Marcellus Drilling News

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrialization | Industrywide Issues

The Economist Says Every Gas Field Should be Like Marcellus
July 13, 2012July 13, 2012

MDN had to do a double-take. We just read a story in The Economist magazine about the aesthetics of Marcellus Shale drilling. Normally The Economist leans anti-drilling in its coverage of the shale development issue. But this article is complimentary! The article does a good job of describing the drilling and hydraulic fracturing process, and describes how after the drilling is done, there’s hardly anything on the surface that would indicate there was once drilling at that location.

Here’s the closing few sentences:

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Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies

Storm from 2 Weeks Ago Still Affecting Marcellus Production
July 13, 2012July 13, 2012

Magnum Hunter Resources says the fallout from severe thunderstorms that roared across the Washington, D.C. area and further inland, straight into Marcellus Shale country, continue to impact their ability to get gas to market. Some 10% of their Marcellus production is still “shut-in” (closed down)—a number this is higher than they expected at this point. And unfortunately, it may be some time before things return to normal.

From a statement issued yesterday:

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Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

Fitch Ratings Looks at Major Pipeline Projects in Marcellus
July 13, 2012July 13, 2012

Fitch Ratings issued a special report on Tuesday titled, “Marcellus Shale Report: Midstream and Pipeline Sector — Challenges/Opportunities.” Fitch is a credit ratings agency so their primary focus is evaluating companies and the risks those companies face that might affect their stock price and credit worthiness. So bear that in mind.

But the analysts who wrote this special report (see below) do a good job of identifying the major midstream (pipeline) companies in the Marcellus, and a good job of outlining the prospects (and risks) to those companies. Starting on page 4 the report chronicles the major Marcellus Shale pipelines underway, and page 12 shows a chart of the top 10 drilling companies in the Marcellus, complete with estimates of how much natural gas they produce in the Marcellus, and how much of the overall Marcellus acreage they lease. A very handy chart indeed.

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Economic Impact | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | NiSource | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH

NiSource Announces $4B Upgrade Plan for Interstate Pipelines
July 13, 2012July 13, 2012

Midstream and utility company NiSource is in the news for a second time this week. On Monday, NiSource announced a joint venture with Hilcorp to build new Utica Shale gathering pipelines and a processing plant in eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania (see this MDN story).

Yesterday NiSource announced a new project to rebuild and upgrade 12,000 miles of its Columbia Gas Transmission interstate pipelines and compressor stations to the tune of $4 billion over the next 15 years. Much of that work will benefit the Marcellus and Utica Shale region, resulting in more shale gas finding its way to market, according to NiSource.

NiSource reps, federal government officials and the Mayor of Columbus held a press conference yesterday to talk about this major new initiative by NiSource. Below is the follow-up press release, rearranged by MDN to show the important information first:

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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Jul 13, 2012
July 13, 2012July 13, 2012

The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:

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About MDN | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | MDN Webinars

Webinar Replay: John Hanger on Gas Drilling and Energy Choices
July 13, 2012July 25, 2012

On July 12, former Sec. of the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection presented MDN’s first webinar, titled: The Truth About Gas Drilling and America’s Energy Choices. John spoke of his love of alternative energy sources—especially wind and solar—but he also spoke about the overblown criticism of natural gas drilling. He pointed out there are advantages and disadvantages to every form of energy, and if you say “no” to one form, you must say “yes” to another form.

Following the webinar John took a number of questions from the MDN audience. It was a lively and informative session. MDN subscribers can replay it below. A copy of the PowerPoint slides is also available for download below.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

DOE National Lab Tackles Question of Fracking Fluid Migration
July 12, 2012December 19, 2012

The Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in Pittsburgh is tackling the thorny question raised by Duke University earlier this week: Can and does fracking fluid (or any fluid) migrate upward through rock layers? The Duke study released earlier this week suggests it’s possible for fluids to migrate from thousands of feet down (see this MDN story) up to water aquifers near the surface. News of the Duke study continues to reverberate throughout the media with hundreds of stories being written and endlessly recycled.

The NETL will tackle the same question using an active, commercially drilled Marcellus Shale natural gas well in southwestern Pennsylvania. Using a single well won’t provide definitive answers because Marcellus geography varies from region to region—but at least it’s a start. Recall that the Duke study focused on data from six northeastern Pennsylvania counties and their data did not include sampling from active drilling sites.

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Energy Companies | Range Resources Corp

Range Resources O&G Production Sees Huge Increase in 2Q12
July 12, 2012December 19, 2012

Range Resources announced second quarter results today. Production volumes for all classes (natgas, NGLs and oil) are up an eye-popping 42% over the same quarter last year, and up 10% from the first quarter of this year. And if they remove the Barnett Shale numbers from the equation for last year, production would have been up 51%. Range sold off their Barnett assets last year, which included 390 active wells on 52,000 net acres. Range’s main focus continues to be the Marcellus and Utica Shale region.

