Marcellus Drilling News

Industrywide Issues | NG Vehicles

Put VW Settlement $$ to Good Use – Buy NatGas Vehicles!
January 23, 2019January 23, 2019

Remember a few years back when Volkswagen got caught cheating on emissions tests for the cars they make? Bad move. It ended up costing a number of people at VW their jobs, and costing the company $2.9 billion in a settlement with the U.S. government. That shakedown money is now being doled out state by state, and we can’t think of a better way to use the money than by investing in NGVs (natural gas vehicles).
Read More “Put VW Settlement $$ to Good Use – Buy NatGas Vehicles!”
Best of the Rest

Energy Stories of Interest: Wed, Jan 23, 2019
January 23, 2019January 23, 2019

MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: 15 permits awarded in the Utica Shale; rig count at 16; PennDOT, Lebanon Transit open CNG transit fueling station; Natural gas outage leaves hundreds without heat; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Newport, Middletown residents face a week or more without natural gas; Natural gas system expanding in Budd Lake; NATIONAL: States compete for oil and gas money, too; INTERNATIONAL: China’s 2018 LNG imports surge to record; Saudi Arabia ventures into U.S. natural gas; The future is now for LNG as derivatives trading takes off.
Read More “Energy Stories of Interest: Wed, Jan 23, 2019”
Accidents | Enbridge | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Noble County | Ohio | Pipelines

Texas Eastern Pipeline Explodes in Noble County, OH – Injuries
January 22, 2019January 23, 2019

Fires from Texas Eastern Pipeline explosion (click for larger version, credit: WTRF Channel 7)

A 30-inch segment of Enbridge’s Texas Eastern interstate natural gas pipeline in Noble County, OH exploded yesterday sending two people to the hospital and destroying two nearby homes. The pipeline was built in the early 1950s and was last inspected in 2012.

NOTE: We’ve added a 1/23/19 update below on how this accident has affected gas flows in Ohio.
Read More “Texas Eastern Pipeline Explodes in Noble County, OH – Injuries”
Chester County | Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide PA | Sunoco Logistics

New Mariner East 1 Sinkhole Appears, PA PUC Shuts Down Pipeline
January 22, 2019January 22, 2019

New ME1 sinkhole in Chester County (credit: WPVI-TV Channel 6)

On Sunday a new sinkhole appeared in the backyard of a home in West Whiteland Township (Chester County), PA exposing a small portion of Energy Transfer’s Mariner East 1 (ME1) NGL pipeline.
Read More “New Mariner East 1 Sinkhole Appears, PA PUC Shuts Down Pipeline”
Accidents | Beaver County | Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines

SWPA Revolution Pipe Still Closed After Explosion; ET, DEP Argue
January 22, 2019January 22, 2019

Revolution Pipeline explosion – Sept. 2018

On Sept. 10, Energy Transfer’s 24-inch gathering pipeline in Beaver County, PA, called the Revolution Pipeline, caught fire and exploded during testing (see Revolution Pipeline Near Pittsburgh Explodes – Home & Barn Destroyed).
Read More “SWPA Revolution Pipe Still Closed After Explosion; ET, DEP Argue”
Electrical Generation | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Regulation

EmberClear’s Cadiz, OH Gas-Fired Power Plant Slightly Delayed
January 22, 2019January 22, 2019

Artist rendering of Harrison Hills Power Plant

In September 2016, MDN reported that EmberClear planned to fund and build a new $900 million electric generating plant in Harrison County (see $900M Utica Gas-Fired Electric Plant Coming to Harrison County, OH). The project was supposed to begin construction by the end of last year, but didn’t.
Read More “EmberClear’s Cadiz, OH Gas-Fired Power Plant Slightly Delayed”
Allegheny County | Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation

Franklin Park Tries to Block Fracking After Rejecting $1M+ Proposal
January 22, 2019January 22, 2019

It appears the “leaders” of Franklin Park Borough in Allegheny County aren’t satisfied enough that they’ve rejected a free $1 million from PennEnergy Resources to drill under a town park (see Franklin Park Turns Down $1M+ to Drill Under Linbrook Park). Nope. Now they essentially want to ban fracking in the borough by passing an onerous new zoning ordinance.
Read More “Franklin Park Tries to Block Fracking After Rejecting $1M+ Proposal”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | CNG/LNG | Industrywide Issues | New York | New York County | Pipelines | Westchester County

Will New York City Begin to Import Russian LNG Like Boston?
January 22, 2019January 22, 2019

We’re following up on a post we made last Thursday about a coming moratorium on new customer hookups for natural gas in Westchester and New York City (see Moratorium on New NatGas Customers Coming in NYC Area). We now have more specifics: beginning March 15 of this year, Consolidated Edison is putting the moratorium in place.
Read More “Will New York City Begin to Import Russian LNG Like Boston?”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research

New Government Study Helps Frackers Become More Profitable
January 22, 2019January 22, 2019

Branching into densely spaced hydraulic cracks is essential for effective gas or oil extraction from shale.

