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Marcellus Drilling News
  • Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Wastewater

    Enviro America Sends 29K Form Letters Opposing Barged Frack Water

    December 9, 2013December 9, 2013

    Lookie here. A couple thousand members of Environment America (or maybe it’s just a couple hundred since they hide their enrollment numbers) have mass produced 29,000 form letters opposing the U.S. Coast Guard’s plan to allow safe shipping of frack wastewater on American rivers (see Coast Guard Green Lights Barge Transport of Frack Wastewater). Never hear of Environment America (EA)? Not many have. The organization was spawned from the “PIRG” (Public Interest Research Groups) in 2007. What you need to know is that EA is strongly anti-drilling.

    We’re sure the Coast Guard appreciates the considerateness of EA in providing form letters so once they’ve read one of the letters, they’re read all of them. Saves time that way–very thoughtful of EA–although a lot of trees were slaughtered (very un-green!) to produce all that paper. So really, the headline should say that EA has sent one letter from their members, not 29,000, because that about sums up this non-story. Here’s the press announcement from EA, laced with toxic terminology and filled with bogus claims:
    Read More “Enviro America Sends 29K Form Letters Opposing Barged Frack Water”

  • Crestwood Midstream | Energy Services

    Crestwood Midstream’s Plans for 2014 (Hint: Marcellus)

    December 9, 2013December 9, 2013

    Last week Crestwood Midstream Partners issued an update for their 2014 plans. You may recall that in 3Q13 Crestwood merged with Inergy Midstream (see Crestwood/Inergy Complete Their Merger Today, Worth $8B). At the time, Crestwood said their focus for the remainder of this year would largely be the Marcellus Shale (see Crestwood Midstream 3Q13: Merger Done, Pedal to Marcellus Metal).

    According last week’s update, the Marcellus will continue to be one of the primary focuses of the company. Crestwood plans to spend $400 to $425 million on new capital projects in 2014–much of it in the Marcellus, although they also have major projects cooking in the North Dakota Bakken Shale region and the Niobrara Shale of Colorado & Wyoming. The “forward looking” update from Crestwood:
    Read More “Crestwood Midstream’s Plans for 2014 (Hint: Marcellus)”

  • Statewide WV | West Virginia

    Paper Co MeadWestvaco Sells Forest Acreage, Keeps Marcellus Rights

    December 9, 2013December 9, 2013

    In our trawl of the daily news, MDN noticed last week that paper and manufacturing giant MeadWestvaco (MWV) Corporation (the makers of At-a-Glance planners and calendars) has sold ALL of its forestland in the U.S.–501,000 acres in all–to Plum Creek Timber Company for $1.1 billion.

    Why is that interesting to MDN? Because according to the MWV the one thing not part of the deal are the oil and natural gas rights on 191,000 Marcellus Shale acres in West Virginia. MWV knows a good thing when they have it…
    Read More “Paper Co MeadWestvaco Sells Forest Acreage, Keeps Marcellus Rights”

  • Best of the Rest

    Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Dec 9, 2013

    December 9, 2013December 9, 2013

    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, Dec 9, 2013”

  • Beaver County | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell

    Odds in Favor of a PA Ethane Cracker Just Went WAY Up

    December 6, 2013December 6, 2013

    may the odds be ever in your favorAt the end of October, MDN told you about comments from Shell’s retiring CEO Peter Voser that stoked fears that the previously announced Pennsylvania ethane cracker plant they may build was in doubt (see Rumor Mill: PA Ethane Cracker Plant on Shell Chopping Block?). Voser said that Shell’s wishlist included three major projects: the ethane cracker in PA, a gas-to-liquids plant in Louisiana, and an LNG plant in Canada. At the time Voser said Shell cannot build all three projects and would need to make “hard choices.”

    It looks like the choice has been made and it’s very good news for PA! Yesterday Shell announced they are nixing the gas-to-liquids project in Louisiana, which (MDN’s view) makes it much more likely the PA ethane cracker plant will go forward. Here’s Shell’s statement from yesterday:
    Read More “Odds in Favor of a PA Ethane Cracker Just Went WAY Up”

  • Energy Services | Enterprise Products Partners | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

    Let it Flow! ATEX Ethane Pipeline Testing Now, Online Soon

    December 6, 2013December 6, 2013

    When it comes to carting away lucrative ethane from the Marcellus/Utica, there’s been a horse race between Sunoco Logsitics and their Mariner West pipeline to Sarnia, Canada, and the Enterprise Products Partners and their ATEX (Appalachia-to-Texas Express) pipeline to the Gulf. Mariner West recently won the race in a photo finish (see “Midstream Knife Fight” – Who Will Have 1st Operational NGL Pipeline to Gulf?). However, Enterprise announced yesterday they are now filling the ATEX pipeline with ethane and testing it. The pipeline should be fully operational by the end of December–months ahead of schedule.

