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    MarkWest Hits 2.2 Bcf/d in Processing, 2 New Plants Go Live

    Marcellus midstream (pipelines and processing plants) heavyweight MarkWest Energy issued an operations update last week to trumpet the fact that two new cryogenic processing plants–to separate wet gas compounds from methane–have now started operations in the Marcellus/Utica. With the additional capacity of these new plants, MarkWest’s total processing capacity is now 2.2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas processing in the Marcellus/Utica. It is an impressive number and will only grow in the months and years ahead.

    MarkWest announced they have begun operations at their fifth Majorsville (Marshall County), WV cryogenic processing plant and at their first Seneca (Noble County), OH cryogenic processing plant. Here’s the justifiably proud announcement from MarkWest on reaching the 2.2 Bcf/d milestone, on their way to 4 Bcf/d by the end of next year:
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    Titusville, PA Tells Shale Drilling Industry: We Want YOU

    What a refreshing change! Titusville (Crawford County), PA, a small city in northwestern PA where this country’s first-ever commercial oil well was drilled (the Drake well), wants to market itself as the perfect place for those involved in the shale drilling industry to set up offices and operations. Titusville sits between active Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling on either side of it and will someday likely see its own drilling. City officials figure with a bit of marketing they can be a destination for the industry in NW PA. Smart.

    Officials are spending $33,000 to get a plan developed that will assist them in knowing how and where to market their community. They’re even talking about using old wells in the area as (gasp) injection wells for frack wastewater! Right now the city is shopping for someone to help them develop a comprehensive plan…
    Read More “Titusville, PA Tells Shale Drilling Industry: We Want YOU”

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    Cheat Sheet: Which Agencies Regulate OH Drilling/Pipelines

    Last week MDN told you of a new change in how natural gas gathering pipelines are regulated in Ohio. Until last week, the safety of gathering pipelines was fuzzy–really no one in charge of ensuring safety for gathering lines. That changed when the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) took over as lead agency for regulating that particular type of pipeline (see PUCO Now Regulates Gathering Pipelines in Ohio). But there are a few different kinds of pipelines and depending on which kind, a mish mash of federal and state (and even local) agencies are in charge of permitting and inspecting said pipelines.

    The reality of who regulates what when it comes to pipelines and other aspects of shale drilling is complex. PUCO decided it was a good idea to issue a press release/update to clear it all up. Apparently their office was flooded with requests for explanations, so they developed a handy chart to indicate who regulates what in Ohio’s shale drilling industry. It’s a very helpful update (and chart) for not only understanding who regulates pipelines in Ohio, but also who permits and regulates wells, compressor plants, processing plants–the whole enchilada…
    Read More “Cheat Sheet: Which Agencies Regulate OH Drilling/Pipelines”

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    Drilling-Related Manufacturer Brings 150 Jobs to Trumbull County

    Another huge positive economic impact from Marcellus/Utica Shale drilling is coming to eastern Ohio. Legacy Measurement Solutions Inc. of Addison, TX, a manufacturer of measurement equipment used in the oil and natural gas industry, is setting up a new 73,000 square foot plant in Trumbull County, OH early next year. The plant will “ramp up slowly” but will eventually employ 150 people. This is seriously good news for Brookfield, where the plant will be located, and Trumbull County in general.

    More jobs, more tax revenues–it’s an economic boomlet from just one company…
    Read More “Drilling-Related Manufacturer Brings 150 Jobs to Trumbull County”

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    More Marcellus Drilling on the Way in Allegheny County, PA?

    So far there’s been some, but not a lot, of shale drilling in Allegheny County, PA (Greater Pittsburgh area). A few weeks ago MDN told you about an offer from Huntley & Huntley–essentially a leasing agent for Range Resources–to lease a Deer Lakes Park, a county park in Allegheny County. The point of that story was not to focus on the big issues involved in leasing county-owned land in an urban area, but on the shameless way anti-drillers brainwash and use their own very young children as media props (see PA Anti-Drillers Shove Their Children Before the Microphones).

    We said in that post we would return to the issue of whether or not it’s a good idea to drill under county parks. Today, we do that. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette provides an update on the deal Huntley & Huntley is trying to broker for drilling under (not on) Deer Lakes Park. The article also tackles other county-owned land (parks) in Allegheny County that may one day soon see drilling…
    Read More “More Marcellus Drilling on the Way in Allegheny County, PA?”

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    Energy Services Co Wood Group Buys Competitor, Access to Marcellus/Utica

    Wood Group, a company with $7 billion in sales and 43,000 employees worldwide, is an international energy services firm (engineering, construction, etc.) that targets the oil and gas drilling industry. The Wood Group announced today they’re acquiring a much smaller competitor–Elkhorn Holdings Inc., a construction services firm with a presence in the Marcellus and Utica Shale region. Elkhorn, based in Wyoming, has 2,200 employees.

