Marcellus Drilling News

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…

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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:

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Rural PA Bank has Too Much Cash from Marcellus Customers
March 18, 2013March 18, 2013

When was the last time you heard about a country bank that had so much money, it was having problems finding enough people and businesses to lend it to? Yeah, we’ve never heard of that either.

Until now…

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Anadarko | Energy Companies | Muskingum County | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Is Anadarko Leaving the Ohio Utica Shale?
March 18, 2013March 18, 2013

A story in the Columbus Dispatch floats the rumor that Anadarko Petroleum, one of the country’s largest drillers, has not only suspended plans to drill in a 9,000-acre wild game preserve in Muskingum County, OH (known as “the Wilds”), but they also may be abandoning plans to drill anywhere in the Ohio Utica and the 141,000 acres they control…

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH

The Non-Issue of Water “Disappearing” in the Fracking Process
March 18, 2013March 18, 2013

As the number of Utica Shale wells drilled in Ohio increases, so too does the need for water. Each well fracked uses, on average, about 5 million gallons of water. Some of that water is recycled, but most of it (80%) stays in the ground. Anti-drillers try to use the issue of water “disappearing” from the hydrologic cycle to scare the hoi polloi, but a Gannett article does a nice job of laying those fears to rest.

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Crime | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Mahoning County | Ohio | Wastewater

Youngstown Wastewater Dumper Pleads Not Guilty in Federal Court
March 18, 2013March 18, 2013

Some truly amazing chutzpah from the Youngstown, OH company caught dumping untreated frack wastewater down a drain that eventually emptied into the Mahoning River (see Youngstown Shale Wastewater Dumper Faces Jail and Big Fines for background).

Ben Lupo, the owner of the company who concocted the “allegedly” illegal plan, and Michael Guesman, the employee he co-opted into participating, both pled “not guilty” in federal court on Friday to the very acts they’ve already admitted doing:

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Hancock County (OH) | Hardin County | Ohio | Seneca County (OH) | Statewide OH | Wyandot County

Some OH Counties Happy Their Oil Prospects Improve on ODNR Map
March 18, 2013March 18, 2013

The new “best places to drill” map from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) continues to generate buzz. Some counties, like Meigs, are happy they’re back on the map for natural gas drilling (see related article from today). Other counties are saying, “Hey look, we’re on the map for oil!”

Four counties along the western edge of the Utica on the map for potential oil drilling include…

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Meigs County | Ohio

Meigs County, OH “Back on the Map” for Possible Utica Drilling
March 18, 2013March 18, 2013

The prospects for Utica Shale drilling in Meigs County, OH may have just improved. Last year the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) released a revised “best places to drill” map that pretty much removed Meigs County from contention for Utica Shale drilling. Leasing in the county tanked. Two weeks ago, that same map was revised and a good portion of Meigs (located in southeastern OH) is once again “back on the map”…

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Energy Companies | PDC Energy | Utica Shale

PDC Nearly Doubles Utica Shale Drilling Budget for 2013
March 18, 2013March 18, 2013

PDC Energy announced today they are nearly doubling their drilling investment in the Utica Shale—this year—from $53 million to $96 million. They plan to keep one drilling rig busy at all times in the Utica this year and drill a total of 11 Utica Shale wells. Their plans also include a deal with MarkWest Energy to provide midstream services for the wells they drill. PDC also plans to use a small amount—$9 million—for drilling in the Marcellus Shale.

PDC’s announcement today:

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Appalachian Resins | Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Processing Plants | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Cracker Talk: WV Says Small/Regional Ethane Cracker on the Way
March 18, 2013March 18, 2013

The Marcellus 2 Manufacturing (or M2M) Conference convenes this week in Charleston, WV (see this MDN calendar announcement). One of the main topics of conversation for the event? You guessed it—West Virginia will soon get its own ethane cracker plant. The talk now is that WV will get a “baby cracker” online long before Shell builds a full-sized cracker in Monaca, PA.

Joe Eddy, chairman of the West Virginia Manufacturers Association (chief sponsor of the M2M conference), is president and CEO of Eagle Manufacturing in Wellsburg, WV. Here’s what he said about a small/regional ethane cracker recently announced for WV:

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Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies

Overview of Magnum Hunter’s Operations in Marcellus/Utica
March 18, 2013March 18, 2013

An article on the Seeking Alpha website takes a close look at Magnum Hunter Resources and offers the author’s opinion on where the company should focus in 2013 (the author believes Kentucky and Tennessee should be the focus). As part of the article, we get this overview of how much acreage Magnum Hunter holds in the Marcellus and Utica, how many wells they’ve drilled thus far (hint: not many), and a map of their acreage position in Appalachia:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research | Statewide WV | Wastewater | West Virginia

WVU Study Finds Potential Problems with Frack Wastewater Pits
March 18, 2013March 18, 2013

As part of the West Virginia Natural Gas Horizontal Well Control Act passed and signed into law in December 2011, the state legislature directed the WV Dept. of Environment Protection to conduct several studies. One of those studies, due by Dec. 31, 2012, was the Impoundment and Pit Safety Study. The study was done on Dec. 17, but only recently released to the public (February 15, 2013).

Details are now emerging from the study (full copy of the study is embedded below), including a warning there may be problems with the way oil and gas drillers are building waste pits for shale drilling, and with how state inspectors are checking them:

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Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Seneca Resources | Statewide PA

PA Enviro Groups Oppose Using Acid Mine Water for Fracking
March 18, 2013March 18, 2013

The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection and elected officials want Marcellus drillers to help them with a big problem in the state: acid mine drainage. To solve two “problems” at once—lessen the amount of acid mine water that drains into PA waterways and supply water for fracking—PA encourages drillers to use acid mine water with the Environmental Good Samaritan Act and with a Consent Order and Agreement (see PA Wants Drillers to Use Acid Mine Water in Fracking – Will They?). PA’s efforts have started to pay off. Seneca Resources and at least 10 other drillers have started to use acid mine water for fracking.

However, just like a bad Western movie, extremist environmental organizations have ridden in to ruin the day. Legislation to encourage more use of acid mine water for fracking was recently introduced by a Democrat (!) Senate member. PennEnvironment and other “environmental activists” have sidelined the legislation…

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