Marcellus Drilling News

Energy Services | MarkWest Energy

MarkWest 2012: Profits Up Slightly, Processing Volumes Up a Lot
March 1, 2013March 1, 2013

On Wednesday, MarkWest Energy Partners, the largest midstream (pipeline/processing plant) company in the Marcellus and now in the Utica Shale, released an update for 2012 along with comments about where they are headed in 2013. A few highlights: MarkWest made $528 million in profit for 2012, up slightly from the $515 million they made in 2011. Overall processing volumes went up by 23% in 2012. Processing volumes at their Liberty (Marcellus) operation were up an eye-popping 86% in 4Q12 over 4Q11. They now have their eye on the Utica Shale in multiple joint ventures including a deal with EMG to build two new processing facilities in the Utica.

Select portions of the MarkWest update relevant to the Marcellus and Utica:

Read More “MarkWest 2012: Profits Up Slightly, Processing Volumes Up a Lot”
Anadarko | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Statewide PA | Western Gas

Western Gas Enters the Marcellus, Buys 2 Pipeline Systems in PA
March 1, 2013March 1, 2013

Western Gas Partners, a master limited partnership created by Anadarko to “own, operate, acquire and develop midstream energy assets” has until now built and expanded pipeline and processing plants in the southwest, west and mid-continent region. They are now players in the Marcellus Shale as well by paying $623.5 million for a one-third ownership of two natural gas pipeline gathering systems in north-central Pennsylvania. Together, the two systems have a combined throughput of 1.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day.

The company’s announcement about the two deals and how they will finance them:

Read More “Western Gas Enters the Marcellus, Buys 2 Pipeline Systems in PA”
Accidents | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Noble Energy | Wastewater | West Virginia

Brine Wastewater Spill in Marshall County, WV Investigated
March 1, 2013March 1, 2013

Last Friday Noble Energy discovered a valve left open on a brine wastewater storage pond was allowing brine water to pour out—some 2,264 barrels (95,000 gallons) in Marshall County, WV. Brine “wastewater” is not fracking wastewater and does not contain fracking chemicals. It’s naturally-occurring water from deep below the surface that seeps out of drilled holes long after initial drilling is done. Brine contains a lot of minerals, and sometimes low amounts of radium—hence the anti-drillers mantra “it’s radioactive!”

When an accident like this happens, and when the water reaches a local tributary as it did with this incident by getting into the Big Wheeling Creek, it’s not nothing. It’s also not an ecological disaster. Fortunately, the spill was largely contained in sediment traps designed to do just what they did—stop most of the water from spreading. Here’s what we know so far about the accident:

Read More “Brine Wastewater Spill in Marshall County, WV Investigated”
Energy Services | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Sand/Proppant | Stark County | Unimin

New Utica Frack Sand Terminal Opens Near Canton, OH
March 1, 2013March 1, 2013

Frack sand company Unimin Corporation announced yesterday they have opened a new proppant (or frack sand) distribution terminal in Navarre (Stark County), Ohio—near Canton. Unimin will provide frack sand to Utica Shale drillers from the facility. This is the company’s seventh terminal in the Marcellus and Utica region (see the complete list below).

The company’s announcement:

Read More “New Utica Frack Sand Terminal Opens Near Canton, OH”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Unions Say Anti-Fracking Celebrities are Killing Jobs in NY
March 1, 2013March 1, 2013

New York State unions are blasting Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon, Mark Ruffalo and other celebrities (elitist 1 percenters) for killing jobs for hard-working union members (99 percenters) with their activist opposition to shale gas drilling and fracking in New York.