    The buyout means Wood Group will expand further into the Marcellus/Utica and more than double the number of their shale-focused employees. It also means an expanded product offering for Wood throughout the U.S. Today’s announcement from the Wood Group:
    Read More “Energy Services Co Wood Group Buys Competitor, Access to Marcellus/Utica”

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    Magnum Hunter 3Q13: Revenue Up 80%, Losses Up 636% (Ouch)

    Magnum Hunter is a small but growing driller (and midstream) company in both the Marcellus and Utica Shale. Last week Magnum Hunter released their third quarter update. Among the highlights: the company has now drilled 14 wells in the Marcellus Shale (in Wetzel County, WV). They started drilling a new Utica well (Munroe County, OH) and have now completed fracking a previously drilled well in Washington County, OH during 3Q13. Magnum Hunter has drilled and completed more than twice the Marcellus/Utica wells combined in the Willston Basin (i.e. Bakken Shale of North Dakota).

    Revenue for Magnum Hunter was up an impressive 80% over 3Q12, but the company reported an unimpressive net loss of 636% over 3Q12. The company certainly needs to do more to stop the bleeding and get a handle on expenses if they plan to stay in the game. Here’s most of the 3Q13 update from Magnum Hunter (scroll down near the bottom for the operations update for the Marcellus and Utica regions):
    Read More “Magnum Hunter 3Q13: Revenue Up 80%, Losses Up 636% (Ouch)”

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    PA Marcellus Property Sold as High as $16,700/Acre at Auction

    toot your own hornThis has to be a record for the Marcellus… The Pennsylvania court had ordered an auction of various parcels of land in Susquehanna and Bradford counties (in the prolifically productive northeastern “dry gas” portion of the Marcellus). There were 222 acres of land in total located in prime Marcellus drilling country. An auction was held on Oct. 30 in Wysox, PA and the land was all sold–to various buyers from across the country. Here’s the kicker: Some of the land sold for $16,700 per acre! This is rural farm land folks, not prime real estate in the middle of downtown. The money paid was not for a gas lease but the new owners get mineral rights with the land. You know the land was purchased in hopes of turning around and leasing it for Marcellus drilling. We don’t know for sure, but some of the land may even have been purchased by drilling companies (time will tell).

    If we might immodestly say so, the ad agency that helped promote the auction wisely sought out and purchased advertising on MDN. You may have recalled seeing the ads during October? Looks like that proved to be a wise decision! Here’s the “let us toot our own horn” press release issued by United Country Real Estate–the company appointed by the court to list and sell the property:
    Read More “PA Marcellus Property Sold as High as $16,700/Acre at Auction”

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    Antero Resources 3Q13: Stars Aligned, More Marcellus/Utica

    Antero Resources continues to focus on the Marcellus and increasingly the Utica Shale. Antero claims to be the most active driller in the Marcellus with 15 active drilling rigs–we don’t doubt it. Earlier this week as part of their third quarter update, Antero announced they will add a fifth drilling rig in the Ohio Utica where they’ve already drilled 12 wells (now online and producing) and with another 12 wells currently in process of being drilled. Antero loves the Utica.

    The stars certainly seem to be in alignment for Antero. A month ago the company went public and their stock price soared (see Antero’s Stock Climbs 18% on First Day of Trading). The day the company went public it was valued at $11 billion. As of this morning, a month later, it’s worth $14 billion. Yow! Antero can also boast of having the Utica Shale’s #1 producing well (see Antero Resources Utica Well Produces Stratospheric 38.9 Mmcf/d). Lot’s of good things happening for Antero, especially in the Utica. Here’s what they say about the last 3 months, and what they think lies ahead…
    Read More “Antero Resources 3Q13: Stars Aligned, More Marcellus/Utica”

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    Milestone: 600 Wells Now Drilled in OH Utica Shale

    Another milestone reached in the Ohio Utica Shale: 600 horizontal shale wells have now officially been drilled in the Utica Shale. There are 963 permits approved and active. Of the 600 drilled, 174 are in production as of November 2nd.

    Here’s the latest report from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources with details for each and every well permitted and/or drilled:
    Read More “Milestone: 600 Wells Now Drilled in OH Utica Shale”

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    MarkWest Open Season for “Little” Ethane Pipeline

    MarkWest Energy yesterday announced an open season for a “little” ethane pipeline in Pennsylvania. The little pipeline, which we now have a name for–MarkWest Liberty Ethane Pipeline–will run from Majorsville, PA to Houston, PA, about 30 miles. It is a pipeline to other pipelines. The MarkWest plant in Houston will provide access for the incoming ethane to be pipelined out of the area via the Mariner West pipeline (to Sarnia, Canada, going operational later this month), the Mariner East pipeline to the Marcus Hook refinery near Philadelphia (not ready until 2015), and the ATEX ethane pipeline to the Gulf Coast (ready sometime in 1Q14).

