Marcellus Drilling News

Energy Companies | Hess

Corporate Raider Paul Singer Tries to Force Hess Out of Shale
February 1, 2013February 1, 2013

Corporate raider Paul Singer is pushing Hess Corp. to get out of shale drilling. Singer’s company, Elliott Management Corp., is one of Hess’ largest investors owning 4% of company stock. On Jan. 25, Elliott Management gave notice it’s buying another $800 million of company stock and would make a play to replace some board members in order shake up management at the company.

Hess announced earlier this week it’s selling off it’s last refinery and getting out of the refining business and will become an exploration and production company. As for selling off their operations in the Utica, Bakken or Eagle Ford Shale plays and getting out of shale? Hess CEO John Hess tells Singer, no thanks buddy…

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Atlas Energy | Chevron | CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Statewide PA

Top 5 Drillers in SW Pennsylvania by Number of Wells Drilled
February 1, 2013February 1, 2013

Each year the Pittsburgh Business Times ranks the “top 25” drillers in southwestern PA according to the total number of wells they’ve drilled to date in the Marcellus Shale. The 2013 list was published today.

Here’s the top five from that list—with driller name and the number of wells drilled:

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Beaver County | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell | Statewide PA

Gov Tom Corbett: Shell Cracker Plant in PA Not “Off the Rails”
February 1, 2013February 1, 2013

Shell was supposed to purchase land in Monaca (Beaver County), PA to build a new $2 billion ethane cracker plant (a multi-year project) by Dec. 31, 2012, but instead Shell and the owner of the site signed a six-month extension to (according to a Shell spokesperson) give Shell more time to assess the site’s suitability and time to crunch the numbers to provide Shell “confirmation that the project is economically robust and competitive” (see Shell Ethane Cracker in PA Still Not a Done Deal).

The six-month delay has led to rumors that the deal for Monaca may be in doubt. Wednesday after a speech at the Marcellus Midstream Conference in Pittsburgh, PA Gov. Tom Corbett said contrary to those pesky rumors, Shell is not checking out other states to build the ethane cracker plant and that the delay in purchasing the land is due to lawyers “dotting I’s and crossing T’s.” Here’s how it played out:

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Ohio County | Supply Chain | West Virginia

Strange/Interesting Things Companies Sell to the Shale Industry
February 1, 2013February 1, 2013

It never ceases to amaze MDN the kinds of businesses that benefit from Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling. Here’s yet another one we bet you didn’t know about: The West Virginia manufacturer sells a 6,000-pound “cattle stop” to the Marcellus and Utica drilling industry.

Er, what is a cattle stop, and who does this manufacturer sell them to? Read on…

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Commodity Price | Industrywide Issues

What’s the Break-Even Price of Marcellus NatGas for Drillers?
February 1, 2013February 6, 2013

Another stellar column from Seeking Alpha blogger and energy analyst Richard Zeits—this one delving into the thorny topic of, “At what natural gas commodity price is it profitable for a driller to continue drilling?” In particular, at what price in the Marcellus Shale.

His column begins this way:

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Antero Resources | Energy Companies | Harrison County | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Antero Says 2013 Plans for WV Drilling are “Aggressive”
February 1, 2013February 1, 2013

Drilling company Antero Resources continues to grow its presence and commitment to the state of West Virginia. Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin issued is 2013 annual doing business in WV report (called the West Virginia Edge Business Report) yesterday. In the report we found this interesting brief statement about Antero building a new office complex in Bridgeport:

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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio | Statewide OH

Chesapeake Wins Permit Case Before OH Supreme Court
February 1, 2013February 1, 2013

Chesapeake Energy has won an important appeal before the Ohio Supreme Court that ruled the Ohio Oil and Gas Commission did not have jurisdiction to hear an appeals case from a landowner over a permit issued to Chesapeake from the OH Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management to drill on the property. It was a case of the wrong agency sitting in judgment—the wrong “referee” if you will:

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Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Stark County | Utica Shale

Stark County, OH Labor & Business on Same Page: Frack Here
February 1, 2013February 1, 2013

When was the last time local governments, labor unions, businesses, chambers of commerce and construction contractors were all on the same page? Yeah, we can’t remember that time either. Except it’s here—now. And it’s happening in Stark County, Ohio were all of those groups have come together to kick off a new initiative they call Choose Stark—an outreach to encourage Utica Shale drilling and fracking in Stark County.

