Marcellus Drilling News

Commodity Price | Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

S&P Report: The Marcellus Shale is a Game-Changer
October 17, 2012October 17, 2012

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s yesterday issued an important new report on the Marcellus Shale and the key role it’s playing in the United States’ natural gas and larger energy picture. Titled “How The Marcellus Shale Is Changing The Dynamics Of The U.S. Energy Industry,” there’s a lot of great information in this report. For example: the report lists the Top 15 Marcellus Shale producers, with estimates of how much shale gas they produce (as of fourth quarter 2011). It also discusses how and why the Marcellus is one of the most cost-effective plays in the U.S. for producers, and why they can make money in the Marcellus at much lower commodity prices for gas than in other plays. It contains a complete list of pending and planned pipeline projects in the Marcellus, including ethane pipelines. And more!

MDN is still reading and digesting the report and will bring you select sections and highlights over the next few days. In the meantime, you can view the entire report below now (highly recommended):

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Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Susquehanna County

PA Supreme Court Hears Arguments in Critical O&G Case
October 17, 2012October 17, 2012

Yesterday the Pennsylvania Supreme Court heard arguments in what MDN considers the most important oil and gas case to come before the court in many years. We’ve chronicled the case called Butler v Powers in past articles, including this article from Sept. 2011. It’s a complex case, and at the risk of oversimplifying it, here’s how we would summarize it:

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BP | Energy Companies | Ohio | Trumbull County

BP Says They’re Committed to Drilling in Trumbull County, OH
October 17, 2012October 17, 2012

Although Carrizo Oil & Gas and CONSOL Energy have both either left or stopped drilling in the Utica Shale in Trumbull County, Ohio, energy giant BP says they’re staying the course and expect to drill their first well in Trumbull in April 2013. Of course, BP has a vested interest in making it work in Trumbull—they leased 80,000 acres in the county last year for $331 million.

Here’s what a BP spokesman recently said about Trumbull County:

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Commodity Price | Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues

Stone Fox Capital: Rig Count Means NatGas Shortages Coming
October 17, 2012October 17, 2012

Let’s take a deep dive into the “weeds” of the drilling industry, shall we? A few days ago MDN highlighted yet another excellent analysis (on rig counts) by Seeking Alpha blogger Richard Zeits, from Zeits Energy Analytics (see this MDN story). The big news from that story is Zeits’ view about the current and future levels of drilling rigs in dry vs. wet gas areas.

A new, somewhat contrary (to Zeits’) viewpoint has emerged on Seeking Alpha from Stone Fox Capital Advisors expressing concern and alarm over the relatively low level of drilling rigs. They believe the current and forecasted number of drilling rigs for oil means the number of rigs available for natural gas drilling is so low it will mean shortages of natgas rigs, meaning a bottleneck for new drilling and eventually lower supplies and higher prices for natural gas.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Mahoning County | Ohio | Regulation

Youngstown, OH: If You Lease It, Will They Drill?
October 17, 2012October 17, 2012

Our headline is a tongue-in-cheek play on the iconic Field of Dreams statement, “If you build it, they will come.” But this isn’t fiction. It’s a very serious question being asked by residents and political leaders in Youngstown, Ohio: If Youngstown decides to pass an ordinance allowing drilling on and under property within city limits, will any drillers bother to drill there? Answer: No one knows.

Last night Youngstown held a public hearing to allow residents the opportunity to express their support or opposition to a proposed ordinance which may soon be passed to allow leasing and drilling inside the city. Here’s what happened:

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Accidents | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

MSC Issues Guidance on Reporting Stray Gas Incidents
October 17, 2012October 17, 2012

Yesterday the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC), an industry-backed trade group based in the Pittsburgh area, published the fourth in a series of “guidance documents.” The latest document is titled Responding to Stray Gas Incidents (embedded below) and addresses the issue of what to do when a driller discovers that methane is already present in soil or water, even before they drill.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Sullivan County

RIP Fracking Supporter Noel van Swol of Sullivan County, NY
October 17, 2012October 17, 2012

Tragedy struck on Monday after the pro-fracking rally in Albany, NY when long-time resident of Sullivan County, NY (and outspoken supporter of fracking) Noel van Swol died in a car crash on his way home from the rally:

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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Oct 17, 2012
October 17, 2012October 17, 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, Oct 17, 2012”
Albany County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Public Opinion | Regulation | Statewide NY

1,000 Pro-Drillers Rally in Albany with a Message of ‘Jobs’
October 16, 2012October 16, 2012

$math challenged$ Are AP reporters math-challenged, or do they intentionally lie about the events they cover? Yesterday a rally was held in Albany, NY to support shale gas drilling in the state. According to a reporter from Middletown who covered the event, there were “about 1,000” people in the crowd. But the AP (and almost all stories found in the media today about the event use the AP’s coverage) said there were “several hundred” in attendance. If you look closely, you’ll see the AP story was posted at 3:02 am yesterday, before the event took place!

