Marcellus Drilling News

Energy Companies | Halcon Resources | Industrywide Issues | Mahoning County | Ohio | Seismic Testing

Halcon Resources to Begin Seismic Testing in Mahoning County, OH
September 9, 2013September 9, 2013

Let the thumping (in Mahoning County, OH) begin. Mahoning County commissioners have approved a one-year road use agreement with Halcon Resources that allows them to perform seismic testing along county and town roadways. Halcon will pay $600 per mile, post a $100,000 bond (for the county) and a $50,000 bond (for each of six townships) where they will test. Halcon will also spend some major money repairing roads even before they begin testing…
Read More “Halcon Resources to Begin Seismic Testing in Mahoning County, OH”
Industrywide Issues | Statewide WV | Taxation | West Virginia

WV Lawmaker Trip to ND to Study Drill Tax Cost $25K
September 9, 2013September 9, 2013

A few weeks ago MDN told you about 18 West Virginia legislators who were due to fly to North Dakota for an overnighter to study that states Legacy Fund–money set aside by ND from shale drilling taxes and fees to benefit the state in the future. Some WV legislators want to set up a similar fund, called a Future Fund, and they figured the best way to do so was to conduct a junket to ND for some prominent (and not yet convinced) lawmakers. MDN pointed out it would be a heck of a lot cheaper to fly a couple of ND officials to WV than the other way around (see 18 WV Lawmakers Flying to ND for a $20K Overnighter on Drill Tax).

It seems the Charleston Gazette agrees with MDN. They also say it was 19 legislators (not 18) that went on the trip, they stayed for two nights not one, and they got a $55 per-diem for meals. Total bill estimated to be something like $25K. Sure pays to be a WV legislator…
Read More “WV Lawmaker Trip to ND to Study Drill Tax Cost $25K”
Energy Companies | Halcon Resources | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Regulation | Trumbull County

US Army Corp Engineers OKs Halcon Pipeline in Trumbull County, OH
September 9, 2013September 9, 2013

Good news for Halcon Field Services: The Pittsburgh District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has cleared the way for Halcon to horizontally drill and install a natural gas gathering pipeline beneath federal land in Trumbull County, Ohio…
Read More “US Army Corp Engineers OKs Halcon Pipeline in Trumbull County, OH”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Statewide VA | Statewide WV | Virginia | West Virginia

WashPo Takes Aim at Fracking in the George Washington Natl Forest
September 9, 2013September 9, 2013

A “reporter” with the appropriate last name of “Fears” has authored a masterful piece of propaganda for the Washington Post on the “looming” decision about whether or not the U.S. Forest Service should allow shale drilling in a teeny tiny part of the 2 million acre George Washington National Forest that covers parts of Virginia and West Virginia.

All you need to know about the viewpoint of the so-called article (really just more anti-drilling propaganda) can be found in the first two sentences…
Read More “WashPo Takes Aim at Fracking in the George Washington Natl Forest”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Washington County

PA Rep. White (He of Fake Online IDs) Gets a Primary Challenger
September 9, 2013September 9, 2013

Astonishingly, PA Rep. Jesse White from Washington County, PA still holds his office, even after admitting he used fake online IDs to mock pro-drillers he disagrees with–people who are his own constituents (see How the Mighty Have Fallen: PA Rep White Admits Guilt, Not Sorry). To his own shame, and the shame of the PA legislature, White is not sorry, hasn’t apologized and has not (yet) been removed from office. It appears he will serve out his term until the scheduled election next year.

However, Rep. White’s days in office may be numbered. He now has a strong primary challenger…
Read More “PA Rep. White (He of Fake Online IDs) Gets a Primary Challenger”
Chemung County | Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Millennium Pipeline | New York | Pipelines

Millennium Pipeline Looks to Move More Marcellus Gas with Dominion
September 9, 2013September 9, 2013

The story of the northeast: Too much Marcellus Shale natural gas, not enough pipelines to move it all to market. More pipelines are on the way like the Constitution, but in the meantime, how to move the enormous amount of gas already flowing?

