Marcellus Drilling News

Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Research | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

OOGA Report on Ohio Utica Drilling for 2012 – Charts & Maps
April 3, 2013April 3, 2013

At the recent winter meeting of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association, OOGA presented the DeBrosse Memorial Report: 2012 Oil and Gas Activity in Ohio. Chock-full of interesting charts and maps showing who drilled wells in Ohio, where they drilled them and how far (distance) the wells were drilled, the report (full copy embedded below) is a must-read if you have an interest in the Utica Shale.

A few highlights:

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East Resources | Energy Companies

East Resources Responds to Unflattering WSJ Article on Violations
April 3, 2013April 3, 2013

On Monday, the Wall Street Journal published a story titled “As Big Drillers Move In, Safety Goes Up.” The premise and tone of the article is that in the early days of Marcellus Shale drilling, there were many smaller, less-experienced companies drilling in the Marcellus–companies not as safety conscious and careful as the big boys. Now that the big boys have arrived, safey and accidents are down–way down.

The opening few paragraphs are none too flattering to one company in particular–East Resources. East is still around, although they sold their Marcellus operation to Shell in 2010. The WSJ article opens this way:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

GASLAND vs FrackNation: Josh Fox Refuses to Debate Phelim McAleer
April 3, 2013April 3, 2013

The Delaware Valley Marcellus Association (DVMA) is sponsoring a screening of the excellent documentary film FrackNation at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute on April 10 (Philadelphia, see this calendar announcement for details). As part of the screening event, DVMA invited Josh Fox, creator/producer/director of the documentary GASLAND to attend the screening and debate FrackNation creator Phelim McAleer. Apparently Fox is a coward and not willing to defend his work–he refuses to respond or even acknowledge the invitation from DVMA.

Yesterday, the DVMA issued the following press release/open letter to Fox:

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH

“Faith” Group Lies About New Sustainable Shale Center, Fracking
April 3, 2013April 3, 2013

MDN finds it particularly repugnant and hypocritical for so-called “faith groups” to use religion to jusify their twisted anti-fossil fuel philosophies. Shame on them for misusing religion in such a way. It’s disgusting.

One such disgusting group, Faith Communities Together for Frack Awareness (FaCT), issued the following press release yesterday, questioning the creation of the Center for Sustainable Shale Development and in general denigrating the miracle of hydraulic fracturing:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

JLCNY (Politely) Tells Cuomo to Wise Up and Look at PA
April 3, 2013April 3, 2013

The president of the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (and MDN friend) Dan Fitzsimmons published an op-ed in yesterday’s Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin. Without naming names (cough *Cuomo* cough), Dan says “New Yorkers” should look to our neighbors just across the border to the south for examples of what can happen when safe natural gas drilling is allowed. He provides some startling facts and figures…

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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies

DOI Slaps Chesapeake with $765K Fine for Underpaying Royalties
April 3, 2013April 3, 2013

The U.S. Dept. of Interior (DOI) has accused Chesapeake Energy of underpaying oil and gas royalties due to DOI for drilling on federal lands and has slapped Chessy with a $765,000 fine. Chessy says there has been no intentional shorting of royalty payments and if you add up the total amount in question, it’s less than $500–little more than a rounding error on the purchase of paperclips for DOI.

DOI says Chessy has a history of “inaccurate reporting” when it comes to royalty reporting:
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Energy Companies | Rex Energy

Rex Energy Goes to the Bank, Walks Out with $85M
April 3, 2013April 3, 2013

Rex Energy, an independent oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) company headquartered in State College, PA focuses their drilling on the Marcellus/Utica Shale region. Rex announced on Monday they’ve expanded their credit line at the bank–from $240 million in borrowing capacity to $325 million (an $85 million increase). What does it mean?…

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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Chesapeake Innovates New Way to Move Utica Rigs Twice as Fast
April 3, 2013April 3, 2013

Chesapeake Energy publishes a quarterly newsletter (more like a magazine) called The Play. The latest issue, Winter 2013 (released earlier this year, full issue embedded below) contains two interesting and important stories that relate to the Utica Shale. The feature story starting on page 3, “Poised for Success,” focuses on Chesapeake’s Ohio Utica Shale program. The article says Chessy’s previously drilled Utica wells should be online starting in February since new pipelines to transport liquids for processing have recently been installed. The article also says Chessy expects they will eventually drill around 13,000 wells in the Ohio Utica on their 1.6 million leased acres.

