EQT has just lured CONSOL Energy’s chief financial officer (CFO) away and hired him–for BIG money. Big in our book anyway. David Khani was paid a signing bonus of $2 million and will get an annual base salary of $540,000 per year. Plus bonuses. Who says bean counters don’t make big money? Oh! And Khani has a connection to MDN’s home town too.
Read More “EQT Pays Big Money to Hire Former CONSOL Exec as CFO”
This is a slightly older story (from December), but an important story that deserves your attention. Last October Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf went completely off his rocker with a power-grab to force PA into a regional alliance to tax natural gas-fired electric plants out of existence (see Gov. Wolf Goes Bonkers: EO Destroying Gas-Fired Elec, Carbon Tax). Republicans controlling both the PA House and Senate have pledged to stop him (see PA House & Senate Republicans to Stop Wolf’s Insane Carbon Tax). Republicans now have an important new ally in their effort to stop Wolf–some 130,000 trade union members.
Read More “130,000 PA Union Members Join Fight Against Wolf’s Carbon Tax”
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Houston company seeks to develop first 5G-enabled oil drilling site in Permian Basin; Administrative law judge criticizes DTE’s proposed energy plan; NATIONAL: Rick Perry rejoins Energy Transfer board of directors; Anti-energy researcher Naomi Oreskes calls for regulations on free speech; Biden says plastic bags should be phased out; Crude-to-gas ratio hits six-year high of 30X – ramifications for oil, gas and NGLs; INTERNATIONAL: EIA projects nearly 50% increase in world energy usage by 2050, led by growth in Asia; The US kills Iran’s most dangerous general – what happens now?
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Mon, Jan 6, 2020”
Last July MDN broke the news that LOLA Energy had filed a lawsuit in Greene County, PA against EQT for allegedly drilling shale wells under property EQT formerly leased, but property for which the leases had lapsed and were subsequently scooped up by LOLA Energy II (see LOLA Energy Sues EQT for Trespass, Drilling Wells Under LOLA Land). LOLA said they are the owners of those leases now and that EQT has drilled under some of their properties. In another MDN exclusive, LOLA has just filed a second lawsuit in Greene County against EQT for the same thing: trespassing on LOLA-leased property.
Read More “LOLA Energy Files 2nd Lawsuit Against EQT for Trespass in SWPA”
In mid-November Gulfport Energy, one of the biggest drillers in the Ohio Utica Shale (210,000 acres), announced they are laying off 13% of their workforce, ending (for now) their stock share buy-back program, and “refreshing” the board with three new members (see Gulfport Fires 13% of Workers, Ends Stock Buy-Back, Board Changes). Here it is five weeks later and the company has just announced yet another new board member, the fourth new member in five weeks. What’s going on?
Read More “Gulfport Continues Board “Refreshment” – 4th Change in 5 Weeks”
Ohio’s Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) has the “help wanted” sign out, looking for contractors willing to plug some 200 orphaned oil and gas wells in the state before the fiscal year ends in June. ODNR has a budget of $25 million to spend in the next six months, and its burning a hole in their pocket.
Read More “ODNR Advertising for Contractors to Plug 200 Orphan Wells by June”
Good news for oilfield services companies that offer fracking services in the Ohio Utica Shale. The Tenth District Ohio Court of Appeals recently ruled that an amendment to an existing law granting tax exempt status for oil and gas equipment not only applies to equipment purchased by frackers from now on, it also applies to equipment they’ve purchased (and paid sales tax on) going back in time too. In other words, some frackers are owed refunds on the sales tax they’ve paid in the past.
Read More “Ohio Court: Utica Frackers Owed Sales Tax Refunds for Equipment”
If you use the number of active rigs operating in a given shale play/state as the measure for “success,” 2019 wasn’t such a good year for the Marcellus/Utica. In January, Pennsylvania entered 2019 with 48 active rigs. In December that number was cut nearly in half, to 25 active rigs. It was a similar story for Ohio, which entered 2019 with 17 active rigs and exited with 12 rigs. West Virginia, on the other hand, entered 2019 with 15 rigs and exited the year with the same number. But at one point during the year WV had 21 active rigs. We have the monthly rig stats below for all three states.
