Marcellus Drilling News

BP | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Research

BP Energy Outlook 2030: Shale Energy Impact “Far Reaching”
January 22, 2013January 22, 2013

Energy giant BP, like energy giant ExxonMobil, are both drillers in the Marcellus and Utica Shale plays. They both also publish an annual energy outlook that shares their latest thinking about where the world’s energy markets are headed in the next few decades. ExxonMobil’s annual Outlook for Energy was published in December (see ExxonMobil Predicts World Fossil Fuel Usage Up 5% by 2040). BP’s Energy Outlook 2030 was just released this month (full copy embedded below). The word “shale” appears a lot.

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Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Jobs

IHS Report from Davos: U.S. Shale Energy is Changing the World
January 22, 2013January 22, 2013

Research company IHS, which has produced many excellent reports over the year, particularly in the area of energy, is releasing a brand new report titled Energy and the New Global Industrial Landscape: A Tectonic Shift later this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. A copy of the Executive Summary for the new report is embedded below.

According to the new report, unconventional energy in the U.S.—shale gas and tight oil plays—is changing not only the U.S. but the world by reviving U.S. manufacturing, creating 1.7 million jobs here at home and adding $62 billion to federal and state coffers—and that’s just for 2012!

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Portage County | Regulation

Anti-Drilling Fervor Heats Up in Kent, OH
January 22, 2013January 22, 2013

Anti-drillers in and around Kent, Ohio have some helpful suggestions for elected officials in Kent: ban fracking. And if you can’t ban it, make zoning so onerous that the practical effect would be to ban it. And if you can’t do that, be sure to pass a law that blocks access to all water supplies around Kent so drillers have no way of fracking. And if you can’t do that… See a theme developing here?

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Columbiana County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Marathon Petroleum | Ohio | Trucking

Columbiana Port Authority Close to Final Deal with Marathon
January 22, 2013January 22, 2013

Back in July MDN told you about a deal the Columbiana County Port Authority hoped to do with Marathon Petroleum to sell Marathon 3.6 acres in along the riverfront in Wellsville, OH so they can build a transfer station (truck terminal) to accept natural gas liquids and oil from local shale drilling by truck and, load it onto barges which would then float downriver for refining (see Columbiana Port Authority Helps Shale Industry).

Two actions taken on Monday by the Port Authority significantly advanced the ball down the field toward making the deal a reality:

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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pipelines | Schoharie County | Williams

Iroquois Announces Interconnect for Constitution Pipeline in NY
January 22, 2013January 22, 2013

In news related to the soon-to-be built Marcellus Shale Constitution Pipeline (being built by Williams), Iroquois, a major interstate natural gas transmission pipeline, announced today they plan to move forward with development of a new interconnect project that will expand their existing compressor station and metering facilities in Wright, New York in anticipation of the new Constitution pipeline connecting to the Iroquois at Wright. Plans call for Iroquois’ new construction to be completed by March 2015 when the Constitution plans to go in service.

From the Iroquois/Constitution joint press announcement:

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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Jan 22, 2013
January 22, 2013January 22, 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: Tue, Jan 22, 2013”
Energy Companies | Gastar Exploration | Marshall County | West Virginia | Wetzel County

Insider Look at Gastar’s WV Marcellus Operations, Changes in 2013
January 21, 2013January 21, 2013

Gastar Exploration Ltd. is a Houston-based independent company engaged in exploration and production of natural gas, natural gas liquids, condensate and oil. Their current focus is on the Marcellus Shale play—specifically in West Virginia’s northern panhandle.

A recent interview with Gastar’s vice president of northeast operations, Michael McCown, pulled the curtain back on the company’s WV Marcellus results in 2012, and revealed their plans to change drilling locations in 2013:

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Antero Resources | Energy Companies | Guernsey County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Noble County | Ohio

OH Muskingum Watershed District to Sign Drilling Lease in Feb.
January 21, 2013January 21, 2013

Last November, MDN told you that the Ohio Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD), the largest watershed district in the state covering about 20% of Ohio’s landmass, had entered negotiations with Antero Resources to allow drilling and fracking under MWCD land around Seneca Lake (see OH Muskingum Watershed District Seeks Lease with Antero). Everything but the final price is now done, and the proposed lease (copy embedded below) will be voted on at the next board meeting of the MWCD on Feb. 15.

The lease, as written, will allow drilling under but not on 6,700 acres of property in Guernsey and Noble counties. Antero will have to drill from adjacent properties to reach the land—no disturbance of the surface will be permitted. How much will the MWCD get for a signing bonus and royalties?

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Carrizo Oil & Gas | Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Energy Services | EV Energy Partners | Gulfport Energy | Hess | MarkWest Energy | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

More than $1.2B & Counting on New Utica Drilling for 2013
January 21, 2013January 21, 2013

So far, more than $1.2 billion (that we know of) has been budgeted by Ohio’s Utica Shale drillers for 2013. A whopping $7 billion has been allocated for pipelines and processing plants over the next several years.

