Marcellus Drilling News

Energy Companies | EQT Corp

EQT Production Up 44% in 2011, Suspends Huron Shale Drilling
January 27, 2012January 27, 2012

Pittsburgh-based EQT Corp. released 2011 results yesterday. Because of the prolific gas volumes in the Marcellus Shale, EQT reports production for natural gas was up an astonishing 44 percent over 2010. Some 42 percent of EQT’s production is from the Marcellus, which was up 18.9 percent last year.

EQT reports drilling 222 gross wells in 2011, 105 of them in the Marcellus Shale and 115 in the Huron Shale. The Huron is located mostly in western West Virginia, with very small slices in Ohio, Kentucky and Virginia. Because of slumping prices for natural gas, EQT has announced they are suspending drilling in the Huron and instead will concentrate on the liquids-rich portion of the Marcellus.

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CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies

CONSOL Will Spend $130M Less on Marcellus Drilling in 2012
January 27, 2012January 27, 2012

CONSOL Energy, the coal and natural gas giant with drilling operations in the Marcellus and Utica Shales, released it’s fourth quarter results along with a year-in-review yesterday. Even though the price of natural gas steadily declined during 2011, CONSOL was able to pay off all of its short term debt and ended the year with a cash balance of $376 million. CONSOL spent $1.4 billion on capital projects in 2011 and paid out dividends to shareholders totaling $96 million. The company has increased its regular quarterly dividend by 25 percent. The annual dividend is now $0.50 per share.

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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Jan 27, 2012
January 27, 2012January 27, 2012

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

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Meetings

Drilling Industry Responds to Obama’s Call for Transparency
January 26, 2012January 26, 2012

Less than 24 hours after President Obama called for full disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, the drilling industry held its first public meeting to roll out FracFocus.org, an online database that does just what the President requested. The meeting, held in Williamsport, PA, brought together drilling companies, environmental engineers and other experts, along with the public, to answer questions and address people’s concerns.

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Accidents | Atlas Energy | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Westmoreland County

PA DEP Sides with Homeowner Against Atlas in Well Water Issue
January 26, 2012January 26, 2012

In 2008, a homeowner located near gas wells drilled in Westmoreland County, PA by Atlas Energy says his well water turned muddy immediately after drilling was done. At the time, Atlas told him to stop drinking the water and supplied him with a water buffalo, making fresh water deliveries ever since. That is, until two weeks ago when Atlas says that after re-testing the water is now safe to drink, so they ended the water deliveries. The homeowner disagrees and the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is siding with the homeowner in this case.

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

Obama Speech Gives NYers Hope that Fracking Will Soon Begin
January 26, 2012January 26, 2012

President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address, in which he openly supports drilling for natural gas and the “safe” use of hydraulic fracturing, has given a glimmer of hope to landowners in New York State that perhaps the President’s support for fracking will finally end the moratorium on drilling in New York.

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

Ohio vs. West Virginia in the Cracker Plant Sweepstakes
January 26, 2012January 26, 2012

West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio wait on pins and needles for Shell to announce which state they have chosen as a site to build a new $1.5-$2.0 billion ethane cracker plant, each of them looking for an edge to ensure their state is selected. WV Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin is flying to Houston this week to meet with representatives of Shell to make a personal pitch that West Virginia should be that place, with a promise of no property taxes on the plant for 25 years if they do so. Thing is, Ohio Gov. John Kasich has already been to Houston to pitch his state—two months ago. Does that give Ohio an edge?

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Energy Companies | New York | Norse Energy | Statewide NY

Norse Energy Continues Selling Pieces of the Company
January 26, 2012January 26, 2012

Norse Energy, with leased acreage in both the Marcellus and Utica Shales in New York State, has been fighting to keep the company afloat until New York finally allows hydraulic fracturing and they can take advantage of their leaseholds. But to keep holding on, they’ve sold off bits and pieces of their leaseholds, as well as bits and pieces of the company. A few weeks ago they converted $3.5 million of bonds (or debt) into stock (or ownership) of the company (see this MDN story).