On Friday, the Millennium Pipeline, a major transmission pipeline that traverses New York State from Steuben County in the western part of the state to Rockland County in the southeastern part of the state, announced a binding open season through September 13 on a proposal to ship more Marcellus gas by creating an interconnect between Dominion Transmission’s pipeline and the Millennium at or near Horseheads, NY (close to Elmira)…
Read More “Millennium Pipeline Looks to Move More Marcellus Gas with Dominion”
About MDN | Calendar

Calendar of Events for Sep 9-22, 2013 [Free]
September 9, 2013September 9, 2013

Below are upcoming events for this week and next.
Read More “Calendar of Events for Sep 9-22, 2013 [Free]”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Sep 9, 2013
September 9, 2013September 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, Sep 9, 2013”
Chesapeake Energy | Columbiana County | Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio | Utica Shale

Is Chesapeake Robbing Graves in OH Village…or Getting Robbed?
September 6, 2013September 6, 2013

We can see the headlines now: Chesapeake Energy is a (Gas) Grave Robber! Wait until the anti-drillers get hold of this story… Chesapeake has struck a deal with the Village of Salineville (Columbiana County), OH to lease and drill under 17 acres at the Woodland Cemetery. The deal stipulates no surface disturbance of any kind (a very good idea).

But who is robbing whom? Listen to the deal the village got: Chesapeake is paying Salineville $44,145 annually for five years, plus 15% royalties. The annual payments add up to $220,725, or if you think of it as a signing bonus stretched over 5 years, it’s $12,984 per acre. Wow!! That’s perhaps the highest per acre signing bonus we’ve heard of in the entire Marcellus or Utica Shale. Kudos to the Salineville board members who ~~suckered~~ negotiated the deal with Chesapeake…
Read More “Is Chesapeake Robbing Graves in OH Village…or Getting Robbed?”
Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Wastewater

Federal Approval for Barging Frack Wastewater Very Close
September 6, 2013September 6, 2013

Has there been movement at the federal level to approve barge shipments of fracking wastewater? Going by the recent comments of John Jack, vice president of business development and operations for GreenHunter Water, we would say the answer to that question is very much a “yes”. MDN has told you about GreenHunter’s fracking wastewater recycling/barge facilities–now seven of them in the Marcellus/Utica region. The most recent such facility to win approval (and now being built) is in Wheeling, WV (see Wheeling, WV Approves GreenHunter Frack Wastewater Facility).

The holdup on barging frack wastewater down the Ohio River to locations where there are injection wells for permanent disposal has been an alphabet soup of federal government agencies who need to approve it, including the EPA, OMB, DOE, DOT and Coast Guard (see The Long (Federal) Road to Approve GreenHunter’s Barge Terminals). Going by John Jack’s recent comments, the long wait is almost over…
Read More “Federal Approval for Barging Frack Wastewater Very Close”
Boardwalk Pipeline Partners | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Regulation | Williams

Bluegrass NGL Pipeline Hits Brick Wall in the Bluegrass State
September 6, 2013September 6, 2013

In a touch of irony, the Bluegrass Pipeline–a proposed new natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline that will stretch from the Utica/Marcellus region all the way to the Gulf Coast (see Williams, Boardwalk Announce Marcellus-to-Gulf Coast NGL Pipeline)–has hit a brick wall in the Bluegrass State–Kentucky.

Williams and Boardwalk Pipeline, co-owners of the project, maintain that because the Bluegrass Pipeline is an interstate pipeline they can (if need be) invoke eminent domain to force landowners to let them lay the pipeline under their property. Kentucky Energy Secretary Len Peters says not so fast. His team of legal beagles has researched it and they say the Bluegrass Pipeline does not have eminent domain status in the Bluegrass State. We see a legal show-down on the horizon…
Read More “Bluegrass NGL Pipeline Hits Brick Wall in the Bluegrass State”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | York County

PA Researcher: Breakthrough Fracking Technique Reduces Water Need
September 6, 2013September 6, 2013

Paul Krumrine, a PA-based researcher for SiGNa Chemistry, is working on a new technique for extracting shale gas. It appears he’s on the verge of a breakthrough. The new technique has progressed to the point it’s now patented and SiGNa is shopping it around to drillers for field tests. The technique developed by Krumrine uses sodium silicide (SiGNa specializes in uses of sodium silicide) in a chemical reaction to create incredible amounts of pressure and lower the amount of water needed to hydraulically fracture a well. It also dramatically reduces the concentrations of certain materials in flowback water that returns to the surface.

