Marcellus Drilling News

Antero Resources | Energy Companies | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Antero Resources Rides the Marcellus Rocket in 2012
March 20, 2013March 20, 2013

On Monday, Antero Resources issued their 2012 financial and operational results (full copy embedded below). Among the highlights: The company now holds 305,000 net acres in the Marcellus Shale and 88,000 acres in the Utica Shale. They operate 13 Marcellus rigs (all of them drilling in WV) and will add a 14th rig in 2013. Antero’s average daily production for all of 2012 in the Marcellus rocketed up 93% to 239 million cubic feet per day (Mmcf/d). Antero’s Marcellus production represents 72% of all of their production for 2012. As of March 2013, Antero’s average daily production for the Marcellus has risen to 390 Mmcf/d. The company is on a rocket!

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Lenape Resources | Litigation | Livingston County | New York | Regulation

Third NY Town Wins Court Approval to Ban Fracking
March 20, 2013March 20, 2013

Tomorrow, the Appellate Division (court) in Albany, NY will hear arguments in the twin cases of Dryden and Middlefield—two New York towns that illegally seized the property rights of all their citizens by completely banning fracking (see Important Developments in NY Fracking Ban Court Cases for background).

A third town, Livingston, has just won a court case that allows them to also illegally ban fracking. Lenape Resources had sued Livingston after the town passed a ban in 2012, claiming the ban affects their conventional/vertical drilling in the town, which has been going on for decades (see Lenape Sues Avon, NY & DEC over Fracking Ban – Seeks $50M). An “acting” judge didn’t agree, and cited Dryden and Middlefield to support his opinion…

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Pike County | Pipelines | Tennessee Gas Pipeline

PA Judge Grants Injunction Against Protesters of TGP NE Pipeline
March 20, 2013March 20, 2013

Anti-drillers who have been illegally blocking construction of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s Northeast Upgrade in northeastern PA were told to knock it off by a Pike County judge. He also told them it’s going to cost them (a lot of) money if they try it again.

In a hearing held Monday, Judge Joseph Kameen granted TGP an injunction against protesters who have blocked access roads and perched themselves, literally, up trees in order to stop progress on the new pipeline. Why? They don’t like fracking and believe the pipeline, which will transport Marcellus Shale gas, will encourage more of it. Basically, they’re malcontents…

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Delaware County (PA) | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA’s Ranking Dem on House Enviro Committee Big-Time Anti-Driller
March 20, 2013March 20, 2013

Need proof that many (most?) of Pennsylvania’s elected Democrats are anti-drilling dunderheads who have gorged themselves at the man-causes-global-warming-we-must-quickly-end-the-use-of-all-fossil-fuels buffet? How about this opinion piece, written by State Rep. Greg Vitali (Delaware County), the ranking Democrat on the PA House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee:

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Ohio | Statewide OH

OH Utica Numbers Keep Going Up: 575 Permits, 272 Wells Drilled
March 20, 2013March 20, 2013

The Ohio Utica Shale numbers just keep going up. The latest, including tallies for where permits were issued last week:

Read More “OH Utica Numbers Keep Going Up: 575 Permits, 272 Wells Drilled”
Columbiana County | Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Mahoning County | Ohio | Sand/Proppant | Supply Chain

OH Property Management Firm Plugs into the Shale Supply Chain
March 20, 2013March 20, 2013

More lessons for small businesses that want to plug in to the booming Marcellus and Utica Shale supply chain, this time from a new transloading facility in Columbiana, OH, started by a property management company. What’s a transloading facility? It’s a place where (in this case) railroad cars full of sand are parked and unloaded with special equipment onto waiting trucks that then haul the sand to nearby drilling sites for use in hydraulic fracturing.

The Buckeye Transfer Realty transloading facility accepted their first sand shipment via rail on Jan. 4. In the past three weeks they’ve hired 22 new people, with plans to hire more. Here’s their story, along with some of the things they’ve learned:

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Fayette County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Taxation

Fayette County, PA Towns Get Shorted on Impact Fee Distribution
March 20, 2013March 20, 2013

Fayette County, PA towns are not happy with the way county commissioners have decided to distribute the impact “fee” (which is really part fee/part tax) of $1.4 million. The towns believe more of the fee should go to them for roadway repair to counter damage done from trucks used in the drilling process. However, county commissioners have “shorted” the towns. Instead of paying each town $10,000 from the impact fee till as the towns requested, payments will be more like half that amount…

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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Mar 20, 2013
March 20, 2013March 20, 2013

The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Research

IHS Report: Marcellus Dethrones Haynesville as Top Producing Play
March 19, 2013March 19, 2013

Congratulations to the Marcellus. Stand up and take a bow! A new report just released by research company IHS says the Marcellus Shale has now surpassed the Haynesville Shale to be the largest natural gas producing play in the U.S.