Read More “Marcellus/Utica Rig Counts 2019 – The Trend was Not Our Friend”
With a decrease in rig counts/new drilling in 2019 (see today’s companion story), it was inevitable we would see layoffs in the Marcellus/Utica industry in 2019. The Pittsburgh region alone saw over 400 layoffs from three companies: EQT, Range and CNX. But that wasn’t the whole story.
Read More “Marcellus/Utica Employment 2019 – Some Losses, Some Gains”
The launch of Marcellus Drilling News as a full-time venture for founder/editor Jim Willis would not have been possible without Jim working a part-time gig (in marketing) for Natural Gas Intelligence (NGI). The fantastic folks at NGI, specifically Dexter and Alex Steis (publisher and editor-in-chief, respectively) provided Jim with meaningful, long-term support for six years (from 2012-2017). Jim is eternally grateful they allowed him to continue publishing MDN while working (remotely) for NGI. The head of NGI since its founding has been Dexter and Alex’s mom, Ellen Beswick Steis, a true trailblazer who founded the company in 1983. Ellen passed on Christmas Eve at the age of 79 following an illness.
Read More “Remembering NGI Founder Ellen Beswick Steis”
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Tone-deaf Democrats risk handing western Pennsylvania to Trump; Falling NY population is part of Cuomo’s plan; Range Resources director to resign; NATIONAL: US oil, gas rig count down by 4 to 836, lowest since early 2017; Natural-gas slide continues to start 2020; The Top 10 RBN energy prognostications for 2020 – Year of the Rat; Hamm, McClendon — and other names behind a fracking great decade for american oil and gas; INTERNATIONAL: As demand increases, Canada’s most populated province expanding natgas infrastructure; Best decade yet: humanity grew richer and more sustainable in the 2010s.
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Fri, Jan 3, 2020”
The State of Kentucky is spending $7.4 million ($5.9 million coming from the U.S. Dept. of Energy) to study the oil and gas potential of the Rogersville Shale (and other formations) located in eastern Kentucky. Which is big news for us in light of previous failed attempts to drill in the Rogersville.
Read More “Kentucky Launches New Study of Rogersville Shale Potential”
The Williams Transco “Gateway Expansion Project,” an $85 million project which flows an extra 65,000 dekatherms per day (65 million cubic feet) of natural gas to a couple of utility companies in New Jersey, has just gone online–11 months early!
Read More “Williams Transco NE Gateway Expansion Project Goes Online Early”
The companies behind PennEast Pipeline, a $1.2 billion new greenfield pipeline project from Luzerne County, PA to Mercer County, NJ, have not given up on the long-delayed project. As we told you in November, PennEast filed will file an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court (on Feb. 3) to overcome a lower court ruling that prevents PennEast from using eminent domain in New Jersey for some of the route (see PennEast Pipe to Appeal Bungled Fed Court Decision to US Supremes). Apparently the builders believe they have at least something of a chance to get the Supremes to review the case because PennEast has just asked FERC to extend the deadline to build.
Read More “PennEast Pipe Still Hopeful, Asks FERC for 2-Year Extension”
The Ohio Supreme Court, on Christmas Eve, threw a lifeline to an effort to overturn an Ohio law that provides corporate welfare in the form of $1 billion of ratepayer (taxpayer) money to FirstEnergy (which recently changed its name to Harbor Energy). The Ohio law provides the funds to FirstEnergy so they can keep two economically failing nuclear power plants up and running, giving the plants an unfair advantage over gas-fired plants that don’t receive corporate welfare.
Read More “OH Supreme Court Keeps Door Open to Reverse $1B Nuke Bailout”
Last June Philadelphia City Council voted to approve a $60 million Marcellus LNG export facility, to be built on property owned by Philadelphia Gas Works (see Philadelphia LNG Export Plant Approved by City Council Vote). Since that time we’ve not heard anything about the project or its status. Until now.
Read More “Philly LNG Export Plant Advances, Seeks Bids for Solar Power”