Marcellus Drilling News

Accidents | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Susquehanna County

EPA’s Dimock PowerPoint Revealed – But, is it Real?
August 6, 2013August 6, 2013

Apparently the Los Angeles Times has a friend in the radically left DeSmogBlog and so has shared the famed, single EPA PowerPoint presentation that supposedly blames drilling and fracking by Cabot Oil & Gas for methane in nearby water wells. DeSmogBlog has an “exclusive” copy of said PowerPoint, so we assume they got it from the LA Times. We grabbed a copy from the DeSmogBlog website and embedded it below so you can read it and evaluate it for yourself.

The most recent hubbub about Dimock arose when the LA Times trumpeted they have in their possession a never-before-seen secret/internal “report” from the EPA–which turns out to be a PowerPoint presentation–blaming Cabot’s fracking for water problems in Dimock, PA (see LA Times Attempts New Hatchet Job on Fracking in Dimock). Is this finally the smoking gun? Is the Obama EPA now covering up evidence against evil “big oil & gas”?…
Read More “EPA’s Dimock PowerPoint Revealed – But, is it Real?”
Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH

Some OH Landowners Get “Take it or Leave it” Pipeline Offers
August 6, 2013August 6, 2013

Apparently, some heavy-handed tactics are being used by some (not all) landmen in Ohio who are telling property owners to “take it or leave it” when it comes to offers on the table to allow pipelines to cross their land. Landowners beware: a landman may tell you the company will run the pipeline anyway by using the power of eminent domain. Very few of the pipelines now being constructed in eastern Ohio right now have eminent domain power.

If you hear such a statement from a landman, ask to see a certificate from FERC or the Ohio Public Utilities Commission stating that particular pipeline has eminent domain authority. If they can’t produce such a certificate, you know they’re blowing smoke…
Read More “Some OH Landowners Get “Take it or Leave it” Pipeline Offers”
Energy Companies | Statewide WV | Stone Energy | Upper Devonian Shale | West Virginia

Stone Energy Update: On Track to Drill 30 Marcellus Wells in 2013
August 6, 2013August 6, 2013

Stone Energy is an independent driller with operations both off- and on-shore. Last December MDN told you about Stone’s plan to start spending 33% of its $650 million exploration and production budget for 2013 on drilling in the West Virginia Marcellus Shale (see Stone Energy 2013 Plans: Spend 33% of Budget on Marcellus). Plans were to drill 28-32 new Marcellus wells this year. According to Stone’s second quarter 2013 report released yesterday, they’re right on track. So far they’ve drilled 16 wells and are on track to complete up to 30 Marcellus wells by the end of this year.

In yesterday’s update, Stone CEO David Welch reiterated the company’s strategy is to move away from drilling in the relatively shallow Continental Shelf area of the Gulf of Mexico (less than 1,000 feet of water), and drill more in both the deep water Gulf region as well as in the Marcellus. Welch said their strategy continues to benefit the company with rising production numbers, particularly from the Marcellus wells drilled. We also learn from yesterday’s update that Stone has drilled a test well in the Upper Devonian Shale and expects to bring it online later this year. Select portions of yesterday’s 2Q13 update:
Read More “Stone Energy Update: On Track to Drill 30 Marcellus Wells in 2013”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

Hammer Falls: New EPA Edict on Storage Tanks Used in Drilling
August 6, 2013August 6, 2013

Day by day, a little more of the thing that once made America great–freedom and liberty–dies. Hey, no big deal. It’s all done in the name of health and safety. The latest example: The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has just issued more rules that trample individual states’ rights to regulate oil and gas drilling. It’s the EPA’s ongoing back-door method of one day fully regulating oil and gas drilling throughout the U.S.