Greg Lancette, political director of the New York State Pipetrades Association—14 local unions with 25,000 members—penned the following op-ed that appears in today’s New York Post:

Read More “Unions Say Anti-Fracking Celebrities are Killing Jobs in NY”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Mar 1, 2013
March 1, 2013March 1, 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, Mar 1, 2013”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

JLCNY Loses Faith in Cuomo, Initiates Lawsuit over Fracking Rules
February 28, 2013February 28, 2013

The Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY), a 77,000-member umbrella organization for New York landowners interested in leasing their property for natural gas drilling, announced yesterday they will move forward with a lawsuit against New York State on behalf of their members. The group has decided to litigate in light of the now expired Feb. 27 deadline to adopt new rules to allow high volume hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the state. MDN spoke to Dan Fitzsimmons, president of the JLCNY. He commented it took Illinois 14 months to research and write new legislation for fracking, and just 8 months for new rules to be researched and adopted in Ohio. New York’s rulemaking process has now languished for more than 4 1/2 years. Enough is enough.

Feeling they are left with no other alternative, the JLCNY will select several representative plaintiffs for the lawsuit that, presuming they win, would serve as a precedent for all landowners in the state to make the same claim. The basis of the lawsuit is a legal concept called “takings.” The U.S. and New York State Constitutions both say government cannot take a citizen’s private property or deny them use of their private property without just compensation. MDN previously interviewed JLCNY attorney Scott Kurkoski about the lawsuit a few weeks ago. Watch that interview here: 77K NY Landowners Prepare Lawsuit Against DEC.

Read More “JLCNY Loses Faith in Cuomo, Initiates Lawsuit over Fracking Rules”
About MDN

A Quick Note from MDN
February 28, 2013February 28, 2013

MDN Editor Jim Willis is freshly (or rather unfreshly) back from Columbus, Ohio today. We’re publishing a single story—an important one—about the impending lawsuit from the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York against the State of New York. We will bring you the rest of our Utica Shale conference notes and all of the rest of the news from across the Marcellus and Utica Shale region tomorrow.
Access Midstream Partners | Blue Racer Midstream | Commodity Price | Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Statewide OH

Live from Columbus, OH… Utica Shale Confab – Day 1
February 27, 2013February 27, 2013

MDN editor Jim Willis is in Columbus, Ohio attending the 2nd Utica Shale Development & Growth Forum. Jim is moderating a panel today (Wednesday) called “Utica from the Media’s Perspective.” On the panel with me are Bob Downing, staff writer with the Akron Beacon Journal, Rick Stouffer, editor of Platts Gas Business Briefing, and Peter Behr, reporter with EnergyWire. All top notch writers from premier publications. I feel honored to sit on a panel with them!

Yesterday (Tuesday) was the first day of the main program and speakers tackled the Utica Shale from their unique perspectives. We heard from the relatively new Access Midstream (formerly Chesapeake Midstream); a geologist; Blue Racer Midstream; and an economist who is head of the Ohio State University’s Sub Surface Energy Resource Center (“Utica Shale Center” for short). Since most MDN readers couldn’t be here, I took good notes to pass along. Below are highlights and interesting tidbits from Day One…

Read More “Live from Columbus, OH… Utica Shale Confab – Day 1”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Feb. 27: (In)Decision Day for Gov. Cuomo and Fracking in NY
February 27, 2013February 27, 2013

It’s D-Day (Decision Day) in New York. Today, Feb. 27, is the final day for the Dept. of Environmental Conservation to release new fracking rules or the process is once again delayed—by at least 45 days and likely much longer. What can we expect? Nothing. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proven he’s indecisive and and not worthy to lead the state, let alone pursue “higher office.” The Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY) is gearing up for a major lawsuit to sue the state for illegal de facto “takings” of its citizens’ private property. If the state is going to deny landowners the right to allow drilling amidst overwhelming evidence it’s safe, the state will have to pay them the equivalent amount of money they would have made by leasing and drilling (certainly billions, maybe trillions?). Hello bankruptcy for New York.

The only thing MDN sees that might postpone a lawsuit by the 77,000-member JLCNY is if DEC Commissioner Joe Martens were to issue a few provisional permits to drill—and issue them today—as a sign of good faith that the state really is serious about completing and adopting new fracking rules. Will that happen? “Not bloody likely” as our Brit friends say…

Read More “Feb. 27: (In)Decision Day for Gov. Cuomo and Fracking in NY”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

New York Democrats Try, Once Again, To Ban Fracking
February 27, 2013February 27, 2013

Although the evidence has always been there for all to see, it’s now abundantly clear that New York’s Democrat party wants to outright kill oil and gas drilling in the state. They prefer economic suicide to facing down the fracking extremists in their own party.

