Marcellus Drilling News

Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Chesapeake’s First Ohio Utica Shale Production Numbers
April 3, 2012April 3, 2012

Chesapeake Energy has filed their first production report with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) for nine wells they drilled in the Ohio Utica Shale/Point Pleasant formations for 2011. A copy of the report is embedded below. The big news is that a single well in Harrison County—in production for just six months of 2011—produced 1.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas.

That single well was 2 percent of the state’s entire natural gas production for all of 2011. Put in perspective, Ohio has 49,000 conventional natural gas wells in production. That one well is producing an average of 300 times more natural gas than a conventionally drilled well. Behold the power of hydraulic fracturing.

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Guest Post | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Washington County

Guest Post: Peters Twp Responds to MDN on Act 13 Lawsuit
April 3, 2012April 3, 2012

Last week, MDN wrote an article about the just-filed lawsuit by a group of Pennsylvania townships seeking to strike down provisions in a new PA law referred to as Act 13 (see this MDN story). Act 13 preempts local zoning ordinances that prohibit or regulate oil and gas drilling and replaces those ordinances with a set of rules from the state. In essence, Act 13 substitutes the state’s “one size fits all” zoning ordinance for local zoning ordinances. MDN’s comment at the end of that article was that in examining some of the attachments to the filed lawsuit it seems to MDN that anti-drillers are the ones driving the lawsuit.

David Ball, a council member from Peters Township (Washington County), PA—one of the towns filing the lawsuit—emailed MDN to challenge our view and assessment that he and others filing the lawsuit are anti-drilling, and to further explain their reasons for the lawsuit. MDN asked permission to publish his comments and he accepted. This is not the very first, but perhaps the second or third guest post on MDN. We are happy (from time to time) to offer guest posts that disagree with our own views if that post is courteous, serious and advances the discussion. This one does and we thank Mr. Ball for taking the time to write.

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Ohio Petroleum Council Calls Utica/Marcellus “Game Changer”
April 3, 2012April 3, 2012

Terry Fleming, executive director of the Ohio Petroleum Council, recently visited the offices of The Daily Jeffersonian newspaper to talk about Utica and Marcellus drilling in the state. Among his comments were predictions about just how big the economic impact of shale drilling will become in Ohio over the next few years:

Read More “Ohio Petroleum Council Calls Utica/Marcellus “Game Changer””
Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Video

New Video: Women of the Marcellus
April 3, 2012April 3, 2012

MDN is really pleased to share a new video highlighting how Marcellus Shale development is impacting families in Pennsylvania. While many know about the economic impacts and consumer savings made possible by shale gas, this video highlights the personal stories of three families whose lives have been made materially better because of Marcellus Shale drilling in Pennsylvania.

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Statewide OH | Statewide PA

Big Economic Impact of Midstream Projects in OH & PA
April 3, 2012April 3, 2012

A pair of stories about how the midstream is transforming western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio recently ran in the Youngstown, OH The Business Journal. Midstream refers to the infrastructure that gets natural gas to market, including pipelines and processing plants. Right now and for the foreseeable future, spending on midstream projects in Ohio is likely larger, from an economic impact standpoint, than exploration and production.

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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Apr 3, 2012
April 3, 2012April 3, 2012

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

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Energy Services | GASFRAC | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY | Tioga County (NY)

Anti-Driller Campaign Against LPG Fracking Begins in NY
April 2, 2012April 2, 2012

It certainly didn’t taken long for anti-drillers to start talking down LPG (waterless) fracking. Just last week, a Tioga County, NY landowner group announced they will sign a lease with eCorp to allow drilling on 135,000 acres in New York using a proprietary technology by Canadian company GASFRAC (see this MDN story). The waterless technology uses liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), a gel-like substance that replaces water in fracking. Perhaps most importantly, by using LPG fracking, eCorp can move ahead with permitting and drilling now (in New York!), ahead of the release of new fracking regulations that have been stalled in a four-year review process.

MDN predicted that with almost all stated reasons to oppose water-based fracking now removed, anti-drillers would invent new reasons to oppose LPG fracking. MDN’s prediction has already come true. An article printed in the “news” section of the Albany Times Union, which clearly is an opinion piece, says this:

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Accidents | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County | Williams

NatGas Leak Caused Williams Compressor Station Explosion
April 2, 2012April 2, 2012

A natural gas leak was the cause of an explosion last week in a Susquehanna County, PA natural gas compressor station (see this MDN story). Fortunately, an alarm triggered an automatic shutdown of the station just minutes before the explosion.