Here’s a quick rundown on the plans for a few of the Utica’s major drillers and what they plan to spend on drilling in the Utica in 2013:

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Broome County | Chenango County | Delaware County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Schoharie County | Susquehanna County | Williams

New Marcellus Constitution Pipeline Announces “Final” Route
January 21, 2013January 27, 2013

After more than a year of work, Williams has finalized the route for the new Marcellus Shale Constitution Pipeline that will run from the heavily-producing Marcellus Shale gas fields of Susquehanna County, PA all the way up to Schoharie County, NY, where the pipeline will connect with two large interstate pipelines: the Iroquois and the Tennessee. A copy of the map showing the “final” route is embedded below.

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA Auditor General Targets State’s Marcellus Drilling Industry
January 21, 2013January 21, 2013

Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP): Prepare for a painful anal exam, coming courtesy the newly elected PA Auditor General Eugene DePasquale. That was the gist of a letter sent by DePasquale to Michael Krancer, Secretary of the DEP, on DePasquale’s first day on the job (a copy of the full letter is embedded below).

The DEP’s response to DePasquale? Bring it on…

Read More “PA Auditor General Targets State’s Marcellus Drilling Industry”
Energy Companies | Energy Services | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania General Energy | Statewide PA | Universal Well

PA Frack Pumps Converting to Use LNG for Fuel
January 21, 2013January 21, 2013

EQT was the first driller in the Marcellus Shale to convert a drilling rig to run on electricity produced by engines using an LNG/diesel mix (see this MDN story). CONSOL was next to experiment with converting some of their rigs to use LNG/diesel (see this MDN story). Then Seneca Resources, the gas drilling arm of National Fuel Gas Company, announced two of their drilling rigs will use 100% LNG as fuel (see this MDN story).

What started as a trickle is turning into a flood in Pennsylvania and throughout the Marcellus/Utica region and beyond. More companies are in the process of converting fleets to run on LNG or a mix of LNG/diesel. These new conversions will not only power initial drilling, but will also power the massive pump engines and heavy equipment used in the fracking process itself…

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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Jan 21, 2013
January 21, 2013January 21, 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: Mon, Jan 21, 2013”
BP | Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio | Trumbull County

BP Cancels Deal for 7% of ALOV Leases in Trumbull County, OH
January 18, 2013January 18, 2013

In March 2012, BP signed a huge deal with landowners belonging to the Associated Landowners of the Ohio Valley (ALOV) group to lease 84,000 acres in Trumbull County, OH (see BP’s Big Utica Shale Deal, Leases 84K Acres in Ohio). The terms of that deal were $3,900 per acre as a signing bonus and 17.5% in royalties. Very sweet indeed.

Part of the process when signing a lease deal is “due diligence” in researching property deeds to be sure the driller will have a clear right to drill on or under the property. About 180 landowners with a collective 4,203 acres didn’t make the cut for the ALOV deal, and their contracts, according to the terms of the lease, were “released” this week by BP:

Read More “BP Cancels Deal for 7% of ALOV Leases in Trumbull County, OH”
Allegheny County | CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Lease & Royalty Payments | Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh Airport Wants More $ from CONSOL…After Accepting Bid
January 18, 2013January 18, 2013

The story of the Pittsburgh International Airport’s acceptance of a bid from natural gas driller CONSOL Energy to drill on and under airport property, a bid that would provide less than half the money that a bid from EQT would have provided, continues to get curiouser and curiouser (see Inside Job? Pittsburgh Airport Leases Land to CONSOL for background and MDN’s original comments).

Apparently MDN isn’t, as we had thought, the only one who noticed this deal smells to high heaven. The latest news: PIA is negotiating with CONSOL to get them to raise the signing bonus, which is now rumored to be somewhere in the neighborhood of “$35 million to $40 million.” That’s certainly better, but still not has high as EQT’s offer of a $44 million bonus payment.

And what’s with “negotiating” after a bid has been accepted? A bid is a bid—you accept or reject it, especially if a public agency is involved. You don’t accept an offer and then promptly start negotiating to change it! Something is still very “off” about all of this…

Read More “Pittsburgh Airport Wants More $ from CONSOL…After Accepting Bid”
Devon Energy | Energy Companies | Knox County | Ohio | Utica Shale

Devon Energy Plugs Third Utica Well, Changes Strategy
January 18, 2013January 18, 2013

Devon Energy, recently named by FORTUNE Magazine as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” in the U.S., has just plugged a third Utica Shale well in Ohio and is signaling a major change in strategy. They no longer plan to drill for natural gas in the Utica and will instead concentrate 100% of their time (and money) on drilling for oil.

A few weeks ago MDN told you about two Ohio Utica wells plugged and “abandoned” by Devon, one in Medina County and the other in Ashland County where they found disappointing results (see Flip Side: Some OH Utica Shale Wells Get Plugged/Abandoned). The third Utica well to be plugged and abandoned by Devon is located, ironically, in Utica, Ohio (Knox County):

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