The latest EPA rules have to do with oil and gas storage tanks and the emissions that come from them. Drillers and those operating such storage tanks have until either April 15, 2014 or April 15, 2015 (depending on when the tank went into service) to comply with new rules reducing volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions by 95%. The EPA’s latest edict:
Read More “Hammer Falls: New EPA Edict on Storage Tanks Used in Drilling”
Butler County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Reserve Environmental Services | Wastewater

RES Breaks Ground for Wastewater Treatment Plant in Butler, PA
August 6, 2013August 6, 2013

Reserved Environmental Services, otherwise known as RES Water, is a Pennsylvania-based shale drilling wastewater treatment processor. RES’ claim to fame is that they build and operate zero liquid discharge facilities–100% of treated wastewater is returned to the field for re-use in fracking and drilling.

RES has just broken ground on its second wastewater treatment plant–in Penn Township (Butler County), PA. The new $2.5 million facility is projected to be operational later this year. According to RES president Andy Kicinski, more RES treatment plants are on the way in the Marcellus region…
Read More “RES Breaks Ground for Wastewater Treatment Plant in Butler, PA”
Energy Companies | EXCO Resources | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

EXCO Resources 2Q13 Update: 33 Marcellus Wells Now Online
August 6, 2013August 6, 2013

EXCO Resources reported their second quarter results yesterday. EXCO is active in a number of shale plays, among them the Marcellus. EXCO reports during 2Q13 they started to drill two new Marcellus wells and completed three wells, all of them in Pennsylvania. The plan is to complete nine wells by the end of the year.

The Marcellus section of yesterday’s EXCO update:
Read More “EXCO Resources 2Q13 Update: 33 Marcellus Wells Now Online”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Aug 6, 2013
August 6, 2013August 6, 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, Aug 6, 2013”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Marcellus Hiring Practices “Under a Microscope” by DOL
August 5, 2013August 5, 2013

Are you a driller, oilfield services or other supply chain company whose primary activity revolves around the PA or WV Marcellus Shale? If so, there’s a good chance you’re going to get audited by the U.S. Labor Department (DOL). Best to get your records (and hiring practices) in order now.

The biggest violation found by the DOL’s so-called Marcellus Shale Initiative: improperly classifying workers as independent contractors instead of salaried or hourly employees. Hiring workers as independent contractors is coming back to bite a number of companies, large and small. If the DOL finds a violation, they helpfully pass it on to the IRS, so after the DOL is done fining you, the IRS typically shows up on your doorstep for a second pound of flesh. Sweet…
Read More “Marcellus Hiring Practices “Under a Microscope” by DOL”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH

USGS Finally Issues Report for Selling Water from 3 OH Reserviors
August 5, 2013August 5, 2013

In June 2012, the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD) board flip-flopped on a decision to make water sales from their considerable inventory of lakes and reservoirs to Marcellus and Utica Shale drillers. At first they voted to move forward with water sales, then a few days later, reversed their decision pending a full-blown study by the U.S. Geological Survey (see Muskingum Watershed Reverses Decision to Sell Water to Drillers). Thankfully, the MWCD didn’t wait for the USGS study, which was supposed to be issued by the end of last year, before they went ahead with more water sales in September (see Muskingum Watershed Moves Forward with Water Sales to Drillers).

Perhaps the reason the MWCD moved forward before getting the results of the USGS study was a premonition about how long the study would take. The 33-page USGS report, titled “An analysis of potential water availability from the Atwood, Leesville, and Tappan Lakes in the Muskingum River Watershed, Ohio” was just released today (full copy embedded below)–seven months later than anticipated. Although the study offers analysis only and no conclusions or recommendations, the MWCD says the data in the study is “helpful”…
Read More “USGS Finally Issues Report for Selling Water from 3 OH Reserviors”
Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Statewide WV | West Virginia

The Marcellus Continues to be Star Performer for Chesapeake
August 5, 2013August 5, 2013

Different media outlets have analyzed the comments made last Thursday by Chesapeake Energy officials, looking for Chessy’s “take” on their particular region. A newspaper in West Virginia published the report below that looks at Chessy’s update on the Marcellus Shale in the southwestern corner of the play–otherwise known as the “wet gas” area. Bottom line: Although everyone continues to focus on the Chesapeake’s love affair with the Utica Shale, the Marcellus Shale is the play actually contributing to the company’s bottom line–in a big way. The Marcellus is helping turn around the good ship Chesapeake.

