Marcellus Drilling News

Energy Services | Enterprise Products Partners | Industrywide Issues | Muskingum County | Ohio | Roads

ATEX Pipeline Ponies Up $572K to Repair Damaged Roads in Muskingum
October 15, 2013October 15, 2013

Under the “ask and ye shall receive” department… Muskingum County was not happy that heavy truck traffic from companies working for Enterprise Products Partners, building the new ATEX Express ethane pipeline through the county, had damaged some of the county’s roadways. So the county asked Enterprise to pony up over $700K to fix the damaged roads.

Enterprise did not pay the amount requested, but they did agree to pay over a half million smakaroos. Not a bad result for just asking…
Read More “ATEX Pipeline Ponies Up $572K to Repair Damaged Roads in Muskingum”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Luzerne County | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA | Transco | Williams

Williams Takes Next Step with Transco Leidy Pipeline Expansion
October 15, 2013October 15, 2013

Williams is hard at work on expanding their Transco Leidy interstate natural gas pipeline–especially in northeast PA around the Scranton area. The “Transco Leidy Southeast Expansion Project” is a massive $610 million project designed to increase the pipeline’s capacity by 525,000 decatherms per day–enough natural gas to serve 2 million homes. The expansion will pipe Marcellus Shale gas to points from New York City to the southeastern U.S. The project includes construction of approximately 30 miles of additional pipe segments, called loops, in PA and NJ, in addition to modifying some existing compressor stations and valve sites.

The Transco Leidy Southeast Expansion is a multi-year project that Williams hopes will be in service by the end of 2015. They recently took the next step in the project with an official filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). An update on the project’s status and what will happen next…
Read More “Williams Takes Next Step with Transco Leidy Pipeline Expansion”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Spectra Energy

Spectra Energy’s Algonquin Pipeline Expansion in CT
October 15, 2013October 15, 2013

Spectra Energy wants to bring more of the northeast’s Marcellus and Utica Shale gas to markets in…the northeast! Now there’s a novel idea. In order to do that, Spectra is looking to spend at least $500 million (MDN’s estimate) to expand the pipeline capacity of their existing Algonquin Gas Transmission system. The project calls for 25.6 miles of various segments of existing mainline relay and loop that includes 1.2 miles of new pipeline to be installed beneath the Hudson River using a horizontal directional drill; construction of approximately 18 miles of lateral pipeline relay, loop and expansion; modifications to existing compressor stations in New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island; construction of three new meter stations; and modifications to existing meter stations. The upgrades and expansion will increase the pipeline’s capacity by up to 433,000 dekatherms per day.

One of the markets Spectra will take the extra gas to is Connecticut. We get an update on Spectra’s Algonquin project in that state from the Connecticut Post…
Read More “Spectra Energy’s Algonquin Pipeline Expansion in CT”
Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Processing Plants

Gas-to-Liquids Trend Picks Up Steam in Northeast
October 15, 2013October 15, 2013

An interesting trend to keep an eye on: gas-to-liquids (or GTL). Gas-to-liquids converts natural gas into other hydrocarbon compounds–like diesel fuel and chemicals used in manufacturing. If the economics are right, GTL may well become an important market for an abundance of very cheap natural gas in the Marcellus/Utica region. In fact, MDN has brought you stories about three such facilities that have been announced in the Marcellus/Utica region (see Chemical Manufacturer to Build Gas-to-Liquids Plant in PA; Altoona Area Getting $200M Marcellus Gas-to-Liquids Plant; and Utica Shale Gas-to-Liquids Plant Planned for Ashtabula, OH).

An article by SNL Financial highlights the fact that GTL is not just a northeastern U.S. trend and not just a national trend, but indeed it is an international trend…
Read More “Gas-to-Liquids Trend Picks Up Steam in Northeast”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Oct 15, 2013
October 15, 2013October 15, 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: Tue, Oct 15, 2013”
Bradford County | Chief Oil & Gas | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Greene County (PA) | Lease & Royalty Payments | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

PA’s Top 10 Marcellus Shale Wells – Full Details
October 14, 2013October 14, 2013

Who doesn’t like a Top 10? We have one for you: What are the Top 10 producing Marcellus Shale wells in Pennsylvania? Would it surprise you to learn that 8 of the top 10 wells are found in a single PA county, drilled by the same driller?