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Energy Companies | WPX Energy

WPX Sells Barnett Shale & Arkoma Basin Holdings
April 2, 2012April 2, 2012

WPX Energy, the spun-off exploration and production arm of Williams, announced this morning that they are selling off their holdings in the Texas Barnett Shale and Oklahamo Arkoma Basin for $306 million, and using the proceeds to grow operations in the Marcellus and Bakken Shale areas, as well as the Piceance Basin.

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New York | Tompkins County

Park Foundation Continues to Fund Anti-Drilling Groups
April 2, 2012April 2, 2012

Once again the Park Foundation, a philanthropic organization started by famed media mogul Roy Park, continues to fund anti-drilling activities. The latest example is the announcement of nearly $6 million in new grants from the Park Foundation. Nearly $3.3 million are scholarships for Ithaca College students, class of 2017. Just over a half million dollars will go to organizations, projects and programs in Tompkins County.

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Commodity Price | Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Pittsburgh Customers Get Another NatGas Rate Reduction
April 2, 2012April 2, 2012

The Pittsburgh area’s three largest natural gas utilities have just dropped their natural gas rates (again) for customers—this time up to 22 percent.

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CNX Resources | Columbiana County | CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Ohio

CONSOL/CNX Opening New Branch in Columbiana County, OH
April 2, 2012April 2, 2012

CONSOL Energy’s CNX Gas subsidiary has just leased 10,000 square feet at an industrial park in Columbiana County, Ohio. The new branch office will handle all of CNX’s Utica Shale efforts in Ohio, a signal that CNX has big plans for the Utica.

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Industrywide Issues | NG Vehicles | Pennsylvania | Washington County

Washington PA Honda Dealer Starts Selling CNG Vehicles
April 2, 2012April 2, 2012

Here come the compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles! At least in western PA:

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Washington County

Washington County, PA – HQ for Marcellus Drilling
April 2, 2012April 2, 2012

Western Pennsylvania’s Washington County is, in many ways, the epicenter for Marcellus drilling activity. Numerous companies either have their headquarters or their main Marcellus branch offices located in the county, and the rate of expansion continues to be high:

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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Apr 2, 2012
April 2, 2012April 2, 2012

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

Read More “Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Apr 2, 2012”
About MDN | MDN Weekly Update

MDN Weekly Update – Apr 1, 2012: Waterless Fracking
April 1, 2012April 1, 2012

This past week brought a surprise announcement from “stalled at the gate” New York State. A group of landowners in Tioga County, NY (which sits between Binghamton and Elmira, in what is called the Southern Tier region of New York) are signing a lease with eCorp to allow Marcellus drilling using a waterless fracking technology pioneered by the Canadian company GASFRAC (see this MDN story). By using LPG fracking technology, eCorp and the Tioga landowners can move forward with drilling now—they won’t have to wait for New York’s four-year-old moratorium on fracking to be lifted. They can frack now with this waterless technology.

In the article about the Tioga landowner deal, MDN speculated that given most or all of the stated reasons anti-drillers oppose drilling would be gone, they will invent new reasons to not like waterless fracking too. That is, this situation will show the true colors of anti-drillers—that their agenda is really one of not only opposing the recovery of, but also the use of fossil fuels because of a misguided belief/philosophy/worldview that fossil fuels are evil.

Which brings us to this week’s poll question: Will anti-drillers oppose waterless LPG fracking too? I’d like to know what you think. Will those who oppose drilling now get on board? Or is their position so hardened, so unbending, so “over the top” that they will oppose any kind of extraction of natural gas? Head on over to the right side of any page and register your vote.

Last Week’s Poll Results

Last week MDN wanted to know if you believe that energy companies are intentionally overstating just how much recoverable gas there is in shale deposits. Here’s the results:

Are drillers overstating recoverable shale gas estimates to increase the stock price and attract investors?

No (55%, 150 Votes)
Yes (26%, 71 Votes)
Not sure (19%, 53 Votes)

Total Voters: 274

Below are the most recent “top 5” lists and the calendar of Marcellus-related events for the next two weeks.

Happy fracking,
Jim Willis, Editor

P.S. Sales of the new “Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook 2012” continue to be strong—thanks! The Databook is a 116-page comprehensive guide to drilling in the Marcellus and Utica Shale. Chock full of maps showing where permits have been issued, including details on drillers, pipelines and regulations, this new publication is indispensable if you have an interest in shale drilling in the Marcellus and Utica. For more details, including sample pages, visit: MarcellusDrilling.com/Databook.

Read More “MDN Weekly Update – Apr 1, 2012: Waterless Fracking”