Here’s the IHS press release announcing “game-changer” Marcellus report, which includes some interesting highlights:

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Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Regulation | Washington County

Judge Refuses to Recuse Himself from Range v Robinson Twp Case
March 19, 2013March 19, 2013

Last week MDN told you about the lawsuit filed by Range Resources against Robinson Township (Washington County), PA for rejecting their request to build two drill pads in the township (see Range Takes Robinson Twp, PA to Court over Permit Rejections). Range has asked the judge in the case, John F. DiSalle, to recuse himself from the case because his wife, Diane DiSalle, is a big-time anti-driller. Unfortunately for Range, the judge has said “no”…

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Inergy | New York | Schuyler County

NY Protesters Arrested for Blocking NatGas Storage Facility
March 19, 2013March 19, 2013

Twelve protesters, no doubt suffering from FDS (Fracking Derangement Syndrome), illegally blocked the entrance to a depleted salt cavern near Watkins Glen, NY yesterday. They were arrested by local police. Inergy plans to turn the salt cavern into storage for liquefied natural gas (i.e., propane). The protesters believe storing natural gas in the facility will encourage fracking in New York, so they locked arms to stop trucks from entering or leaving the facility. Among the protesters was anti-drilling author and Ithaca College “distinguished scholar in residence” Sandra Steingraber.

The Inergy storage facility is the only planned new storage for natural gas in the entire northeast—something desperately needed. Rather than limit fracking, the protesters’ actions (if successful in stopping the facility) would cause the price of natural gas to go up for everyone throughout the northeast. The protesters don’t seem to care (and frankly don’t have a clue)…

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Energy Companies | Seneca Resources

National Fuel/Seneca Update: Spend & Drill in the Marcellus
March 19, 2013March 19, 2013

Yesterday, National Fuel Gas (and its drilling subsidiary Seneca Resources) issued its best estimate for fiscal years 2013 and 2014 with respect to how much natural gas they expect to produce, and how much money they’re going to spend drilling for it. The brief version: They’ll spend the vast majority of their money on drilling in the Marcellus/Utica, and the vast majority of the gas they produce will come from the Marcellus/Utica.

The estimates (“guidance”) provided yesterday by National Fuel:

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Energy Companies | Energy Services | Guernsey County | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Noble County | Ohio | PDC Energy | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Utica Shale

MarkWest Signs Deal with PDC Energy for OH Utica Shale, Etcetera
March 19, 2013March 19, 2013

Yesterday, PDC Energy announced they would nearly double their drilling budget for the Ohio Utica Shale this year (see PDC Nearly Doubles Utica Shale Drilling Budget for 2013). PDC’s announcement mentioned they will do a deal with MarkWest for pipelines and processing. Last night, MarkWest issued their announcement to say they’ve officially signed a deal with PDC to provide “gathering, processing, fractionation, and marketing services in the Utica Shale.” In their announcement, MarkWest took the opportunity to remind everyone this is the fourth Utica Shale driller they’ve signed up in the past nine months—the other three are Gulfport, Antero and Rex Energy—and to chronicle the work they’re doing at their Cadiz and Seneca processing facilities in the Utica Shale.

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About MDN | Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

MDN Discovers New Disorder: FDS (Fracking Derangement Syndrome)
March 19, 2013March 19, 2013

This post is purely for your reading pleasure and enjoyment—unless you’re anti-drilling.

Surgeon General’s Warning: If you’re anti-drilling, this post will incite feelings of outrage and perhaps momentary confusion and reflection…

Read More “MDN Discovers New Disorder: FDS (Fracking Derangement Syndrome)”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Wastewater

Anti-Drilling Groups Want ODNR to Shut Down All Injection Wells
March 19, 2013March 19, 2013

Anti-drilling groups held multiple concurrent press conferences in Ohio yesterday to demand the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) stop doing their job in regulating wastewater injection wells. Instead, the enviro-extremist groups want the federal EPA to take over the job. Whacko. Their rationale? One bad actor, Ben Lupo, dumped wastewater down a storm drain in Youngstown.

What does Lupo’s actions have to do with wastewater injection wells? Er right…Nothing, actually! Such twisted reasoning is called a non sequitur—an illogical argument. Just because one bad actor dumped wastewater instead of properly disposing of it in an injection well doesn’t mean injection wells are not properly regulated. It “doesn’t follow.” But that’s what passes for logic among the fracking-deranged crowd.

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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Mar 19, 2013
March 19, 2013March 19, 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, Mar 19, 2013”