Of particular interest to MDN in this brief article is a short paragraph that mentions the signing bonus/royalty deals landowners in the Upper Ohio Valley have recently landed with Chesapeake and other drillers–some of the highest bonus and lease terms we’ve seen to date in the Marcellus…
Read More “The Marcellus Continues to be Star Performer for Chesapeake”
Carroll County | Chesapeake Energy | Columbiana County | Energy Companies | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Chesapeake’s Latest Thinking about the OH Utica Shale
August 5, 2013August 5, 2013

More analysis of last Thursday’s investor/analyst phone call with Chesapeake Energy officials. Specifically, this article looks at the comments made by new CEO Doug Lawler and long-time COO Steve Dixon comments about the Ohio Utica Shale:
Read More “Chesapeake’s Latest Thinking about the OH Utica Shale”
BP | CNX Resources | Energy Companies | Halcon Resources | Ohio | Trumbull County | Utica Shale

List of 20 Existing/Planned Utica Wells in Trumbull County, OH
August 5, 2013August 5, 2013

Embedded in an article about the delay in natural gas and gas liquids flowing from the Utica Shale region due to lack of infrastructure, we found this handy list of 20 planned or existing Utica Shale wells for Trumbull County, OH, including where the well is located and the driller’s name:
Read More “List of 20 Existing/Planned Utica Wells in Trumbull County, OH”
Columbia Pipeline Group | Energy Services | NiSource

NiSource: 5 Marcellus/Utica Projects, $744M Investment
August 5, 2013August 5, 2013

NiSource, a major gas & electric utility company operating in the northeast and southwest (and parent of Columbia Gas and Columbia Pipeline), is increasingly a major midstream–pipeline and processing plant–player in the Marcellus and Utica Shale region.

Here’s a handy roundup of the projects NiSource and its subsidiaries have underway in the Marcellus/Utica, representing roughly 3/4 of a billion dollars of investments:
Read More “NiSource: 5 Marcellus/Utica Projects, $744M Investment”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA

Heinz Endowments Fires Head of Enviro Grants – Change Coming?
August 5, 2013August 5, 2013

Anti-drillers are nervous that one of the big-money spigots for funding their so-called research into the dangers of fracking is about to be shut off. In a developing soap opera, the “longtime head” of environmental grant making for the Heinz Endowments, Caren Glotfelty, has been shown the door. A number of anti-drilling studies have been funded by Glotfelty during her tenure at Heinz. Bobby Vagt, president of Heinz Enowments, will fill in for Glotfelty until a replacement is found. Vagt, you may recall, is involved with the Center for Sustainable Shale Development (see Important: Drillers & Enviros Form New Group, Launch Cert Program). It was also recently disclosed that Vagt sits on the board of natgas pipeline company Kinder Morgan (see Heinz Endowments President Owns $1.2M in Kinder Morgan Stock).

Anti-drillers have broken out the tea leaves, chicken feet and anything else they can to divine whether or not the move to oust Glotfelty is an indication of a change in (funding) priorities for Heinz…
Read More “Heinz Endowments Fires Head of Enviro Grants – Change Coming?”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

U.S. Senate Bill Would Prevent Feds from Regulating Fracking
August 5, 2013August 5, 2013

A ray of hope that the federal government might actually do the right thing and let the individual states (as provided for in the U.S. Constitution) regulate fracking in their own states? Stranger things have happened!

A new bill just introduced by two U.S. senators from shale states–John Hoeven from North Dakota (Republican) and Mary Landrieu from Louisiana (Democrat)–would prevent the federal government from interfering with states’ rights to regulate fracking and drilling within their own borders. Three cheers! However, don’t hold your breath that this bill will go anywhere with BHO sitting in The White House…
Read More “U.S. Senate Bill Would Prevent Feds from Regulating Fracking”
About MDN | Calendar

Calendar of Events for Aug 5-18, 2013 [Free]
August 5, 2013August 5, 2013

Below are upcoming events for this week and next.
Read More “Calendar of Events for Aug 5-18, 2013 [Free]”