Marcellus Drilling News

Broome County | Chenango County | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Madison County | New York | Norse Energy | Regulation | Statewide NY

New Rough Patch for Norse Energy: Force Majeure Lawsuit
May 22, 2013May 22, 2013

Is this lights out for Norse Energy in New York State? The company owns leases for some 130,000 acres of land in New York State. All of it is in either the Marcellus or Utica Shale play window with 33,000 acres in the liquids-rich area, according to Norse. Just one problem: New York has not allowed drilling going on five years. That delay caused Norse to file for bankruptcy last December (see Norse Energy Hurt by NY Fracking Delay Files for Bankruptcy).

Norse has tried valiantly to hold on, even through bankruptcy. But now they have a different problem: A group of 89 landowners with a collective 6,314 acres in Broome, Chenango and Madison counties who signed with Norse are suing the company because Norse sent a notice of force majeure. Force majeure means the leases, which otherwise would now be expired (after five years), can be kept in place until New York opens up to allow drilling. The landowners and their lawyer say the moratorium on fracking is not an unforeseen “Act of God” circumstance which would trigger force majeure–Norse says it is. Who’s right?
Read More “New Rough Patch for Norse Energy: Force Majeure Lawsuit”
Energy Companies | Range Resources Corp

Range Resources Updates Investors (and Us) on Marcellus Efforts
May 22, 2013May 22, 2013

Range Resources, the very first company to drill a Marcellus Shale well in southwestern PA in 2004, updated investors at the UBS Global Oil & Gas Conference yesterday. Range had some interesting things to say. Most interesting (for MDN) is the PowerPoint presentation (see a copy embedded below). The presentation is full of useful charts and maps about their operations in the Marcellus and Utica region (slides 12-24).
Read More “Range Resources Updates Investors (and Us) on Marcellus Efforts”
Broome County | Chemung County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Gov. Cuomo Says Poor Jobs Report Won’t Sway Him on Frack Decision
May 22, 2013May 22, 2013

NY Gov. Andrew “The Ditherer” Cuomo continues to, well, dither when it comes to deciding whether or not it’s time to frack in New York. The very place where Marcellus and Utica Shale gas is found in abundance in the state–the Southern Tier areas of Binghamton and Elmira–are also the very places at the bottom of the economic heap. Recent jobs numbers show Binghamton and Elmira dead last or near last in job creation. Which is a pity because if fracking were allowed, that would change overnight.

Andy’s response to the prospect that fracking would help create jobs in his state where they are most needed? I’ll dither a while longer…
Read More “Gov. Cuomo Says Poor Jobs Report Won’t Sway Him on Frack Decision”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Statewide NY

Reporter Defends Moderating Pro-Drilling NY Forum
May 22, 2013May 22, 2013

Apparently the anti-drilling reporter/book author Tom Wilber, who has taken “the devil’s money” (from pro-drillers) to moderate an upcoming forum in Albany, NY (see Shock Moderator for JLCNY’s Drilling Education Session in Albany), is feeling the heat from his anti-drilling buds. He’s penned a halfhearted defense of his decision to moderate the pro-drilling forum on his blog, Shale Gas Review…
Read More “Reporter Defends Moderating Pro-Drilling NY Forum”
Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Public Opinion

API Poll: Vast Majority of Americans Think NatGas Exports Good
May 22, 2013May 22, 2013

The American Petroleum Institute, the premier organization that represents the drilling industry in the U.S., hired Harris Interactive to poll Americans on their opinion about exporting natural gas. The results (full copy embedded below) are very revealing. Some 71% of American adults either agree strongly or agree somewhat with the statement that exporting will create jobs here at home. A majority also agrees exporting makes us more secure and reduces our trade deficit with other countries.
Read More “API Poll: Vast Majority of Americans Think NatGas Exports Good”
Industrywide Issues | Research

Deloitte Report: Shale Revolution is Bridge to Renewable Future
May 22, 2013May 22, 2013

Consulting firm Deloitte has just released a new white paper/report titled “America’s newfound power: What the U.S. should do to capitalize on the shale and renewable energy revolutions” (full copy embedded below). The paper’s premise or theme is this: Natural gas and oil from shale should be a bridge to a lower-carbon future. The white paper’s author, Joseph Stanislaw, believes shale gas is a means to a renewable energy end. Is he right?
Read More “Deloitte Report: Shale Revolution is Bridge to Renewable Future”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

Anti-Drilling Sportsmen Group Endorses BLM Fracking Rules
May 22, 2013May 22, 2013

Reaction to the release of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) new rules for fracking on federal lands (see BLM Releases Revised Rules for Fracking – Why it Matters) has been mostly negative–from both sides of the drilling debate. The American Petroleum Institute thinks the rules are completely unnecessary and add an extra layer of regulation, i.e. go too far (see Questions still surround BLM hydraulic fracturing regulations). The Sierra Club doesn’t think the rules go far enough (see Sierra Club Statement on the Bureau of Land Management’s New Fracking Rules).

