Marcellus Drilling News

Carlyle Group | Energy Services | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Sunoco Logistics

Sunoco Hands over Keys to Philly Refinery after 146 Years
September 20, 2012

As MDN reported in early July, Sunoco (about to be purchased by Energy Transfer Partners), signed a joint venture deal with the Carlyle Group, a Washington, D.C. private equity firm, to keep Sunoco’s Philadelphia oil refinery open (see this MDN story). The deal will save 850 jobs. The reason the deal happened at all? The Marcellus Shale.

On Wednesday, Sunoco handed over the ceremonial keys to the plant to Carlyle. Sunoco maintains a one-third interest in the refinery, and Carlyle will be the new operator.

Read More “Sunoco Hands over Keys to Philly Refinery after 146 Years”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Thu, Sep 20, 2012
September 20, 2012September 20, 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: Thu, Sep 20, 2012”
Energy Companies | Guernsey County | Ohio | PDC Mountaineer | Utica Shale | Washington County (OH)

PDC Energy will Go-it-Alone with Utica Shale Drilling
September 19, 2012September 19, 2012

PDC announced today they will “go it alone” and develop 45,000 acres of Utica Shale leases they own in southeastern Ohio without a joint venture partner. Apparently the offers they received weren’t good enough, so they’re committing $50 million to drilling efforts in the Utica in their 2013 budget.

Early results for PDC have been promising. They report drilling two wells in Guernsey County, OH. They plan to drill a third Utica well later this year in Washington County. Here’s the press release outlining early results, and their Utica plans for the next 12 months:

Read More “PDC Energy will Go-it-Alone with Utica Shale Drilling”
About MDN | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

MDN to Attend Shale Gas Insight in Philly this Thu/Fri [Free]
September 19, 2012September 19, 2012

MDN editor Jim Willis will attend Shale Gas Insight 2012 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, PA on Thursday and Friday, Sept. 20 & 21. He’ll be hanging out at the NGI Shale Daily booth (#433). If you’re an MDN reader, please stop by to say hello in person! Jim would like to meet you.

It seems, however, that more than just luminaries like Jack Welch (former CEO of GE), Tom Corbett (Governor of PA), Ted Koppel (former Nightline host) and the CEOs of Range, XTO and MarkWest will be there. Anti-drillers will also converge on the Convention Center in a spectacle they call Shale Gas Outrage, featuring minor celebrities like Josh Fox (of Gasland infamy), Bill McKibben (350.org), Sandra Steingraber (ecologist), and Doug Shields (former president of Pittsburgh City Council). Hey, it ought to be a real party!

Here’s what the Philadelphia Inquirer says about the upcoming event:

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Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Statewide WV | Upshur County | West Virginia

Tangible Evidence of the Change from Dry to Wet Gas Drilling
September 19, 2012September 19, 2012

For some time there have been rumblings of how drilling activity is moving from “dry gas” (methane only) to “wet gas” (methane plus natural gas liquids like ethane, pentane and butane) areas. It seemed you couldn’t read a quarterly financial update from an energy company that didn’t mention such a move. And while slowdowns were apparent in some isolated areas, frankly, the actions just didn’t seem to match the words.

Here’s a bit of news that provides tangible evidence of the change from dry to wet gas drilling. Great Plains Oilfield Rentals, a company that employs 120 people in and around Buckhannon in Upshur County, WV (center of the state), is moving—to the upper panhandle area of West Virginia. Why? Wet gas drilling.

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

List of Upstate NY Elected Officials who Oppose Drilling
September 19, 2012September 19, 2012

Some New York State elected officials—particularly those outside of the Southern Tier where drilling may someday, possibly, perhaps, after numerous lawsuits, see a teeny tiny bit of drilling—are anti-drilling and attempting to get themselves noticed. Fortunately, they’ve given us a handy list of who they are—so you can either vote for or against them, depending on your viewpoint, in the next election (see the complete list of anti-drilling elected officials below).

Yesterday a group of elected officials held a presser in Utica, NY to announce the Utica Shale may be a “target” for fracking:

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Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Statewide NY

Anti-Fracking Group Sues NY Gov. Cuomo & DEC over FOIL Request
September 19, 2012September 19, 2012

Talk about an ill-advised strategy… Even though New York Gov. Cuomo’s office and the state Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has been holding secret meetings with anti-drillers, asking for their opinions and advice on how to proceed with fracking in New York State, some of those same groups have turned around and sued Gov. Cuomo and the state claiming a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request they made earlier this year for the records about meetings between the governor, the DEC and the drilling industry have not been fully disclosed.

Hello anti-drillers! This is not how you win friends and influence people (like Andy) to your cause. The topper? The group suing isn’t even from New York.

Read More “Anti-Fracking Group Sues NY Gov. Cuomo & DEC over FOIL Request”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Environmental Groups Ask Cuomo to Ban Fracking Permanently
September 19, 2012September 19, 2012

Yesterday, a group of the usual suspects of radical “environmentalist” groups, including 350.org, Catskill Mountainkeeper, Delaware Riverkeeper, et al, sent a letter to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo urging him to permanently ban fracking and instead pursue the fantasy of alternative energy for the state (letter embedded below). The signatories claim that clean-burning natural gas is not a bridge to their so-called clean energy nirvana future. Different day, same old stuff.

