Marcellus Drilling News

Alternative Energy | Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues

How Fairhaven, MA Residents Got Fleeced by Wind Power
September 3, 2013September 3, 2013

A Fairhaven, MA resident writes that Marcellus and Utica Shale have made natural gas so cheap that a wind energy project funded by Fairhaven town taxpayers has not, nor ever will, produce revenue anywhere near what was promised by the project’s developers–developers, we might add, that continue to get a guaranteed 2.3% increase in revenue each year even though the town is not getting the minimum profits they were told they would get.

Now the residents of Fairhaven are left holding the bag of diminishing revenue and escalating costs–and the Fairhaven residents who are unfortunate enough to live near the project have to endure the never-ending wumpf, wumpf, wumpf noise that comes from the turbines…
Read More “How Fairhaven, MA Residents Got Fleeced by Wind Power”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Sep 3, 2013
September 3, 2013September 3, 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, Sep 3, 2013”
Antero Resources | Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Monroe County | Utica Shale | West Virginia

WVU Prof Says Antero Well will Generate $300K Revenue…Per Day!
August 30, 2013August 30, 2013

The Yontz 1H well may not produce at these unheard-of levels for an extended period, but heck, if a gas well is bringing in $300,000 per day in revenue, it doesn’t have to last long! That’s the staggering amount of revenue that a West Virginia University professor predicts will be produced by the monster well recently drilled by Antero Resources in Monroe County, WV (see Antero Resources Utica Well Produces Stratospheric 38.9 Mmcf/d). At the rate the gas and gas liquids are flowing from the well right now, it will bring in over $2 million per week in revenue for Antero. If royalties are 20% for the landowner, that’s $400,000 per week for the Yontz family!

With those kinds of numbers, no wonder Antero is willing to “roll the dice” and spend a half billion dollars to build a new water pipeline (see Antero Resources Rolls Dice on 1/2 Billion Dollar Marcellus Pipe)…
Read More “WVU Prof Says Antero Well will Generate $300K Revenue…Per Day!”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Anti-Drillers Attempt a Brave Face with NY Appeals Court Decision
August 30, 2013August 30, 2013

MDN was one of the first news/blog sites yesterday to break the news that the New York Court of Appeals has decided to hear the Dryden and Middlefield appeals. This is the best possible news landowners could receive (see BREAKING: NY Court of Appeals will Hear Dryden/Middlefield Case). As promised, below is MDN’s explanation of why we believe the Court of Appeals decision is the single most positive development NY landowners have had in several years (not hyperbole!).

However, before our analysis, some background on yesterday’s decision as given by an objective news source (the Wall Street Journal) and by a not-so-objective news source (the Albany Times Union)…
Read More “Anti-Drillers Attempt a Brave Face with NY Appeals Court Decision”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

RINO NY Sen Greg Ball Comes Out in Favor of Fracking…Sort of
August 30, 2013

Anti-drilling New York State Sen. Greg Ball (a Republican-In-Name-Only from Putnam County), perhaps sensing his next election prospects slipping away, has had a conversion of sorts to becoming a teeny, tiny little bit pro-drilling. In January 2012, Ball introduced a bill that would extend New York’s fracking moratorium until June 1st of this year (Bill to Extend Fracking Moratorium until 2013 Hits NY Senate). Obviously the law didn’t pass and wasn’t even needed. However, it showed the true colors of Greg Ball. Now he’s “seen the light,” supposedly…

Ball “came out” yesterday with an editorial published on his website and picked up by several media outlets. Here is his explanation for his change of heart and new-found, lukewarm, conditional support for fracking in NY:
Read More “RINO NY Sen Greg Ball Comes Out in Favor of Fracking…Sort of”
Allegheny County | CONSOL Energy | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania

NIMBY Town to Provide Water for Fracking at Pittsburgh Airport
August 30, 2013August 30, 2013

Two towns located near the Pittsburgh Airport are set to make big money from the drilling that will happen at the airport–even though the drilling is not within their own boundaries. How? They’re going to sell water to CONSOL Energy to be used for fracking 47 wells at the airport–up to 300 million gallons of water.

