Marcellus Drilling News

Columbiana County, OH Landowners Seek Minimum Royalty Law

June 8, 2012June 8, 2012

A few weeks ago MDN highlighted a story about a couple living in Columbiana County, Ohio who were due to get more than $375,000 in lease payments from Chesapeake Energy for their 65 acres of property, but the deal fell through when Chesapeake discovered the land under the property was already locked into a decades-old lease by Columbia Gas Transmission. The couple is suing to be released from that contract (see this MDN story).

We have word today that other landowners from the same area also affected by the Columbia lease are trying a different tact: Pass a state law imposing minimum royalties.

New Drilling Mud Facility Opens in Marshall County, WV

June 8, 2012June 8, 2012

AES Drilling Fluids along with officials from the city of Benwood (Marshall County, WV) and state officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday on a new $2 million drilling fluids facility just opened in the North Benwood Industrial Park. The new facility provides drilling mud to drillers in the Marcellus and Utica Shale.

Antero Hits Aquifer in WV, Creates Backyard Geysers

June 8, 2012June 8, 2012

Antero Resources was drilling a natural gas well in the Sardis, WV area (near Clarksburg) when they hit a water aquifer in the area. It resulted in several abandoned nearby water wells to start gushing water, some of it blowing 10 feet or more into the air. But there were no chemicals being used during drilling, it was the initial stages and only water and air were used, and the air is what caused the problem.

Here’s what happened:

The Economics of Shale Cuttings and Landfills

June 8, 2012June 8, 2012

Some of what comes out of the holes drilled for natural gas wells is rock and dirt. More precisely, a substance called “shale cuttings.” According to the MDN glossary, shale cuttings are: “Small pieces of rock that break away during the drilling process. Cuttings are screened out of the liquid mud by using shale shakers, or screens that allow the liquid to pass through but filter out the bits of rock.”

Since 2010 the municipal landfill in Bradford County, PA has accepted shale cuttings, making a tidy sum from it ($130,000). But the cuttings, and the revenue, stopped at the end of 2011. Why? Bradford County charges more than other landfills, like the municipal landfill across the border in Chemung County, NY. Not surprisingly, drillers haul their cuttings to cheaper landfills instead.

Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Jun 8, 2012

June 8, 2012June 8, 2012

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

Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

How Can Businesses Sell to the Marcellus Shale Supply Chain?

June 7, 2012June 7, 2012

A question often asked of MDN editor Jim Willis by small and medium sized business owners and managers is this: How can we do business with the drilling industry? That is, how can we plug into the drilling industry supply chain?

A new study (embedded below) released by the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence aims to answer just that question. The study, titled “Understanding the Marcellus Shale Supply Chain,” outlines how the natural gas industry in Pennsylvania works, and how companies can plug into that system to provide goods and services.

Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Global Infrastructure Partners

Chesapeake in Advanced Talks to Sell Midstream Unit for $4B

June 7, 2012June 7, 2012

Bloomberg news service reported yesterday that Chesapeake Energy is in advanced talks to sell its midstream subsidiary, Chesapeake Midstream, to Global Infrastructure Partners for $4 billion. Chesapeake Midstream operates not only in Texas and Louisiana, but also in the Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale.

Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA Commonwealth Court Hears Arguments in Act 13 Lawsuit

June 7, 2012June 7, 2012

Arguments in the lawsuit brought by seven Pennsylvania townships and a handful of individuals against the state over newly passed drilling legislation known as Act 13 were heard in PA Commonwealth Court yesterday in Harrisburg. The towns are suing to overturn a portion of the Act 13 law which eliminates most of zoning rights of PA towns when it comes to zoning oil and gas drilling (see this MDN story for background).

So how did it go? Depends on who you ask.

Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

Infographic Shows Impact of PA Marcellus Impact Fee

June 7, 2012June 7, 2012

A helpful (?) infographic in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette shows the breakdown of where the new Marcellus Shale impact fee being collected in Pennsylvania will go, by county and by the townships within those counties.

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

Fracking Bills in NY Legislature See Movement

June 7, 2012June 7, 2012

Several bills that deal with hydraulic fracturing are making their way through the legislature in Albany, but with only eight days left in the legislative session for 2012, it’s not at all assured any of them will pass. The bills range from stricter control of fracking wastewater to an outright ban on fracking in the state—and everything in between.

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

Elected Democrats Tell Cuomo to Continue Fracking Moratorium

June 7, 2012June 7, 2012

A new partisan effort is under way to pressure New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to just keep the hydraulic fracturing moratorium in place for another year, and another year, and another year…

This effort is to get elected officials throughout the state to sign a letter which asks Cuomo to keep the moratorium in place, “until analyses have thoroughly and properly evaluated the potential health, economic, and cumulative environmental impacts on local communities.” Of course that very analysis has been going on now for four years, so may we presume another four years or more is what they’re asking for?

So far, the “letter” (which is really a website with a form on it) has 306 signatures (as of June 7) from elected representatives—everything from town clerks to county legislators to mayors—virtually of them Democrats.

You can find the letter and the list of signatories (people you should vote out of office), here: //www.nyelectedofficials.org/.

Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

New Website Wants Philly Residents to Ask About Shale

June 7, 2012June 7, 2012

The Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC), a Pennsylvania-based industry group, has just launched a new outreach website targeted at PA residents living in the greater Philadelphia area. Called AskAboutShale.org, the site intends to solicit questions from residents in southeastern PA and then answer those questions using facts and science.

From the MSC press release:

C&J Energy Services | Energy Services

C&J Energy Services Buys Casedhole Holdings for $272.5M

June 7, 2012June 7, 2012

C&J Energy Services, an oil field services company providing hydraulic fracturing, coiled tubing and pressure pumping services to drillers, announced yesterday they have bought out another oil field services company—Casedhole Holdings—for $272.5 million in cash. Casedhole provides cased-hole wireline services including logging, perforating and pipe recovery.

C&J gets two things from the deal: A complimentary new set of services it can offer to its existing customers, and expansion into new territories where it currently does not operate, including the Marcellus and Utica Shale region.

Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Thu, Jun 7, 2012

June 7, 2012June 7, 2012

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

NY Rumor Mill: Cuomo to Allow Test Sites for Fracking?!

June 6, 2012June 6, 2012

rumor mill The anti-drillers are hot and bothered. A fringe anti-drilling group called Toxics Targeting (from where else, Ithaca, NY) held a small rally in Binghamton yesterday. They enlisted the support of the Binghamton Mayor Matt Ryan to their cause. And this week’s cause? Send a letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo asking him to ban fracking, but especially to drop any plans to allow the drilling of “demonstration wells” in Broome, Tioga and Chemung counties.

Air Quality | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

New Study: Methane Emissions Half of EPA’s Previous Estimates

June 6, 2012June 6, 2012

A new study just released by America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA) and the American Petroleum Institute (API) finds that methane emissions from hydraulic fracturing are at least 50% less than estimates from the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). And this is not a wild, unsubstantiated claim by “the industry.” ANGA and API have the science to prove it.

The new study (full copy embedded below) takes the most comprehensive look at the data to date—data from 91,000 U.S. natural gas producing wells. That’s a sample size 10 times larger than the EPA used in their estimates.

Here’s some of the stunning results found by the new study: