Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Thu, Aug 15, 2013
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:
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Courageous PA State Rep Tackles Shameful Forced Pooling Law
Finally, a PA state representative with ballsintestinal fortitude: Rep. Michele Brooks (Republican from Greenville, 17th District). MDN previously told you about bone-headed legislation (SB259) signed into law last month by PA Gov. Tom Corbett (see PA Gov Corbett Signs Back-Door Forced Pooling Bill into Law). No matter how you try to pretty it up, and no matter what redeeming qualities the legislation has for landowners who need more royalty calculation transparency–at the last minute a provision was slipped in to the law providing for forced pooling for some landowners with old leases. It’s a bad law for PA landowners. Already EQT has used the law against landowners in the Pittsburgh area (see Bad News: EQT Sues 70 Landowners Using New PA Forced Pooling Law).PA Rep. Michele Brooks has had the courage to step forward to offer a new bill repealing the forced pooling provision in SB259. She’s currently looking for some of her fellow Republicans (and perhaps a few pro-drilling Dems) to stand up and be counted with her. Who will match her courage?
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Chesapeake Short-Changes PA Landowner on Royalty Checks
MDN has brought you a couple of stories in recent weeks about landowners suing Chesapeake Energy over royalty checks, claiming Chesapeake is playing fast and loose with post-production expenses (see Bradford County, PA Landowners Sue Chesapeake over Royalties). A new Chesapeake royalty story (below) appears on the ProPublica website. It opens with a poignant tale of yet another landowner who was apparently screwed by Chesapeake with respect to royalties. It’s maddening.
However, we have to put the story in proper perspective. ProPublica is anti-drilling through and through. They have an agenda and that agenda is to make all drillers and anyone/anything connected to fossil fuels look bad, so as you read the story below, keep that in mind. Still, if even 10% of what is reported below is true, it’s disturbing. More than ever, it’s vital that landowners have a detailed, well-spelled-out lease that’s been reviewed and tweaked by a lawyer who knows oil and gas contracts inside and out. It’s also important to monitor every royalty statement…
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Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Regulation | Wastewater | West Virginia
Wheeling, WV Approves GreenHunter Frack Wastewater Facility
With capes gently flapping in the breeze, it was a crushingly sad defeat for the brave and noble Wheeling Water Warriors who sought to stop the evil frackwater company from establishing yet another facility along the shores of the pristine (*cough*) Ohio River…. OK, enough of that drivel! A great victory for GreenHunter Water and for sanity: The Wheeling (WV) Planning Commission has approved GreenHunter’s plan to develop a frack wastewater recycling/barge facility at the former Seidler’s Oil Service site on North 28th Street. The plan, opposed by a small band of anti-drilling protesters who called themselves the Wheeling Water Warriors, came before the Planning Commission several times without a vote in recent months (see Wheeling Delays Vote Again on GreenHunter Wastewater Facility).
The Commission took up the matter again at it’s Monday meeting and finally voted to approve GreenHunter’s plan. Eventually, GreenHunter hopes to use the facility to not only recycle shale drilling wastewater, but also ship some of it (by barge) down the Ohio River to locations in Ohio for disposal via injection wells. Shipping wastewater by barge is currently under review at the federal level, awaiting approval…
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Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Regulation | Washington County
Range Resources Argues with Mt Pleasant over Water Impoundment
Range Resources seems to have a problem maintaining good relations with southwestern PA townships on the matter of water impoundments. In May, MDN told you about Cecil Township’s concerns over a 15 million-gallon water impoundment still actively used by Range even though the three gas wells at the impoundment site were drilled long ago (see Cecil, PA Supervisors Want Better Relations with Range, but…). Range had another tangle with a town board last night–this one in Mt. Pleasant Township. The same issue has once again appeared: a water impoundment is being used not for the wells drilled at the site, but for other wells being drilled in the region.
According to Cecil and now Mt. Pleasant officials, Range has the habit of expanding the use of water impoundments from their original intent. Range says the water impoundments are properly regulated by the state and not the towns. Who’s right?
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Antero Resources | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH | Statewide WV | West Virginia
Antero Resources Rolls Dice on 1/2 Billion Dollar Marcellus Pipe
According to a story in The Wall Street Journal, Antero Resources will spend half a billion dollars to construct an 80-mile pipeline in the Marcellus/Utica Shale region. But this rather expensive pipeline will not carry natural gas, gas liquids or even oil. Instead, it’s a pipeline that will deliver water from the Ohio River to some of Antero’s most active drilling locations scattered in West Virginia and Ohio–to be used for fracking.
For Antero with some 100K acres of leased land in the Marcellus, committing to half a billion dollars (the company grossed $265 million last year) is a huge roll of the dice…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Wayne County
Hypocritical Governor of Delaware: No for Thee But Yes for Me
The anti-drilling Democrat governor of Delaware–Jack Markell–is one of five voting members of the Delaware Basin River Commission (DRBC). He’s been a reliable “no” vote when it comes to the release of new drilling rules to allow Marcellus Shale drilling in the Delaware River Basin since 2011, even though there is no Marcellus gas under his own state (see DRBC Says No Marcellus Vote Until Nov. 2012 Earliest).
