Marcellus Drilling News

Chesapeake Energy | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Status Report on Chesapeake’s Utica Shale Drilling Program
December 21, 2012December 21, 2012

Chesapeake Energy is the second largest natural gas producer in the United States, behind ExxonMobil. If you’ve followed the shale gas drilling space for any length of time, you no doubt have heard about Chesapeake’s “problems” this past year. Their main problem is overextension: Leasing too much acreage without possessing enough money to drill on it. A further complication has been the low price of natural gas, meaning Chesapeake doesn’t make as much profit when they do drill. Too many bills to pay, not enough cash to pay them. The solution? Sell some of your assets.

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Anadarko | Chesapeake Energy | Chevron | Energy Companies | Energy Services | EnerVest | Exxon Mobil | Gulfport Energy | MarkWest Energy | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Motley Fool’s “Ubiquitous in the Utica”
December 21, 2012December 21, 2012

The Motley Fool investing website published a “round-up” type of article two days ago that focuses on the major players (drillers) in the Marcellus Shale (see this MDN story), part of a series that looks at major energy plays in the U.S. Yesterday they continued the series with an article that looks in detail at the Utica Shale.

The article starts off by listing the top 7 companies by the amount of acreage they lease. They are (from highest to lowest amount of acreage):

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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Venango County

Venango County Geophysical Study for Marcellus/Utica is Done
December 21, 2012December 21, 2012

NEOS GeoSolutions, a company that measures and analyzes what’s under the ground to help energy companies figure out “what’s down there” announced yesterday they have completed a new geological and geophysical study of the Marcellus and Utica Shale plays in and around Venango County, PA. NEOS delivered the findings to the unnamed party or parties that paid for the project (the “underwriters”). According to NEOS, the rest of us (euphemistically called non-underwriters) will get to see the study results on March 15, 2013.

Landowners in Venango County: Between now and March 15, if someone turns up on your doorstep eagerly wanting to sign you to a lease, take a deep breath and ask to see a copy of the survey results before you sign anything. Information is power, and the information in these kinds of studies can give those who possess it an advantage.

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Blue Racer Midstream | Caiman Energy | Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | Utica Shale | West Virginia | Williams

Dominion, Caiman in $1.5B Utica JV: Blue Racer Midstream
December 21, 2012December 21, 2012

Two large midstream (pipeline & processing plant) companies, Dominion and Caiman Energy II, announced a new $1.5 billion, 50/50 joint venture to form a new midstream services company to service the Utica Shale in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The name of the new company is Blue Racer Midstream. Sound familiar? It should. Yesterday MDN brought you the news that Williams is investing $380 million in Caiman Energy/Blue Racer (see this MDN story).Williams owns nearly half of Caiman Energy II (47.5%).

One of the core assets of the new Blue Racer Midstream company will be Dominion’s previously announced $500 million natural gas liquids processing plant in Natrium, WV (see this MDN story). The Natrium plant was scheduled to go online by Dec. 31—a deadline that won’t be met. However, work on the new NGL plant continues at a “furious pace” and the plant will be online in early 2013. Dominion’s extensive gathering pipeline system in eastern Ohio is also part of the deal.

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Anadarko | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Talisman Energy | Taxation

PA PUC Rules Against Anadarko & Talisman on Impact Fee
December 21, 2012December 21, 2012

Contrary to the wishes of Anadarko Petroleum and Talisman Energy, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC), charged with collecting Act 13 impact fees from shale drilling in the state, ruled that setting conductor pipe does in fact trigger or require a company to pay an impact fee from that point forward. Anadarko and Talisman had argued it does not constitute spudding (or starting the drilling process) for a well. The impact fee is levied when a well is spud.

From the PUC announcement yesterday:

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Columbiana County | Energy Services | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Keystone Clearwater Solutions | Ohio

OH Municipality to Sell Treated Sewage Water for Fracking
December 21, 2012December 21, 2012

The Buckeye Water District, a municipal sewer and water authority in Wellsville (Columbiana County), OH, voted yesterday to sell treated sewage water for use in fracking Utica Shale wells. MDN would call that a win/win and smart.

Just how much are companies willing to pay for treated sewage water to use in fracking?

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

United Airlines Beginning Flights from OK to OH
December 21, 2012December 21, 2012

Don’t tell Ohio Gov. John Kasich, but more “foreigners” (i.e. out-of-state oil and gas workers) are coming to Ohio, and they’re doing it using (gasp) commercial airlines. Call the TSA! Beef up the border guards! If you’re not quite sure what MDN is referring to, see this MDN story for background.

