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    Antero Resources Spent $1B in WV Last Year, Another $1B This Year

    Antero Resources is seriously in love with West Virginia. Antero is headquartered in Denver, CO but is totally focused on drilling for natural gas, NGLs and oil in the Marcellus/Utica. Antero owns over 484,000 net acres in the southwestern portion of the Marcellus Shale, and over 137,000 net acres in the core of the Utica Shale. Most of their acreage is in WV. Of the $1.3 billion the company spent last year, and plans to spend again this year, around $1 billion (per year) is spent on drilling in WV–close to 80%. Over the next five years, Antero says it will invest $6 billion in the Mountain State. That’s some serious love! As the technology gets better, it takes less time to drill. Antero said it used to take 30 days to drill an 8,000-foot well. Today? They can do it in one day. One of the secrets to Antero’s success in WV is their new Clearwater facility that recycles 98% of the frack wastewater (flowback and produced water) coming from Antero’s wells. Below is an article in which Antero gushes about their love (and future plans) for WV…
    Read More “Antero Resources Spent $1B in WV Last Year, Another $1B This Year”

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    Opponents Slandering Potter Co. Wastewater Facility Legally Warned

    Is it free speech to make “false, destructive and defamatory statements” about a company and the project it proposes to build? Is it OK to pretend to be a news organization when you’re really just a shill for Big Green groups, and is your “speech” protected–when it’s false? Members of the Seneca Indian tribe and faux news outlet Public Herald have been put on notice, legally, by lawyers representing the proposed Epiphany shale wastewater recycling facility in Coudersport (Potter County, PA) and driller JKLM to “cease and desist” from their slandering, smearing false statements about the Epiphany project–statements that are misleading the public. Those served the legal notice say it’s an attempt to silence their free speech rights. What do you think?…
    Read More “Opponents Slandering Potter Co. Wastewater Facility Legally Warned”

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    Lansing, MI Approves Borrowing $500M for Gas-Fired Electric Plant

    In December MDN brought you the news that the Lansing, Michigan Board of Water & Light (BWL) wants to build a brand new $500 million natural gas-fired power plant (see Lansing, MI to Build New 250 MW Gas-Fired Electric Plant). The new plant will generate 250 megawatts of electricity, create 1,200 construction jobs, and go online in 2021. It will replace (and retire) two BWL coal-fired plants. Out with old, in with the new. We’re interested in the project because it is a potential new demand source for Marcellus/Utica Shale gas. On Tuesday, BWL voted, unanimously, to approve borrowing up to $500 million to construct the project. They did so over the objections of a group of fossil fuel haters who apparently would rather sit in the dark rather than build a plant that uses a dreaded fossil fuel. BWL board members had to put up with the usual fossil fuel speechifying, and then proceeded to move forward like the adults they are, over the objections of the petulant children present…
    Read More “Lansing, MI Approves Borrowing $500M for Gas-Fired Electric Plant”

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    Free Pipeline Training Course in April in SWPA & Eastern OH

    The Gas Technology Institute (GTI) has previously offered a 100% free training program for those interested in a career building pipelines in the Marcellus/Utica region (see 4-Wk FREE Training Program Helps Unemployed Get M-U Pipeline Jobs and Still a Few Openings for Free Training for M-U Pipeline Jobs in SWPA). GTI is offering the same training program once again in April, at two locations: Armstrong County Industrial Development Council in Freeport, PA, and Belmont College in St. Clairsville, OH. Each location is limited to 20 students. If you are interested and live somewhere within driving distance of either location, what are you waiting for? Sign up before all slots are taken! Starting salaries for graduates “often exceed $50,000” and can lead to careers with salaries in the six-figure range (hey, where do we sign up?!). We have the details of how to enroll for FREE in this valuable training course–a course worth $3,500…
    Read More “Free Pipeline Training Course in April in SWPA & Eastern OH”

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    Riverkeeper, Big Green Groups Want FERC to Bend Rules for Them

    We are a country governed by the rule of law. Part of our system of laws (for better or worse) invests government bureaucracies with delegated power to make rules and regulations–which carry the weight of law. Children who are not disciplined (at home and at school) grow up to be adults who think silly things like rules don’t apply to them–because they don’t want them to. THE Delaware Riverkeeper falls into that camp. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has rules and regulations in place to keep the agency from descending into chaos in reviewing and approving pipeline projects. One of FERC’s rules, which has been on the books for years, is that if a person or group wants to “intervene” (become an intervenor) in a project, they must file with FERC “in a timely manner.” FERC sets the amount of time, which varies with each project. It’s been our observation FERC gives at least 30 days, sometimes more, for folks to file to intervene. One of the sleazy strategies used by Riverkeeper is to get thousands of individuals (including children) to sign up as intervenors for a project in a quest to flood and overload the FERC system, slowing or stopping progress on a given project (see FERC Confirms “Intervenors” Slowing Down Pipeline Approvals). FERC has had enough. FERC commissioners have voted to tighten up the loosey-goosey way FERC has treated people and groups who file late to intervene. No more bending of the rules. In the past, Riverkeeper and others have filed to intervene weeks after the deadline for such action, and FERC has just added them as intervenors anyway. No more. Either Riverkeeper and their ilk file on time from now on, or they won’t be considered intervenors, which has them hopping mad…
    Read More “Riverkeeper, Big Green Groups Want FERC to Bend Rules for Them”

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    Tallgrass Energy Eliminating MLP – First “Casualty” of Tax Cut?