Last month, Gov. Markell attended an event to celebrate the conversion of a coal-fired power plant in Dover, DE to clean-burning, cheap Marcellus Shale natural gas. Er, what’s wrong with this picture?…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Pennsylvania | Pike County | Pipelines | Tennessee Gas Pipeline
TGP Spokesman Addresses Pike County Chamber – Protesters MIA
In March of this year, anti-drilling malcontents tried to physically stop the expansion of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP). The TGP’s “Northeast Upgrade” is an extra 40 miles of pipeline in PA and NJ that will expand the pipeline’s capacity to handle additional Marcellus Shale gas. A judge told the malcontents to knock off their aggressive “protests” (illegal blocking of public roadways) or face jail time and stiff fines (see PA Judge Grants Injunction Against Protesters of TGP NE Pipeline).
At the time, the malcontents also plotted to disrupt a meeting of the Pike County, PA Chamber of Commerce where TGP was going to speak about the project, so the Chamber postponed the event. The rescheduled talk finally took place last week. Here’s a summary of what was said:
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Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Aug 14, 2013
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:
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Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Washington County
Bombshell Disclosure in “Final” Document of Hallowich Court Case
Two weeks ago, MDN told you the final document in the long, drawn-out affair known as “the Hallowich family” court case had been released (see Last Document Released in Hallowich v Range $750K Settlement). We were wrong.Yesterday, the final final (pinky swear) last document was finally finally released. Until the next one comes along… Yesterday’s document was the confidential settlement agreement (embedded below). It contains a bombshell surprise…
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Chesapeake Energy: What Goes Around Comes Around
MDN has chronicled the messy firing of Chesapeake Energy’s founder and “controversial” leader Aubrey McClendon. We also told you about three of his long-time “friends” who were paid $15.4 million to stick around after corporate raider Carl Icahn got his way and had Aubrey fired (see Chesapeake Pays $15.4M to Prevent Exodus of Top Talent). Two of the three well-bonused “friends” have now received their own pink slips from Chesapeake. Steve Dixon, who was COO and acting CEO after Aubrey left, and Martha Burger, head of HR at the company, have been sent packing by Chesapeake’s new CEO Doug Lawler. No word on whether they get the full payout bonus which was due to be granted over the span of three years–in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
One Aubrey “friend” remains at Chesapeake: CFO Dom Dell’Osso…
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Gov. Cuomo Continues Trend of Excuses on Fracking Issue
Is New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is an economic ignoramus? His own statements seem to indicate he’s clueless when it comes to the benefits of shale drilling and how it would impact the upstate economy.
Yesterday, Gov. Spineless offered yet more excuses for his waffling on the issue of fracking:
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Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County
Dimock: Tell a Lie Long Enough… 2 Residents Want Case Reopened
The Dimock, PA story simply won’t go away–because the mainstream media won’t let it. Tell a lie long enough… Two Susquehanna County residents (one of them from Dimock, the other from 20 miles away from Dimock) who have sued Cabot Oil & Gas claiming nearby drilling and fracking polluted their water wells, are on their way to Washington, DC in yet another publicity stunt to request the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) re-open its investigation of Dimock. Apparently the “revelation” that someone inside the EPA may have created a PowerPoint slide favorable to their plight has given them renew hope. So off they go–even though the EPA has already conducted a months-long, detailed scientific study of 64 water wells all around Dimock Township and found very few problems–almost all of which have been or could be corrected (see EPA Closes the Door on Dimock Investigation – Water is Clean).
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Which Option are PA Drillers Choosing for New Air Emission Regs?
Last week MDN told you that tough new air emission standards would begin this week for drillers in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale (see Tough New Air Standards for PA Marcellus Drillers Start Next Week). The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) is giving drillers two options: either get an air quality plan pre-approved by the DEP for every well drilled (adding lots of time to drilling a well), or comply with the DEP’s stricter version of new federal standards issued in April 2012–that is, become certified that every well you drill lives up to a certain standard.
Which option are drillers choosing–a plan for every well or the tweaked federal standard? According to the industry organization Marcellus Shale Coalition, looks like most drillers are going with…
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Bradford County | Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Pennsylvania
Bradford County, PA Landowners Sue Chesapeake over Royalties
About a month ago, MDN told you that a couple of Scranton-area lawyers were looking for landowners with Chesapeake Energy leases who believe they’re getting the short end of the royalty stick, to participate in a class action lawsuit against Chessy (see Some PA Landowners Mull Decision to Sue Chesapeake over Royalties). At issue is how royalties are calculated–what is considered to be a post-production cost. Some landowners say Chessy is claiming too many expenses and in the process shorting payments to them.
Some landowners in Bradford County, PA have decided to join the lawsuit:
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA | Transco | Williams
Open Season to Expand Transco Pipeline in PA Marcellus
Williams has announced last Thursday an “open season” (a time to lock in contracts for natgas pipeline capacity) for their Transco pipeline in the Marcellus/Utica Shale region. If Williams gets enough interest, they’ll look to expand the Transco pipeline in PA and eventually move an additional 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from the northeast to markets along the East Coast and the southeast.
The story from Reuters:
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Finally, a PA state representative with 
Two weeks ago, MDN told you the final document in the long, drawn-out affair known as “the Hallowich family” court case had been released (see