Marcellus Drilling News

Blue Racer Midstream | Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Maryland | Processing Plants | Statewide MD | West Virginia

Will NatGas Processed at New Natrium, WV Plant End Up in Asia?
April 8, 2013April 8, 2013

Dominion, via it’s Blueracer Midstream joint venture with Caiman Energy, is building a $1.5 billion natural gas liquids processing plant in Natrium, WV. The plant is a bit behind schedule but due to go online later this spring (see Natrium, WV NGL Plant Behind Schedule, Will Open “Late Spring”). Dominion is also set to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility in Cove Point, MD as soon as certain government approvals are issued. They will invest a staggering $3.4-$3.8 billion to build it (see Dominion’s Cove Point LNG Facility Achieves Important Milestones).

With Dominion building both the Natrium and Cove Point facilities, it only makes sense some of the Utica and Marcellus natural gas that flows through the Natrium facility for processing will end up at Cove Point, and then on to either Japan or India:

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Blair County | Economic Impact | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Marcellus GTL | Pennsylvania | Taxation

Altoona Gas to Liquids Plant Will Qualify for 7-Year Tax Break
April 8, 2013April 8, 2013

Marcellus GTL announced a few weeks ago they plan to build a $200 million gas to liquids (GTL) plant near Altoona, PA that will convert natural gas into gasoline and propane (see Altoona Area Getting $200M Marcellus Gas-to-Liquids Plant). If they start building by the end of this year, the company will qualify for up to seven years of tax abatement. That’s a pretty powerful reason to get building…

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Accidents | Carrizo Oil & Gas | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Wastewater | Wyoming County (PA)

Carrizo Resumes Fracking at Site of Spill in Wyoming County, PA
April 8, 2013April 8, 2013

On March 13, Carrizo Oil & Gas temporarily lost control of a Marcellus Shale gas well they were fracking in Wyoming County, PA, leading to a spill of over 200,000 gallons of fracking water. The frack water was contained and trucked away (see Carrizo Problem Fracking NE PA Well, Evacuates 3 Nearby Families). Since then, Carrizo has tested local water sources and has found “nothing unusual,” so the state PA Dept. of Environmental Protection has given them the green light to resume fracking the well:

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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Apr 8, 2013
April 8, 2013April 8, 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: Mon, Apr 8, 2013”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Public Opinion

Pew Research Poll Finds 2/3 of Americas Support More Fracking
April 5, 2013April 5, 2013

$frack here frack now$ Earlier this week Pew Research released the results of an extensive new national poll on several environmental-related issues, fracking among them. The results were not all that surprising, if you’re an MDN reader for any length of time. The poll found a majority favors the increased use of the miracle of hydraulic fracturing. Women are evenly split on whether to frack more—men are definitely in favor of more fracking. Also not surprising, Republicans and Independents favor fracking by wide margins, and Democrats oppose it by wide margins.

In addition to the fracking question, Pew also polled on the XL Keystone oil pipeline from Canada (two-thirds of Americans favor it), and whether or not global warming is real (most Democrats believe global warming hokum, most Republicans don’t). Here’s the detailed results on the fracking question:

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Crime | Industrywide Issues | Mahoning County | Ohio | Wastewater

Youngstown Frackwater Dumper’s New Strategy to Reopen Business
April 5, 2013April 5, 2013

We have the next chapter in the ongoing, very sad story of Ben Lupo, the Youngstown, OH man who ordered an employee to dump fracking wastewater down a sewer drain—wastewater that ended up in the Mahoning River (see Youngstown Business Dumped >200K Gal of Untreated Wastewater). The Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources promptly closed down both of the companies he owns and controls, D&L Energy and Hardrock Excavating (see OH Company Dumping Frack Wastewater in Drain May Appeal Shut-Down). Lupo and his lawyers have been desperately trying to get the “death sentence” for his companies lifted—at least for D&L Energy, a sizable operation with dozens of employees.

Lupo is now trying a new strategy in his attempt to reopen D&L Energy: He’s resigned from both D&L and Hardrock and has turned over ownership and control of the companies to his wife. D&L has officially “severed all ties” with Lupo. Question is, will it work?