A sure sign that Ohio’s Utica Shale is undergoing a rapid expansion is that United Airlines has just announced they will begin offering nonstop flights between Oklahoma City and Cleveland in February. The new flights begin on Valentine’s Day—giving Gov. Kasich a big metaphorical kiss on the smacker. Here’s the new news:

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Energy Companies | Natural Resource Partners

Natural Resource Partners Invests in Marcellus for Royalties
December 21, 2012December 21, 2012

Natural Resource Partners, a master limited partnership (MLP) company, announced yesterday they’ve invested $30.3 million to acquire royalty interest in 88,000 acres in the liquids-rich portion of the Marcellus Shale.

From the press announcement:

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Statewide NY

Common Cause Concocts Sham Report on NY Political Donors
December 21, 2012December 21, 2012

The ultra-liberal Democrat organization called “Common Cause of New York” is pushing a sham analysis of contributions to local political candidates in New York State under the pretense that “Big Oil & Gas” money bought the recent elections in local races. They’re still smarting in the Southern Tier of New York where every single anti-fracking candidate in any race that matters—lost. Pathologically incapable of admitting the truth—that people in the Southern Tier want natural gas drilling—they’ve set about to create the illusion there is a conspiracy—a reason why their candidates lost so badly.

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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Dec 21, 2012
December 21, 2012December 21, 2012

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, Dec 21, 2012”
Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Taxation

OH Republicans Set to Cave on High Drilling Tax
December 20, 2012December 20, 2012

Are Ohio Republicans about to cave on supporting the dreadfully awful idea of high severance taxes on shale drilling in order to “spread the wealth around” by transferring that money into a fund to allow a state income tax cut? Sadly, it seems the answer is “yes.”

Yesterday at a press conference, Ohio House Speaker Bill Batchelder (Republican from Medina) said he thinks Republicans will support a higher severance tax once their palms are greased with pork projects they understand more about it.

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Energy Companies | Stone Energy

Stone Energy 2013 Plans: Spend 33% of Budget on Marcellus
December 20, 2012December 20, 2012

Stone Energy, an independent driller, released its 2013 capital budget yesterday. Stone plans to spend $650 million in 2013, with a full one-third of that (33%) allocated to drilling in West Virginia’s Marcellus Shale. According to the announcement, Stone will use one horizontal drilling rig in the Marcellus next year to drill 26-32 new wells.

The Stone Energy announcement:

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Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

EQT Sells Gas Utility for $720M, Proceeds for Marcellus
December 20, 2012December 20, 2012

EQT Corporation announced today it’s selling its Equitable Gas Company (natural gas utility) to Peoples Natural Gas for $720 million in cash and “certain assets.” Those assets include picking up 200 miles of Marcellus Shale gas transmission pipelines in Pennsylvania as well as four storage pools. According to the press announcement, EQT plans to plow the proceeds back into more drilling and midstream operations in the Marcellus.

Today’s announcement from EQT:

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Caiman Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Williams

Williams Invests $380M in New Utica Shale Midstream Project
December 20, 2012December 20, 2012

Midstream behemoth Williams announced today it is investing $380 million in the new Blue Racer Midstream venture in the Utica Shale. The investment is part of Williams’ ongoing joint venture with Caiman Energy II (Willams owns 47.5%), which concentrates on developing midstream projects in the Utica Shale region.

Today’s Williams announcement:

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Anadarko | Chesapeake Energy | Chevron | CONSOL Energy | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Exxon Mobil | Noble Energy | Range Resources Corp | Shell | Southwestern Energy | Talisman Energy

Motley Fool’s “Moguls of Marcellus”
December 20, 2012December 20, 2012

The Motley Fool investing website published a “round-up” type of article yesterday that focuses on the major players (drillers) in the Marcellus Shale, part of a series that looks at major energy plays in the U.S.

The article starts off by listing the top 11 companies by the amount of acreage they lease. They are (from highest to lowest amount of acreage):

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Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Research

New Report: Fracking Creates Jobs in States with No Drilling
December 20, 2012December 20, 2012

In October, global research company IHS released the first (of three) volumes in a new study titled America’s New Energy Future: The Unconventional Oil and Gas Revolution and the Economy (see this MDN story). Yesterday they released Volume 2 of the study which focuses on the economic contributions from the Lower 48 states—from both states where there is unconventional drilling, as well as from states without unconventional drilling. Yes, jobs and economic benefits are generated in non-drilling states thanks to the borders they share with those that do have drilling.

Volume 2 of the study finds that of the states with no unconventional drilling, New York leads the pack in the number of jobs created for its residents as a result of unconventional drilling (thank you Pennsylvania!). Of those states that do have unconventional drilling (i.e. they allow high volume fracking), Texas leads the way in job creation, followed by Pennsylvania. The study also finds that by 2025 Ohio (because of the Utica Shale) will become the third most job-creating state when it comes to the oil and gas industry.

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