    The exciting thing about the ATEX pipeline is it’s connection to four different fractionation (“separating”) plants: two in OH, one each in PA and WV. Why are these two ethane pipelines a big deal? Great question…
    Read More “Let it Flow! ATEX Ethane Pipeline Testing Now, Online Soon”

  • Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

    Ohio Passes 1,000 Utica Shale Permits Issued, No End in Sight

    December 6, 2013December 6, 2013

    Three cheers for Ohio! Hip hip, hooray! Ohio has just flown past 1,000 Utica Shale permits issued. The number, as of last Saturday, is 1,006 to be exact. Of that number 617 wells either are or have been drilled (two-thirds!). Perhaps most fitting is that Aubrey McClendon’s new company, American Energy Utica, received it’s first five permits to drill in this latest batch issued by the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR). McClendon was the first to recognize the potential of the Utica Shale and moved his then-company, Chesapeake Energy, into purchasing 1 million acres of leases in the Ohio Utica.

    What is truly mind-blowing is that it took only three years for Ohio to go from zero permits to 1,000+ permits for Utica wells, establishing the Utica as one of the country’s hottest shale plays. Here’s a rundown on the latest numbers from Ohio’s Utica Shale:
    Read More “Ohio Passes 1,000 Utica Shale Permits Issued, No End in Sight”

  • Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

    IOGA of NY Dumps PR Consultant, Media Speculation Goes Wild

    December 6, 2013December 6, 2013

    This is an “inside baseball” kind of story–or in this case, inside New York oil & gas politics. The Independent Oil & Gas Association of New York (IOGA of NY) recently underwent some belt-tightening. You look over your budget–the money coming in and the money going out–and you make decisions. That’s what companies, and organizations, do. The government doesn’t do that because they just take it from we citizens to pay for their voracious drunken spending habits. But that’s another story for another time.

    IOGA of NY looked at declining membership revenues because oil and gas drillers are leaving or staying away from New York over an ongoing five and a half year moratorium, and IOGA decided they could do without the services of their high priced PR consultant. Happens every day in thousands of companies and organizations across the world. But only in NY do the media try to fabricate a story out of it to say IOGA of NY is throwing in the towel…giving up…admitting defeat. We say it’s wishful thinking on the part of NY’s anti-fracking media. IOGA of NY is doing nothing of the sort…
    Read More “IOGA of NY Dumps PR Consultant, Media Speculation Goes Wild”

  • Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

    Pathetic Response to Threatened Lawsuit over NY Frack Regs

    December 6, 2013December 6, 2013

    On Monday, Tom West, an attorney for Norse Energy, sent a “demand” letter addressed to NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens with the not-so-subtle threat that unless Martens releases the fracking regulations (called the SGEIS), Norse will sue Martens, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and State Health Commissioner Nirav Shah under Article 78 for not doing their jobs. That is, Norse (via West) will sue to force the release of the SGEIS (see Tom West Demands DEC Com. Martens Release the SGEIS – Soon). All three of the anti-fracking cabal (Cuomo, Martens, Shah) got the letter.

    So far Cuomo himself hasn’t had the guts to say anything about the letter or potential lawsuit. Neither has Joe Martens. Instead, they continue to let State Health Commissioner Shah catch the spears for it. At a public health forum in Manhattan on Tuesday, Shah addressed the issue by saying, in essence, Shazam! We done just got us some new informations in just the past few weeks (can ya’ll believe that?)! Ya’ll can’t rush this, ya know. To which we say, “pathetic”…
    Read More “Pathetic Response to Threatened Lawsuit over NY Frack Regs”

  • Boardwalk Pipeline Partners | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | NGLs | Pipelines | Regulation | Williams

    Bluegrass NGL Pipeline’s Eminent Domain Challenged in KY Court

    December 6, 2013December 6, 2013

    A small but dedicated group of anti-drillers in Kentucky continue to oppose plans by Williams and Boardwalk Partners to build the Bluegrass natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline through their state. The Bluegrass will stretch from the Marcellus/Utica all the way to the Gulf Coast. MDN estimates it will cost at least $1.5 billion to build it (see 2013 Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook – Volume 2). We told you about previous efforts to stop the pipeline in, ironically, the Bluegrass state–Kentucky (see Bluegrass NGL Pipeline Encounters Resistance from Some in KY and Bluegrass NGL Pipeline Hits Brick Wall in the Bluegrass State). We even told you about God getting involved (see Thank God the Bluegrass Pipeline will Bypass Marion County Nuns).

    Looks like the anti-drillers have not given up. A new group with the cutsie name KURE (Kentuckians United to Restrain Eminent Domain) has formed to oppose the pipeline. Their strategy is to deny the Bluegrass the right to use eminent domain to lay pipeline under property where landowners don’t want it. KURE filed a lawsuit yesterday in Franklin Circuit Court (Frankfort, KY) questioning the legality of eminent domain for the Bluegrass…
    Read More “Bluegrass NGL Pipeline’s Eminent Domain Challenged in KY Court”

  • Commodity Price | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Spectra Energy

    NYC’s Energy Infrastructure “Transformed,” Boston’s is Not – Why?

