing to do with authoring the PR plan). By the way–they are enemies–of truth and common sense and reasonableness. Being good libdems, they will continue to harp on the “frackgate” issue, using a sycophantic press. Here’s the latest example of an article with absolutely no new information, the only purpose of which is to keep the story alive and in the minds of voters:
    Read More “Expect “Frackgate” to be an Issue in Ohio for a While”

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    Confab in Cleveland: Utica’s Best Opportunities & Biggest Fears

    Several speakers at last week’s Crain’s Cleveland Business Shale Summit 2014 predicted a major ramp-up in drilling in the Utica Shale during 2014. Of note: one speaker said based on his informal survey he believes the number of drilling rigs in the play will zoom from 40 to 60 or more by early next year. Another speaker said the Utica looks and behaves a lot like the Eagle Ford Shale play in Texas–and that’s a very good thing. The biggest fears by those in the know? Over-taxation and over-regulation–both issues very much alive in the state legislature right now.

    Here’s an excellent run-down on what happened at the Summit by intrepid reporter Bob Downing from the Akron Beacon Journal, including which counties are believed to hold the best drilling opportunities:
    Read More “Confab in Cleveland: Utica’s Best Opportunities & Biggest Fears”