Marcellus Drilling News

Antero Resources | Belmont County | Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio | Utica Shale

Barnesville, OH Signs Lease with Antero, Receives $6M
September 12, 2012September 12, 2012

The Village of Barnesville, OH (Belmont County) just signed a lease with Antero Resources to allow shale drilling on 1,047 village-owned acres. The village now has an additional $6 million in revenue because of it.

Here’s the details about the deal, including the per-acre price and royalty percentage (some of the highest we’ve seen):

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Energy Services | GASFRAC

Waterless LPG Fracking Company GASFRAC Fires its CEO, COO
September 12, 2012September 12, 2012

GASFRAC, a Canadian company with a patented fracking technology that uses liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) instead of water, announced a major shakeup yesterday. The company’s board of directors has tossed CEO Zeke Zeringue and COO Steve Batchelor overboard in a management shakeup.

From the GASFRAC press release:

Read More “Waterless LPG Fracking Company GASFRAC Fires its CEO, COO”
Energy Companies | Gale Force Petroleum | Marshall County | West Virginia | Wetzel County

Gale Force Petroleum Marcellus Update for 2 WV Counties
September 12, 2012September 12, 2012

Gale Force Petroleum issued an operations update today about their Marcellus drilling activities in Wetzel and Marshall counties in West Virginia. Gale Force says the wells they’ve drilled, in wet gas areas, are producing in excess of 60 barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOEPD) of natural gas liquids in the Marcellus. They expect that number to grow.

Gale Force also says they’ve drilled 15 wells to date and have plans to drill another 50-100 wells on the 10,000 acres they’ve leased over the next three years. From the Gale Force press release:

Read More “Gale Force Petroleum Marcellus Update for 2 WV Counties”
Air Quality | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Ohio County | Research | West Virginia

New Study to Measure Drilling Effects on Air Quality in WV
September 12, 2012September 12, 2012

The Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department is working with West Virginia University researchers in a new study to measure possible effects of drilling on air pollution:

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Commodity Price | Industrywide Issues

EIA Short-Term Prediction for 2013: NatGas Avg $3.34 Mmbtu
September 12, 2012September 12, 2012

Each month the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) publishes a Short-Term Energy Outlook. EIA researchers crunch the numbers, analyze the trends, and haul out the EIA crystal ball to predict what will happen in the next 12 months.

Here’s the section where they talk about natural gas supply, demand and prices they expect over the next year:

Read More “EIA Short-Term Prediction for 2013: NatGas Avg $3.34 Mmbtu”
Broome County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation

Anti-Drilling Group Gets Binghamton Univ. to Sign Petition
September 12, 2012September 12, 2012

An anti-drilling group in the Town of Vestal, NY (Broome County) continues to agitate and pressure the town board to enact a moratorium on non-existent fracking in the town. (New York still does not allow high-volume horizontal fracking, and by all accounts, won’t any time soon.)

The latest tactic by Vestal Residents for Safe Energy (VeRSE) is to dupe get 60 Binghamton University employees to sign a petition requesting a fracking moratorium. VeRSE plans to present the petition at tonight’s town board meeting.

Read More “Anti-Drilling Group Gets Binghamton Univ. to Sign Petition”
Industrywide Issues | Kanawha County | NG Vehicles | West Virginia

Kanawha County’s First CNG Vehicle: $1.89/Gal. to Fill it Up
September 12, 2012September 12, 2012

Earlier this week Kanawha County, WV got its first county vehicle converted to run on compressed natural gas (CNG)—a 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe. They filled it up for the gasoline equivalent of $1.89 a gallon (gasoline currently runs close to $4 per gallon).

It cost $12,000 to convert it to run on both CNG and gasoline, but the county figures by saving more than 50% on each fill-up, it won’t take long to make that money back.

Read More “Kanawha County’s First CNG Vehicle: $1.89/Gal. to Fill it Up”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Sierra Club, Others Call for Moratorium on New Drilling in WV
September 12, 2012September 12, 2012

Eleven so-called environmental groups, led by the nose by the Sierra Club, held a small anti-drilling protest rally yesterday at the West Virginia State Capitol where they demanded a moratorium on granting any new permits to drill in the Marcellus Shale. They handed Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin and legislators in town for meetings their list of demands.

The groups are anti-drilling and anti-fracking and want stricter rules for drilling than currently exist in WV, among them:

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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Sep 11, 2012
September 12, 2012September 12, 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, Sep 11, 2012”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Cuomo Says No Immediate Decision on Fracking in NY
September 11, 2012September 11, 2012

Is fracking in New York now effectively dead for the foreseeable future? MDN is pro-drilling, you know that. And we live and work in New York, you know that too. And we have many landowner friends in New York. We love New York!

