Marcellus Drilling News

Property Values Up in Marshall, WV; Dominion Invests $1.2B

March 23, 2012March 23, 2012

Dominion Transmission is investing nearly $1.2 billion in Marshall County, WV. Almost half of that—$500 million—will be spent on a new gas processing facility near Natrium (see this MDN story). Earlier this week, Dominion officials updated Marshall County commissioners on the progress of the new facility and other projects underway.

Accidents | Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues

Chesapeake: Shale Drillers Need to Reduce Surface Impacts

March 23, 2012March 23, 2012

At a conference in Charelston, WV on Thursday, Chesapeake vice president Scott Rotruck said the drilling industry needs to do a better job at reducing surface impacts from shale drilling.

Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Meetings | Public Opinion

Can Pro- and Anti-Drillers Ever Get Along?

March 23, 2012March 23, 2012

Both pro- and anti-drillers addressed a Wall Street Journal conference this week called ECO:nomics—and the sparks flew. Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon spear-headed the pro-drilling side with his address, and Paul Gallay, president of Riverkeeper, represented the anti-drilling side. Some of Gallay’s comments illustrate the nonsensical arguments from anti-drillers. He responded to McClendon’s vision of getting off foreign oil with U.S. shale drilling this way:

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA DEP Hosting Webinars on Act 13 Zoning Law

March 23, 2012March 23, 2012

Want to know more about the recently passed Act 13 law in Pennsylvania? That’s the new law essentially removing the right of local municipalities to regulate or otherwise ban drilling within their borders. Some townships are up in arms and threatening a lawsuit. The state Department of Environmental Protection wants to educate local officials and the public and is conducting four one-hour webinars to do it.

From the DEP press release:

Energy Services | Magnum Hunter

Eureka Hunter Buys TransTex Gas, Plans for Marcellus/Utica

March 23, 2012March 23, 2012

Magnum Hunter subsidiary Eureka Hunter announced yesterday they are buying TransTex Gas Services, a natural gas treatment company based in Houston, TX for $58.5 million. One of Eureka Hunter’s objectives in purchasing the company is to grow the TransTex business in the Marcellus and Utica Shale.

From the Magnum Hunter press release:

Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Mar 23, 2012

March 23, 2012March 23, 2012

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

WPX Vents 3 Methane-Contaminated Water Wells in PA

March 22, 2012March 22, 2012

update In an update to a story from earlier this week about methane contamination of three water wells in Franklin Township, PA (see this MDN story), WPX Energy has now installed venting systems on those three homes per the request from the PA Department of Environmental Protection.

Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues

How Much Natural Gas Does the Marcellus Really Hold?

March 22, 2012March 22, 2012

The question of how much recoverable gas there is in the Marcellus will likely be a topic of debate for some years. In 2009, Penn State geosciences professor Dr. Terry Engelder estimated there’s around 489 trillion cubic feet of gas—the largest amount of recoverable gas of any shale play in the U.S. But in January of this year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the authoritative voice of the government for such data, estimated that the Marcellus has around 141 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas total.

Who’s right? We have two new reports presented at a research conference on Monday at Penn State University which confirm Dr. Engelder’s original estimate:

Antero Resources | Energy Companies

Antero Resources 2011 Results for the Marcellus

March 22, 2012March 22, 2012

Antero Resources released 2011 operating and financial results yesterday. Below are portions from their statement that are relevant to the Marcellus Shale:

Education | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Survey of 940 PA School Districts on Impacts of Marcellus

March 22, 2012March 22, 2012

Penn State Cooperative Extension recently published a new fact sheet with results and conclusions from a survey of 940 school districts about Marcellus Shale gas development and what it means for Pennsylvania’s schools (a copy is embedded below). So far, in areas with a lot of drilling, there’s been little in the way of new revenue for local schools, although those areas have benefited economically in general. Some respondents expressed concern about drop-out rates increasing as students leave to take advantage of high-paying jobs. Road damage and traffic congestion are also problems in some areas affecting school buses. But it’s not all bad news for schools.

Chesapeake Talks About Pipelines for OH Processing Complex

March 22, 2012March 22, 2012

Last week, Chesapeake Energy announced it was partnering with M3 Midstream and EV Energy Partners to build a new $900 million gas processing complex in Ohio’s Harrison and Columbiana counties by the middle of next year (see this MDN story). At an industry conference this week, Chesapeake and its partners spoke about the pipelines they will run to the plants and between the plants:

Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | NG Vehicles

Cabot’s George Stark Predicts More CNG Vehicles Coming

March 22, 2012March 22, 2012

News from Hart Energy’s Marcellus Midstream Conference that was held in Pittsburgh earlier this week—a prediction about the future of compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles:

Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Thu, Mar 22, 2012

March 22, 2012March 22, 2012

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

Aither Chemicals to Announce WV Ethane Cracker Plant

March 20, 2012March 19, 2012

One of the companies that has been sniffing around the concept of building an ethane cracker plant in the Marcellus/Utica region is Aither Chemicals. MDN wrote about Aither’s interest in building a cracker plant in West Virginia back in January (see this MDN story). Aither retained a Pittsburgh investment firm to help them secure funding for the project.

It appears Aither has found a couple of partners and will make an announcement on Wednesday about their plan to build an ethane cracker plant in Institute Industrial Park, located near Charleston, WV. One of the partners is the current owner of the site: Bayer CropScience. The other partner is pipeline giant MarkWest Energy.

Williams Buys Caiman Eastern Midstream for $2.5 Billion

March 20, 2012March 19, 2012

Williams announced yesterday that it will buy Caiman Energy subsidiary Caiman Eastern Midstream for $2.5 billion. Caiman Midstream has a major presence in the wet gas area of the Marcellus and Utica Shale play. The acquisition will give Williams a major pipeline gathering network in northern West Virginia, southwestern Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio, along with two processing facilities and a fractionator. Williams says by 2020 the Caiman system will be gathering more than 2 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas along with 300,000 barrels per day of natural gas liquids and condensate.

In addition to the acquisition, the Caiman Energy parent company will partner with Williams in a new joint venture to further develop new midstream infrastructure in the Utica Shale. From the Williams press release:

Ohio | Statewide OH

Tips for Ohio Landowners with Old Mineral Leases

March 20, 2012March 19, 2012

A helpful article in The Marietta Times helps Ohio landowners better understand the complicated issue of old mineral leases signed decades ago that may still be in force. Before landowners can sign a new lease, the old claims must be officially removed.

The article advises landowners to get a lawyer’s assistance. Leases are often reassigned to new companies–some leases have been reassigned more than a dozen times. In order to get a release, you must first track down the current company that holds the lease, and then get them to sign off.