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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA Impact “Fee” Year 2: Revenue Goes Down, Slightly
April 5, 2013April 5, 2013

In early 2012, Pennsylvania enacted the most sweeping rework of oil and gas laws in the state in decades (see Gov. Corbett Signs New Marcellus Drilling Law). Called Act 13, one of the provisions of the law is an “impact fee” collected on each horizontal shale well drilled. The fee is intended to offset the impacts of drilling in places where drilling happens, hence the name. However, in order to get enough support to pass Act 13, politics were played and 40% of the “fee” got re-allocated to non-impact uses—i.e., 40% of the fee became a tax (see PA’s New Tax on Drilling (er Sorry, Impact Fee)). Once the dust settled and the bugs were worked out of the new fee/tax by the state Public Utility Commission—the agency tasked with calculating and collecting it—the first year raised $204 million in revenue (see PA Impact Fee Raises More Revenue than Expected).

The preliminary estimates are now out for the second year, and the fee/tax for year #2 has gone down—from $204 million to $198 million, according to Gov. Tom Corbett. Why? The price of natural gas was lower in 2012 than it was in 2011, putting the fee collected into a different “bracket” (see this page for the somewhat complicated grid that determines how fees are calculated). Gov. Corbett’s comments about year #2 impact fee revenue:

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Air Quality | Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Westmoreland County

Murrysville, PA Stream Monitoring Group Expands to Air Monitoring
April 5, 2013April 5, 2013

A volunteer group in Westmoreland County called the Murrysville Stream Monitoring Group tests seven local streams once each month, looking for total dissolved solids. They’ve been testing since September of last year. The group was started and is populated by anti-drillers, people opposed to Marcellus Shale drilling. The locations they’ve selected to test are close to active Marcellus well drilling operations. What have they found so far? Nothing. Each stream has passed every test they’ve done—both upstream close to well drilling and downstream away from drilling. Same result—nothing.

Since they aren’t finding anything in the streams, maybe it’s time for the Murrysville Group to turn their attention to the air. And so they have. But monitoring air is expensive, requiring equipment that costs $3,000 per unit. The group wants three units, and they want taxpayers to fund it:

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Energy Companies | Gastar Exploration | Marshall County | West Virginia | Wetzel County

Gastar Exploration – Rising Star in the Marcellus?
April 5, 2013April 5, 2013

An article on the Seeking Alpha blog site highlights the (so-far) underperformance, and now potential upside for Gastar Exploration in the Marcellus Shale. The article refers to Gastar as a “rising star” in the Marcellus.

Here’s a brief portion of the article with a map showing Gastar’s “liquids-rich” lease holdings and where they’ve already drilled (in WV):

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Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Wastewater

Obama “Inches” Toward Approving Barge Shipments of Frack Water
April 5, 2013April 5, 2013

GreenHunter Water (and others) anxiously await approval from the Coast Guard to allow shipment of fracking wastewater by barge. GreenHunter has a lot riding on the Coast Guard’s decision (see GreenHunter’s Plans to Move Wastewater by Barge Delayed). Anti-drillers are attempting to prevent barge shipments of frack water as a tactic to discourage drilling. They ignore the glaring fact that substances far more toxic than frack water are shipped on river barges each and every day of the week, all done with a sterling safety record.

Reuters is now reporting that the Coast Guard has recommended barge shipments be allowed and has supplied the Obama administration with a draft rule to do it. Reuters also reports the administration is “inching ahead” with plans to approve the rule:

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Education | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

A Plethora of Shale Organizations/Institutes Spring Up in PA
April 5, 2013April 5, 2013

Although there’s a small minority of mouthy people opposed to shale drilling in Pennsylvania (groups like the Sierra Club and PennFuture), most companies and organizations are clamoring to get a piece of the Marcellus drilling industry action in the Keystone State. Case in point: Several years ago the industry-backed Marcellus Shale Coalition was launched, a fabulous organization that promotes Marcellus Shale drilling and ensures certain standards are met by its members. It’s a “carrot” kind of organization—encouraging drillers to join and conform to common-sense rules. A few weeks ago, a new ad hoc group of drillers and environmentalists announced the launch of the Center for Sustainable Shale Development, or “CSSD” (see Important: Drillers & Enviros Form New Group, Launch Cert Program). CSSD wants to supplement state regulations with even tougher, more expensive rules. CSSD wants to force drillers to get their certification—a “stick” kind of organization. Not to be outdone, a few days after CSSD launched yet another group unveiled itself, called the Shale Gas Roundtable. They too are crafting “rules to drill by” that will soon be released (see Out of the Shadows: Another New Group Wants to Regulate PA Shale).

