Marcellus Drilling News

Commodity Price | Industrywide Issues | M&A

3Q12 M&A Deals in the Marcellus Fall to Zero
November 27, 2012November 27, 2012

For the past five years one of the key indicators that the Marcellus Shale has been red hot is the level of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity among energy companies. That is, companies doing deals to work together, or to buy outright, leased acreage, drilling operations or pipelines and other infrastructure. For the first time in several years, there was no significant M&A activity for an entire 3-month period (third quarter 2012) in the Marcellus, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers, a consulting and research firm that tracks it.

What, exactly, does that mean?

Read More “3Q12 M&A Deals in the Marcellus Fall to Zero”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Nov 27, 2012
November 27, 2012November 27, 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: Tue, Nov 27, 2012”
Uncategorized

Vernon Township Contiguous Landowners Group
November 26, 2012

Area covered: Vernon Township, Crawford County, Pennsylvania
Membership: 240+ members, 8000+ acres
Contact: Michael P. Duggan, 724-357-9862 Home/Office, dugganenergy@comcast.net, vtcaalandowners@gmail.com
Broome County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York

Tests Show No Impact from PA Drilling on Binghamton Water
November 26, 2012November 26, 2012

Binghamton, NY’s failed mayor, Matt Ryan, now has the answer to his question direct from the laboratory he hired (with taxpayer money) to test Binghamton’s water: Drilling in Pennsylvania has had zero impact on Binghamton’s water supplies which come from the Susquehanna River.

Even with irrefutable scientific evidence that drilling doesn’t pollute the Susquehanna, don’t expect Ryan, an ideologically-driven leftist, to shut up on the topic of fracking. He won’t let something like science get in the way of a good political issue.

Read More “Tests Show No Impact from PA Drilling on Binghamton Water”
Broome County | Chenango County | EmKey Gathering | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Madison County | New York | Norse Energy | Pipelines

New Marcellus/Utica Pipeline Planned for NY Southern Tier
November 26, 2012November 26, 2012

Someone beside Norse Energy is holding out hope that New York will soon allow fracking of the Marcellus and Utica Shale—and they’re willing to spend money on that gamble. EmKey Gathering has just purchased a 75-mile right-of-way from Norse Energy that stretches from Madison County through Chenango County and into Broome County—all of those counties in New York State’s Southern Tier region.

EmKey hopes to hook up local shale gas wells, once they’re drilled, to the Millennium Pipeline, an interstate pipeline that runs through Broome County.

Read More “New Marcellus/Utica Pipeline Planned for NY Southern Tier”
Belmont County | Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Ohio

Belmont County, OH Drilling to Take Off Soon
November 26, 2012November 26, 2012

Want to know where drilling is set to rapidly expand? One of the indicators is how busy the county clerk or county recorder’s office is. Before you drill you have to lease, and in order to lease, you have to perform title searches to be sure the landowner has free and clear title to enter into a lease. Busyness at the county recorder’s office is a good signal for what will soon follow.

Using the metric of how busy the recorder’s office is, Belmont County, Ohio is due for a lot of drilling activity in the not-too-distant future:

Read More “Belmont County, OH Drilling to Take Off Soon”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Sierra Club’s $26M in Secret Natural Gas Money
November 26, 2012November 26, 2012

A recent article touches on the touchy issue of environmental groups accepting donations from the drilling industry. Specifically, the article focuses on the Audubon Society and their decision to run a series of meetings in Pennsylvania earlier this year with the Marcellus Shale Coalition and the Ruffed Grouse Society for birdwatchers, anglers, hunters and hikers to ask questions about drilling. What did Audubon learn? If you even think about talking with “the other side” your rabid enviro-brethren will turn on you in a heartbeat.