We say that’s pretty cool and a lesson for other regions to consider:

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Cambria County | Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Greene County (PA) | Hilcorp Energy | Lawrence County | Lease & Royalty Payments | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania General Energy | Washington County

PA Game Commission Gets Big Royalties on New State Land Leases
February 1, 2013February 1, 2013

The Pennsylvania Game Commission voted on Wednesday to approve oil and gas drilling agreements on state land in five PA counties—some of the deals are new and some are extensions/renewals of existing deals. That’s newsworthy in and of itself (and sure to drive anti-drillers bonkers).

The news for landowners in this story, however, is the royalty percentages for the new land deals. Some impressive numbers:

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Dominion Energy | Energy Services

Dominion 2012: Profits Tumble, Marcellus/Utica Midstream Expand
February 1, 2013February 1, 2013

Yesterday Dominion, a large utility and midstream (pipeline/processing plant) company headquartered in the “Old Dominion” state of Virginia, yesterday announced full year 2012 earnings. Dominion made a profit of $581 million in 2012. Which is impressive! But not so impressive when you consider they made a profit of $1.41 billion in 2011. Why the tumble? Investments in major projects during 2012, accounting this and that—the usual.

As always, MDN is interested in what they say about their projects in the Marcellus and Utica Shale. From the entire (lengthy) press release from yesterday, we have one paragraph that touches on Marcellus & Utica:

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Air Quality | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA DEP Finalizes Air Pollution Rules for Drillers & Compressors
February 1, 2013February 1, 2013

The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) yesterday announced final revisions to the “general permit” (GP-5) that governs air emissions for pipeline compressor stations and for drill sites. The new allowable limits, endorsed by the PA drilling industry, are “75 to 90 percent stricter than current limits” and go beyond federal rules according to the DEP.

The new DEP rules will allow the industry to install and use more engines at compressor stations and on the drill pad (engines powered by the natural gas being produced) to encourage the overall reduction in pollution. Here’s the announcement from the DEP:

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Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Regulation

Law Firm Launches Study of Legal Trends in Shale Development
February 1, 2013February 1, 2013

Yeah, we know it’s a press release from a law firm (we see them every day!). But this one, MDN reckons, is noteworthy. The 12th largest oil and gas law firm in the country, Steptoe & Johnson (with offices about everywhere in the Marcellus & Utica Shale), is conducting a study of legal trends for businesses working to develop the Marcellus, Utica and other shale plays. The results are due to be released in April and should be interesting.

Here’s the details about the new study (and how you can participate) from Steptoe & Johnson:

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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Feb 1, 2013
February 1, 2013February 1, 2013

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

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About MDN

MDN on Brief Respite Today, Jan 31
January 31, 2013

Unless it’s a very rare holiday, you know that MDN comes to you Monday through Friday (and Sunday) without fail. Except today. MDN editor Jim Willis is unavoidably detained today (family medical situation). MDN will be back tomorrow—Friday—as usual. Thanks for your understanding.

– Jim Willis
Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies

Breaking: Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon Gets Pink Slip
January 30, 2013January 30, 2013

It’s no secret that Chesapeake Energy had a tough year in 2012. Chesapeake’s stock price tanked by 43%—from too much debt, historically low natural gas prices and vicious, repeated media attacks by the Reuters and Bloomberg “news” agencies. Chesapeake’s troubles reached a tipping point yesterday when Aubrey McClendon, Chesapeake’s “bad boy” CEO, announced he is retiring from the company he built from the ground up 24 years ago. Today, Chesapeake is a multi-billion corporation and the second largest natural gas driller in the United States behind ExxonMobil.

McClendon’s announcement that he is “retiring” from the company on April 1, at age 53, is really big news for MDN readers. Chesapeake is the largest driller in the Utica Shale, and one of the largest in the Marcellus. When Chesapeake sneezes, the Marcellus/Utica catches a cold.

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Accidents | Columbia Pipeline Group | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | NiSource | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Feds Eye Regulating PA Marcellus Gathering Pipelines
January 30, 2013January 30, 2013

In early December, the Columbia Gas Transmission pipeline (owned by Nisource) exploded near Sissonville, WV—10 miles north of Charleston (see Columbia NatGas Pipeline Explodes Near Charleston, WV). The repercussions are still being felt. WV Sen. Jay Rockefeller held a Senate “field hearing” about pipeline safety on Monday in Charleston, WV. The first person to testify was Sissonville resident Sue Bonham who thought the world was literally be blowing up. The fire that burned in Sissonville near her home for more than an hour was so hot it burned the asphalt on I-77 into cinders.

So it’s no surprise that the federal government would start nosing around non-federally regulated (smaller) pipelines. Apparently they’ve set their sites on local gathering lines in the PA Marcellus:

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