Marcellus Drilling News

Energy Companies | Hess | Ohio | Statewide OH

Hess Buys NatGas Contracts Division of Delta Energy
September 18, 2012September 18, 2012

Energy giant Hess Corp. announced yesterday it is buying the natural gas marketing division of Delta Energy. Delta is based in Dublin, Ohio. What Hess is buying are energy contracts—the right to sell natural gas to a certain list of commercial and industrial customers. Hess is a huge company with operations that span upstream (drilling new wells) to midstream (pipelines, processing and terminals) to downstream (selling oil and gas to end user customers). Hess owns leases for 185,000 Utica Shale acres in Ohio and seems to be making moves to increase its presence in the state for all of its operations.

More on the Hess purchase from Delta:

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

NJ Natural Gas Customers Get Rate Cut Thanks to Fracking
September 18, 2012September 18, 2012

In what can only be termed delicious irony, more than 2 million natural gas customers across New Jersey, many of whom oppose hydraulic fracturing for natural gas, will get a cut in their natural gas rates starting October 1st. Why? Because of the abundance of hydraulically fractured Marcellus Shale gas flowing into the state from Pennsylvania.

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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Sep 18, 2012
September 18, 2012September 18, 2012

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

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Energy Companies | EnerVest | Ohio | Statewide OH

EnerVest Puts 539,000 Utica Shale Acres on Auction Block
September 17, 2012September 17, 2012

EnerVest has put leases for 539,000 Utica Shale acres in Ohio on the auction block and hopes to get more than $6 billion dollars for it. That would be something north of $11,000 per acre. Pretty optimistic, but hey, you never know!

Apparently EnerVest is the accidental energy company who just happened to amass a 3/4 of a million acres of leases some time ago and now wants to take advantage by selling some of it. From the Wall Street Journal:

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Exporting | Industrywide Issues

Guest Viewpoint: Why the APGA is Wrong on LNG Exports
September 17, 2012April 25, 2017

MDN reader and friend Chris Acker, who splits his time between northeast Pennsylvania and Savannah, Georgia, recently sent MDN a note about the American Public Gas Association (APGA) and their call to ban the export of natural gas from the U.S. The APGA has over 700 members in 36 states and is the only nonprofit trade organization that represents America’s publicly owned natural gas local distribution companies (LDCs).

In February, the APGA sent a letter to Congressman Edward Markey (D) supporting his legislation that would ban the export of domestically produced liquefied natural gas (see the letter here). Chris points out what he perceives are the fallacies in the APGA’s arguments to ban LNG exports. MDN has had mixed emotions on the topic of exporting natural gas, but Chris makes some compelling arguments.

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Broome County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Violence

NY State Senator Receives Death Threats from Anti-Drillers
September 17, 2012September 17, 2012

New York State Senator Tom Libous, from Binghamton, a leading politician in New York who supports shale gas drilling, reports he’s received death threats by out-of-control anti-drillers. You know, those peace-loving “civil” disobedient types? Yeah, those people.

From the New York Post:

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Athens County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio

Civil Disobedience, or Eco-Terrorism? Go Climb a Tree
September 17, 2012September 17, 2012

Somewhere, at an undisclosed location “just outside Athens, Ohio” starting on Saturday of this week, anti-drillers will go to camp to learn how to…climb trees? Yeah, climb trees. Apparently people with the anti-drilling gene missed out in their early years and now need corrective instruction to teach them how to “go climb a tree.”

After you stop laughing (like we did), and read a bit further, you’ll find out the intent of the anti-driller tree-climbing camp is a bit more nefarious. It’s to teach people how to engage in civil disobedience (we call it eco-terrorism) by climbing trees, stretching ropes between trees, and oops, guess that nutjob protester just happened to fall on the road right in front of that truck on the way to a drill site. Isn’t that a shame/coincidence? (Yes, that’s exactly what they planned to do near a drill site in central Pennsylvania before it was stopped by the police, read this MDN story.)

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Broome County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York

Anti-Fracking Hippies Gather at Otsiningo Park Last Saturday
September 17, 2012September 17, 2012

A group of 60s hippies and hippie wannabes gathered at Otsiningo Park (in Binghamton, NY) over the weekend to hold a press conference and make noise about fracking—anti, of course. Among them were failed Binghamton Mayor Matt Ryan, his failed sidekick (running for County Executive in a laughable campaign), Tarik Abdelazim, socialist Binghamton Council member Leah Webb and others. Read more about the event by clicking for the Press & Sun-Bulletin article the link below.

