Marcellus Drilling News

Energy Companies | EQT Corp

EQT 4th Driller to Target Upper Devonian Shale Layer
July 26, 2013July 26, 2013

EQT has become the fourth Marcellus/Utica driller (that we’re aware of) to target the Upper Devonian Shale, a shale layer that sits a few hundred feet above the Marcellus Shale layer. The other three drillers are Rex Energy, Range Resources, and CONSOL Energy (see New Shale Layer Above the Marcellus Yields Positive Results). EQT already has eight Upper Devonian wells (four of them completed) with plans to drill up to 22 Upper Devonian wells this year, according to CEO David Porges on an investors call yesterday…
Read More “EQT 4th Driller to Target Upper Devonian Shale Layer”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA Supreme Court to PUC: Knock Off the Zoning Reviews (for Now)
July 26, 2013July 26, 2013

Yesterday, the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court issued a ruling quashing (stopping) the state Public Utility Commission from carrying out some of its duties as specified under PA’s 2012 Marcellus Shale Act 13 law–duties tied to Act 13’s zoning provisions. It is a small and perhaps short-lived victory for the towns who had sued the PUC asking for relief from the PUC’s reviews of their zoning laws. It is a short-lived victory for the towns because the Supreme Court is due to decide on Act 13’s zoning provisions soon, so this decision is in effect until that bigger (and final) decision is made.

That’s the news. Now, to bring you up to speed on the background of this case and what yesterday’s decision means…
Read More “PA Supreme Court to PUC: Knock Off the Zoning Reviews (for Now)”
Lease & Royalty Payments | Muskingum County | Ohio | Utica Shale

Risky Business – OH Landowner Group Wants to Lease Sans Lawyer
July 26, 2013July 26, 2013

A Utica Shale landowner group in Muskingum County, OH with 90,000 acres available for lease has embarked on a risky venture. They want to strike a deal on behalf of their members to lease property for $5,000 per acre and 20% royalties. Certainly no problem with that–sounds like a fair deal in a “wet gas” area like Muskingum County, OH. The group is asking the Muskingum County Commissioners to not shop county land below that asking price (something that happened in neighboring Coshocton County) as that would undercut their bargaining power. We also have no problem with that–sounds like a smart strategy.

However, the landowner group wants to cut a deal with a driller without the help of attorneys. Attorneys typically take a small per-acre fee in return for their legal guidance on very complicated oil and gas drilling contract law. You can be sure the driller drawing up a lease agreement has an army of attorneys working on it–so why would you willingly disadvantage yourself by not using one too? It comes down to money…
Read More “Risky Business – OH Landowner Group Wants to Lease Sans Lawyer”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Wastewater

New CLEANER Act for Drilling Waste has a Dirty Purpose
July 26, 2013July 26, 2013

Pennsylvania Congressman Matthew Cartwright, Democrat – 17th District, has just introduced a new bill in the House of Representatives: the Closing Loopholes and Ending Arbitrary and Needless Evasion of Regulations (CLEANER) Act. The way Democrats euphomize the titles of their proposed bills is funny–torturing the language to make it sound like something it’s not. We’d like to propose our own legislation: Stop Torturing Us People In Democrat Idiotic Talkative Yammering (STUPIDITY).

This latest travesty–the CLEANER Act–perpetuates the lie that somehow oil and gas drilling have been inappropriately “exempted” from federal laws that apply to other industries. In this case, anti-drillers maintain oil and gas drilling have been inappropriately exempted from the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976 via legislation passed in 1980. To put oil and gas drilling under RCRA’s purview now would be to reclassify drilling waste as toxic waste (similar to nuclear waste), requiring very strict tracking and disposal regulations that go far beyond the actual hazard posed by oil and gas drilling waste. The CLEANER bill is unnecessary and its purpose is to make drilling uneconomic–i.e. to stop it.
Read More “New CLEANER Act for Drilling Waste has a Dirty Purpose”
Energy Companies | Hilcorp Energy | Mahoning County | Ohio | Utica Shale

Hilcorp Sets Sights on More Utica Drilling in Mahoning County, OH
July 26, 2013July 26, 2013

A quick update on Hilcorp’s Utica Shale drilling program and where they’ll next, courtesy the Youngstown Business Journal:
Read More “Hilcorp Sets Sights on More Utica Drilling in Mahoning County, OH”
Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Cabot’s Marcellus Marketing Plan / Slidedeck
July 26, 2013July 26, 2013

As MDN pointed out yesterday, Cabot Oil & Gas continues to shine in Susquehanna County, PA’s Marcellus Shale, with production up 52% from 2012 for the second quarter (see Cabot Continues to Shine in Susquehanna County Marcellus). As part of their reporting this week, Cabot released a slide deck called “Marcellus Marketing Supplementary Materials.” We’ve embedded it below. There’s a very interesting pipeline map and several charts discussing the region’s capacity to move gas to market–well worth a glance if you have an interest in the Marcellus in northeastern PA.

A hat-tip to MDN reader and contributor Chris Acker for alerting us to these slides. Here they are:
Read More “Cabot’s Marcellus Marketing Plan / Slidedeck”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Jul 26, 2013
July 26, 2013July 26, 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, Jul 26, 2013”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research

USGS: Consider Disposing Nuclear Waste in…Shale?!
July 25, 2013July 25, 2013

This is truly rich. While anti-drillers prattle on about how a few gallons of chemicals a mile down in the earth will magically defy gravity and climb uphill through a mile of solid rock to contaminate water supplies (yeah, it NEVER happens), the scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey have written a research paper that says shale is so secure, we ought to consider using it to dispose of spent nuclear waste–stuff that hangs around for millions of years!

You read the above statement correctly. Scientists at the USGS have just published a paper titled “Can Shale Safely Host U.S. Nuclear Waste?” in EOS, a journal by the American Geophysical Union (full copy embedded below). The conclusion of their investigation into whether or not nuclear waste could be disposed of in shale: “Although shales and similar rocks have not been considered for hosting nuclear waste in the United States, recent research points to them as a very promising option.” Note to emergency rooms throughout the Southern Tier of NY: Prepare to receive large numbers of apoplectic anti-drillers when they read about this…
Read More “USGS: Consider Disposing Nuclear Waste in…Shale?!”
Energy Companies | Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | NGLs | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Range Resources Corp | Sunoco Logistics

Big News: Marcellus Ethane Now Exporting to Canada Cracker Plant
July 25, 2013July 25, 2013

Every now and again you come across a big, fat gold nugget of news in a press release. That happened for MDN today when we read yesterday’s press release from Range Resources, innocently announcing their second quarter 2013 results (see today’s story about Range). The gold nugget? Range reports that on July 21st their first deliveries of ethane via the Mariner West pipeline were made to Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. This is the first time ethane has made it to a processing (cracker) plant.

The little nugget of gold from Range, the only Marcellus driller (so far) to sell ethane…
Read More “Big News: Marcellus Ethane Now Exporting to Canada Cracker Plant”
Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Statewide PA

Range Resources: Marcellus Will Provide 20-25% Growth “For Years”
July 25, 2013July 25, 2013

A few weeks ago Range Resources gave us a high level heads-up on second quarter results, and their results from the Marcellus were indeed very good (see Range Resources 2Q13: Production Up 27% Due to Marcellus). Yesterday, Range Released the full 2Q13 update–both financial and operational. The numbers are good (see the report below).