Can math help us be better frackers? Researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory certainly think so. Researchers have developed a new mathematical model that better predicts previously hidden fractures, that can potentially boost efficiencies and profits in natural gas production.
Read More “New Government Study Helps Frackers Become More Profitable”
Best of the Rest

Energy Stories of Interest: Tue, Jan 22, 2019
January 22, 2019January 22, 2019

MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: DEP receives 2 proposed Good Samaritan gas well plugging project requests; DEP invites comments on Adelphia Pipeline Gateway Project in Delaware County; Ohio moves into top five for recoverable shale natural gas reserves; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Tellurian gets environmental clearance for Driftwood LNG; Houston company develops expertise in shallow horizontal wells; NATIONAL: DOE releases U.S. LNG export data through November 2018; Municipalities suing energy companies could get burned by their own lawyers; America’s communities will suffer if lawsuits against energy producers succeed; Huge backlog could trigger new wave of shale oil; U.S. oil-rig fleet shrinks the most in almost 3 years; Record production of natural gas to continue through 2020, Energy Department projects; Manchin’s focus on pipelines may equal his love of coal; The antithesis of green; INTERNATIONAL: An effort to bring fracking to Britain hits pause; U.S.-Qatar energy partnership has Russia on edge; Sinopec Capital calls for end to fossil-fuels vehicles.
Read More “Energy Stories of Interest: Tue, Jan 22, 2019”
About MDN

MDN Off for MLK Day
January 21, 2019

Dear MDN Reader:

Since it is a stock exchange holiday, and to honor the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., MDN is taking today off, Monday, Jan. 15. We are sending along an updated calendar of events relevant to the Marcellus/Utica for the next 90 days. Full strength MDN will return Tuesday!
Calendar

Calendar of Marcellus/Utica Events for Jan 21 – Apr 20, 2019
January 21, 2019January 21, 2019

Events related (or of interest) to the Marcellus, Utica and other Appalachian shales happening in the next 90 days.
Read More “Calendar of Marcellus/Utica Events for Jan 21 – Apr 20, 2019”
Weekly Digest

MDN Weekly Digest – Jan 19, 2019
January 19, 2019January 20, 2019

The latest edition of the MDN Weekly Digest is now ready. The digest is the meat and “essence” of each story for all posts appearing on the MDN website during the past week, collected in a single PDF document capable of being downloaded and printed. The Weekly Digest is available to paying subscribers only as part of your monthly or annual subscription to MDN.
Read More “MDN Weekly Digest – Jan 19, 2019”
CNX Resources | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Westmoreland County

CNX Files to Drill 4 Utica Wells on Pad w/Existing Marcellus Wells
January 18, 2019January 18, 2019

click for larger version

Drillers like CNX Resources (formerly CONSOL Energy) file to drill new shale wells on a pretty regular basis, no big deal. So why would we highlight CNX’s recent filing to drill four Utica wells in Westmoreland County, PA?
Read More “CNX Files to Drill 4 Utica Wells on Pad w/Existing Marcellus Wells”
Columbia Pipeline Group | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

FERC OK’s Mountaineer XPress Pipe to Start Up in WV
January 18, 2019January 18, 2019

click for larger version

In December, Columbia Pipeline asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for permission to start up an additional section of its Mountaineer XPress Pipeline in West Virginia (see Columbia Asks FERC to Start Up 2/3rds of Mountaineer XPress Pipe). The good news is that on Wednesday, FERC said yes.
Read More “FERC OK’s Mountaineer XPress Pipe to Start Up in WV”
Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy

Gulfport’s Largest Investor Not Happy with Board or Management
January 18, 2019January 20, 2019

Another situation is brewing with Gulfport Energy not unlike the situation at EQT. One of (we’re pretty sure THE) largest shareholders in Gulfport, investment firm Firefly Value Partners, is not happy with either the board of directors or current management, saying very publicly (via a letter, below) that the current board lacks “necessary skills and experience” to turn the company’s poorly performing stock around. Ba boom!
Read More “Gulfport’s Largest Investor Not Happy with Board or Management”