But after comments made in a radio interview yesterday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, MDN has to confess we’re concerned about the future of fracking in the state. Here’s how it went:

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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA Impact Fee Raises More Revenue than Expected
September 11, 2012September 11, 2012

The new Pennsylvania Act 13 drilling law is paying off. Yesterday the PA State Public Utility Commission (PUC), the agency charged will billing and receiving the “impact fee” provided for under the new law, reported how much money was billed, and how much was received. We have the detailed list by drilling company (embedded below).

The original estimate in the spring of this year when the law was passed, is that the first year would raise a total of $180 million in new revenue. The good news? More than $200 million was raised from the impact fee. The PUC billed drillers $205,890,000. So far they’ve paid $197,600,000. The difference is either cases where the driller disputes the PUC’s information about the status of a well, and a few cases of “the check is in the mail.”

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Carrizo Oil & Gas | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

Carizzo’s Missing Impact Fee Payment – Scofflaw?
September 11, 2012September 11, 2012

Yesterday the Pennsylvania State Public Utility Commission (PUC), the agency in charge of assessing and collecting the new Marcellus Shale Impact Fee, released the figures showing which drillers were assessed the fee, the number of both vertical and horizontal wells they drilled, and most importantly, how much they were assessed and how much they’ve paid (see this MDN story).

One particular company stands out among the list: Carizzo Oil & Gas. They stand out because the PUC says they’ve paid exactly $0 of the $3,060,000 they owe in impact fees. The The Harrisburg Patriot-News calls them a scofflaw and chronicles the back and forth they’ve had with both Carrizo and the PUC over the missing payment:

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Energy Companies | Southwestern Energy

Southwestern Selects the Marcellus to Fuel Future Growth
September 11, 2012September 11, 2012

More great analysis from Richard Zeits. Writing on the Seeking Alpha website, Zeits looks in-depth at Southwestern Energy and their plans for the Marcellus Shale. Southwestern’s CEO, Steven Mueller, spoke at length at an industry conference last week about his company’s plans for the rest of this year and next. Zeits took great notes and he re-creates much of that presentation.

Southwestern has a huge position in the Fayetteville Shale basin, so it may surprise some that the Marcellus, where Southwestern had zero production just a year and a half ago, is the horse they’ve selected to ride for future growth. Zeits’ analysis of Mueller’s presentation starts this way:

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Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA DEP Secretaries Spar over Presidential Energy Plans
September 11, 2012September 11, 2012

Monday’s Consumer Energy Alliance summit on Pennsylvania energy saw an interesting closing session, with the previous Pennsylvania Sec. of Environmental Protection (DEP) John Hanger and the current DEP Sec. Michael Krancer squaring off over energy policy in this year’s presidential campaign. Krancer took a day off from his official role at the DEP to become Romney’s surrogate for the debate. Hanger, disappointingly, represented Obama. (On a personal note we like John Hanger and his message very much—we selected him to present MDN’s very first webinar. But we’re disappointed he’s out on the stump defending an indefensible and failed energy policy by this president.)

Krancer minced no words about the differences between Romney and Obama’s energy policies:

Read More “PA DEP Secretaries Spar over Presidential Energy Plans”
Allegheny County | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

South Fayette, PA Accuses PUC of Persecuting Them over Act 13
September 11, 2012October 18, 2013

South Fayette in Allegheny County, PA is one of the seven towns that sued the state of PA over the new Act 13 drilling law that stripped away local municipalities’ ability to zone for oil and gas development. The Act 13 law substitutes a new “one size fits all” statewide version of zoning. The Act 13 lawsuit will be heard by the PA State Supreme Court in mid-October.

A South Fayette resident requested the state Public Utility Commission (PUC), charged with reviewing and determining whether or not local municipalities are in compliance with Act 13 with regard to their zoning laws, asked the PUC to investigate, which they are doing (see this MDN story). A resident of Robinson Township also asked the PUC to investigate that town’s ordinances, making Robinson the second case of PUC review (see this Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story). Attorneys for South Fayette have responded to the review by accusing the PUC of “professional persecution,” “malicious intent,” and taking an “aggressive stance” against the town.

Read More “South Fayette, PA Accuses PUC of Persecuting Them over Act 13”
Housing | Industrywide Issues | Statewide WV | Taxation | West Virginia

Hotel Tax Loophole in WV Benefits Drillers, Ending Soon?
September 11, 2012September 11, 2012

A tax loophole in West Virginia on hotels and motels, designed to benefit politicians, has had an unintended consequence: It’s now benefiting the Marcellus Shale drilling industry.

In 1975 the West Virginia legislature passed a law allowing local municipalities the option of charging up to a 3% tax on hotel and motel rooms. In 2005, they raised it to 6%. However, the politicians included an exemption: No tax on hotel and motel stays of over 30 days.

Read More “Hotel Tax Loophole in WV Benefits Drillers, Ending Soon?”