Yesterday, 30 Assembly Democrats, led by the nose by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Environmental Conservation Chairman Robert Sweeney introduced a bill that would ban high volume hydraulic fracturing in the state until 2014. You might as well say it will ban it “forever” because that’s the true intent. They have zero interest in “waiting a little longer for yet one more study.” If you believe that, I have bridge in Brooklyn I’d like to sell you…

Read More “New York Democrats Try, Once Again, To Ban Fracking”
Energy Companies | Range Resources Corp

Range Resources 2012: Production & Revenue Up, Profit Down
February 27, 2013February 27, 2013

Range Resources, the first company to drill a horizontal Marcellus Shale well (in 2004) released it’s fourth quarter and entire year results for 2012 yesterday. Among the highlights: Range reported producing an average 753 million cubic feet per day of natural gas over the entire year—36% more than 2011. By the end of 4Q12, Range was producing 844 Mmcf/d. Much of their production comes in the oil and wet gas rich area of the Marcellus play in southwestern Pennsylvania.

Range’s CEO Jeff Ventura pointed out Range has over one million Marcellus Shale acres and the Marcellus is largely what fueled its growth in 2012. Revenues were up 18% in 2012 over 2011, but profits were down 78% (from $58 million to $13 million) largely due to the low commodity price for natural gas and NGLs. Range spent $234 million to drill 64 wells in 4Q12 and $1.36 billion to drill 298 wells for the year.

Below are select portions from the Range update impacting and reporting on the Marcellus Shale:

Read More “Range Resources 2012: Production & Revenue Up, Profit Down”
Crime | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

GPX Gets Off Easy After Using Illegal Aliens for PA Survey Crew
February 27, 2013February 27, 2013

Last June MDN told you about GPX, a Texas-based seismic surveying company doing work in Pennsylvania for the oil and gas industry that was caught trying to sneak in illegal aliens to work on their surveying crews in PA (see Surveying Company Caught Sneaking Illegal Immigrants to PA). Those in charge faced the prospect of 100 years in prison and paying $5 million in fines. Looks like they’re going to get off easy with a slap on the wrist—a $25,000 fine:

Read More “GPX Gets Off Easy After Using Illegal Aliens for PA Survey Crew”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Feb 27, 2013
February 27, 2013February 27, 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: Wed, Feb 27, 2013”
Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Cabot’s Drilling in Susquehanna County Moves Needle on U.S. Supplies
February 26, 2013February 26, 2013

Another post from energy analyst Richard Zeits on the Seeking Alpha website—this time about the tremendous amount of natural gas Cabot Oil & Gas is mining in Susquehanna County, PA. Zeits says the gas Cabot is finding and selling “may be material to the U.S. supply.” You read that right. One “little” oil and gas driller’s efforts in rural Susquehanna County, PA may well end up influencing the entire U.S. energy picture.

Full of charts and maps and oodles of great information, here’s a small portion of Zeits’ analysis, a prediction for how long Cabot will be drilling in Susquehanna County, and how many wells they’ll end up drilling there:

Read More “Cabot’s Drilling in Susquehanna County Moves Needle on U.S. Supplies”
Energy Companies | Gastar Exploration | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | NGLs | Pipelines | West Virginia

Gastar’s 2013 Marshall County Plan: Drill More, Wait on Pipelines
February 26, 2013March 14, 2013

Gastar loves Marshall County, WV. Why? They not only find just natural gas when they drill in Marshall, they also find “wet gas” or natural gas liquids too. Gastar plans to drill another 19 new wells in Marshall this year.

However, there is a cloud with Gastar’s silver lining: Lack of pipelines will mean Gastar needs to slow their drilling later this year. Here’s a quick update on Gastar’s Marshall County plans for 2013:

Read More “Gastar’s 2013 Marshall County Plan: Drill More, Wait on Pipelines”