Marcellus Drilling News

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”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Public Opinion | Statewide NY

The One Fracking Poll Gov Cuomo *Should* Be Worried About
July 24, 2013July 24, 2013

MDN subscriber and friend Ken Kamlet, an attorney with one of Binghamton’s premier law firms–Hinman, Howard & Kattell (HHK), recently wrote an article for the HHK legal blog that takes a close look at public polling in New York State on the issue of shale drilling and fracking. It’s a marvelous article, both in depth and breadth, providing superb insights into what New Yorkers think about the drilling issue (we recommend you read the whole article).

In Ken’s conclusion, he hits on the one public poll that should matter the most to NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo. And no, it’s not how many New Yorkers are for or against fracking and shale drilling. The poll that Cuomo should pay attention to is the one that shows a convincing majority of New Yorkers on both sides of the drilling issue believe Cuomo is “dragging his feet” on the drilling issue. Rather than being perceived as careful and deliberative on the drilling issue, he is instead perceived as weak and ineffective, lacking leadership–not good qualities for someone who seeks higher office…
Read More “The One Fracking Poll Gov Cuomo *Should* Be Worried About”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Ulster County

Marbletown, NY Frack Ban Passes – 22 Page Manifesto
July 24, 2013July 24, 2013

Sometimes town leaders in New York State who vote to ban hydraulic fracturing are dullards–they don’t bother to research and understand the legal issues. It makes no difference to them that they’re trampling on the Constitutional property rights of their landowning constituents–the very people they’re sworn to protect (but don’t).

Other times, town leaders in New York who vote to ban drilling–like those in Marbletown, NY (Ulster County, Middle Hudson Valley area)–are truly, stupendously ~~stupid~~ misguided. What takes most towns a paragraph or two to do, “Don’t drill and frack anywhere in the town,” has taken the brainiacs in Marbletown 22 pages of new regulations to accomplish in their recently enacted fracking ban. And the town supervisor brags about it!…
Read More “Marbletown, NY Frack Ban Passes – 22 Page Manifesto”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Regulation

New Congressional Report: How Federal Laws Govern Fracking
July 24, 2013July 24, 2013

Three Congressional Research Service (CRS) researchers–two of them attorneys and one an environmental policy specialist–recently issued a new CRS report titled “Hydraulic Fracturing: Selected Legal Issues” (full copy embedded below). The 37-page report takes a close look at federal legislation and its governance of/relationship to regulation of hydraulic fracturing. Specifically, the report looks at the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act, along with a number of other federal laws.

The report also takes a look at state preemption of local zoning regulations when it comes to oil and gas drilling–a hot legal issue in many states, with pending court cases in Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York…
Read More “New Congressional Report: How Federal Laws Govern Fracking”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA DEP Extends Public Comment Period for Public Comment Period
July 24, 2013July 24, 2013

Want your voice heard on whether or not the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) should or should not grant a particular permit for shale drilling? The DEP has announced they are extending the public comment period on their draft policy for…er…public comments–at least public comments given in the drilling Permit Review Process. The original public comment period on public comment periods was scheduled to close on July 22. The public comment period on public comment periods has now been extended to August 27.

Here’s the PA DEP’s public comment about the extension of public comments on public comments:
Read More “PA DEP Extends Public Comment Period for Public Comment Period”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Beaver County | Forced Pooling | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Washington County

The Nerve: PA Rep White Lectures Gov Corbett on Forced Pooling
July 24, 2013July 24, 2013

Inexplicably, PA Rep. Jesse White is still in office. He hasn’t resigned over his shameful and unethical activity of anonymously attacking his own pro-drilling constituents with fake online identities–in fact sometimes pretending to be the very people he was attacking (see How the Mighty Have Fallen: PA Rep White Admits Guilt, Not Sorry). He admitted his guilt, yet he still has not either resigned nor has he been removed from office by his colleagues. It’s an ongoing shame.

Not only has White not left office, he’s now “back” with a new op-ed article (this one bravely written under his own name) criticizing PA Gov. Tom Corbett on the issue of forced pooling. Sorry Rep. White, your actions speak so loudly, we can’t hear anything you say with your words anymore…
Read More “The Nerve: PA Rep White Lectures Gov Corbett on Forced Pooling”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Jul 24, 2013
July 24, 2013July 24, 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: Wed, Jul 24, 2013”
Broome County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Somber Anniversary: Today NY Fracking Moratorium Turns 5 Yrs-Old
July 23, 2013July 23, 2013

Time to fly the flags at half staff. Why? It seems that freedom and liberty in New York State have died. Tyranny has slowly crept in and has now taken up residence in the Empire State. For five long years, landowners in New York have been denied their Constitutional property rights to allow shale drilling on and under their land, and frankly, there’s no end in sight to this travesty of justice. Oh, we New Yorkers have not given up! As Winston Churchill once famously said, NEVER!

But honestly, it’s hard to keep your chin up month after month and year after year, especially when Democrats control so much of the state and just don’t give a darn about individual freedom or the Constitution. It’s especially disheartening when there’s rampant ignorance on the part of many in the general public who only read headlines and don’t bother to try and understand the sometimes complicated drilling issue. As we pointed out yesterday, the drilling issue in New York has devolved into celebrity emotion vs. science (see NY Fracking Debate is Celebrity Emotion vs Scientific Facts).

To mark today’s somber anniversary, the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York will hold a “Five-Year Anniversary Event” at the Holiday Inn Arena in downtown Binghamton…
Read More “Somber Anniversary: Today NY Fracking Moratorium Turns 5 Yrs-Old”
Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Susquehanna County

Study Proves Fracking Didn’t Cause Methane in Dimock Water Wells
July 23, 2013July 23, 2013

A research study appears in the May-June 2013 issue of Groundwater, a peer-reviewed scientific journal, that completely debunks the notion that fracking was the cause of methane contamination in local water wells in Dimock, PA (as famously claimed by Josh Fox and Gasland). The article, titled “Evaluation of Methane Sources in Groundwater in Northeastern Pennsylvania” (full copy embedded below), has flown completely under the radar and has received, so far as we can tell, no coverage in the mainstream media. It likely hasn’t been been covered because (a) the findings don’t fit the media narrative that fracking contaminates water, and (b) the study’s lead author is the head geologist for Cabot Oil & Gas, the company accused of contaminating some Dimock water wells with methane from nearby drilling activity.

The study looks at test results for 1,701 water wells around Susquehanna County, PA (where Dimock is located), both close to and far from shale drilling. What does the cold, hard data show? Methane is everywhere in Susquehanna County groundwater–and it has been for hundreds of years. No wonder Susquehanna County is such a productive gas field for Cabot! The study finds that methane in water is more prevalent in certain locations like valleys. Perhaps most importantly–the study finds no correlation between shale drilling and the level of methane in water wells. There’s no more methane in water wells close to drilling than there is in wells far from it. Science is science, and this study cannot be discounted simply because the wizards at Cabot wrote the report…
Read More “Study Proves Fracking Didn’t Cause Methane in Dimock Water Wells”
Baker Hughes | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Research

BH Launches Well Count Report, Perfect Compliment to Rig Count
July 23, 2013July 23, 2013

A huge congratulations is in order for Baker Hughes, the oilfield services company that also compiles the enormously useful rig count data that they’ve been sharing, like forever (for the past 70 years!). Big news: Baker Hughes has just launched a new “well count” data service as a compliment to their rig count data. The new well count service counts the number of new wells “spud” (when the drill bit hits the ground and starts chewing away) in a given quarter. The counts are tabulated by shale basin. This is an important new tool for landowners and businesses in the supply chain to use to monitor where drilling is heating up, and where it’s cooling down. Data geeks (like MDN) love this stuff!

See the very first set of well count reports from Baker Hughes embedded below (along with our commentary)…
Read More “BH Launches Well Count Report, Perfect Compliment to Rig Count”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Crime | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Seneca County

Anti-Drillers Provide Fraudulent Ban Petition to Covert, NY Board
July 23, 2013July 23, 2013

An MDN reader has alerted us to some “funny business” going on in the Town of Covert, NY (near Ithaca) on the part of anti-drillers who circulated a petition in support of a town ban on fracking. It appears that at least some of the “signatures” on the petition were fraudulently added by the group circulating the petition, the so-called Concerned Citizens of Covert (CCC). The list of names of those supposedly supporting a ban were presented as a typewritten list to town board members, but (as far as we know), the original signed petitions have not yet been produced by CCC.

One Covert landowner says she did not sign the petition but her name, along with the names of other family members who also did not sign, appears on the typewritten version of the petition. She said it looks like the CCC simply went through voter registration roles and added a bunch of names, claiming they had all signed. If that’s true, the CCC petition should immediately be investigated by the local and state attorneys general (but don’t hold your breath)…
Read More “Anti-Drillers Provide Fraudulent Ban Petition to Covert, NY Board”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

New BLM Fracking Rule will Cost Drillers Nearly $100K per Well
July 23, 2013July 23, 2013

So just how much will the proposed new fracking rule (for wells fracked on public lands) from the Bureau of Land Management cost drillers? The Western Energy Alliance hired the respected economics firm John Dunham & Associates to run the numbers. What they found was that if the new rule goes into effect as written, it will cost drillers an extra $96,913 per well on average, making it cost prohibitive to even bother drilling some wells. Perhaps that’s the intent? The new BLM rule will likely not affect Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling because there is very little federal/public land in the northeast. So why bother to report on it? Because Obama administration officials have expressed their desire to one day “encourage” (i.e. force) the new BLM rule to be used for drilling on private land as well (see Feds ‘Hope’ States will Use BLM Rules for ALL Fracking).

The press release from the Western Energy Alliance, along with the full economic analysis from John Dunham & Associates:
Read More “New BLM Fracking Rule will Cost Drillers Nearly $100K per Well”
Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

New Report Shows Permits, Wells Drilled & More Near Your Address
July 23, 2013July 23, 2013

As you may know, MDN editor Jim Willis has been partnering with ShaleNavigator founder Ed Camp for more than a year now to bring you the three volume Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook series. The 2012 series was a huge success, and the new 2013 series (Volume 1 is out now) is shaping up to be the same. The Databook is a series of maps created using the excellent ShaleNavigator service to display where (and to whom) permits have been issued, county by county, throughout the Marcellus and Utica Shale region. However, the ShaleNavigator itself service is far more than just permits, displaying multiple “layers” of information users can turn on and off to display lease offers, pipeline locations, compressor station locations and much more (24 different layers in all).

Ed has just released an exciting and important new feature for the ShaleNavigator service: Subscribers may now produce reports displaying shale oil and gas wells, well permits, pipelines, and lease offer information near a specific address “on the fly.” Type in any address (your address maybe?), wait a few seconds, and get a PDF report detailing all of the permits issued, wells drilled, pipelines and lease offers within both a 2 mile radius and within a 5 mile radius of that address (see an example report embedded below). Folks, this is beyond cool!…
Read More “New Report Shows Permits, Wells Drilled & More Near Your Address”