However, the better and frankly more perceptive coverage of the event, came from a former Press & Sun-Bulletin reporter who’s also anti-fracking, Tom Wilbur. Tom points out the rather small group assembled (maybe 100 people total, out of a metro area of 125,000), are signing pledges that if fracking is allowed in New York, they’re going to try and stop it using so-called “civil” disobedience (we’ve personally never seen the anti crowd act civilly!). In his coverage, Wilbur reaffirms what MDN has said for years now: These people are lost in the 1960s.

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Education | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Tompkins County

Cornell University’s Anti-Fossil Fuel Brainwashing Sessions
September 17, 2012September 17, 2012

The Cornell University Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences along with the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future (also a Cornell group) have launched a lecture series for undergraduates they call “Sustainable Earth Energy and Environmental Systems” (see the flier embedded below).

MDN calls it brainwashing sessions for young students to ensure they’re properly indoctrinated into the cult of hating fossil fuels.

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Columbia Pipeline Group | Columbiana County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Hilcorp Energy | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Ohio

Columbia Gas & Hilcorp Meet with Landowners in Brinker Field
September 17, 2012September 17, 2012

More than 50 years ago, landowners in a 35,000 acre area of Columbiana County, Ohio signed a lease with Columbia Gas that allows Columbia to store natural gas supplies in the Berea Sandstone formation. Known as the Brinker property back then, today it’s referred to as the Brinker Storage Field. The lease that was signed, and passed on to new landowners purchasing “Brinker” property, means landowners won’t see a penny from drilling that’s about to begin on their property by Hilcorp Energy (see this MDN story for more background). Columbia Gas will keep all of the signing bonus and royalty money for itself. Unless…

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Commodity Price | Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Gas Utility Files to Reduce Rates for All Customers
September 17, 2012September 17, 2012

Once again an abundance of clean-burning Marcellus Shale natural gas is benefiting everyone—not just energy companies and landowners. Mountaineer Gas Company, serving 226,000 residential and business customers and the largest natural gas distribution company in West Virginia, recently filed to lower rates on natural gas for its customers by a substantial amount:

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About MDN | Calendar

Calendar of Events for Sep 17-30, 2012 [Free]
September 17, 2012September 17, 2012

Below are upcoming events for this week and next.

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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Sep 17, 2012
September 17, 2012September 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: Mon, Sep 17, 2012”
Michigan | Statewide MI | Utica Shale

Is Michigan the Next State to See Widespread Shale Drilling?
September 14, 2012September 14, 2012

Is Michigan the next place where horizontal drilling and fracking of shale will take off? Maybe. The U.S. has a myriad of shale plays across it. It just so happens the Marcellus is the largest (land-wise) and the Utica is right now one of the hottest (with oil and natural gas liquids).

Part of the Utica formation underlies Michigan. But the formation of note in Michigan is the Collingwood Shale layer. The Utica is above it, so it’s often referred to as the Utica-Collingwood. The Collingwood is two miles (or more) below the surface. Encana and others have been testing the Utica-Collingwood in Michigan, but lately, it seems like activity in the state is picking up beyond the “just testing” stage (see the map below). Is this a sign of things to come?

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CNX Resources | CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Mahoning County | Ohio

CNX Gas Starts Utica Well in Meander Reservoir Watershed
September 14, 2012September 14, 2012

The third Utica Shale well to be drilled in Mahoning County, Ohio is set to begin any day now. The well is being drilled by CNX Gas (subsidiary of CONSOL Energy). While the fact that a new well is being drilled may not seem like news (it’s the third well to be drilled in Mahoning County), where it’s being drilled in the county is big news: in the watershed of the Meander Reservoir, which provides drinking water to 300,000 people in the Mahoning Valley.

When completed, this will be a great example of the fact that drilling and fracking is safe—even in watershed areas (pay attention New York):

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Coshocton County | Energy Services | Enterprise Products Partners | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines

ATEX Express Ethane Pipeline Begins Construction in Ohio
September 14, 2012September 14, 2012

Earlier this year, Enterprise Products Partners announced a 1,230 mile ethane pipeline called the ATEX Express (Appalachia to Texas) that will run from Pennsylvania to the Gulf Coast (see this MDN story). Part of the pipeline repurposes an existing pipeline from Cape Girardeau, Missouri south to Texas. But part of the line is new construction through Ohio.

Not long after the new pipeline was announced, there was a dispute over whether or not Enterprise would need permission from the Ohio Power Siting Board to build new line through the state (see this MDN story). Apparently the issue is now resolved because construction in Ohio is beginning in Coshocton County:

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