Marcellus Drilling News

Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Research | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Benesch Law’s Useful Quarterly Report/Overview on Utica Shale
September 16, 2013September 16, 2013

How about a handy quarterly snapshot of the Utica Shale and where various initiatives (like infrastructure investments) stand? The attorneys and researchers at Benesch Law produce just such a report every three months. The latest edition is now out. One statistic of note to give you a feel for the enormous scope and potential of the Utica Shale in Ohio: There are 133 pipeline projects–from local gathering lines to interstate natural gas liquids pipelines–either now being built or on the drawing board. It represents billions of dollars of investment in the Utica.

Below is the full Benesch Shale Industry Report – Quarterly Summary Q2 2013. Well worth the few minutes it takes to read…
Read More “Benesch Law’s Useful Quarterly Report/Overview on Utica Shale”
Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies

God, Veggies & Bees – What’s Next on the Chesapeake Chopping Block?
September 16, 2013September 16, 2013

As MDN pointed out last week, Chesapeake Energy CEO Doug Lawler continues to cut expenses by cutting people (see Chesapeake’s Lawler Continues to Swing the Ax – More VPs Gone). Such activity puts a smile on his boss’ face, corporate raider Carl Icahn, because Icahn can see his stock price inching up–getting high enough that he can sell it at a profit. That’s what corporate raiders do.

An update on Chessy’s ax-wielding. The latest things to go on the chopping block? God, veggies and bees…
Read More “God, Veggies & Bees – What’s Next on the Chesapeake Chopping Block?”
Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | West Virginia | Wood County

Marcellus Drilling Comes to Wood County, WV
September 16, 2013September 16, 2013

According to Cam Huffman, president and CEO of the local economic development agency Area Roundtable in Parkersburg, WV, Wood County is now starting to see Marcellus drilling activity. Between potential drilling in Wood and other activities, like a regional ethane cracker plant, Huffman says Wood County is seeing an economic resurgence because of the shale drilling industry…
Read More “Marcellus Drilling Comes to Wood County, WV”
Energy Services | FMC Technologies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Wastewater

FMC: Shale Industry Must Achieve 100% Frack Wastewater Recycling
September 16, 2013September 16, 2013

At last week’s 2013 YOUNG Expo, FMC Technologies vice president of surface technologies, Johan Pfeiffer, said water use for fracking is a big deal–such a big deal that the shale drilling industry needs to move to 100% recycling of fracked wastewater. Soon. If we don’t? An ominous prediction from Pfeiffer: “If we don’t address the water issue we will lose it.”

FMC is a huge oilfield services and equipment company with a vested interest in the issue. They are right now conducting a pilot program in Colorado for a new technology that removes impurities and chemicals from frack wastewater. Pfeiffer explained a bit about their new and unique technology…
Read More “FMC: Shale Industry Must Achieve 100% Frack Wastewater Recycling”
Accidents | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | NGLs | Pipelines | West Virginia | Wetzel County

MarkWest Continues Cleanup at NGL Pipeline Spill in WV
September 16, 2013September 16, 2013

About a month ago, a natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline that connects MarkWest Energy’s Mobley and Majorsville facilities ruptured after a landslide hit it (Wetzel County, WV). The pipeline spilled onto the ground and into a nearby stream causing a fish kill (see Landslide Causes MarkWest NGL Pipeline in WV to Rupture/Spill). The West Virginia Dept. of Environmental Protection has “cited” MarkWest, meaning there will be a fine at some point once the full extent of the damage is known.

In the meantime, MarkWest is working to clean it up. An update on progress at the spill site…
Read More “MarkWest Continues Cleanup at NGL Pipeline Spill in WV”
About MDN | Calendar

Calendar of Events for Sep 16-29, 2013 [Free]
September 16, 2013September 16, 2013

Below are upcoming events for this week and next.
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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Sep 16, 2013
September 16, 2013September 16, 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, Sep 16, 2013”
CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

OOGA Pegs Utica Shale “Sweet Spot” at YOUNG 2013
September 13, 2013

An Ohio Oil and Gas Association (OOGA) representative told attendees at the YOUNG 2013 conference held this week in Youngstown that counties in southeastern Ohio are the “sweet spot” of the Utica Shale play because the pressure there is higher and because the shale layer includes an abundance of natural gas liquids. However, another speaker–an executive from CONSOL Energy–said counties in northeastern Ohio will continue to see successful drilling too. So don’t despair!

Executive VP of OOGA, Tom Stewart, used a map to detail the location of a “strip of highly pressurized shale containing natural gas liquids.” While we don’t have a copy of the map, we do have his identification of precisely which counties he says are in that strip–the Utica Shale sweet spot…
Read More “OOGA Pegs Utica Shale “Sweet Spot” at YOUNG 2013″
Economic Impact | Erie County (NY) | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | New York | Pipelines | Statewide NY | Supply Chain

A New Marcellus Pipe Manufacturing Plant Comes to…New York???
September 13, 2013September 13, 2013

Maddening? Yes. Startling? True. Teeth-gritting? You bet. Ironic and mystifying? Supremely so.