    The open season begins today and runs through Dec. 9th. The announcement from MarkWest, along an explanation from MDN about why this is important news:
    Read More “MarkWest Open Season for “Little” Ethane Pipeline”

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    Crestwood Midstream 3Q13: Merger Done, Pedal to Marcellus Metal

    In early October, Crestwood Midstream and Inergy Midstream completed their mega-billion-dollar merger (see Crestwood/Inergy Complete Their Merger Today, Worth $8B). Yesterday the newly merged company which kept the Crestwood Midstream name, issued their third quarter operations and financial update. Robert G. Phillips, Chairman, President and CEO said with the merger now behind them, it’s (our words) pedal to the metal, full speed ahead. Phillips is really excited about the company’s prospects for growth in the Marcellus Shale and said so yesterday.

    Phillips said by the end of 2013 Crestwood gathering capacity in the Marcellus will hit 500 million cubic feet per day (Mmcf/d), which is a 25% increase from the end of 2012. By the end of 2014, he expects their Marcellus gathering capacity to grow to 750 Mmcf/d, up another 50%. Yes indeed, Crestwood is high on the Marcellus!…
    Read More “Crestwood Midstream 3Q13: Merger Done, Pedal to Marcellus Metal”

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    Atlas Resource 3Q13: Production Up, Losses (Way) Up Too

    Atlas Resource Partners is a Pittsburgh-based exploration and production (E&P) company with active drilling operations not only in the Marcellus/Utica region but another four resource plays as well. Production for the company has gone up–way up–in 3Q13 thanks to newly acquired acreage and operations, but also due to more wells going online in the Marcellus/Utica. However, the company’s financials continue to be troubled. They show a net loss of $39.7 million for 3Q13–which is almost 4x the loss for the same period last year.

    Revenue was up for Atlas in 3Q13 (that’s a good thing), but costs and expenses rose even more (that’s a bad thing). Selected portions of the Atlas 3Q13 update:
    Read More “Atlas Resource 3Q13: Production Up, Losses (Way) Up Too”

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    MarkWest to Build 5th Cryo Plant in WV Courtesy Antero Resources

    MarkWest Energy continues its Marcellus/Utica infrastructure expansion. In an announcement yesterday, MarkWest said they will build a fifth (!) 200 million cubic feet per day cryogenic gas processing plant at its Sherwood (Doddridge County), WV facility. In the latest edition of the Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook (2013 Volume 2), MDN lists all of the projects announced by MarkWest and others (111 projects in all). This one is brand new and would be 112. MDN estimates this new cryogenic processing plant along with two others currently under construction at the Sherwood complex cost in the neighborhood of $200 million each to build.

    Cryogenic plants separate natural gas liquids (NGLs, or “wet gas”) from methane (“dry gas”). Why a fifth plant at the same facility? It’s being built at the request of Antero Resources. MarkWest signed a deal with Antero to provide them with wet gas processing capacity at the plant. MarkWest says the new plant will be built and online by third quarter of 2014. When it goes online, the total processing capacity at the Sherwood complex will be 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day–a really astonishing number. Here’s the MarkWest announcement:
    Read More “MarkWest to Build 5th Cryo Plant in WV Courtesy Antero Resources”

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    PA DEP Sec. Abruzzo Announces Winners of $3M in CNG Grants

    Part of the Pennsylvania Act 13 law, passed in early 2012, is a provision called an “impact fee” collected from Marcellus drillers (ultimately from landowners, because fees and taxes are always passed down the line). The first year the fee was collected it brought in over $200 million. The so-called fee is really 60% fee and 40% tax, as we’ve written about many times before. Why? Because 60% of the money collected stays in the communities impacted by drilling–for use with first responders, roads, etc. The other 40% is what MDN calls “walking around money”–money that’s spent by politicians in Harrisburg to curry favor with voters (i.e. vote buying). A lot of that money goes to southeastern PA (Philly area) where there is no drilling–but such was the sleazy political price to be paid in order to pass the legislation. Yes it stinks–but it is what it is.

    If there’s any good use for a teeny tiny sliver of the 40% walking around money, it happened yesterday in Scranton, PA, where the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) Sec. Chris Abruzzo was on hand at the Cabot Oil & Gas’ “CNG Celebration” event at Johnson College (see our companion story today about the event). Abruzzo was there to announce the list of grant winners who will share in $3 million of Act 13 money to purchase, refit or supply filling stations for vehicles to run on compressed natural gas (CNG). By handing out this seed money, Gov. Tom Corbett hopes to encourage more companies and organizations to switch to cheaper and much less polluting natural gas as a power source. Below is the DEP announcement and list of winners of this year’s grant. The DEP will be back next year with even more money to award. They start accepting applications on Saturday…
    Read More “PA DEP Sec. Abruzzo Announces Winners of $3M in CNG Grants”