Here’s the Top 10 PA Marcellus Well List, complete with the name of well, county, driller, estimated earnings per day and estimated royalties paid per day:
Read More “PA’s Top 10 Marcellus Shale Wells – Full Details”
Lease & Royalty Payments | West Virginia | Wirt County

Wirt County Landowner Deal Falls Through, Still Searching
October 14, 2013October 14, 2013

In August, MDN reported that the largest Marcellus landowner group we’re aware of, the Wirt County, WV Landowner group with 241,000 acres, was close to signing a deal (see Wirt County Landowner Group Close to Deal for Huge 241K Acres).

According to the group’s chairman James Lydon, that original deal has fallen through and the group is now back in the hunt for a deal, talking with other drillers…
Read More “Wirt County Landowner Deal Falls Through, Still Searching”
Economic Impact | Ethane | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research

Tipping Point: More NatGas Now Produced by Shale than Conventional
October 14, 2013October 14, 2013

According to energy consulting firm PIRA Energy Group, the United States has reached a tipping point: We now produce more natural gas from shale deposits and “tight gas” formations (i.e. “unconventional sources”) than we do from traditional, conventional sources.

In a wide ranging article (below), PIRA and others quoted talk about the tremendous drop in prices for natural gas and gas liquids, the startling turnaround in chemical manufacturing in this country (because of the abundance of cheap natural gas and feedstocks like ethane), and the importance of the Marcellus/Utica in this whole equation. Hint: Nearly 1/3 of the natural gas being produced from shale comes from the Marcellus/Utica…
Read More “Tipping Point: More NatGas Now Produced by Shale than Conventional”
Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research

Purdue Researchers: Shale Energy Adds $478B Per Year to US Economy
October 14, 2013October 14, 2013

Researchers at Purdue University recently presented the results from two studies analyzing the economics of shale energy and its impact on the U.S. economy (summary embedded below). They discussed their findings at the annual North American joint conference of the United States and International Associations for Energy Economics in Anchorage, Alaska (in July). What did the Purdue researchers find?

Purdue researchers found that shale oil and gas will increase the gross domestic product (GDP) of the United States by an average of 3.5% per year through 2035. In raw numbers, that means each and every year shale is adding $478 billion to our economy–a number so large it’s breathtaking. It seems to MDN that shale energy is single-handedly keeping our country out of yet another recession…
Read More “Purdue Researchers: Shale Energy Adds $478B Per Year to US Economy”
Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

New Trend? Bi-Directional NatGas Pipelines in Marcellus/Utica
October 14, 2013October 14, 2013

A new and interesting trend is beginning to happen in the Marcellus/Utica region: flexible pipelines. No, we don’t mean natural gas pipelines traditionally manufactured from steel are now being manufactured with a new material–we mean the flows of gas moving along pipelines is starting to reverse and flow in the opposite direction, depending on the time of year.

In wintertime the northeast uses more natural gas than can be produced in the Marcellus/Utica alone, and as has been the case for decades, pipelines bring gas supplies into the northeast from other areas of the country. However, with the explosion of production coming from the Marcellus/Utica, at other times of the year the Marcellus/Utica produces more than enough gas, and so some pipelines are starting to upgrade so they can flow the gas in the opposite direction. However, as industry giant Rusty Braziel notes, it ain’t easy to just change directions…
Read More “New Trend? Bi-Directional NatGas Pipelines in Marcellus/Utica”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Supply Chain

Marcellus Supply Chain Lessons: Local Drillers & WOM
October 14, 2013October 14, 2013

Do you work for a small or medium-sized business and want to plug in to the Marcellus Shale supply chain? Judy Wojanis, from the Wojanis Hydraulic Supply Co. in the Pittsburgh area, has a few pieces of sage advice…
Read More “Marcellus Supply Chain Lessons: Local Drillers & WOM”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio | Regulation | Statewide OH

Home Rule Case Before OH Supreme Court – Background
October 14, 2013October 14, 2013

In 2004 the Ohio legislature passed a law that gives “sole and exclusive authority to regulate the permitting, location and spacing of oil and gas wells” to the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR). However, like Pennsylvania, New York and West Virginia, local municipalities have bridled against a law that says locals have no say in where an oil or gas well may be drilled. And like those other Marcellus/Utica states, Ohio municipalities have sued to overturn the law.

In June MDN told you the Ohio Supreme Court has accepted a case that challenges the 2004 Ohio law restricting so-called “home rule” or the right for municipalities to zone oil and gas wells (see Home Rule Case Heads to Ohio Supreme Court). With that case now under active consideration by the OH Supremes, here’s a bit more background…
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Commodity Price | Industrywide Issues

How Low Can You Go? Northeast NatGas Prices Dip Below Henry Hub
October 14, 2013October 14, 2013

In what increasingly appears to be a game of limbo, or “how low can you go,” natural gas prices in the northeastern part of the U.S. keep going down. In a reversal of past trends, many of the market points in the northeast are beginning to slip below the benchmark Henry Hub market point price in Louisiana.

What does it mean? It means residents in one of the most populous areas of the country, the northeastern U.S., are now paying less for natural gas than they did just a few years ago because the gas they are using now is produced nearby in the Marcellus and increasingly in the Utica Shale region. There is so much locally produced shale gas, it’s causing big changes in the natgas marketplace, as noted by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)…
Read More “How Low Can You Go? Northeast NatGas Prices Dip Below Henry Hub”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

MSC Releases Recommended Practices for Drilling & Completions
October 14, 2013October 14, 2013

There are the rules and regulations that drillers must follow, issued by state laws and by regulatory agencies like the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection, the WV Dept. of Environmental Protection, and the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources. The rules & regs are non-negotiable. But then there are “best” or “recommended” practices–those things drillers can and should do that go above and beyond the letter of the law. The Marcellus Shale Coalition, whose members are many of the largest energy companies in the world, has issued seven such “recommended practices” documents to date for its members. They’ve just released the eighth, titled “Recommended Practices for Drilling and Completions.”

This latest set of practices is arguably one of the most important, affecting how drillers drill–everything from spacing to safety to well control technologies…
Read More “MSC Releases Recommended Practices for Drilling & Completions”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Oct 14, 2013
October 14, 2013October 14, 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, Oct 14, 2013”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | M&A | PVR Midstream | PVR Partners | Regency Energy Partners

Marcellus/Utica Midstreamer PVR Bought by Regency Energy for $5.6B
October 11, 2013October 11, 2013

PVR Partners, formerly known as Penn Virginia Resource Partners, will now just be formerly. Period. PVR is a major midstream company (pipelines and processing plants) with big operations in the PA Marcellus Shale after buying Chief Gathering last year (see PVR Buys Chief Gathering/Marcellus Pipelines for $1B). They also announced last year that they would spend $380 million to expand pipelines in NE PA (see PVR Announces $380 Million Investment in NE PA Marcellus), and very recently PVR announced a deal with Hess to build a pipeline system in eastern OH (see PVR Partners to Build $150M Utica Shale Pipeline System for Hess).

Yesterday Texas-based Regency Energy Partners and PVR announced that Regency will buy out PVR for $5.6 billion. Regency, also a midstream company, owns some assets in the Marcellus/Utica, but most of their operations are in the Southwest and West, so this purchase gives them a major presence in the rapidly-expanding midstream sector of the Marcellus/Utica. After the buyout is completed, the PVR name will be no more…
Read More “Marcellus/Utica Midstreamer PVR Bought by Regency Energy for $5.6B”