Chesapeake Arranges $1.5B Loan to Pay Off Old Debt, Stock Soars
In an impressive feat of financial jiu-jitsu, Chesapeake Energy has just snapped closed the mouths of those who said the company was imminently heading for bankruptcy following the company’s third quarter update (see Chesapeake Energy 3Q – Slash Drilling 30%, Bankruptcy Possible). Yesterday Chessy issued three press releases to announce it has swapped out some of its old debt for 70 cents on the dollar, and has arranged a 4 1/2 year loan for $1.5 billion. Chesapeake stock soared 17% higher on the news.
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Today wraps up the Hart Energy Marcellus-Utica Midstream Conference being held in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately MDN editor Jim Willis could not attend this year. But Pittsburgh Business Times‘ ace reporter Paul Gough did attend, and he’s reporting some interesting comments at yesterday’s sessions. Pipeline companies offered frank and sobering comments. Times are not good for Marcellus/Utica drillers right now due to low low prices, and that translates into times being not good for pipeline companies too. But, “we’ve been here before” said one speaker, and better days are ahead…when prices once again increase.
Dominion Energy’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) previously filed a request with the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit that judicially creates a new law stipulating pipelines can’t cross under the Appalachian Trail without (no kidding) an Act of Congress. The Supremes get 8,000 such requests each year, and accept maybe 80 (or 1%). Lightning struck. The ACP case was accepted by the Supremes in October (see 
For some time we’ve been concerned about competition for Marcellus/Utica gas coming from western Canada being piped to Canada’s East Coast (see 
In October MDN reported that Equitrans (formerly EQT Midstream) had settled an outstanding issue with the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) over the company’s failure to produce a “verified statement” that proves they have turned over every rock and branch looking for old conventional wells that are not mapped in a natural gas storage field in Greene County, PA (see 
The mafiosi at FirstEnergy lost their lawsuit filed with the Ohio Supreme Court in a bid to block a referendum aimed at giving all Ohio residents the right to vote to overturn an ill-conceived corporate welfare law passed that puts $1 billion into FirstEnergy’s pocket in order to keep two failing nuclear power plants open. Although they lost the case, FirstEnergy claims the Supreme Court decision is a “victory” for their attempt to keep their grubby hands on taxpayer’s money. How does that work?
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: PA EQB to consider regulations controlling methane emissions from existing oil & gas operations; Cracker plant workers, companies donate $40K to local charities; Center Township food pantry receives donation from pipeline company; Families to receive Toys for Tots; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: ExxonMobil moves Massachusetts AG’s “political” lawsuit to federal court; Rev. Jesse Jackson, activists push for natural gas pipeline to Pembroke Township; Colorado city extends moratorium on drilling permits; NATIONAL: Hedge funds pile into petroleum on rosier economic outlook; INTERNATIONAL: The world’s top 10 carbon dioxide emitters.
Yesterday the Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) released their latest quarterly Natural Gas Production Report for July through September 2019 (full copy below). It shows natgas production in PA rose 9.1% compared to the same period last year–to yet another new all-time high of 1,715 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas. Put another way, that’s 1.7 TRILLION cubic feet of gas produced over a three-month period. There has now been an unbroken chain of quarter-over-quarter increases in horizontal shale gas production in PA for 13 consecutive quarters (more than three years running).
One of the selling points to make big interstate pipeline projects more palatable to the general public, at least in Ohio, has been the fact they pay annual property taxes. We can tell you from personal experience that a small pipeline in the Town of Windsor (NY, yes! NY) has meant lower property tax bills for MDN editor Jim Willis. Two very large pipeline projects in Ohio, Rover and NEXUS, are asking Stark County to reduce their assessments so they can pay less in taxes–up to 50% less.
We’re always delighted to discover a new (for us) company involved in the supply chain–providing goods and/or services to the shale industry, including the downstream petrochemicals industry. Elliott Group is one of those companies not previously on our radar. Elliott’s U.S. headquarters is located in Westmoreland County, near Pittsburgh. The company designs, manufactures, and services turbomachinery, including centrifugal and axial compressors, steam turbines, and power recovery expanders. Elliott broke ground yesterday on a new facility in Jeannette where they will test their recently acquired product line of cryogenic pumps and expanders–equipment used in LNG plants.
A group of 10 community colleges scattered throughout southwestern Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio and northern West Virginia have formed the Tristate Energy and Advanced Manufacturing Consortium, or TEAM, with the aim of training skilled workers for cracker plants and other petrochemical-related manufacturing operations. The cooperative has crafted a “stackable-credentials model” that offers “a career pathway from certifications to post-secondary degrees, up to and including a master’s degree.” Forwarding thinking!
The Route 2 | I-68 Authority in West Virginia wants to expand Route 2 to four lanes from Parkersburg, WV to Chester, WV, and to extend Interstate 68 from I-79 near Morgantown, WV westward to WV Route 2 along the Ohio River Valley, some 73 miles (see 
What’s the clinical term for a person who intentionally wants to harm him or herself? Self harm? Self injury? Self flagellation? That’s what we call the situation at the NGSA (Natural Gas Supply Association) which yesterday said it supports an economy and shale-killing carbon tax “as a critical pathway to aggressively reducing carbon emissions.” Are they nuts? Have they lost their collective minds?!