Marcellus Drilling News

Columbia Pipeline Group | Columbiana County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Hilcorp Energy | Lease & Royalty Payments | NiSource | Ohio

Some Brinker Field (OH) Leases Revised, Others in Lawsuit
November 23, 2012November 23, 2012

Hilcorp Energy was hired by Columbia Gas’ parent company NiSouce to drill Utica Shale wells in the Brinker Storage Field, a 35,000 acre area in Columbiana County, Ohio that Columbia has used to store natural gas going back more than 50 years. The original leases with landowners in the Brinker, leases passed down to new landowners over the decades, mean that landowners get zippo from any drilling—no lease payments and no royalties (see this MDN story for background).

Since the MDN story that first appeared in September, about 100 landowners have signed on to a lawsuit against Columbia and Hilcorp over the lease issue. But also since September, Columbia and Hilcorp have cut new leases with landowners not party to the lawsuit. We get the details of the lease terms from a story that talks about Hilcorp setting up a new office in Columbiana to work on land deals:

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CNX Resources | Columbiana County | CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Ohio

CONSOL/CNX Expands Presence in Ohio Utica Shale
November 23, 2012November 23, 2012

CONSOL Energy’s CNX Gas subsidiary is expanding its presence at the Columbiana County Port Authority’s industrial park in Leetonia, Ohio. It’s an indicator of CNX/CONSOL’s commitment to the Ohio Utica Shale.

Although headline stories usually talk about the 1.3 million acres owned by Chesapeake in the Utica Shale, you don’t often hear about the large and growing stake owned by CNX:

Read More “CONSOL/CNX Expands Presence in Ohio Utica Shale”
Alternative Energy | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

Global Warming Expert Promotes Shale Gas to Cut Carbon
November 23, 2012November 23, 2012

Oxford economist and a big-time proponent that man causes global warming, Dieter Helm, has a brand new book out called The Carbon Crunch. He believes, as many people do, that earth faces an urgent need to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide being emitted into the atmosphere (we’ll save our global warming skepticism for another day). Here’s the surprise: In Helm’s new book, he argues, strongly, that global warmists should support shale gas as the best, most practical option to help cut carbon emissions in the short-term. He also says expensive and poorly performing wind turbines and solar panels have done more harm than good.

From a review of his new book by New Scientist magazine:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

Energy Expert: Obama Would be “Insane” to Stop Fracking
November 23, 2012November 23, 2012

A Washington Times article talks about how the fracking industry waits with baited breath for the EPA’s draft report on fracking, due in December, as an indicator of how aggressively (or not) the Obama administration will target fossil fuels in the second term. The article contains some interesting quotes, one from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and another from an energy scholar at the Manhattan Institute. Here’s select portions from the article:

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Broome County | Guest Post | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Binghamton Resident to Gov. Cuomo: Thanks for Nothing [Free]
November 23, 2012November 23, 2012

Binghamton-area landowner Bill Owen has written numerous times to Gov. Andrew Cuomo to encourage the governor to allow fracking in New York State. His reward? To end up on Cuomo’s feckless email list. Earlier this week Bill recently received a “Happy Thanksgiving” email from Cuomo, so Bill thought he would respond. His excellent letter back to Cuomo (who will likely never read it, but hey, you never know!) is reprinted below:

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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Nov 23, 2012
November 23, 2012November 23, 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, Nov 23, 2012”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY Gov. Cuomo Says Forget Fracking – At Least by Nov 29
November 21, 2012November 21, 2012

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo—someone who apparently has trouble deciding what to have for breakfast, let alone decide a major issue like whether or not to allow fracking—went on the record yesterday saying that the Nov. 29 deadline to release new drilling rules will not be met. Cuomo said the deadline for a new health review, yet another delay thought up by DEC Commissioner Joe Martens and being carried out by State Health Commissioner Nirav Shah, is “open-ended.” The so-called “impartial experts” Nirav Shah has hired to conduct an outside review are anything but impartial, and they’ve been given no firm deadline to turn in a report.

Cuomo’s comments to reporters yesterday:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

JLCNY Sends Strongly-Worded Letter to Cuomo on Nov 29 Date
November 21, 2012November 21, 2012

Many have marveled at the restraint shown by the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY) on the issue of repeated delays and setbacks when it comes to allowing high volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) in New York State. Some have criticized the JLCNY for not being more vocal and more pushy with the governor and the Dept. of Environmental Conservation. Dan Fitzsimmons, president of the JLCNY, regularly takes arrows from both sides of the drilling issue and he walks a fine line—we wouldn’t want to be in his shoes!

