Marcellus Drilling News

EPA Issues Draft Rule on Using Diesel Fuel in Fracking Fluid

May 7, 2012May 7, 2012

Friday was document-dump day at the federal government. In addition to the Bureau of Land Management’s new hydraulic fracturing on federal land proposed rule (see this MDN story), the Environmental Protection Agency issued a new policy, or “Guidance” as they call it, for granting drilling permits to drillers who want to use diesel fuel as a component in their fracking fluid mix (a copy of the new Guidance is embedded below).

Ethane Pipeline Company Sues Farmer to Gain Access to Land

May 7, 2012May 7, 2012

Enterprise Products Partners 1,230 mile ethane pipeline from Pennsylvania to the Gulf Coast, called the ATEX Express (Appalachia to Texas), has hit a snag in Ohio and is suing a farmer who refuses to let them on the property for survey work.

The proposed ATEX Express pipeline includes building 353 miles of new pipeline through Ohio. They’re on a schedule, and they don’t want delays. So when Nancy and David Hyde asked Enterprise to find a different route other than go through David’s best hay field, Enterprise said “no” and is suing them to allow them on the property. As with most lawsuits, this one is complicated.

Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies

Many Analysts Say Chesapeake Energy Will Bounce Back

May 7, 2012May 7, 2012

Analysts are predicting that Chesapeake Energy and its stock price is poised for a bounce-back, if CEO Aubrey McClendon follows through on promises to sell certain company assets and reduce the company’s debt load. So says an article from Bloomberg BusinessWeek on Friday:

Belmont County | Economic Impact | Housing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio

RV Park for Shale Workers in OH Sees Strong Demand

May 7, 2012May 7, 2012

In an indication of things to come, pipeline construction firm Price Gregory has requested 50 RV spaces for its workers in a new RV/camper park located in Morristown, OH (Belmont County)—by June 1st!

Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Regulation | Statewide OH

OH Bill Requires 3rd Party Verification of O&G Production

May 7, 2012May 7, 2012

Two Ohio state Democrat representatives have introduced a new bill that would require an “audit clause” to be recorded in every oil and gas drilling lease in the state. The bill is an effort, according to its authors, to insert third party verification of production numbers reported by companies so landowners don’t have to rely on the driller’s “honesty” in reporting those numbers.

Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, May 7, 2012

May 7, 2012May 7, 2012

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

About MDN

Change Coming in MDN Service Availability

May 4, 2012June 15, 2012

Dear MDN Reader,

Starting Monday, May 7, I will implement paid access for the Marcellus Drilling News website. If you would give me just a few minutes of your time, I would like to explain why, and how it will work.

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

Anti-Drillers Target Conventional NatGas Drilling in NY

May 4, 2012May 4, 2012

crosshairs The anti-drillers in New York are not content to block horizontal drilling. They increasingly have turned their attention to conventional, vertical natural gas drilling as their target, trying to shut down or otherwise harass an industry that has been safely operating in the state for decades.

The latest attempt is a sham “report” by the anti-drilling group Environmental Advocates of New York. This new “report” says wastewater disposal from conventional, vertical wells is too lax in the state. They want conventional drilling wastewater to be classified as a hazardous substance with cradle-to-grave tracking of all water used in any oil and gas drilling in the state—which is just another way of strangling an industry that has been an important part of the state’s economy for the past 100+ years.

From the AP:

Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies

SEC Launches Informal Investigation of Chesapeake & McClendon

May 4, 2012May 4, 2012

The sharks continue to circle around Chesapeake Energy. Yesterday, the company confirmed via a brief press announcement (below) that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has launched an informal investigation into the company and its founder/CEO Aubrey McClendan.

The Chesapeake announcement:

Broome County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Statewide NY

Cornell Veterinarians Say Fracking Poisons Animals & People

May 4, 2012May 4, 2012

Another day, another attempt by the anti-drilling left to scare people. Honestly, when will the general public wake up to these pathetic attempts to stop drilling?

The latest attempt is from two Cornell professors—from the veterinary department—who came to Endicott, NY to warn people that fracking will poison their cows and horses and chickens and dogs and cats, oh my! (Perhaps the good profs should make a trip to PA, just across the border, where fracking is everywhere and the animals are just fine.)

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Public Opinion | Statewide PA

Western PA School Board Member Speaks Out on Anti-Drillers

May 4, 2012May 4, 2012

A school board member from a district in western Pennsylvania that recently voted to allow Marcellus Shale drilling under, but not on top, of school property wrote a must-read article that appears on the American Thinker website today. He shares with readers the process the board went through, the agonizing, researching, questioning, and public hearings on gas drilling. And the board member came to a key conclusion about anti-drillers: at their core, they are unreasonable people. To wit:

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Public Opinion | Statewide NY

Folk Legend Peter Yarrow Joins Anti-Fracking Protest in NY

May 4, 2012May 4, 2012

Peter Paul and Mary Guess who’s now on board the anti-drilling bus? Peter Yarrow, of the sixties folk singing group Peter, Paul and Mary. Or as MDN editor Jim Willis used to call them back in the 1980s, “Peter, Paul and Commie.” Yeah, the singers of Puff the Magic Dragon have always been politically active—on the far left. In the 1980s they flew to Nicaragua to show their support for the brutal Socialist/Communist dictator Daniel Ortega. Why is it liberals love the commie dictators like Ortega and Castro? But we digress.

MarkWest Inks Major New Deals with Chesapeake & Antero

May 4, 2012May 4, 2012

MarkWest announced today two major new agreements to provide expanded natural gas processing and pipeline capacity for Chesapeake Energy and Antero Resouces in the Marcellus Shale. The deal with Chesapeake covers Brooke, Ohio and Marshall counties in WV, and Washington County, PA. The deal with Antero covers Doddridge and Harrison counties in WV. The new agreements, which include processing natural gas liquids, mean MarkWest will build new gathering pipelines and add compressor stations to their existing operations.

From the MarkWest press release:

Marcellus Shale Gas Coming to Scranton/W-B Customers

May 4, 2012May 4, 2012

UGI Utilities, a regional gas and electric utility provider with offices in Reading and Wilkes-Barre, wants to be the first utility in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area to offer their customers natural gas exclusively from the Marcellus Shale. How? UGI’s subsidiary, UGI Energy Services, announced last fall they would spend $150 million to extend the Auburn Gathering Line into Luzerne County. The Auburn pipeline will bring natural gas from wells in Wyoming and Susquehanna counties to Luzerne where UGI has operations and offices.

As part of the extension project, on April 7 UGI made application with the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to build a compressor station in West Wyoming, a small borough in Luzerne County:

Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, May 4, 2012

May 4, 2012May 4, 2012

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

Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies

Another Shoe Drops for Chesapeake – Aubrey’s Hedge Fund

May 3, 2012May 3, 2012

shoes dropping Yesterday was not a good day for Chesapeake Energy and its CEO Aubrey McClendon. By the end of the day, Chesapeake’s stock had slide to its lowest since September 2009, down 15 percent at $16.72 (see chart below). Why the drop? A number of reasons, but mostly because of a new revelation, “the other shoe dropping.”

On an earnings call with stockholders and analysts yesterday, McClendon laid out a plan for reducing a pile of debt the company has racked up that now totals $12.6 billion. Investors remain nervous about the mounting debt. The company earlier this week reported a net loss of $71 million, or 11 cents per share, for the first three months of this year. Several weeks ago Reuters reported that McClendon had been running up his own debt tab in order to supply cash for drilling wells in which he is a 2.5 percent stakeholder in a deal with the company. The company’s stock took a beating on that news.