    December 6, 2013December 6, 2013

    We find it amusing that mainstream media is so narcissistic and navel-gazing that if a story doesn’t originate from NYC/DC media axis, it’s as if the story never existed. Case in point: The Atlantic magazine trumpets “no one noticed” that last month a whole lot more natural gas started flowing to New York City because of a new $1.2 billion pipeline from Spectra Energy connecting NJ to NY. Uh, excuse us Atlantic, but MDN noticed. We’ve been covering this story for the past two years! We told readers back on Oct. 21 that Spectra was opening the valves on an additional 800 million cubic feet of mostly cheap Marcellus Shale gas per day (see Spectra NJ-NY Marcellus Gas Pipeline Goes Online Nov. 1).

    It may take a few months, but we’re glad to see some mainstream media outlets finally, grudgingly, report the good news. However, there are other stories the media continues to ignore, like why Boston will continue to pay high prices for their natural gas even though there’s plenty of cheap gas to be had. There’s a pretty simple explanation…
    Read More “NYC’s Energy Infrastructure “Transformed,” Boston’s is Not – Why?”

  • Best of the Rest

    Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Dec 6, 2013

    December 6, 2013December 6, 2013

    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: Fri, Dec 6, 2013”

  • Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Marathon Petroleum | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

    Marathon Petroleum’s Newly Announced “Cornerstone” Utica Pipeline

    December 5, 2013December 5, 2013

    MPC Cornerstone PipelineAnother new pipeline is on the way in the Utica Shale. This one will be built by Marathon Petroleum Corporation, the largest refiner in the Utica Shale region. The Cornerstone pipeline, as they’re calling it, will stretch nearly 50 miles from the MarkWest cryogenic processing plant in Cadiz, OH northwest connecting to M3’s fractionator plant in Scio and M3’s cryogenic processing plant in Leesville along the way as it terminates and connects to Marathon’s refinery in Canton, OH (see map below). The pipeline will carry, at various times, crude oil, condensate and natural gasoline.

    The Cornerstone pipeline is slated to be built and in operation in 2016, according to Marathon officials. Here’s what Garry Peiffer, President of Marathon’s Master Limited Partnership MPLX GP said about the Cornerstone project on an analyst call yesterday:
    Read More “Marathon Petroleum’s Newly Announced “Cornerstone” Utica Pipeline”

  • Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | NGLs | Pipelines | Sunoco Logistics

    Into the Light: Open Season Announced Mariner East 2 NGL Pipeline

    December 5, 2013

    A few weeks ago MDN observed that Sunoco Logistics’ is planning a second Mariner East NGL pipeline to run alongside the pipeline they’re working to complete now that runs from western PA all the way to the Marcus Hook refinery near Philadelphia (see Sunoco Logistics Planning Second Mariner East Pipeline for NGLs). We wouldn’t say Sunoco’s plans for a second pipeline have been shrouded in secrecy or conspiratorial, but we would say they haven’t exactly been forthcoming about their plans either–until now.

    Yesterday Sunoco announced a binding open season to allow producers to sign up for capacity on the Mariner East 2 pipeline (official name). The open season began yesterday but we find no mention of when it will end, so perhaps it’s open-ended for now. (Usually open seasons last for a month or so.) The plan is to have this new pipeline operational in early 2016. Here’s the press release from Sunoco Logistics announcing the open season for Mariner East 2 (with map):
    Read More “Into the Light: Open Season Announced Mariner East 2 NGL Pipeline”

  • New York | Statewide NY

    NY Farm Bureau “Shoots Down” Anti-Fracking Plank at State Meeting

    December 5, 2013

    The New York Farm Bureau is a grassroots organization made up of volunteers–farmers–to lobby for agricultural issues. It is a superlative organization. The folks who belong are salt of the earth types of people–people who don’t want their land ruined because they make their living from the land. If anyone is concerned about the potential harm from hydraulic fracturing, it is the farmers on whose land the procedure will be done. They have a vested interest in ensuring their land remains workable.

    So it’s no small thing that some farmers introduced a resolution that calls for a ban on fracking in New York. And it’s also no small thing that the resolution was voted down–overwhelmingly–by the majority of members. That is, New York farmers have looked across the border to their farming cousins in Pennsylvania, and over in Ohio, and in West Virginia, and they see that fracking has not harmed the land there and have rightly concluded it would work just fine here in New York too…
    Read More “NY Farm Bureau “Shoots Down” Anti-Fracking Plank at State Meeting”

  • Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

    Must-See Video Sticks It to Hollywood Anti-Frackers

    December 5, 2013December 5, 2013

    Throwing their own words right back in their smug faces, a new video released on Tuesday by the Western Energy Alliance uses real people to tell the truth about fracking, and tells off the know-nothing Hollwood stars that appear in a recent anti-fracking video.

    A Washington Times story about the new video appears directly below, followed by the video itself. Please take time to give it a watch–it’s under one minute long and will put a smile on your face like it did ours…
    Read More “Must-See Video Sticks It to Hollywood Anti-Frackers”

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