MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program announces new executive director; NATIONAL: Shale patch gets more than $2.4 billion in U.S. virus aid; INTERNATIONAL: New Fortress Energy significantly reduces future LNG supply costs for 2020; Down to handful of active rigs, Canada’s oil and gas drillers face permanent contraction.
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Tue, Jul 7, 2020”
Dominion Energy has decided to exit the natural gas pipeline and storage business, selling off its vast network of pipelines in the Marcellus/Utica (and beyond) to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway for $9.7 billion ($4 billion in cash, the rest in assumed debt). In a related announcement, Dominion said it is throwing in the towel and canceling the 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) project that would have stretched from West Virginia to North Carolina. We are in grieving. This is a tremendously sad day–not only for Marcellus/Utica drillers and landowners, but for the families of pipeline workers who will now remain out of high-paying jobs. You have the Sierra Club and other radicalized green groups to thank.
Read More “Dominion Cancels Atlantic Coast Pipe, Sells Pipe Biz for $9.7B”
On Sunday a week ago (June 28) Chesapeake Energy filed for bankruptcy (see Chesapeake Files for Bankruptcy – Debtors to Take Ownership). As part of the filing, the company asked the bankruptcy court to allow it to break existing, legal, enforceable contracts with pipeline companies (see Chesapeake Asks Court to Break Pipeline Contracts, Including M-U). We’re just now learning the company’s filing also puts on hold lawsuits brought by landowners against it over Chessy’s royalty shenanigans. The cases on hold include a case brought by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office argued before the PA Supreme Court in May (see PA Supremes Hear Oral Arguments in Can of Worms Royalty Lawsuit).
Read More “Chesapeake Bankruptcy Puts PA Landowner Royalty Lawsuits on Hold”
In 2016 MDN told you about the Holleran family who didn’t want the much-needed Constitution Pipeline to cross their land in Susquehanna County, PA (see Maple Syrup Farm in Path of PA Pipeline, Antis Make Most of It). Hollywood actor James Cromwell and other anti-drillers heard about it and visited to add their shrill voices to the protest (see Actor James Cromwell Admits He’s Clueless, Fights Pipeline Anyway). The protesters tried to stop Williams from clearing trees on the property. A judge got tired of their shenanigans real quick (see Judge Tells NEPA Family to Let Williams Cut Maple Trees, Or Else).
Read More “Northeast PA Landowner Settles with Williams for Big Bucks”
It’s such a breath of fresh air (and so rare) when we spot actual, in-the-field, real science being done. So many times the “studies” we see published are nothing more than rehashed interpretations, speculation, and outright fabrications parading as scientific inquiry. We spotted a new study published just yesterday in the journal MDPI Atmosphere by researchers with the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in Pittsburgh. In 2019 researchers flew specially outfitted drones with methane sniffers over 73 kilometers (45 miles) of Utica Shale gathering pipelines and associated infrastructure. Know what they found? There were ZERO methane leaks from the pipelines.
Read More “New Study Shows No Leaks in Utica Shale Gathering Pipelines”
Radical greens continue to agitate and protest against a tiny 140-megawatt natural gas-fired electric plant for NJ Transit in Kearny, NJ. A group of radical greens (along with leftist politicians they have coopted) will stage a “rally” this afternoon to try and pressure NJ’s lefty governor, Phil Murphy, into finding a way to block the project.
Read More “Radical Greens Protest Clean NatGas Power Plant Project in NJ”
Just prior to the 4th of July anniversary last week, a group of patriotic Americans signed what is being billed the Declaration of Energy Independence. Top federal, state, and local political leaders lent their signatures to a document that sticks up for fossil fuels and opposes the nuttery and flummery vomited out by the likes of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Read More “Patriotic Signers of the Declaration of ENERGY Independence”
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Shapiro goes full show trial to win over radical greens; Environmental policies stall critical energy projects, hamper economic growth; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Permian Basin reclaims status as top destination for frac crews; NATIONAL: Joe Biden and OPEC threatening US oil independence; Oil industry leaders see tough times ahead; Rising demand and the lowest U.S. natural gas prices since 1995; Democrats unveil sweeping plan to tackle climate change; Natural gas: LNG exports hit new low; Wind Waste (video); INTERNATIONAL: Oil industry not dead yet despite disruptions.