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Crawford County | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp

Crawford County, PA Sees First Utica Shale Well Drilled
September 19, 2012September 19, 2012

Although there’s plenty of conventional, shallow gas wells in Crawford County (in the northwestern corner of Pennsylvania), the very first unconventional, horizontal well has just been drilled in the Utica Shale in Crawford County. Starting as soon as today, it will be fracked.

Here’s the details:

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Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

Cowardly “Me Too” Towns Support Act 13 Lawsuit in 11th Hour
September 19, 2012September 19, 2012

Pennsylvania’s Act 13 shale drilling law, passed earlier this year, is facing a stiff legal challenge to a key provision in the law. The only part of the law challenged in court is the part replacing the ability of local municipalities to enact zoning ordinances to control where, and if, drilling happens within their borders. Act 13 substitutes a common set of zoning restrictions—drilling must be at least X feet from water wells, schools, etc. Seven brave townships in PA sued to have that provision overturned. MDN says “brave” not because we necessarily support their effort, but in contrast to the cowardly towns and cities and organizations who haven’t put up their own money and time but instead have issued press releases to support the seven who have.

Who are the cowardly towns and organizations? Let’s name some names, shall we?

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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Sep 19, 2012
September 19, 2012September 19, 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, Sep 19, 2012”
Energy Companies | Hilcorp Energy

Spotlight: Hilcorp Energy’s Sole (Billionaire) Shareholder
September 18, 2012September 18, 2012

Hilcorp Energy has been on the radar screen a number of times recently. The energy company is heavily involved with both drilling and midstream activity in the Ohio Utica Shale. The first mention of Hilcorp on MDN was in July 2012 when NiSource announced they were forming a joint venture with Hilcorp by combining Utica Shale acreage allowing Hilcorp to do the drilling (see this MDN story). A pipeline being built by NiSource and Hilcorp is about to start construction in Ohio (see this MDN story). And just yesterday, MDN told you about the latest developments in the Brinker Storage Field area of Ohio, involving Columbia Gas and Hilcorp (see this MDN story).

Just who and what is Hilcorp? Surprisingly, Hilcorp, a privately-owned company, is owned by a single shareholder: Jeffrey Hildebrand. According to a new article in Forbes magazine, Hildebrand is “uber-private” and very wealthy. The article shares a few other bits of information about the company and Mr. Hildebrand that MDN thought you would find interesting:

Read More “Spotlight: Hilcorp Energy’s Sole (Billionaire) Shareholder”
Coshocton County | Guernsey County | Ohio | Statewide OH

8 New Utica Shale Permits Issued Last Week in Ohio
September 18, 2012September 18, 2012

The latest information (for last week) shows eight new drilling permits issued for Ohio’s Utica Shale, including one permit in Coshocton County, and four permits in Guernsey County:

Read More “8 New Utica Shale Permits Issued Last Week in Ohio”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA Former Gov. Rendell Changes Position on DRBC Moratorium
September 18, 2012September 18, 2012

Ed Rendell, former governor of Pennsylvania, is a prominent Democrat and a supporter of natural gas drilling. While in office, he opposed the ongoing moratorium for drilling in the Delaware River Basin. Now that he’s out of office, he still supports drilling, but he’s changed his tune on the Delaware River Basin Commission’s (DRBC) de facto moratorium. He now supports it.

Rendell points out, however, that if you say “no” to fracking and natural gas, you say “yes” to burning more oil. At least he’s a realist.

Read More “PA Former Gov. Rendell Changes Position on DRBC Moratorium”
Alternative Energy | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Statewide NY

Cuomo Announces Green Tech Initiative, Dithers on Fracking
September 18, 2012September 18, 2012

Throwing a little political red meat (and taxpayer money) to his leftist anti-drilling supporters, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo yesterday announced the launch of a new $30 million “green technology” initiative. One of the absurd arguments made by those who oppose drilling is that we can get by, right now, using only alternative sources of energy like wind and solar if we’d only just reduce the amount of energy we use—like by 50% (their estimates). You know, put padlocks on everyone’s thermostats so the furnace doesn’t come on for anything over 60 degrees. Rolling blackouts—“Today’s Tuesday, so we have electricity, horray!” That sort of thing.

Cuomo’s new green energy “initiative” with an emphasis on figuring out how to use energy more efficiently (sans rolling blackouts) will be music to anti-drillers’ ears. Meanwhile, Cuomo continues to dither on the one clean energy alternative that would make an immediate and profound difference for all New Yorkers: drilling for clean-burning natural gas.

Read More “Cuomo Announces Green Tech Initiative, Dithers on Fracking”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Oneida County | Statewide NY

Even Without Fracking, Some NY Water Wells are Flammable
September 18, 2012September 18, 2012

A recent study released by the U.S. Geological Survey looks at water well contamination in New York State. The study sampled 239 wells, 12 of them located in the Mohawk Valley area of the state (Utica, NY area). At least one of the Mohawk Valley water wells has enough methane in it (28 milligrams per liter) to be flammable. Just like the faucet in the fictional movie Gasland! Just one thing: There’s no fracked natural gas wells anywhere close to that well (high volume fracking has never been allowed in the state—ever). It’s naturally-occurring methane.

Read More “Even Without Fracking, Some NY Water Wells are Flammable”