Last week MDN told you about a lawsuit by landowners in Preston County, WV who sued to rescind leases they had signed for as little as $5 per acres (see Lawsuit: WV Landowners Want Out of $5/Acre Leases).
The companies being sued, Magnum Land Services and Belmont Resources LLC, have filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit:
Antero Resources continues to sign residents of the village of Barnesville (Belmont County), OH to leases with terms of $5,700 per acre for a signing bonus, plus 20% royalties. A month ago MDN told you about the push by Antero in Belmont County and Barnesville (see Antero Offers Barnesville, OH Residents $5,700/Acre 20% Royalties).
According to one of Antero’s main cheerleaders, Barnesville Mayor Ron Bischof, the company has signed a number of residents (records show over 800 leases) and they’re still offering the same deal. It’s not too late…
Read More “Antero Continues to Sign Leases with Barnesville, OH Residents”
MDN tries to avoid “inside baseball” stories as much as possible—those stories that are highly technical and involve complex math and science. We avoid them not because they aren’t important—they are. But because readers often don’t have the time to study the issue properly to understand it. When possible, we try to interpret such stories and give you “the bottom line.” This is one of those stories.
In December 2011, the Journal of Geophysical Research (JGR) published a paper by a number of authors associated with NOAA—the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The paper, titled “Hydrocarbon emissions characterization in the Colorado Front Range – A pilot study,” took a close look at natural gas drilling and using some rather complex science, made the bombshell claim that a large amount of methane escapes into the atmosphere during the drilling process. In the parlance of scientists, the issue is called “fugitive emissions.” Those who buy the claims of manmade global warming say methane is a “potent” greenhouse gas—so if a lot of it escapes into the atmosphere, that’s a bad thing. It causes the globe to heat up.
Read More “NOAA Methane Study from 2011 is Flawed – Final Answer”
Below are upcoming events for this week and next.
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, Mar 11, 2013”
Two days ago the Federal Reserve released their bi-monthly survey of regional economic trends, called “the Beige Book.” One of the stars in the current edition of the Beige Book (full copy embedded below) is the Marcellus and Utica Shale. Shale drilling is mentioned prominently for Region III (Philadelphia) and Region IV (Cleveland).
According to the Fed, shale drilling is expanding rapidly, and along with it an increase in banking, manufacturing and other sectors. Sort of “a rising tide raises all boats” theme.
Read More “Latest Fed Beige Book Credits Shale with Economic Expansion”
Earlier this week the New York State Assembly voted to ban horizontal fracking until May 2015 (see Lights Out on NY Fracking? Senate, Assembly Dems Push 2-Year Ban). One NY Assemblyman said—on the floor of the Assembly—that his Democrat colleagues are waging an “intellectual and political jihad” against fossil fuels (see NY Assemblyman Says Colleagues are Waging Jihad Against Fracking). If anti-drillers want to ensure the current ban stays, the next step is to get the NY Senate to pass a similar bill.
One of New York’s top Republican senators (who happens to be from the Southern Tier) is Tom Libous. If he has his way, Sen. Libous says there won’t be a vote in the Senate on a moratorium. In fact, he’s working hard to ensure it doesn’t happen:
Read More “NY Republican Senator Works to Thwart Assembly’s Ban Vote”
Trans Energy continues to drill solely in the Marcellus Shale of West Virginia. Yesterday they released initial production numbers on two more newly drilled wells—in Marshall County, WV (see below). In late November the company released IP numbers for for a pair of wells in Wetzel County (see Trans Energy Update on WV Marcellus Wells: “Two of Our Best”). Once again company CEO John Corp says these two new wells in Marshall are “two of our best performing wells to date.”
Corp also says the company is starting to produce “operational consistency” and a repeatable “manufacturing process” for drilling successful wells. Trans Energy is deploying two additional drilling rigs in Marshall and Marion counties now with plans to also drill in Tyler County later this year.
Read More “Trans Energy Production Numbers for Wells in Marshall County, WV”
It appears Ohio Republicans have grown a backbone and are opposing the plan by Gov. John Kasich to raise the oil and gas severance tax in the state in order to transfer wealth from landowners and drillers (the ones who earn it) to everyone else (who don’t earn it). At a meeting yesterday of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association, Ohio State Treasurer Josh Mandel said he opposes the governor’s plan to raise the severance tax. Later in the day, Ohio House Speaker Bill Batchelder also piled on and predicted the tax hike will not pass in this year’s budget.