Enough of the rant against mainstream media bias which we all know exists. Yesterday a group of 1,000 or more gathered at the Corning Preserve on the Hudson River in Albany for a rally. The group then marched to the Capitol with signs, chanting as they went. Here’s reporting from someone who was actually there:

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Commodity Price | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

Reuters Says Marcellus Pipelines will “Bully” Gas Prices
October 16, 2012October 16, 2012

Reuters has just posted an analysis of the major new pipeline capacity coming online in the Marcellus Shale region later this year and in 2013. The tone and tenor of the piece is “oh oh, natgas prices are screwed” because of all this extra capacity coming online. Here’s part of the article, which points out an additional 3 billion cubic feet per day of capacity will be online in the Marcellus in the next three months:

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Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Wealth Management

Caution: Royalty Buyers Coming Out of the Woodwork in Ohio
October 16, 2012October 16, 2012

A tale of caution for landowners in Ohio and in other areas where landowners have recently signed leases to allow drilling for shale gas. One landowner in Ohio reports being called by a Texas company looking to buy his royalty rights. The landowner already signed a lease and got his signing bonus. The company in question wants to now purchase the man’s future royalty payments—at a discount of course.

This is similar to companies buying other structured settlements—like someone who successfully sues for damages from an accident, but the payments are made over the course of several years. Or someone who wins a state lottery that has a payout over 25 years. Companies will offer to pay you less than what you would make over the course of time, but you get a lump sum payment now, up front.

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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

List of PA Impact Fee Disbursements by County/Town
October 16, 2012October 16, 2012

The checks divvying up $204 million raised by Pennsylvania in a new tax, called an “impact fee” on shale gas drilling, will be mailed out within 10 days. Why is the so-called impact fee a tax and not really a fee? Because 40% of the “fee” goes to communities where there is no drilling! Taking from one to give to another who didn’t earn it is a tax, and a 40% tax was the political price to be paid in order to get new drilling legislation passed. Politicians in places like Philadelphia had both hands out and would not vote in favor of the Act 13 law unless those palms were greased. It’s sleazy, but it’s politics in PA.

A full and detailed list of counties and townships and their share of the impact “fee” revenue is embedded below. Philly made out better than most drilling communities:

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Carrizo Oil & Gas | Crawford County | Energy Companies | Halcon Resources | Mercer County | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Trumbull County

Mystery Buyer of Carrizo’s Northern Utica Acreage Revealed
October 16, 2012October 17, 2012

Yesterday MDN reported that Carrizo Oil & Gas had sold off it’s interest in lease acreage in Ohio’s northern Utica Shale region for $43 million (see this MDN story). Carrizo did not identify the buyer, but the enterprising Youngstown Business Journal did.

Here’s who it is:

Read More “Mystery Buyer of Carrizo’s Northern Utica Acreage Revealed”
Accidents | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA DEP Changes Notification Policy on Methane Contamination
October 16, 2012October 16, 2012

The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) made a policy change in September that’s just now coming to light—and creating a bit of controversy. In the case of suspected methane contamination of water wells near drilling sites, it was standard policy to let the local field office make a determination as to whether or not water test results show possible methane contamination, and whether or not a letter should go out to landowners in the affected area.

The new policy is that someone in Harrisburg at DEP HQ will make the judgment call on sending letters to landowners.

Read More “PA DEP Changes Notification Policy on Methane Contamination”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Oct 16, 2012
October 16, 2012October 16, 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, Oct 16, 2012”
Ohio | Statewide OH

Where are the ‘Sweet Spots’ in Ohio’s Utica Shale?
October 15, 2012October 15, 2012

According to a professor of geology at Youngstown State University, the Mahoning Valley, the area around Youngstown in northeastern Ohio, is one of the “sweet spots” for natural gas drilling in Ohio. Is that statement accurate? MDN wondered, so we decided to analyze the latest numbers from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR). Our analysis, along with a a couple of maps, is embedded below.

First, the statement from the Youngstown professor:

Read More “Where are the ‘Sweet Spots’ in Ohio’s Utica Shale?”