The huge news hidden in yesterday’s announcement: Range reports that on July 21st their first deliveries of ethane via the Mariner West pipeline were made to Sarnia, Ontario, Canada where the ethane will (presumably) be processed at the Corunna ethane cracker plant. Below are selected portions of the 2Q13 report from Range, relevant to their Marcellus drilling program, including a breakdown of how much it costs them to produce each Mmcf of gas…
Read More “Range Resources: Marcellus Will Provide 20-25% Growth “For Years””
Accidents | Energy Services | Enterprise Products Partners | Industrywide Issues | Muskingum County | Ohio | Pipelines

Pipeline Construction Run-Off Hits Local Creek, Muskingum River
July 25, 2013July 25, 2013

A minor incident–but an incident nonetheless. As part of digging and drilling to lay pipeline for the ATEX Express ethane pipeline that will run from western PA through OH and all the way to the Gulf Coast, heavy rainwater has been washing through the dug up dirt and rock at one of the construction locations in eastern Ohio, running off into the Wakatomika Creek (Muskingum County), which in turn empties into the Muskingum River. The rainwater/mud mix is not toxic, but it does have the potential to affect fish and aquatic life along the creek and the river…
Read More “Pipeline Construction Run-Off Hits Local Creek, Muskingum River”
Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

OH Passes 800 Utica Shale Permits, 117 Wells Now Producing
July 25, 2013July 25, 2013

Ohio has passed the 800-mark for Utica Shale permits. As of last week, 812 Utica Shale permits have been issued. Of that number, 390 wells have been completed and 117 are now in production. The number of drilling rigs operating in Ohio continues to go up and now stands at 36.

Here’s the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources report showing where Utica Shale permits were issued last week (by town and county), and to which drillers:
Read More “OH Passes 800 Utica Shale Permits, 117 Wells Now Producing”
Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Cabot Continues to Shine in Susquehanna County Marcellus
July 25, 2013July 25, 2013

Cabot Oil & Gas continues to be a star performer in the northeast PA Marcellus Shale. Releasing their second quarter update yesterday, Cabot reports their natural gas production is up 52% from 2Q12. Meanwhile, they’ve now added a sixth drilling rig in Susquehanna County, PA. If memory serves, it was only a little over a year ago that Cabot was running just three rigs in Susquehanna County.

According to MDN sources, some farmers in Susquehanna County, PA are getting $10,000 per day in royalties. In addition to spreading manure, they’re now spreading an incredible amount of wealth around the county! Here’s select portions of the latest press releases from Cabot:
Read More “Cabot Continues to Shine in Susquehanna County Marcellus”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Thu, Jul 25, 2013
July 25, 2013July 25, 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: Thu, Jul 25, 2013”
Belmont County | Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Gulfport 2Q13: Oil Production Down, NatGas & NGLs Way Up
July 24, 2013

Gulfport Energy issued its second quarter 2013 operations update yesterday. Among the highlights: The company produced less oil than a year ago after selling off its Permian wells and acreage to Diamondback, but they saw a dramatic increase in production of natural gas and natural gas liquids from a year ago. Gulfport’s natgas production was up 6.5X and liquids production more than doubled–up 2.3X from last year. The company also said they increased their Utica Shale acreage by an additional 8,000 acres–they now own 145,000 leased Utica acres.

Also in the update are production numbers for a series of new wells recently brought online–the McCort wells in Belmont County (Somerset Township), OH. The full 2Q13 Gulfport update:
Read More “Gulfport 2Q13: Oil Production Down, NatGas & NGLs Way Up”
Broome County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Speakers at JLCNY 5-Year Moratorium Event Take Aim at Gov Cuomo
July 24, 2013July 24, 2013

Yesterday marked the very sad and tragic five-year anniversary of no shale drilling in New York State. The moratorium, first instituted by then-Gov. David Paterson in 2008, has increasingly frustrated the 77,000 members of the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY). The JLCNY and New York elected representatives made their collective displeasure with the ongoing moratorium known at a rally yesterday in Binghamton, NY. Addressing a packed room of some 150 drilling supporters, the JLCNY’s attorney Scott Kurkoski gave a stirring speech, followed by a number of elected state and local officials. Each of them took direct aim at Gov. Andrew Cuomo, telling him “it’s been long enough” and “it’s time to move forward.” Watch a video of the speeches below (22 minutes long), courtesy WIVT/WBGH News Channel 34.

The JLCNY also released the following statement yesterday:
Read More “Speakers at JLCNY 5-Year Moratorium Event Take Aim at Gov Cuomo”