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Industrywide Issues | Maryland | Regulation | Statewide MD

Landmen Operating in Maryland Will Soon Have to Regi$ter
April 3, 2013April 3, 2013

Maryland State Sen. George Edwards (Republican) has introduced a bill that will make it crime for anyone to negotiate mineral leases with landowners unless they are first registered with the state as a landman. The same bill has already passed the state House of Delegates with a 135-0 vote in March. In other words, if you’re a landman operating in Maryland, get ready to pay…
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Air Quality | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

EPA Keeps Messing with Drillers, Tweaks Regulations Yet Again
April 3, 2013April 3, 2013

The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is once again interferring in the states responsibilities to regulate oil and gas drilling. The always excellent ShaleEnergyLawBlog, written by the law firm Babst Calland, notes two recent changes to regulations issued by the EPA dealing with greenhouse gas reporting and storage tanks:

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Encore Energy | Energy Companies | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Encore Energy Shops Utica Shale Leases at NAPE East
April 3, 2013April 3, 2013

Encore Energy, Inc. specializes in “lease acquisition and development of the Utica Shale play and other oil and gas projects in Ohio.” Think of Encore as a real estate agent for leases. Encore issued a press release yesterday to get some attention on Utica Shale properties they are “shopping”–looking for drilling companies who want to buy the leases. Encore will shop their leases at the upcoming NAPE East event in Pittsburgh next week. (Note: MDN editor Jim Willis is attending NAPE East, hanging out at the Shale Daily booth, #205. Please stop by if you’re at the show and introduce yourself!)

The interesting part of the Encore press release, which is why we’re bringing it to your attention, is the per-acre asking price Encore lists for Utica Shale properties in Guernsey, Noble and Morgan counties (Ohio):
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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Apr 3, 2013
April 3, 2013April 3, 2013

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

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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Chesapeake’s New Acting CEO Says Utica Shale is a Big Deal
April 2, 2013April 2, 2013

Yesterday morning the new acting CEO of Chesapeake Energy, Steve Dixon, delivered his first investors talk as CEO. One of the primary parts of that talk—indeed we would say the centerpiece—were remarks about the Utica Shale and its importance for Chesapeake as they move forward. According to Dixon, Chesapeake’s production in the Utica for 2012 will show lower numbers than otherwise possible because of lack of pipelines and processing plants. Dixon says that will soon change, and so too will their production numbers.

Dixon began his remarks with a 10-second “so long and thanks for all the fish” acknowledgment to the departed Aubrey McClendon:

Read More “Chesapeake’s New Acting CEO Says Utica Shale is a Big Deal”
Industrywide Issues | NGLs | Research

New Report on Important-but-Overlooked Natural Gas Liquids
April 2, 2013April 2, 2013

The Brookings Institution, one of America’s oldest Washington, D.C.-based think tanks, conducts (and shares) research on a variety of topics, mostly economics-related. Brookings recently released a new report titled: Natural Gas Liquids (full copy embedded below). The report focuses on an aspect of the shale revolution researchers at Brookings believe is often overlooked–but critically important.

From the basics of describing what NGLs are and where they are found to how they are mined and the economics and key players–this short 15-page report does an excellent job of briefing readers without becoming a data dump. Here’s a brief description of the report and a summary of its five key takeaways, from the Brookings website:
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Bradford County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pike County | Pipelines | Regulation | Tennessee Gas Pipeline | Wayne County

Army Corps of Engineers Approves Pipeline in Delaware River Basin
April 2, 2013April 2, 2013

Good news for drillers, landowners and consumers who want to see more low-cost Marcellus Shale gas flowing to East Coast markets. On March 22, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers green lighted Tennessee Gas Company’s Northeast Upgrade pipeline project to cross wetlands (i.e. swamps), rivers and streams in the Delaware River watershed. Hooray! The Corps didn’t cave to eco-nut, anti-progress pressure.

The details on where the new extensions are being built:

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

What is Yoko Ono and Artists Against Fracking Hiding?
April 2, 2013April 2, 2013

Yoko Ono, who in recent years has become a pornographer (see this story about her 2012 “fashion line for men”), is a national treasure to the eco-nut left in this country. She’s trying to grab a second 15 minutes of fame by riding the coattails of the fracking issue, starting the group Artists Against Fracking (see Yoko Ono and Son Sean Lennon Go on Anti-Fracking Tirade). Ono has recruited a number of big (and clueless) celebrities to support her organization. One-percenters like Ono and Susan Sarandon are throwing a lot of money into Artists Against Fracking in hopes they can stop fracking in New York. Problem is, they’re supposed to register as lobbyists if they spend over $5,000, to keep spending transparent and above-board (and not greasing somebody’s palms). But they haven’t and don’t want to register–you know, they’re above petty things, like the law.

What’s interesting about the story of Artists Against Fracking not registering as lobbyists is how the media covers it. Most mainstream media, instead of questioning Ono about why she doesn’t want to obey the law, goes after the drilling industry instead! Unbelievable. But that’s what we’ve come to expect from “news” organizations like Associated Press:
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