Marcellus Drilling News

Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Noble County | Ohio | Triad Hunter

Triad Hunter Buys Leases for 15.5K Acres in OH Utica Shale
February 17, 2012February 17, 2012

Magnum Hunter’s subsidiary company, Triad Hunter, has just closed on a lease deal to take possession of 15,558 gross (12,186 net) acres in Ohio’s Utica Shale. The deal is for $2,037 per acre, or $24.8 million total. The seller has not been identified and according to the press release the seller may have more acreage to sell to Triad Hunter if they can clear up problems with title to some of the additional property.

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Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Marcellus Shale Jobs in Southwestern PA
February 17, 2012February 17, 2012

Looking to land a job in the Marcellus Shale drilling industry? You’re not alone. According to Mike Forgione, a representative from the PA Institute of High Priority Occupations, there are a number of jobs available, including:

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Industrywide Issues | Mahoning County | Ohio | Wastewater

New Frack Wastewater Recycling Plant Coming to Eastern OH
February 17, 2012February 17, 2012

Officials in Mahoning County, Ohio are negotiating with an unnamed company to build a frack water recycling facility in the county. The new facility will treat wastewater, recycling it to be reused in fracking operations. As a bonus, the sewage treatment plant in Mahoning will sell treated water to the new plant, a new revenue stream for the county.

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues

CSX, Other Railroads Get Boost from Shale Gas Shipments
February 17, 2012February 17, 2012

MDN has previously written about how short line railroads in the Marcellus Shale region have seen a renaissance because of shale gas drilling. But the major rail lines, including the East’s largest railroad CSX, are also seeing a huge increase in shale gas shipping of fracking sand and equipment. And it’s happening just in time.

Read More “CSX, Other Railroads Get Boost from Shale Gas Shipments”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Feb 17, 2012
February 17, 2012February 17, 2012

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

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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

2012 PA Impact Fee Revenue of $180M – Where Will it Go?
February 16, 2012February 16, 2012

Pennsylvania finally passed new Marcellus Shale drilling legislation last week, and Gov. Corbett signed the new legislation into law on Monday of this week (see this MDN story). One of the key provisions, and certainly one of the most contentious, is a provision to collect a new impact fee. But let’s be honest among friends, it’s really just a tax (see this MDN story for why we call it a tax). Regardless of what it’s called, the new fee/tax will raise an estimated $180 million in new revenue for state and local coffers this year alone. So where will all that money go?

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Bradford County | Greene County (PA) | Industrywide Issues | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County | Taxation | Tioga County (PA) | Washington County

Six PA Counties to Receive $10M+ from New Impact Fee in 2012
February 16, 2012February 16, 2012

Washington County is among six counties in Pennsylvania that stand to receive more than $10 million in impact fee revenue this year from the newly adopted Marcellus drilling legislation signed into law by Gov. Corbett on Monday.

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Energy Companies | Talisman Energy

Talisman Cutting Back in Marcellus from 10 Rigs to 3
February 16, 2012February 16, 2012

Talisman Energy is the latest major driller to announce they are cutting back on drilling in the dry gas Marcellus to instead concentrate on drilling in wet gas areas.

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

OH Drilling Rigs Expected to Increase 300% in Next 5 Years
February 16, 2012February 16, 2012

The executive director of the Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Association, Rhonda Reda, predicts that oil and gas drilling rigs will increase 300% in the next five years, and those rigs will create new jobs to operate them:

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Butler County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Taxation

Butler County Adopts New PA Impact Fee Ordinance in 2 Days
February 16, 2012February 16, 2012

Butler County, PA commissioners have already voted to adopt an ordinance to collect the newly created impact fee, just two days after the new law was enacted:

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Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Maryland | Statewide MD

Sierra Club Files Objection to Cove Point LNG Export Facility
February 16, 2012February 16, 2012

The Sierra Club continues to oppose clean-burning natural gas as a “dirty” fuel. Their latest attempt to force Americans to wean themselves from this nasty, dirty fuel is to oppose expansion of the Cove Point, Maryland liquefied natural gas export facility. Why? Because if cheap natural gas becomes even more popular than it is throughout the world, it will slow down adoption of the Sierra Club’s preferred energy sources, solar and wind.

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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Thu, Feb 16, 2012
February 16, 2012February 16, 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: Thu, Feb 16, 2012”
Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Chesapeake Selling Assets to Concentrate on OH/Wet Gas
February 15, 2012February 15, 2012

Under pressure from low commodity prices for natural gas causing a cash deficit for drilling, Chesapeake Energy is looking to sell off some of its oil and gas fields in Texas, Mexico and Oklahoma so it can continue to concentrate on drilling in eastern Ohio’s Utica Shale and other “wet gas” areas of the country.

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Energy Companies | Gastar Exploration | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Marshall County | Processing Plants | West Virginia | Wetzel County

Potential Cracker Plant Site in WV Leased for Drilling
February 15, 2012February 15, 2012

One of the possible locations for a new ethane cracker plant in West Virginia is a 1400-acre parcel of land owned by Bayer Corp. located on the border of Marshall and Wetzel counties. Ahead of an announcement on a cracker plant, Bayer has decided to move forward with leasing the New Martinsville plant for shale gas drilling to Gastar Exploration in a deal expected to net Bayer $30 million over 30 years.

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Economic Impact | Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Heckmann | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Wastewater

Start a Company or Get a Job in the Marcellus? Try Water
February 15, 2012February 15, 2012

Looking for a way to participate in the Marcellus and Utica Shale economic boom? As an investor, or as a business owner or even as a job seeker, you might want to consider water. Yeah, water. Try these numbers on for size: In 2011, drillers paid somewhere between $1.3-$1.7 billion to dispose of fracking wastewater in the Marcellus Shale. In 10 years it’s estimated to be a $15-$22 billion market—just in the Marcellus Shale.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Steuben County

Fremont, NY Considers a Ban on Fracking
February 15, 2012February 15, 2012

The Town of Fremont, NY is heading toward a vote to ban hydraulic fracturing. Fremont is in Steuben County, and a ban would adversely affect the property rights of rural landowners in the township.

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