A bit more about this intriguing new innovation:
Read More “PA Researcher: Breakthrough Fracking Technique Reduces Water Need”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA Auditor General Spreads Rumor of Problems at DEP
September 6, 2013September 6, 2013

Pennsylvania’s Auditor General, Eugene DePasquale, is an anti-drilling Democrat who took office in January 2013. On his very first day on the job he targeted the Marcellus Shale industry and the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (see Newly Elected PA Auditor General Targets DEP First Day on Job). DePasquale wasted no time in issuing a letter to the DEP, telling them he was about to launch a year-long anal exam of the agency and its “protection” of PA’s water resources as relates to shale drilling. Mike Krancer was the Secretary of the DEP at the time and told DePasquale in so many words, “bring it on” (see PA Auditor General Targets State’s Marcellus Drilling Industry).

DePasquale has issued an–update? Guidance? Interim report? Helpful suggestions? Nope. He’s issued innuendo and unspecific rumors against the DEP to the reliably anti-drilling editorial board at the Scranton Times-Tribune. Here’s what he said to a group of sycophantic and unquestioning reporters yesterday–or rather what he didn’t say but insinuated…
Read More “PA Auditor General Spreads Rumor of Problems at DEP”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Michigan | Research | Statewide MI

Univ of Michigan Reports Explore Future of Fracking in MI
September 6, 2013September 6, 2013

The University of Michigan is in the midst of a two-year project called the Hydraulic Fracturing in Michigan Integrated Assessment. The project, which ultimately hopes to help guide policy on shale drilling in the state, is being overseen and under the umbrella of the Graham Sustainability Institute at U-M (a potential red flag if you ask us). The first round of analysis is now done. Yesterday, researchers released seven technical reports–think of them as tutorials or backgrounders or “get the facts established” reports. In our brief scan they look helpful and unbiased (we’ve gathered all the reports together in one document, embedded below so you can read or download it).

The upshot from the reports? Michigan has lots of shale gas, particularly in the Utica-Collingwood shale layer, that may one day be mined. However, Michigan’s shale gas is located deep, and with the current low price of natural gas and the abundance of gas in shallower plays (like the Marcellus), Michigan won’t see significant drilling for a long time, which gives policy makers time to “get it right” when it comes to regulations…
Read More “Univ of Michigan Reports Explore Future of Fracking in MI”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

Partisan PA Budget & Policy Center Pushes Extreme Tax on Marcellus
September 6, 2013September 6, 2013

Look at this asinine headline from the Philadelphia Tribune: “Policy Center reports Marcellus Shale not beneficial.” And this equally asinine opening sentence: “Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center – a nonpartisan policy research that provides analytical data on a host of statewide initiatives – has waded into the controversial Marcellus Shale drilling in the state…” The PA Budget and Policy Center (PBPC) is anything but nonpartisan. It is an extreme leftist, partisan, liberal organization where anything that moves or breathes (and even if it doesn’t move or breathe) needs to be taxed so politicians can use the money for their own walking-around purposes. In keeping with their philosophy, the PBPC’s prescription for Marcellus Shale drilling in PA is to ramp up the tax on it–or it’s no good. No benefit at all for PA residents.

What utter absurdity. Did the PBPC even bother to visit places like Susquehanna County, PA before making such ludicrous pronouncements? We doubt it…
Read More “Partisan PA Budget & Policy Center Pushes Extreme Tax on Marcellus”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Sep 6, 2013
September 6, 2013September 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, Sep 6, 2013”