Ohio has joined the “200 Club”. As of last week, more than 200 horizontal shale wells have now been drilled in the Utica Shale, according to the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR). Of those 200+ wells drilled, 47 are currently producing.
Here’s where the drilling hot spots are located:
Read More “Ohio Passes 200 Drilled Utica Shale Wells, New Permits Keep Coming”
Note: MDN’s headline originally stated “$100M” in revenue was forfeited. The study’s lead author, Joel Gehman, contacted MDN to correct that number. We misunderstood. They believe the DEP has forfeited two to three times that amount: $205-$303 million.
In an attempt to shame the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) into action to improve their data reporting for unconventional shale wells, researchers at the University of Alberta and McGill University (both in Canada) have published a paper in the journal Environmental Practice claiming the DEP undercounted the number of natural gas wells used for assessing the new Act 13 impact fee, thereby denying the state an extra $100 $205-$303 million they could have received in tax revenue (see article below).
The article/study is titled “An Analysis of Unconventional Gas Well Reporting Under Pennsylvania’s Act 13 of 2012” and is peer reviewed, which supposedly blesses it as being accurate. However, the PA DEP strongly objected to the methodology used by the researchers and has said, point blank, they misunderstand the Act 13 requirements for what constitutes an unconventional well under the Act 13 law. DEP says there is no missing tax revenue due to an undercount. The researchers glibly reply the purpose of the article is to needle the DEP into “fixing” their data problem.
Read More “Did PA DEP Undercount Act 13 Wells & Forfeit $303M in Revenue?”
The Maryland Dept. of Natural Resources has just released a new “Geological Map of Garrett, Allegany and western Washington Counties in Maryland” (embedded below)—the first comprehensive geologic map of the region published in more than 50 years. The map covers the western counties of Maryland, providing a current look at how bedrock units and major surface deposits are distributed. The location of the Marcellus Shale is a prominent feature of the new map.
According to the Maryland DNR:
Read More “New Map Shows Location of Marcellus Shale in Western Maryland”
Halcon Resources continues their rapid pace of new drilling in Trumbull County, Ohio. MDN recently told you that the very first horizontal Utica Shale well to be drilled in Trumbull is now under way by Halcon in Hartford township (see Trumbull County’s First Utica Shale Well Now in Process).
Looks like Lordstown will be the location for the second Trumbull County well to be drilled by Halcon. Here’s exactly where in Lordstown:
Read More “Location of Second Halcon Utica Well in Trumbull County, OH”
For most of 2012 the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) researched how it might encourage, evaluate and control the use of acid mine drainage water for use in fracking natural gas wells. Such a practice would fix two problems at the same time—clean up acid mine drainage, and provide an abundant source for water to use in fracking. The DEP announced yesterday they have finalized their procedures and have published them in a white paper (see the white paper embedded below).
More than 300 million gallons of water is discharged from mines in PA waterways every day—a really big problem. This initiative is a win/win for the state.
Read More “PA DEP Finalizes Procedure for Using Acid Mine Water in Fracking”
Unfortunately MDN editor Jim Willis could not attend the Albany, NY rally yesterday to show support for fracking. Both sides of the debate were out with placards and signs in the state capital in a show of support (or opposition) for the benefit of a single person: Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who delivered his State of the State address. On his way to the Capitol, Cuomo got to see signs and shouts of support/opposition from both sides. What did he see?
Read More “Out-of-Towners Show up at NY State of State Address to Oppose Fracking”
Trumbull County, Ohio apparently has a new driller. No permits have been issued yet, but local land deeds show that Lario Oil and Gas, a Kansas-based company, has leased the mineral rights for “hundreds of acres” in Newton Township. They say they have leased thousands of acres in eastern Ohio:
Hess Corporation announced its plans for 2013 yesterday. Among those plans—drill a lot more unconventional (i.e. shale) wells. Some of the drilling they’ve budgeted for 2013 includes “appraisal wells” in the Ohio Utica Shale.