Near the end of the article we spotted this interesting paragraph on the true motivation of the Sierra Club and their recent attacks on natural gas (changing their position after they had been in favor of it for years):

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Lackawanna County | Pennsylvania

SRBC to Consider Water Sale from NEPA Reservoir for Fracking
November 26, 2012November 26, 2012

Local developers who own the decommissioned Falling Springs Reservoir in Lackawanna County, PA (near Scranton) have made application with the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) to sell water from the reservoir to area shale gas drillers for use in fracking. The SRBC will consider the request at their Dec. 14 business meeting:

Read More “SRBC to Consider Water Sale from NEPA Reservoir for Fracking”
Energy Companies | Ohio | PDC Mountaineer | Washington County (OH)

PDC Energy Expands Utica Drilling to Washington County, OH
November 26, 2012November 26, 2012

PDC Energy plans to drill it’s first Washington County, OH Utica Shale well in April of next year. The company previously drilled two Utica wells, both in Guernsey County, OH.

The details from the Akron Beacon Journal:

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

Anti-Drillers’ Perspective on Where Things Stand in NY
November 26, 2012November 26, 2012

New York Residents Against Drilling (NYRAD) recently issued an email containing a letter from Walter Hang of Toxics Targeting (based in where else? Ithaca, NY). Hang issued a Thanksgiving message (forwarded by NYRAD) celebrating another year without fracking in New York, and updating the faithful on where things stand with the current moratorium. Hang does a pretty fair job of representing the complex situation as it stands in New York, and what may/may not happen next.

MDN is reprinting his entire message below (no changes, no comments, formatting as originally received) to offer those interested in what’s happening with fracking in NY a chance to see the issue through the eyes of anti-drillers. Sometimes it’s useful to walk in the other guy’s shoes to gain perspective…

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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Housing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio County | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Chesapeake Energy Receives First ‘Labor Camp’ Permits in WV
November 26, 2012November 26, 2012

Some people call them “man camps.” Others call them “labor camps.” Whatever you call them, small groups of people (usually men) working on location and living in trailers—like what happens at drill pad sites—are now officially called labor camps in West Virginia. If a site in WV has 10 or more people living and working on location, you need a special permit according to a new state law.

Chesapeake Energy has become the first driller in WV (Ohio County) to apply for and receive a labor camp permit:

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Industrywide Issues | Key Energy | Muskingum County | Ohio

Edge Oilfield Services Closes Zanesville, OH Office
November 26, 2012November 26, 2012

An oilfield services business that opened a branch office in Zanesville (Muskingum County), Ohio in January to service Utica Shale drilling in the area has now closed the office. Why?

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Industrywide Issues | Wealth Management

Tips for Estate Planning for Landowners with Leases
November 26, 2012November 26, 2012

The shale drilling boom in the Marcellus and Utica Shale region is one of the best things to happen for trust and estate lawyers in years. Landowners need help in planning how they will pass on royalty income from their property to avoid a huge tax hit in the process. Greedy politicians are always looking for a way to relieve citizens of wealth, to, you know, spread it a round a little bit. Landowners who have signed leases need a plan to reduce the government’s bite as much as possible.

However, simply giving away the royalty rights early in the process, to help you and your heirs, is not always the first and best option, according to experts like attorney R. Douglas DeNardo—a partner at Rothman Gordon in Pittsburgh, chairman of the firm’s estates, trusts and taxation department:

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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | NG Vehicles

Waste Management, Others Converting Fleets to Run on NatGas
November 26, 2012November 26, 2012

When Waste Management, the country’s biggest trash hauler, commits to converting 80% of its truck fleet with trucks powered by natural gas—that’s a big deal. Other fleet managers are taking notice and doing the same. Why? The price of natural gas is half the cost of gasoline and diesel:

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About MDN | Calendar

Calendar of Events for Nov 26-Dec 9, 2012 [Free]
November 26, 2012November 26, 2012

Below are upcoming events for this week and next.

Read More “Calendar of Events for Nov 26-Dec 9, 2012 [Free]”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Nov 26, 2012
November 26, 2012November 26, 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: Mon, Nov 26, 2012”