Production, by volume, was 80% natural gas, 14% natural gas liquids, and 6% crude oil. From the press release:

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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Patriot Water Treatment | Regulation | Trumbull County | Wastewater

Ohio DNR Visits Patriot Water Facility in Warren, OH
July 12, 2012December 19, 2012

Patriot Water in Warren, Ohio is fighting a battle on both the legal and publicity fronts. Yesterday they scored some points in the publicity column by (finally) getting a representative from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) to tour their facility.

Brief background: Patriot’s facility processes wastewater from hydraulic fracturing, removing the nasty stuff so the water is clean and able to be disposed of through the local Warren municipal wastewater processing plant. But the Ohio Attorney General, Mike DeWine, and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency rescinded Warren’s permit to accept the wastewater from Patriot, saying Patriot’s technology is not up to scratch (see this MDN story for more background on Patriot’s legal squabble with the OEPA).

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Delaware County (PA) | Economic Impact | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Sunoco Logistics

Marcellus to the Rescue: Marcus Hook Refinery to Reopen
July 12, 2012December 19, 2012

The Marcus Hook Refinery in the Philadelphia, PA area was closed down in April. Owned by Sunoco, it is one of three refineries in the greater Philly area. A few weeks ago MDN told you about a study that Marcus Hook and Delaware County spent $100,000 on detailing potential uses and markets for the refinery (see this MDN story).

At the time, MDN asked the question if the Marcellus Shale would save the Marcus Hook refinery. Looks like it did. Yesterday, PA Gov. Tom Corbett’s office announced that some of the Marcus Hook Refinery assets have been purchased by Braskem America. Braskem will use it to manufacture polypropylene plastics. The press release says Braskem will secure feedstocks (raw materials) from “multiple sources,” without naming those sources. You can be sure natural gas liquids from the Marcellus and Utica Shale will be a big source—perhaps the main source—for the refinery.

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Energy Companies | Norse Energy

Norse Energy Continues Stock Sales to Generate Cash
July 12, 2012December 19, 2012

Norse Energy is an interesting company. MDN has written plenty about them. They have 130,000 acres of leases in, of all places, New York State. And they’ve been waiting, along with everyone else, four long years to begin drilling. And they’ve done whatever they can to stay in business, selling off assets, selling ownership slices of the company, floating bonds (debt), obtaining loans—whatever they can.

On one hand you have to have tremendous respect for a company that hangs tough. On the other hand, you want to ask them if they need their heads examined for betting the ranch on the vagaries of New York politicians.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Sullivan County

Sullivan County, NY Township Votes to Ban Fracking
July 12, 2012December 19, 2012

Another one bites the dust. A township in Sullivan County—the Catskill region of New York State—has voted to ban hydraulic fracturing ahead of the state allowing it (if they allow it). The Town of Highland board voted 5-0 to ban fracking Tuesday night.

What you don’t hear about so often in the press are all of the towns voting in favor of drilling—or at least in favor of letting the DEC do it’s job and not prejudging the outcome. Anecdotal evidence MDN has heard is that something over 100 townships have voted to ban fracking (most of them not in the Marcellus Shale region), while perhaps 50 have voted to allow the DEC to do it’s job—what anti-drillers view as being supportive of drilling. Most of those are in the Marcellus Shale region.

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Industrywide Issues | NG Vehicles | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Gov. Tomblin Appoints Members to NatGas Vehicle Task Force
July 12, 2012December 19, 2012

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin yesterday announced the members of his Natural Gas Vehicle Task Force. Tomblin announced the formation of the Task Force a month ago with the mission of investigating if, and how, the state can convert all of it’s state-owned vehicles to run on natural gas (see this MDN story).

Yesterday’s announcement names the members of the new Task Force. It’s all all-star cast from some of the country’s biggest drillers and pipeline companies.

From the Governor’s press release:

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Accidents | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Trumbull County | Wastewater

Concerns about Small Wastewater Spill on OH Roadway
July 12, 2012December 19, 2012

There was a small spill of brine (Utica Shale wastewater) from a tanker truck in Trumbull County, Ohio last weekend. An estimated 100-150 gallons leaked from the back of the truck along a roadway for about 5 miles. The county engineer is concerned about it—the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency says there’s nothing to worry about.

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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Thu, Jul 12, 2012
July 12, 2012December 19, 2012

The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

New Report Says EPA Fracking Study Methods Need Help
July 11, 2012December 19, 2012

A major new report was released yesterday from the Battelle Memorial Institute that reviews the Environmental Protection Agency’s stated plan to study hydraulic fracturing and its impacts on water. The 166-page report (embedded below) says the EPA has it wrong with how they are proceeding.

The report was funded by the American Petroleum Institute (API) and America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA), perhaps the two largest energy-related associations in the U.S. (ranked by funding). So the obligatory “but it was funded by the industry!” arguments will come out, to be sure. But you can’t argue with the findings in this report. Battelle is an independent non-profit, science and technology research and development organization with an excellent reputation—a reputation they want to keep.

This is not an industry shill report, but a serious look at how the EPA might better conduct a serious scientific investigation, rather than a sham pretense for an activist government bent on phasing out fossil fuels.

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