Cunningham Energy to Drill More WV Shallow Horizontal Oil Wells
It’s been over a year since we brought you news about Cunningham Energy, a small oil driller based in West Virginia (see Cunningham Energy Focuses on Shallow Horizontal Oil Wells in WV). Cunningham, backed by money from Viper Capital Partners, is once again in the news. Viper has just acquired drilling leases (and conventional wells) in Roane and Gilmer counties in WV. Viper says its drilling arm, Cunningham, will drill more “shallow” horizontal (fracked) wells in those locations, looking for oil.
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You can’t say we didn’t see this one coming. Last week the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) ruled that the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) took too long to deny a federal Clean Water Act “Section 401” water crossing permit for the Williams Constitution Pipeline project (see 
In February, prior to the July takover by Toby and Derek Rice, EQT filed lawsuits in both Pennsylvania and federal courts against two former employees it had fired, claiming the employees, before they were fired, had systematically copied confidential information from company computers and took it with them when they left (see 
It’s time to help the orphans in Ohio–orphan wells, that is. Ohio has some 1,000 orphaned/abandoned oil and gas wells. In early 2018 Ohio passed a new law making more funds available to plug orphaned wells–important because drilling a horizontal shale well through an old conventional/orphaned well can result in a disaster. Although Ohio now has plenty of money to plug their orphaned wells, there’s a shortage of contractors to do the work.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: PA Democrat Senators announce bill requiring power sector 90% greenhouse gas emission reductions; Trump correct about natural gas trends in New York and Pennsylvania; Keller speaks on natural gas at chamber event; Second-year gas students anxious to get to work; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Cowboys owner Jerry Jones defends $1.5 billion natural gas bet; Exxon, Chevron see consolidation in top U.S. shale field; NATIONAL: Why rig count is no longer a reliable gauge of production; Halliburton CEO sees consolidation in oilfield services as shale matures; Natural gas, America’s wonder fuel; Bernie Sanders makes one of the most ‘horrifying’ arguments during CNN climate town hall; Trump loosens methane standards in a win for oil & gas industry; INTERNATIONAL: Global economic slowdown hits China’s natural gas demand.
9/5/19 NOTE: ODNR’s original percentages were incorrectly calculated. A day after releasing the wrong numbers, ODNR fixed the wrong numbers in their 2Q19 update. Frankly, we should have noticed the original error, and didn’t. The raw production numbers were right there before our eyes, yet we simply relied on ODNR’s incorrect percentages and drew the wrong conclusions. See below for the corrected numbers.
A brief pause to enjoy an unqualified victory over the wackadoodles at the litigious New Jersey Chapter of the Sierra Club. Williams has just placed into service its Rivervale South to Market Project in New Jersey, now flowing enough fracked Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale gas to service an extra 1 million homes in the northeastern U.S. The Clubbers opposed the project and ultimately couldn’t do a thing to stop it.
In the American legal system those accused of wrongdoing, including those afraid of being entrapped by so-called law enforcement (like the Chester County, PA District Attorney Tom Hogan) are entitled to legal representation–to protect themselves from the abuses of people like DA Hogan. Yet when they do so, avail themselves of legal representation, Hogan gets bent out of shape. Could it be he *has no case* and wants to bully people into admitting to things they are not guilty of? Or force them to falsely testify to things the prosecutor wants to hear?
Our friends at RBN Energy recently launched a new mini-series of blog posts delving into Marcellus/Utica gas processing and fractionation in the wet gas region–meaning southwest PA, eastern OH, and the northern panhandle of WV. We previously brought you part 1 of that series (see 
Greene County, PA, located in the far southwestern corner of the state, last night unveiled a new marketing/rebranding initiative called “Greene County, a Powerful Place.” Greene is making a play to attract investment from the natural gas industry’s downstream (manufacturing) sector. It is a full-throated endorsement of the Marcellus/Utica shale industry and the petrochemical industry that goes hand-in-hand with shale.