However, MDN is happy to report there is one contingent from the political left embracing the new BLM fracking rules: The innocent sounding (but extremely partisan) Sportsmen for Responsible Energy Development. The Sportsmen (and presumably Sportswomen) of that group think, like Goldilocks, that BLM’s rules are “just right”…
Read More “Anti-Drilling Sportsmen Group Endorses BLM Fracking Rules”
Harrison County | Ohio | Utica Shale

New Utica Shale Magazine Launches in Harrison County, OH
May 22, 2013May 22, 2013

A brand new full color, glossy magazine aimed at connecting the Utica Shale drilling industry with the local community has just launched in Harrison County, OH. The new Pipeline Connections is published by the owner of the Harrison News-Herald. The magazine is free, but you have to pick up a copy in and around Cadiz…
Read More “New Utica Shale Magazine Launches in Harrison County, OH”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, May 22, 2013
May 22, 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, May 22, 2013”
Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies

Chesapeake Energy Appoints Anadarko Engineer as New CEO
May 21, 2013

Less than two months ago corporate raider Carl Icahn and other mercenary “stockholders” of Chesapeake Energy (with the help of complicit reporters at Bloomberg and Reuters) unceremoniously dumped Aubrey McClendon, founder of Chesapeake, as CEO (see McClendon Exits Chesapeake, Well-Bonused “Friends” Replace Him). Yesterday, Chesapeake announced they’ve hired an executive from rival drilling company Anadarko Petroleum to lead them. Three of Aubrey’s closest “friends” that together were running the company via an “Office of the Chairman”–Archie Dunham, Steve Dixon and Dom Dell’Osso–will now go back to their regularly scheduled jobs (and piles of money). Et tu, Brute?

Robert Douglas (“Doug”) Lawler, 46, until this week, was senior vice president of international and deepwater operations at Anadarko. On June 17, he will join Chessy as CEO and a member of the Board of Directors. Doug is a petroleum engineer with an MBA. Our advice to Doug when he arrives at the corporate board room at Chessy: Watch your back when Carl Icahn is in the room. And you darned well better produce a dramatic turnaround on the balance sheet, quickly, or you too will be histoire.
Read More “Chesapeake Energy Appoints Anadarko Engineer as New CEO”
Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Cabot O&G Uses Marcellus Shale Gas to Power Drilling Rigs
May 21, 2013May 21, 2013

Cabot Oil & Gas has jumped on the natural gas-powered drilling rig bandwagon. Yesterday, Cabot announced they have begun using “field gas”–Marcellus Shale gas from the very wells they’re drilling–to help power the drilling rigs they’re using to drill for the gas. According to Cabot, this is the first time field gas has been used in drilling rigs in northeastern PA. Cabot is using Caterpillar engines that run on duel fuel technology–part natural gas, part diesel.

You may recall other Marcellus drillers are also using duel fuel, and some are using 100% natural gas, to power their rigs. Those companies include EQT, CONSOL, Seneca Resources and Antero Resources (see Antero Res 2nd Marcellus Driller to Use 100% NatGas Rig Engines for a description of other drillers’ efforts to date). The unique aspect of Cabot’s announcement is that they’re using field gas and not trucking in LNG to power their duel fuel engines. It means far fewer truck trips to the drill site.
Read More “Cabot O&G Uses Marcellus Shale Gas to Power Drilling Rigs”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Statewide NY

NYSPC Launches Free Webinars to Win Public Support for Fracking
May 21, 2013May 21, 2013

The New York State Petroleum Council (NYSPC), part of the American Petroleum Institute, is launching a free webinar series for the public–particularly residents of New York–tomorrow (Wednesday). Apparently the NYSPC has taken to heart the admonishment of Gov. Andrew Cuomo who recently lectured the NYSPC about getting more of the public on the pro-drilling bandwagon (see Gov. Cuomo Fires Back at NY Petroleum Council over Indecisiveness).

The first session schedule for tomorrow will feature Greg Sovas, former director of the mineral resources division of the NY State Dept. of Environmental Conservation…
Read More “NYSPC Launches Free Webinars to Win Public Support for Fracking”
Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA House Bill 1414: New Reporting for Royalty Calculations
May 21, 2013May 21, 2013

Listen up drillers and landowners in PA: Pennsylvania House Bill 1414 (copy embedded below) is making its way through the PA legislature. That bill, if passed, will require new reporting standards when it comes to calculating oil and gas royalties.

From the ShaleEnergyLawBlog:
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Commodity Price | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Research

Bipartisan Policy Center: U.S. NatGas Prices Will Stay Low
May 21, 2013May 21, 2013

It seems as if everyone is hauling out their crystal balls to try and divine where the price of natural gas will go in both the short and long term–and they all pretty much say the same thing: The price won’t go much higher for a long time–even if demand really picks up and even if the U.S. starts exporting natgas. The latest organization to take a stab at the prediction game is the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), a Washington, D.C. based organization founded by liberal Democrats and moderate Republicans (mainstream media’s definition of bipartisanship).

The BPC’s Energy Project staff released a new report yesterday titled “New Dynamics of the U.S. Natural Gas Market” (full copy embedded below). The key findings of the study will not make the anti-drilling nutters happy, that’s for sure:
Read More “Bipartisan Policy Center: U.S. NatGas Prices Will Stay Low”
Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies

Chesapeake Donates $1M, Employees Help with OK Tornado Recovery
May 21, 2013May 21, 2013

MDN is no fan of the new Chesapeake Energy under the tutelage of board member and corporate raider Carl Icahn–that you know from reading this site for any length of time. However, when a company like Chesapeake does something good and wholesome and just “right,” we don’t want to overlook that either. Yesterday, Moore, Oklahoma was hit by devastating tornadoes. There were a number of fatalities and a huge amount of property damage. Oklahoma native son company Chesapeake (headquartered in nearby Oklahoma City) announced they will donate $1 million cash to the American Red Cross to help with this tragedy. In addition, Chessy employees are volunteering their time to help in the recovery effort. It is noteworthy, and we applaud them.

Read More “Chesapeake Donates $1M, Employees Help with OK Tornado Recovery”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, May 21, 2013
May 21, 2013May 21, 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, May 21, 2013”