Marcellus Drilling News

Inspectors Angry with WV DEP Over New Marcellus Hires

May 16, 2012May 16, 2012

Twenty inspectors with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) have filed grievances alleging that the DEP is creating a two-tiered (and unfair) system for pay, job qualifications and job requirements in the DEP’s push to hire new inspectors for Marcellus Shale drilling. The inspectors are members of the West Virginia Public Workers Union. The union is lobbying to correct the situation.

Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, May 16, 2012

May 16, 2012May 16, 2012

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

Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies

Monday’s Chesapeake Investor Call: Two Big News Items

May 15, 2012May 15, 2012

Carl Icahn Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon held yet another investor conference call yesterday morning, this one to quell concerns over Chesapeake’s “emergency loan” of $3 billion from Goldman Sachs on Friday. Among the things to come out of the phone conference were two (really) big pieces of news, one of which will directly affect landowners in the Marcellus and Utica Shale, the other which will potentially affect all landowners with Chesapeake leases no matter where they live.

MDN Analysis of Rig Counts in Marcellus/Utica

May 15, 2012May 15, 2012

Drilling rig counts are closely watched as an indicator of where, and how much, drilling is happening in a given geography. Last Friday, Baker Hughes reported that rig counts for Pennsylvania continue to decline from a year ago, while the numbers for West Virginia are going up. But that doesn’t quite tell the whole story.

Advice to Landowners About Interstate Pipelines

May 15, 2012May 15, 2012

Let’s be honest. Using eminent domain to force landowners to allow interstate pipelines to be run across their property is a bad idea. At least it is in MDN’s opinion. Some pipeline companies have sought and have been awarded public utility status, and that status allows them to use eminent domain to grab property to run pipelines. It’s disgusting. They are not public utilities in the way a power company is a utility that needs to put up electric polls.

Two lawyers from Columbus, Ohio caution landowners to get a second opinion when it comes to negotiating to have pipelines runs across their property, like the ATEX Express ethane pipeline that’s currently being built across Ohio. They also counsel that although eminent domain can force landowners to allow a pipeline, landowners still have at least some rights under eminent domain.

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

PA Gov. Corbett Outlines How Shale Gas Benefits Everyone

May 15, 2012May 15, 2012

In a recent radio interview, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett spoke about the Marcellus Shale drilling industry and how it positively impacts all Pennsylvanians, not just just a select few:

Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Wastewater

Ohio Dem Wants Feds to Investigate Injection Wells

May 15, 2012May 15, 2012

Here’s a new twist on the “fracking contaminates ground water supplies” argument that MDN has not seen before…

Marcellus & Utica Shale Drilling – Coming to Erie, PA

May 15, 2012May 15, 2012

At a seminar in Erie, PA for manufacturers and other companies interested in becoming suppliers to the shale gas industry, Marcellus Shale Coalition president Kathryn Klaber told attendees that it’s just a matter of time before Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling comes to their area.

Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, May 15, 2012

May 15, 2012May 15, 2012

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

EPA’s Final Batch of Testing for Dimock Water Wells Released

May 14, 2012May 14, 2012

clean drinking water On Friday the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its results of testing for the fourth and final batch of water wells in Dimock, PA. The results are the same as the first three batches: There is and has been no contamination of the area’s water supply by chemicals from nearby hydraulic fracturing of Marcellus Shale gas wells.

Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies

Chesapeake Energy Gets $3 Billion Loan from Goldman Sachs

May 14, 2012May 14, 2012

In an attempt to boost investor confidence and boost the stock price, Chesapeake Energy received a $3 billion unsecured loan last Friday from Goldman Sachs. They also provided a quick update on efforts to sell off their assets in the Permian Basin and their Mississippi Lime joint venture, hoping to raise upward of $10 billion, part of which will be used to pay back the short-term Goldman loan.

From the Chesapeake press release:

Alternative Energy | Chesapeake Energy | Commodity Price | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues

Boone Pickens Sells Chesapeake Stock, Strange Comment on NatGas

May 14, 2012May 14, 2012

Has T. Boone Pickens, Texas oil billionaire and author of “The Pickens Plan” that calls for America to use natural gas to reduce our dependency on OPEC oil and as a bridge to a renewable energy future, now turned his back on natural gas? His investment company, BP Capital Management, has sold off all of its Chesapeake Energy stock. Pickens’ comment on the reason for selling off Chesapeake was a tad strange:

CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Mahoning County | Ohio

CONSOL Starts Work on Their First Well in Mahoning County, OH

May 14, 2012May 14, 2012

CONSOL Energy has started work on its first drill pad in Mahoning County, OH. And although the landowner where they’re drilling sold his mineral rights years ago and will receive next to nothing in the way of royalties or lease payments, he’s still happy about it.

Location for OH NGL Processing Plant Identified

May 14, 2012May 14, 2012

We now know the specific location of a previously announced $400 million shale gas collection and processing plant being built in Columbiana County, Ohio by a joint venture between Chesapeake Energy, M3 Midstream and EV Energy Partners.

O&G Countersues Landowners Claiming Lease Slander

May 14, 2012May 14, 2012

In late March, seven Beaver County, PA families (18 people) filed a lawsuit in Common Pleas Court accusing O&G Investments of Wooster, Ohio of not drilling on their land—and not paying them—for the past seven years. The leases were sold to Chesapeake Energy and at the eleventh hour, just before the leases were set to expire, Chesapeake attempted to initiate drilling to retain the leases, which prompted the lawsuit (see this MDN story for background). Late last week O&G countersued the families:

OH Judge Rules in Case on Ethane Pipeline Survey

May 14, 2012May 14, 2012

MDN highlighted a story last week in which Enterprise Products Partners, the company building a new ethane pipeline across Ohio, sued a farmer to gain access to his land in order to survey it to chart a route for the pipeline (see this MDN story). The farmer offered alternative routes to avoid prime hay fields but Enterprise turned him down. A common pleas court judge, on Friday, sided with…