A Middle Eastern company has just announced they will invest $102 million to build a factory in South Buffalo, NY that will employ 170 people making steel pipes for the…wait for it…shale drilling industry. And who should plant his mug right in the middle of this announcement to take credit for the investment and jobs it will bring to the state? Gov. Andy Cuomo–the man who can’t decide whether or not he’ll approve fracking in New York. You can see why we’re having such a conflicted and mixed(-up) reaction…
Read More “A New Marcellus Pipe Manufacturing Plant Comes to…New York???”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Wayne County

DRBC Director Carol Collier Announces Her Retirement
September 13, 2013September 13, 2013

Executive director of the Delaware River Basin Commission, Carol Collier, apparently has had enough. She announced yesterday she will retire as of March 12, 2014. You may recall Collier was shamed and humiliated on camera by filmmaker Phelim McAleer in his top-notch documentary FrackNation (see the video embedded below). Collier and her support of anti-drilling causes like the fictional Gasland movie is one of the primary reasons landowners in Wayne County, PA still have had no shale drilling–even though other PA counties all around them not in the Delaware River Basin have had drilling for years.

What does Collier’s retirement mean for the future of Marcellus Shale drilling in the DRBC’s jurisdiction? No one yet knows, but landowners are hopeful. One thing you can be sure of: Even though Collier mouths platitudes about finishing up regulations before she retires that will eventually allow drilling, there will be no movement on that issue from now until March. Of that we’re confident. Here’s Collier’s announcement from yesterday:
Read More “DRBC Director Carol Collier Announces Her Retirement”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Landfills | Ohio | Statewide OH | Supply Chain

OH Company Turns Drill Cuttings into Clean Fill Dirt in 24 Hours
September 13, 2013September 13, 2013

An intriguing supply chain story that caught MDN’s eye: An Ohio company has figured out a way to speed up the work of Mother Nature in decomposing the nasty stuff that contaminates “drill cuttings”–the rock and soil left over from drilling natural gas or oil wells. Drill cuttings are typically hauled off to a landfill where it takes Mother Nature hundreds (sometimes thousands) of years to fully break down the chemicals (naturally and not-naturally occurring) in drill cuttings.

Ohio Soil Recycling greatly speeds up the natural process and turns drill cuttings into soil suitable for use as “clean fill dirt” in as little as 24 hours!…
Read More “OH Company Turns Drill Cuttings into Clean Fill Dirt in 24 Hours”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ion GX Technology | Pennsylvania | Seismic Testing | Westmoreland County

Murrysville, PA Officials Offer Advice on Seismic Testing
September 13, 2013September 13, 2013

An town councilman from the Pennsylvania borough of Murrysville (Westmoreland County) wants to make it very clear: ION Geophysical does not have permission to use township rights-of-way for seismic testing. The same official, who is not anti-drilling by a long shot (he’s a geologist), also has a few words of advice/warning for private landowners who are contemplating whether or not to sign agreements to allow testing (for a measly $5/acre)…
Read More “Murrysville, PA Officials Offer Advice on Seismic Testing”
Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Southwestern Energy | Statewide PA

Southwestern Energy Details Marcellus Update/Plans
September 13, 2013September 13, 2013

Below is Southwestern Energy’s investor presentation/update for August 2013. Southwestern is a major driller in the Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale. Among the slides in the presentation are several that focus on their Marcellus work, including maps. Worth your time to review (we like slides #6-10 in particular)…
Read More “Southwestern Energy Details Marcellus Update/Plans”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Maryland | Statewide MD

Energy Deniers Ask Maryland Gov to Abandon Safe Fracking Path
September 13, 2013September 13, 2013

A group of extremist anti-drilling organizations, headed by the odious (and misnamed) Food & Water Watch, issued a press release to a single person yesterday–Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley–to ask him to abandon efforts at safe fracking in the state. These cuckoo organizations want no fracking–forever. They want a so-called sustainable energy nirvana now, which means what they really want is shared misery (and rolling blackouts) among everyone because that’s what a complete change to alternative energy sources would entail. There’s no physical way for non-fossil fuel sources of energy to supply all of our energy needs now–and likely not for the next generation or two (if ever). It’s just not possible and they know it, but they deny it. So we’ll call them “energy deniers.”

Here’s the missive issued yesterday by these anti-drilling extremists flying under the banner of Marylanders Against Fracking:
Read More “Energy Deniers Ask Maryland Gov to Abandon Safe Fracking Path”
Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Processing Plants

Dominion Will Spin Off Cove Point LNG Plant + Blue Racer as MLP
September 13, 2013September 13, 2013

Yesterday, the day after Dominion Resources learned of the approval from the Dept. of Energy for their proposed LNG export facility at Cove Point, MD, Dominion’s CEO Thomas Farrell announced that Dominion would spin off the new LNG facility along with their share in the Blue Racer Midstream joint venture in Ohio into a master limited partnership (MLP). An MLP is a special kind of company structure that issues “units” instead of shares of stock. MLPs are set up by the government specifically for the natural resources/mining industry–usually for oil and gas companies.

MLP units are traded on public securities exchanges combining the tax benefits of a limited partnership with the liquidity of publicly traded securities. Dominion’s MLP announcement caused its own shares of stock to reach a record high yesterday…
Read More “Dominion Will Spin Off Cove Point LNG Plant + Blue Racer as MLP”
Energy Services | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County | Williams | Wyoming County (PA)

Williams BBQ Hopes to Raise $80K for NE PA United Way
September 13, 2013September 13, 2013

A few days ago MDN told you about several drillers in Ohio–Antero Resources, PDC Energy and CONSOL Energy–who are “giving back” to the communities where they drill, by donating money to local schools (see Eastern OH Shale Drillers Donate to Local Schools). Today, a story about pipeline company Williams and their annual barbecue in northeast Pennsylvania–a “little” event that raised more than $40,000 for United Way campaigns in several counties.

At this year’s event (held yesterday), Williams was hoping to double that amount…
Read More “Williams BBQ Hopes to Raise $80K for NE PA United Way”