Yesterday, we learned they’ve sold off another $12.5 million of the company in another bonds for stock swap deal. And now they’re making the same offer to all of their bondholders: Let’s make a deal—soon.

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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Range Resources Corp

Enterprise Scores Second Commitment for New Ethane Pipeline
January 26, 2012January 26, 2012

Enterprise Products Partners have scored another customer, Range Resources, for their ethane pipeline that will connect the Marcellus and Utica Shales to the Gulf Coast. The 1,230 mile pipeline, dubbed the ATEX Express (Appalachia to Texas) will transport ethane from Washington County, PA to (at first) Cape Girardeau, MO—that’s new pipeline construction. And from Cape Girardeau, Enterprise will reverse an existing 16-inch diameter pipeline and place it into ethane service, going all the way to Mont Belvieu, TX.

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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Thu, Jan 26, 2012
January 26, 2012January 26, 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, Jan 26, 2012”
Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Regulation

Obama State of the Union: Safe Fracking will Create 600K Jobs
January 25, 2012January 25, 2012

Last night, President Barack Obama delivered his State of the Union address to Congress. Energy and natural gas played a big role in the speech. In particular, Obama acknowledges the jobs-generating power of natural gas drilling, saying it can generate 600,000 jobs by the end of this decade. He also mandated a requirement that gas drillers on public lands disclose the chemicals they use. (Disclosing fracking chemicals is already the law in five states and mostly enforced in a sixth—see this MDN story).

Obama said the U.S. has enough natural gas to last us 100 years and that he’s going to “take every possible action” to develop it. He also reaffirmed his belief in global warming.

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Broome County | Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | New York | Talisman Energy

Broome County, NY Landowners Get Big Payment from Talisman
January 25, 2012January 25, 2012

New York landowners in Broome County will receive millions in lease payments this month from Talisman Energy—$5000 per acre (they’ve already received $500 per acre). The landowners belong to the Friendsville Group, a landowner coalition that signed a deal with Talisman in 2009. Most of the Friendsville Group members are landowners just over the border in Pennsylvania, who already received their full $5,500 per acre payments two years ago. The New York members had to wait—either until permits were granted, or January 2012.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA DEP Wants to Use Acid Mine Drainage for Fracking Water
January 25, 2012January 25, 2012

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is floating the idea of using a portion of the 300 million gallons of acid mine drainage that flows each and every day from abandoned coal mines in that state as a source of water for Marcellus Shale gas fracking.

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Allegheny County | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Wastewater

McKeesport Settles Lawsuit for Treating Fracking Wastewater
January 25, 2012January 25, 2012

A lawsuit against the City of McKeesport, PA (near Pittsburgh) for treating fracking wastewater has been settled. McKeesport was hauled into federal court last year by two activist anti-drilling organizations—Clean Water Action and Three Rivers Waterkeeper—to force the McKeesport municipal sewage treatment plant to not accept fracking wastewater for treatment at the plant (read the background in this MDN story).

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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Jan 25, 2012
January 25, 2012January 25, 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: Wed, Jan 25, 2012”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

NY Post Article: Cornell Prof Howarth’s Farcical Science
January 24, 2012January 24, 2012

An article in the New York Post lays bare the motivation of Cornell professor Robert Howarth and his conclusions about natural gas. Howarth, you may recall, along with two other Cornell professors—Renee Santoro and Tony Ingraffea—published a study in the journal Climatic Change last year making the assertion that natural gas is actually worse for the environment than coal (see this MDN story). It’s laugh-out-loud funny, except many people (excepting most scientists) take him seriously. The study has been roundly refuted by both the U.S. Department of Energy and Carnegie Mellon University.

Last week a new study was published in the same journal by a second set of Cornell professors that refutes Howarth et al.’s conclusions as “seriously flawed” (see this MDN story).

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