Marcellus Drilling News

Bill Extending NY Fracking Moratorium Hits Assembly Today

January 18, 2012January 18, 2012

canon shot New legislation will be introduced in the New York Assembly today to extend the moratorium on fracking in New York State until either June, or “the end of” 2013, depending on the news source. MDN previously warned that this was coming (see this MDN story).

The bill will be introduced in the Assembly by Robert Sweeney, and likely will be introduced into the Senate by Greg Ball.

Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues

Shale Gas Leads to 50% Drop in Wholesale Electricity Prices

January 18, 2012January 18, 2012

An article in Bloomberg Businessweek takes a look at the profound impact shale gas is having on the cost of energy in the United States. One of the biggest eye-poppers in the article: The average price of wholesale electricity has dropped 50 percent on average since 2008. Why? Because electrical generating plants are switching from other forms of producing electricity to using natural gas to produce electricity.

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Pastor Claims Bible Says ‘Thou Shalt Not Frack’

January 18, 2012January 18, 2012

The following brief is purely for your entertainment purposes, to illustrate how loony the anti-drilling opposition can get. Yesterday, at a rally in Harrisburg, PA to protest new Marcellus Shale drilling legislation, a Lutheran pastor laid claim that the Bible says we shouldn’t frack.

Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Statewide PA

Range Resources Doubles PA Marcellus Output in 2011

January 18, 2012January 18, 2012

Range Resources, one of the largest drillers in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, just posted year-end results and said that despite selling their Barnett Shale acreage, 2011 was the eighth consecutive year of double-digit gains for the company. In the Marcellus, Range doubled their output from 2010 levels.

Energy Companies | Enerplus | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Enerplus Allocates 24% of 2012 Capital Budget to Marcellus

January 18, 2012January 18, 2012

Enerplus Corp. , a Calgary-based oil and gas producer, has approved an $800 million capital spending program for 2012 the company expects will help boost production 10 percent. Of that $800 million, Enerplus will spend $190 million (24 percent) in the Marcellus Shale, focused primarily on drilling to delineate and retain leases. The target is to drill 20 Marcellus wells in 2012, with 18 of those wells coming on-stream by the end of the year. They plan to nearly triple their Marcellus production from 25 mmcf/d (million cubic feet per day) now to 70 mmcf/d by the end of the year.

Exporting | Industrywide Issues

Details on Proposed LNG Export Facility in Texas

January 18, 2012January 18, 2012

More details have become known about a proposed new liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporting facility to be built by Gulf Coast LNG Export. The facility, if approved by the U.S. Department of Energy, would be the country’s largest LNG exporting facility, exporting some 2.8 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day to other countries.

Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Jan 18, 2012

January 18, 2012January 18, 2012

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

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

NY Gov. Cuomo Signals Drilling Not Likely to Happen in 2012

January 17, 2012January 17, 2012

Although pro-drilling groups in New York are attempting to put a positive face on it, yesterday NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the state has not yet made a determination on whether fracking will be allowed. Not “when” it will be allowed, but “whether” it will be allowed. He said, “We haven’t made that determination.” His remarks in context were about whether the state will add funding in this year’s budget (being released today) for an estimated 140 regulators that would be needed if fracking were to begin.

At a minimum, it seems Cuomo is saying that fracking won’t be a resolved issue during this budget year, although his remarks are not exactly clear.

Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Processing Plants | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Gov. Tomblin Proposes 25-Year Tax Break for Cracker Plant

January 17, 2012March 24, 2012

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has sent proposed new legislation to lawmakers asking for a 25-year break from business property taxes for any company investing at least $2 billion to build an ethane cracker plant in the state. There is a bidding war going on among West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania to attract the plant, a facility that processes ethane from shale gas drilling into ethylene, a raw material used to make plastics.

Utica Shale

M&A Activity in 2011 Set New Records, including Utica Shale

January 17, 2012January 17, 2012

Last year’s mergers and acquisitions activity in the oil and natural gas sector set new records, both in the total value of deals and the total number of deals. Although the Marcellus Shale was responsible for a great deal of M&A activity in 2010, for 2011, the Utica Shale, considered an emerging shale play, ranked higher than the Marcellus in M&A activity. For 2011, the Utica saw 12 deals worth a combined $5.3 billion.

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

PA Bill Requiring EMS Plan for Marcellus Wells Nears Passage

January 17, 2012January 17, 2012

Although a comprehensive bill to tighten regulations on Marcellus Shale drilling in Pennsylvania along with an impact fee has still not passed the PA legislature, a separate, smaller bill is about to. The smaller bill requires Marcellus Shale well operators to provide geographic siting information to local, county and state EMS officials and to develop an emergency response plan.

Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pembina Pipeline | Pipelines

Canadian Pembina Pipeline Buys Provident Energy for C$3.2B

January 17, 2012January 17, 2012

Pembina Pipeline Corp., a Canadian oil and gas pipeline operator (based in Calgary), just announced an agreement to buy Provident Energy Ltd. (another Calgary-based company) for C$3.2 billion to add natural gas liquids assets. The combined company will have a market cap of C$7.9 billion and a total enterprise value of C$10 billion, making it one of Canada’s largest energy infrastructure companies. Although the combined company will have far-ranging operations, part of their portfolio includes pipeline capacity to transport shale gas from the Marcellus and Utica Shales into Canada.

Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Jan 17, 2012

January 17, 2012January 17, 2012

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

Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Statewide PA

The Two Faces of Sen. Robert Casey (D-PA) on Shale Drilling

January 16, 2012January 16, 2012

hypocrite U.S. Sen. Robert Casey (Democrat, Pennsylvania) has been an outspoken critic of fracking and Marcellus shale gas drilling. He introduced and is lead sponsor of legislation in the Senate called the FRAC Act—Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals (see this MDN story). The title sounds nice with words like “responsibility” and “awareness” in it, but in reality the FRAC Act is a massive power transfer, stripping the right to regulate oil and gas drilling from the individual states and handing it over to the Environmental Protection Agency in the federal government. It’s bad legislation that would gut oil and gas drilling in the United States.

Possible New Case of Methane Migration in Wyoming County, PA

January 16, 2012January 16, 2012

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) sent a violation notice to Chief Oil & Gas on Jan. 4 for three gas wells in Nicholson Township (Wyoming County) saying there is 100 percent combustible gas between the cemented steel casings, which the DEP uses as a sign of flaws in construction of the well. The investigation began after a nearby resident complained of high methane levels in well water supplies. The DEP is still investigating two nearby water wells with high levels of methane and has not yet determined if Chief’s wells are the cause.

Commodity Price | Exporting | Industrywide Issues

Is the Shale Rush Almost Over? One Analyst Says Yes

January 16, 2012January 16, 2012

Jack Barnes, writing for Money Morning, analyzes the price of natural gas and why it’s so low—and what it ultimately means. He says that numerous shale plays in the U.S. do contribute to an overabundance of supply. But the real culprit, according to Barnes, is that major drillers are going after natural gas liquids (NGL), which can be used in a variety of ways. NGL are closely aligned with the higher price of oil and more valuable. In the process of going after NGL, “dry gas” (or methane) is recovered in the process too. It is the scramble for NGL that leads to an oversupply of methane, and that oversupply keeps natural gas prices low.