One of the towns selling water, Findlay, recently approved three new shale wells in the town–the first three to be drilled there (see Findlay Twp, PA Approves First 3 Marcellus Wells, Range to Drill). Findlay’s approval of Marcellus wells indicates they are favorable to shale drilling. The second town that will sell water for fracking at the airport, Moon Township, is not so favorable toward fracking. Last December the Moon Board of Supervisors voted to ban drilling in 75% of the their town (see Moon Twp, PA Votes to Ban Fracking in 75% of the Town). We find it interesting that a town that leans against drilling is willing to sell water for drilling–as long as the drilling is not in their backyard…

Read More “NIMBY Town to Provide Water for Fracking at Pittsburgh Airport”
Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Norse Energy | Regulation | Statewide NY

Norse Energy 2Q13: Concerned About Remaining ‘a Going Concern’
August 30, 2013August 30, 2013

MDN told you a few days ago about the sad state of affairs at Norse Energy (see Norse Can’t Dump NY Leases at Auction, Creditors Get Ready to Sue). The company released their second quarter update today (full copy embedded below). The update is based on the assumption the company will remain “a going concern.” They state that if they can’t sell their 130,000 acres of New York leases at a decent price, they’ll have to turn the lights off and walk away. The company is currently under bankruptcy protection and has been ordered to sell their last remaining asset–the leases.

One item from the 2Q13 update that caught our attention is that a group of approximately 60 landowners with a collective 6,000 acres are suing Norse to end their leases. Norse had invoked force majeure on the leases–a legal maneuver that states, roughly, “due to a circumstance beyond our control we’re extending the original lease term.” Of course the unforeseen circumstance is the now 5+ year moratorium on drilling in New York. If Norse starts losing already-signed leases left and right, they’ll have no assets left to sell at auction, so they are vigorously fighting the action by the landowners…
Read More “Norse Energy 2Q13: Concerned About Remaining ‘a Going Concern’”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Aug 30, 2013
August 30, 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, Aug 30, 2013”
Economic Impact | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Processing Plants | West Virginia | Wood County

Wood County, WV “Still in the Running” for a Cracker Plant
August 30, 2013August 30, 2013

West Virginia continues to make noise about an ethane cracker plant for the state, even though Shell is looking to build one in Pennsylvania. Earlier this week WV Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin was once again talking up a cracker for WV (see WV Gov. Tomblin Beats the Ethane Cracker Drum Once Again).

Now, another WV voice has joined the cracker chorus. Wood County, WV says they have a site under serious consideration by an unnamed company as a possible location for a $3 billion ethane cracker plant. According to a Wood official, they’re “definitely still in the running”…
Read More “Wood County, WV “Still in the Running” for a Cracker Plant”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | NiSource | Pipelines | West Virginia

NiSource Installs 4 New Engines at Majorsville, WV Compressor Stn
August 30, 2013August 30, 2013

The natural gas compressor station located in Majorsville (Marshall County), WV has just received a major upgrade according to owner NiSource. Four really old (1956!) engines were replaced with four brand new CAT 3606 engines, which will increase throughput on the pipeline by 70-80 million cubic feet per day.

The NiSource announcement:
Read More “NiSource Installs 4 New Engines at Majorsville, WV Compressor Stn”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

BREAKING: NY Court of Appeals will Hear Dryden/Middlefield Case
August 29, 2013August 29, 2013

Important and breaking news as MDN gets published… The New York Court of Appeals (our state’s highest court) has decided to review a lower court ruling on the Dryden and Middlefield cases in which townships banned shale drilling and fracking for everyone in the town. This is fantastic news for New York landowners. We will have more analysis tomorrow. In the meantime, here’s a statement issued by the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York:
Read More “BREAKING: NY Court of Appeals will Hear Dryden/Middlefield Case”
Antero Resources | Energy Companies | Monroe County | Ohio | Utica Shale

Antero Resources Utica Well Produces Stratospheric 38.9 Mmcf/d
August 29, 2013

Somehow the following news (now a few weeks old) slipped by our usually-good radar. Antero Resources has taken the top spot away from Gulfport Energy as having the most productive Utica Shale well in Ohio. Gulfport had what was dubbed their “alpha dog” well, the Wagner 1-H well producing 14 million cubic feet of natural gas per day (Mmcf/d). Then came Gulfport’s Shugert 1-1H, which MDN dubbed the “King of Utica Shale wells” producing a whopping 20 Mmcf/d. After that was the Shugert 1-12H well, sister well to the 1-1H. We called that one “the Emperor well” producing 28.5 Mmcf/d (see Gulfport’s New Utica Well Produces Mind-blowing 28.5 Mmcf/d!).