From the Hess announcement:
Read More “Hess Announces 2013 Plans, Includes Ohio Utica Drilling”
Atlas Resource Partners, an exploration & production master limited partnership which owns an interest in over 10,100 producing natural gas and oil wells, primarily in the Marcellus/Utica Shale region in the northeast, and the Barnett Shale in Texas, released an update yesterday on their drilling and hedging plans for 2013.
From the announcement:
Read More “Atlas Resource Partners – Drilling Plans for 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: Thu, Jan 10, 2013”
With the resignation of Lisa Jackson as Administrator of the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—good riddance!—the speculation now turns to who her replacement will be, and whether or not that replacement will continue her legacy of trying to screw up fossil fuel energy in this country. The rumor mill has begun in earnest over who Obama will select.
Here’s a short list of possible replacements, picked up from a Bloomberg article, along with MDN’s own pick:
Last year MDN told you about a deal in Tioga County, NY between landowners with 135,000 acres and drilling company eCORP to use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG, or propane) fracking as an alternative to water-based fracking. The deal, which had a complicated structure with the landowners as part-owners of the venture, fell apart (see Tioga County, NY Lease Deal with eCORP Falls Apart). One of the interesting aspects of that story is that by using a non-water-based fracking method, eCORP may have been able to proceed with drilling ahead of New York’s much-delayed new fracking regulations. However, that theory never came to a test.
Here’s the new news: eCORP was going to use GASFRAC’s LPG fracking technology in Tioga County. Since that time, a newly formed subsidiary of eCORP called eCORP Stimulation Technologies has developed its own LPG fracking technology that uses 100% propane and zero chemicals or additives of any kind. eCORP fracked the very first shale well with the new technology in December…
Read More “eCORP Tests New Waterless LPG Fracking Method on First Shale Well”
In a regulatory filing on Monday, Chesapeake Energy said it will not pay CEO Aubrey McClendon a bonus for 2012. Since 2009 he’s received a $1.95 million bonus each year. But the company had a tough year in 2012 with the revelation that some of McClendon’s financing deals were a bit sketchy. Too, the stock price for the company took a real tumble in 2012 because of a lot of debt, and the company’s chief asset—the ability to produce natural gas—suffered from the low commodity price for natgas. Chesapeake ended up selling off many assets to pay down their debt. Throw it all in the pot and Aubrey had a lot of Excedrin headaches last year.
What we know about the recent regulatory filing, and a quick recap of Chesapeake’s tough year in 2012:
Read More “Chesapeake’s CEO McClendon Will Not Get a $1.95M Bonus for 2012”
Three anti-fracking New York Assembly Democrats—all three chairmen of important Assembly committees—sent a letter on Monday (full copy embedded below) to Gov. Andrew Cuomo asking, or rather demanding, that the state Dept. of Environmental Conservation stop the clock on the current 30-day public comment period. Their rationale? An old internal DEC report produced and never released to the public says fracking won’t harm public health. “Wrong answer” is their response—and they intend to make noise about it until they get the “right answer”—which of course (for them) is that fracking does harm public health.
Read More “NY Assemblyman Try to Stop the Clock on Fracking Comment Period”
Crestwood Midstream Partners, a pipeline and processing plant company with operations in the Marcellus Shale, announced yesterday they are increasing their Marcellus commitment by buying out the remaining portion of a joint venture for $258 million. Most of Crestwood’s Marcellus operations are located in the liquids-rich portion of the play in northern WV. This latest move comes after Antero Resources sold their gathering system in Harrison and Doddridge counties, WV to Crestwood for $375 million in February 2012 (see Antero Sells WV Midstream Operation to Crestwood for $375M).
Read More “Crestwood Midstream Ups Marcellus Investment, Buys Out Investors”
Yesterday the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released their monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), which includes the outlook for natural gas. EIA has some of the best and brightest that crunch the numbers, so when they issue their reports, people pay attention. EIA reports are not exactly a crystal ball to predict the future—but they’re darned close.
The Marcellus Shale of Pennsylvania and West Virginia is mentioned prominently in this update, including its predicted role in boosting overall natural gas production this year. Below is the natural gas portion of the STEO, with predictions for prices, production and consumption in 2013:
Read More “Marcellus Shale’s Prominent Role in Latest EIA Outlook”