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Mon, Jul 6, 2020”
For the past few months, MDN has followed the Enverus (Drillinginfo) rig count numbers. In our most recent rig count post from two weeks ago we noted the count had fallen to a historic, new all-time low of 298 (see Onshore Rig Count Hits New Low of 298 – Finds Bottom?). Dan Eberhart, CEO of Canary, LLC (the largest privately-owned oilfield services company in the U.S.) wrote a column on the Forbes website stating his belief the rig count had hit bottom and “the worst appears to be behind us.” Looks like Dan was wrong. The latest Enverus rig count, as of Monday, shows the rig count has slipped another 19 to 279. The apocalypse has arrived.
Read More “Onshore Rig Count Craters, Still No Bottom, M-U Holds”
In December 2017 Fairmount Santrol, an Ohio-based sand producer that sells frac sand to drillers in the Utica and Marcellus Shale, announced it would sell itself to another sand company–Unimin, a subsidiary of Belgium-based SCR-Sibelco–for $170 million and 35% ownership in the newly combined company (see OH Sand Producer Fairmount Santrol Merging w/Unimin in $170M Deal). The newly merged company was later renamed Covia. Earlier this week Covia filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Read More “Ohio Frac Sand Company Covia Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy”
Earlier this week MDN brought you the news that Chesapeake Energy is asking a bankruptcy court in Texas for permission to break valid and legal contracts with several pipeline companies as part of its financial reorganization plan (see Chesapeake Asks Court to Break Pipeline Contracts, Including M-U). Just coming to light (for us) is that as part of the bankruptcy filing, Chessy is challenging (suing) the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to prevent FERC from making Chessy live up to its contractual agreements.
Read More “Chesapeake Sues FERC in Bid to Break Pipeline Contracts”
Enverus (formerly called Drillinginfo) has just released a summary of its Q2 2020 U.S. upstream M&A report. The update shows upstream (drilling) deals staged a small recovery to $2.6 billion from only $770 million during Q1. However, Q2 still ranks as the third-lowest quarterly value since 2009. Of particular interest for us is that of the top five M&A deals done in Q2, three of them happened in the Marcellus/Utica.
Read More “Marcellus/Utica Dominates Top 5 Oil & Gas M&A Deals of Q2”
Epsilon Energy concentrates most of its effort on the Marcellus in Susquehanna County, PA. Epsilon doesn’t actually do any of its own drilling. The company partners with (gives money to) other companies, like Chesapeake Energy, and the other companies do the actual drilling. Epsilon, according to its website, owns ~4,000 net acres in the PA Marcellus. They also own assets in Oklahoma’s Anadarko Basin. In May Epsilon offered to buy back up to 2 million shares of common stock from stockholders (see Epsilon Energy Offers to Buy Back 2M Shares of Common Stock). The company ended up buying back 2.3 million shares.
Read More “Epsilon Energy Buys Back 2.3M Shares of Common Stock”
The mafia, in the person of Andrew Cuomo, has taken over in New York State. The state is now officially, completely, dark and corrupt. We offer into evidence two recent actions to support our view. One is that two major Upstate utility companies, both owned by the Spanish-based Iberdrola, have agreed to stop advertising their natural gas service and won’t build any new gas delivery pipelines in a bid to discourage new gas customers from signing up. The companies have voluntarily agreed to cap their own businesses and revenues–to harm their investors–at the demand of Lord Cuomo. The second action is the state Siting Board has ruled they will NOT consider the negative impact on property values when approving huge wind and solar farms.
Read More “New York Utilities Jump Off a Cliff with Andrew Cuomo – Limit Gas”
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Pittsburgh cosponsors U.S. Conference of Mayors resolution calling on cities to divest from fossil fuels; 3 workers test positive at Shell construction site this month; RTC Partners completes investment in Hull & Associates; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Which version of Hickenlooper will emerge in the general election?; NATIONAL: July bidweek gas reaches lowest levels of the year as production stabilizes.
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Thu, Jul 2, 2020”
Yesterday the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (DC Circuit) handed down a decision that was expected, but sad nonetheless. The court told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) it can no longer use “tolling orders” to stretch out the time to respond to a “rehearing” request when a FERC decision has been challenged. It sounds complicated. The simple version is FERC no longer has the ability to prevent anti-fossil fuel Big Green groups (with loads of money) from challenging each and every pipeline decision FERC makes in court, tying up those decisions for years at a time. Antis now have free rein to game the system and shut down new pipelines from getting built.
Read More “Sad Day: Federal Court Strikes Down FERC’s Use of Tolling Orders”