Academe wants in on the action too…

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Energy Companies | Health Impacts | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Washington County

Pittsburgh Newspapers Not Ready to Concede Defeat in Range Case
April 5, 2013April 5, 2013

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Washington, PA Observer-Reporter are not quite ready to throw in the towel on what increasingly looks like a vendetta against Range Resources. The two newspapers sued in May 2012 to have court documents unsealed in a settlement between Range and the Hallowich family in Washington County, PA (see Pittsburgh Newspapers Sue to Unseal Drilling Court Case). The newspapers were hoping to find evidence that Range had covered up a case where their drilling (fracking) had led to contamination of the Hallowich’s water well, or perhaps had adversely affected their health. A judge recently unsealed the court documents and guess what? No evidence of water contamination (see Judge Orders Range/Landowner Settlement in PA Made Public).

Not only was there no water contamination, the Hallowich’s signed an affidavit stating there has been no ill health effects as well (see Affidavit in Range PA Settlement Shows No Drilling Health Impacts). Oops. Major egg on the face of the newspapers. Or using a different metaphor, they went fishing and didn’t even get a bite. What to do? We know! Gin up a false controversy that there’s still a missing document from the the mountains of documents the court released. Yeah, that’ll be worth a few more headlines and copies sold. After all, we have to somehow help pay for the lawyers and time we burned on this effort…

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Housing | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Regulation | West Virginia

Moundsville, WV Clamps Down on Marcellus Trailer Parks
April 5, 2013April 5, 2013

The City of Moundsville (Marshall County), WV is clamping down on the number of trailer and camper sites in town. A number of new sites have sprung up recently because of nearby Marcellus Shale drilling:

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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Apr 5, 2013
April 5, 2013April 5, 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: Fri, Apr 5, 2013”
Economic Impact | Guest Post | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Guest Post: Susquehanna County’s Astonishing Resource Potential
April 4, 2013April 5, 2013

The following article was written by MDN friend and prolific contributor of links and story ideas, Chris Acker. Chris splits his time between Montrose, PA (in Susquehanna County) and Savannah, GA. Here is his biography from the Seeking Alpha website:

Christopher Acker, Geological Engineer with an MBA, grew up in the oil fields of Venezuela where his father, a petroleum engineer, was a drilling contractor for all the major players, onshore and off. Chris’ interest in energy economics and policy found him working for Exxon, Petroleum Industry Research Associates and Petroleos de Venezuela. He bought a parcel of land in the PA countryside twenty-five years ago and later semi-retired to work on antique pianos. See www.PianoGrands.com. A few years ago, it was established that Chris’ property in Susquehanna County sits atop one of the Marcellus shale’s most prolific areas. He is now happily engaged once again in energy economics, with emphasis, naturally, on gas.

Here is Chris’ thoroughly researched, extensively footnoted, superb analysis of Susquehanna County’s potential Marcellus Shale natural gas yield…

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Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Marion County | West Virginia | XTO

District Court Judge Asks WV Supremes to Rule in Surface Rights Case
April 4, 2013April 4, 2013

Waaaay back in July 2011 MDN told you about an interesting legal case in West Virginia in which a surface rights landowner was suing XTO because XTO is (in the opinion of the landowner) abusing the right to set up a well pad on his surface in order to get gas not only under the surface of his property, but also from his neighbors’ property (see WV Marcellus Legal Battle over Well Pads: Surface Rights Owners v. Mineral Rights Owners). The surface landowner, Richard Cain, acknowledges law and precedent allows XTO to set up a well on his land in order to get the gas under his land—but Cain maintains XTO isn’t really all that interested in getting it from under his land, but simply wants to use his convenient location to reach other nearby properties. Cain gets all of the headaches and none of the royalty money. Kind of a raw deal, from his perspective. Can’t blame him.

There is a new development in the case. The judge presiding over the case, U.S. District Judge Irene Keeley, has formally asked the WV Supreme Court to rule on the key question in the case since it will set a precedent (and has far-reaching consequences) for the entire state…

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