True to form, a Kasich spokesman said “big oil is a powerful lobby with very deep pockets,” implying Mandel, Batchelder and other Republicans are either scared, have been bought off, or both. Whatever happened to John Kasich, once a rising conservative star? That John is long gone…
Read More “Prominent OH Republicans Oppose Kasich Severance Tax Hike”
It’s increasingly evident that Sally Jewell, currently CEO of Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) and Obama’s choice to head the Dept. of Interior is just another garden-variety liberal Democrat. In Senate confirmation hearings yesterday she avoided questions about her involvement in lawsuits launched by the National Parks Conservation Association, a group she vice chairs that’s suing coal-fired electrical generating plants—shutting them down and killing jobs.
Jewell also wouldn’t say whether or not she favors the most idiotic idea of all time—a “carbon tax.” Translation: She favors it. Her involvement in lawsuits against coal-fired plants and her support of a carbon tax should disqualify her, but we expect she’ll sail through confirmation anyway. Oh! She’s also a true believer in man-made global warming—icing on the cake…
Read More “Obama Interior Candidate Jewell Tries to Claim She’s Pro-Drilling”
A recently released released study by the Congressional Research Service titled “U.S. Crude Oil and Natural Gas Production in Federal and Non-Federal Areas” (full copy embedded below) appears to be quite damning of the Obama regime. The raw numbers don’t lie: All of the increase in oil production in the U.S. from 2007-2012 happened on non-federal lands. Meanwhile, natural gas production on federal lands (including off-shore) decreased by 33% since 2007, and on non-federal lands, it increased by 40%! Is that not ample evidence that Obama’s policies are killing oil and gas development where they control it—on federal lands?
Yes and no, according none other than the National Review, the premier conservative magazine founded by William F. Buckley, Jr….
Read More “Is Obama to Blame for Decrease in Federal Oil/Gas Production?”
Residents living in the northern panhandle of West Virginia who want to get high-paying jobs in the rapidly expanding Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling industry but don’t have “skills” now have an option—go back to school.
Pierpont Community and Technical College (in Fairmont) and Northern West Virginia Community and Technical College (in Wheeling, Weirton and New Martinsville) will begin offering a new petroleum technology program this fall to train Marcellus Shale workers:
Read More “WV Community Colleges Launch New Marcellus Training Program”
The BP-Husky Refinery, a 94 year-old oil and gasoline refinery in Oregon, OH (near Toledo), showed off a $400 million upgrade yesterday. The new upgrade took two years and 1,500 short-term workers to complete and will make the refinery more efficient, less polluting and enable it to refine better grades of gasoline.
The interesting part for MDN readers: Right now the refinery gets most of its crude oil from Canada, but new sources of crude are starting to flow from Ohio itself, as well as Pennsylvania and West Virginia—from the Utica and Marcellus Shale. The upgraded refinery has more flexibility to process different types of crude, including Ohio crude…
Read More “BP Refinery Near Toledo Gets Upgrade, Anticipates OH Crude”
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, Mar 8, 2013”
Yesterday, as expected, the heavily Democrat New York State Assembly passed a bill (103 to 40) that would ban fracking in the state for yet another two years—even though fracking has already been banned for nearly five years (a copy of the bill as passed is embedded below). We’re not quite sure what another two years will tell us we don’t already know after five—but that’s Democrat jihadists for you. Harsh word there—jihad—but it was aptly used on the floor of the Assembly by a Republican assemblyman to describe what’s really going on in New York—and we concur.
The Assembly’s action yesterday is not about “one more health study” to triply ensure nothing bad will happen to New York residents. It is about a “an intellectual and political jihad against natural fuels.” Fortunately, it’s unlikely the bill will pass in the NY Senate…
Read More “NY Assemblyman Says Colleagues are Waging Jihad Against Fracking”
A changing of the guard continues at Chesapeake Energy. Today the company announced one of its board members, V. Burns Hargis, is stepping down and will be replaced by Louis A. Raspino. Hargis headed up the internal audit committee that looked into whether or not CEO Aubrey McClendon’s personal financial deals had compromised the company. Hargis and the audit committee concluded nothing improper was done. The Securities & Exchange Commission, however, has transitioned from “a probe” into McClendon’s dealings into “an investigation.”
We suspect Chesapeake’s second largest outside investor, Carl Icahn (a corporate raider looking to flip his investment in the company into big money), also had something to do with Hargis’ departure. Icahn voted against Hargis at the last board election in June 2012. Hargis tendered his resignation immediately following the vote but the board refused it at that time. This time they accepted it.
Read More “Chesapeake Board Member Resigns 2nd Time, Now Accepted”