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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”

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    Cabot’s Big CNG Celebration at Johnson College in Scranton, PA

    Yesterday Cabot Oil & Gas held a “CNG Celebration” at Johnson College in Scranton, PA. Unfortunately MDN could not be on hand to help celebrate. However, we do have a couple of stories to bring you from that event.

    The purpose of the event was several-fold: announce Johnson College’s curriculum expansion with new courses in compressed natural gas (CNG) technology and eventually a certification (with financial and technical assistance from Cabot); PA DEP Sec. Chris Abruzzo was on hand to announce $3 million in grants to businesses and organizations to purchase or retrofit vehicles to run CNG (see our companion story today); welcome the Marcellus Shale Coalition’s new executive director, David Spigelmyer; and show off some impressive big trucks and other vehicles running CNG. “Celebration” is an appropriate word that about covers it!…
    Read More “Cabot’s Big CNG Celebration at Johnson College in Scranton, PA”

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    Chesapeake’s Lawler Says 3Q13 was “Transformational” for Company

    Transformers - DecepticonsChesapeake CEO Doug “the ax man” Lawler said the company had “an exciting third quarter” (tell that to the families of 1,200 people now out of a job), and that the company saw a “significant transformation and the implementation of a new strategy for Chesapeake” during the past quarter. That’s certainly a true statement. The numbers for the company have improved over a year ago, which will be music to the ears of Lawler’s boss corporate raider Carl Icahn (and will fatten Icahn’s bank account when he sells in the next year or two, sleazeball).

    Yesterday Chesapeake issued their third quarter operations and financial update, accompanied by a phone call with select analysts who asked puff questions of Lawler and former Aubrey McClendon “friend” and CFO Nick “Dom” Dell’Osso. One bit of good news amongst all the hot air issued yesterday: Chesapeake’s Utica Shale production went up a dramatic 91% from 2Q13 to 3Q13, as pipelines and processing plants have come online. According to Lawler, that trend will continue into 2014 as more infrastructure comes online…
    Read More “Chesapeake’s Lawler Says 3Q13 was “Transformational” for Company”

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    Rex Energy 3Q13: Continued NE Expansion, Including Upper Devonian

    As the third quarter reports continue to flood in, we have an update from Rex Energy, one of our favorite smaller (but important) Marcellus/Utica Shale drillers. Rex Energy, an independent exploration and production (E&P) company headquartered in State College, PA issued their 3Q13 update on Tuesday, and company leaders conducted a phone call with analysts yesterday. Among the important gleanings: Rex is doing interesting and important drilling in the Upper Devonian Shale layer (above the Marcellus) with impressive results. They’ve reached almost 100 million cubic feet of gas production per day, a 39% increase over the same time last year. And Rex now has leases on 21,000 Utica Shale acres in Ohio.

    An interesting tidbit from yesterday’s phone call: Rex co-founder and CEO Thomas C. Stabley says one of the secrets of Rex’s success has been to develop “quality midstream solutions” in each of their core areas. Here is the 3Q13 update issued by Rex on Tuesday, followed by (some of) the phone call transcript from yesterday:
    Read More “Rex Energy 3Q13: Continued NE Expansion, Including Upper Devonian”