Dan sent a letter yesterday, on behalf of the the 77,000 members of the JLCNY, to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and DEC Commissioner Joe Martens expressing, in strong but respectful language, the JLCNY’s disappointment that the Nov. 29 date to release new drilling rules will be missed (a full copy of the letter is embedded below).

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Chesapeake Energy | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Research | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

EIA Report: Rig Count in Utica Shale Doubles in One Year
November 21, 2012November 21, 2012

Yesterday the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) provided a detailed update on shale drilling activity in the Utica Shale. They found that the number of drilling rigs in the Utica has doubled from October of last year to October of this year. Also of keen interest: 86% of the active rigs in the Utica (now) are targeting shale oil. Last October the number of 15% of active rigs—which shows a remarkable shift in the Utica. Although the report says “shale oil,” MDN takes that to mean “wet gas,” or shale oil and natural gas liquids. The report finds that Chesapeake Energy continues to be the Big Kahuna in the Utica Shale with 39% of all new well starts in Ohio year-to-date.

Here’s the full EIA Utica Shale update posted yesterday (along with some great charts):

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Carroll County | Chesapeake Energy | Columbiana County | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Chesapeake Says 3 OH Counties are “Core of the Core” in Utica
November 21, 2012November 21, 2012

On the third quarter earnings call with analysts earlier this month, Chesapeake Energy officials were asked about the Utica Shale and their thoughts, now more than a year in, of how the Utica stacks up against the Eagle Ford, and how Chesapeake’s “core of the core” strategy is working in the Utica. Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon answered the question this way, identifying the three counties in Ohio that are “the core of the core” for the company:

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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies

Carl Ichan Ups Stake in Chesapeake Energy
November 21, 2012November 21, 2012

Corporate raider Carl Icahn (euphemistically renamed an “activist investor” by mainstream media who now like his targets) has increased his holdings in Chesapeake Energy. He remains the number two shareholder in the company.

As reported by the Pittsburgh Business Times (quoting CNBC):

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Energy Services | Stallion Oilfield

Stallion Oilfield Holdings Seeks Half Billion Dollar Loan
November 21, 2012November 21, 2012

Psst, hey buddy, you got an extra half billion dollars you can spare? Stallion Oilfield Holdings, Inc., a privately-held oilfield services company that works in most of the major shale plays in the U.S., including the Marcellus and Utica Shale, issued a press release yesterday looking for one or more investors that will loan the company (yes) a half a billion dollars so they can a) retire older debts, and b) fund dividend payments to stockholders.

Here’s the release:

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Cambria County | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Seneca Resources

Seneca Resources Gives Johnstown TV Station an Eye & Earful
November 21, 2012November 21, 2012

Recently Seneca Resources, a company that will turn 100 years old in March, gave Johnstown, PA WJAC-TV News a tour of what happens at a drill site. During the tour, WJAC got the real story of what goes on “behind the scenes” at a drilling company. They also got the real story about fracking. Refreshingly, WJAC reported it accurately!

Here’s what Seneca told WJAC:

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Rockingham County | Virginia

Bergton, VA to Carrizo: We Still Don’t Want You Drilling Here
November 21, 2012November 21, 2012

Anti-drillers in Bergton, Virginia are like the anti-drillers everywhere else. Every now and again they need to shout out “the sky is falling!” like Chicken Little. Such was the case last night in Bergton (Rockingham County), where anti-drillers gathered to scare the local folks about “big, bad drilling” that “may come” someday to their area.

Carrizo Oil & Gas had wanted to drill in Bergton but was told to take a hike (see this MDN story). Last night, about 25 anti-drillers gathered at the Bergton Community Center to hear the results of a water testing program meant to provide baseline data “just in case” the evil, nasty drillers eventually do come calling. The testing program is being run by two local college professors and four of their students. Also on the evening’s program was plenty of misinformation about fracking.

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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Nov 21, 2012
November 21, 2012November 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: Wed, Nov 21, 2012”
Education | Erie County (NY) | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Research

Univ at Buffalo President Shuts Down (Censors) Shale Institute
November 20, 2012November 20, 2012

The ignorant mob have won. A group of 83 anti-drilling, enviro-left faculty and staff at the University at Buffalo (UB), with the help of left-leaning mainstream media, have brought enough pressure to bear that UB’s president announced yesterday he is immediately shutting down the seven-month old UB Shale Resources and Society Institute. It’s a sad day for academic freedom and free speech. The inmates now run the asylum at UB.

UB President Satish Tripathi has proven that after a year and a half at the helm, he is not equal to the task of running a large university. Here is his “I’ve caved” announcement from yesterday, sprinkled with MDN’s snarky comments and observations:

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