We’re now officially out of metaphors and labels. Antero Resources’ Yontz Utica Shale well recently saw a peak rate of a truly mind-blowing 38.9 Mmcf/d. Gulfport’s Shugert wells are in Belmont County. The Yontz well is located in Monroe County, just south of Belmont…
Read More “Antero Resources Utica Well Produces Stratospheric 38.9 Mmcf/d”
Carroll County | Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio | Sierra Buckeye

Sierra Buckeye Responds: We Didn’t Default on Carroll County Lease
August 29, 2013August 29, 2013

Last week MDN told you about a kerfuffle in Ohio between Carroll County commissioners and Sierra Buckeye, a driller with whom the county signed a lease in July 2012 for 481 acres of county-owned land (see Carroll County, OH Says Sierra Buckeye in Default on Utica Lease). The county says Sierra was supposed to drill by a certain deadline and did not do so, throwing the lease agreement “in default” and implying Sierra is subject to make extra penalty payments under the lease terms.

Sierra Buckeye contacted MDN to tell their side of the story. They claim that yes, they did ask for an extension of the lease terms until Nov. 1 of this year, but that Carroll County commissioners went silent and did not respond to multiple requests, and that no, they are not in default and don’t owe a penny more. In fact, they have canceled (or “released”) the lease per Carroll County’s request–transmitting the release last week. What miffs Sierra Buckeye is that they had to learn about the commissioners’ intentions by reading about it in the newspaper…
Read More “Sierra Buckeye Responds: We Didn’t Default on Carroll County Lease”
BP | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Trumbull County | Utica Shale

Utica Drilling Innovation: Plastic Pipelines Replace Water Trucks
August 29, 2013August 29, 2013

An interesting innovation that we have not heard of before: BP is using temporary, plastic pipelines to transport water to the test wells they’re drilling in Trumbull County, OH. When a series of wells are finished being drilled, the pipes can be rolled up and used somewhere else without having to dig a trench and leave a permanent pipeline underground. No more thousands of trips by water trucks to drill a well!

Could this be the start of yet another new, environmentally-friendly innovation by the shale drilling industry?…
Read More “Utica Drilling Innovation: Plastic Pipelines Replace Water Trucks”
Economic Impact | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Processing Plants | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Gov. Tomblin Beats the Ethane Cracker Drum Once Again
August 29, 2013August 29, 2013

At a business summit yesterday at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin once again voiced his opinion that WV will have an ethane cracker plant of its own in the near future and that such a plant is needed to keep jobs in WV. He went a bit further than we’ve heard before and said WV has the right to expect a partnership between drillers and manufacturers to process WV ethane and other natural gas liquids (NGLs) in WV. According to Tomblin, his administration is burning the midnight oil to make a WV ethane cracker a reality…
Read More “WV Gov. Tomblin Beats the Ethane Cracker Drum Once Again”
Carroll County | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio

OH Town Votes to Give Up 1/4 Royalties for Cash Payment Now
August 29, 2013August 29, 2013

Should a municipality that’s leased village-owned land to a shale driller (in this case in Ohio’s Utica Shale) sell some of their future potential royalties for cash now in order to buy a firetruck? It’s not a hypothetical question. Carrollton, OH council members voted this week to do just that. Selling future earnings is nothing new: It happens with lottery winners. They win a lottery with a payout over the next 20-30 years but want (or need) the money now. So they sell their future payments to a third party for a discounted amount of cash now.

It’s one thing for an individual to do it, but quite another (in our opinion) for a municipality to do it…
Read More “OH Town Votes to Give Up 1/4 Royalties for Cash Payment Now”