    Last week MDN brought you the news that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) had taken “significant action” to address the Trump tax cut legislation enacted last December (see FERC Takes Aim at Adjusting Pipe Rates in Light of Trump Tax Cut). FERC wants to be sure the tax cuts coming to electric companies and pipeline companies are passed on to consumers and pipeline shippers. The agency proposed new solutions to eliminate “tax loopholes” for natural gas pipelines. Closing these so-called loopholes will eliminate certain tax benefits for MLPs–master limited partnerships. Many pipeline companies (most) are organized as MLPs, which allows tax advantages to flow to investors. With certain tax benefits for MLP unitholders on the chopping block, all of a sudden some MLPs don’t look like such a hot investment anymore, at least on paper. Some analysts have speculated this may be the beginning of the end for MLPs. A few years ago Kinder Morgan got rid of all it’s MLP subsidiaries, combining them all into a single “C” corporation. Now, Tallgrass Energy, builder/operator of the mighty Rockies Express (REX) pipeline which flows Marcellus/Utica gas, is doing the same as Kinder did. Which causes us to ask the question, is Tallgrass’ MLP the first “casualty” of the Trump tax cut among pipeline companies?…
    Read More “Tallgrass Energy Eliminating MLP – First “Casualty” of Tax Cut?”

  • Other Energy Stories of Interest: Thu, Mar 29, 2018

    The “best of the rest”–stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading: Hilcorp files for new drilling permits in Columbiana County, OH; FirstEnergy files to close 3 nuke plants in OH, PA; FERC scolds Rover over missed deadlines; bogus petition with 70K signature filed protesting pipelines in Virginia; LNG supplier helps fund Greensburg, PA shelter; Texas sinkholes from o&g drilling; why $3 natgas continues to elude the market; Chesapeake Energy is not “desperate” to sell assets; media ignores real Russian meddling–in U.S. energy markets; Saudis & Russians tag-team to fend off American shale; and more!
    Read More “Other Energy Stories of Interest: Thu, Mar 29, 2018”

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    MVP Pipeline Cleared to Begin Building Pipeline in Virginia

    In January, MDN reported that Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP)–a $3.5 billion, 301-mile pipeline that will run from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA–had received permission from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to begin tree clearing and construction of access roads and construction yards in five West Virginia counties (see Mountain Valley Pipe Gets FERC Approval to Begin WV Construction). That was MVP’s very first permission to begin construction-related activities. It was the trickle. The flood gates burst open in February when FERC issued four new orders granting MVP permission to continue not only tree clearing and building roads, but also to begin construction of the actual pipeline itself in WV, and tree clearing/preliminary construction activity in VA (see FERC Grants MVP OK to Begin Pipeline Construction in Virginia & W.V.). The activity in VA was in just one county (Giles) and in one location. MVP still could not construct pipeline in VA pending required state permits. The situation in VA fundamentally changed this week. On Monday, the VA Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ) issued erosion, sediment and storm water control permits for the project–meaning actual pipeline construction can now begin. And yesterday, FERC granted MVP permission to construct pipeline not only in Giles, but also in Craig, Montgomery and Roanoke counties. MVP is now fully authorized in VA and there’s no stopping it…
    Read More “MVP Pipeline Cleared to Begin Building Pipeline in Virginia”

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    A (Very) Rough Method for Calculating Royalties on Cabot Wells

    Cabot Oil & Gas, one of our favorite Marcellus drillers, has just published a new PowerPoint slide deck presentation as part of an investor’s conference they attended earlier this week (the Scotia Howard Weil Energy Conference). Normally a new slide deck isn’t all that big a deal. However, thanks to MDN friend Chris Acker who pointed it out to us, there is some new information in the deck worthy of note. Back in December MDN brought you the news that Cabot had signed a deal to sell off their Texas Eagle Ford Shale assets in order to concentrate solely on the Marcellus (see Cabot O&G Sells Texas Eagle Ford Assets for $765M, Focus on Marc.). The slide deck notes that the Eagle Ford divestiture closed on Feb. 28th (slide #3). Also in the slide deck is a mention that Cabot plans to experiment with drilling “upper Marcellus” wells in the second half of 2018 (slide #11). Most (all?) of the wells they’ve drilled to date are “lower Marcellus.” A successful program of drilling upper Marcellus certainly bodes well for existing landowners with existing lower Marcellus wells–perhaps Cabot will revisit those pads to drill new wells? Slide #11 has some great information on it. We’ve used it to create a (very) rough royalty estimation calculator for Cabot landowners…
    Read More “A (Very) Rough Method for Calculating Royalties on Cabot Wells”

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    Antero Res. Considers Mining its Own Frac Sand to Cut Costs

    If you hang around the business world long enough (as we have), you notice certain trends. One such trend from yesteryear is companies integrating up and down the supply chain. Like when a widget manufacturing company buys the company that supplies it the raw materials used to make the widgets. Example: a car manufacturer buys the company that supplies it with plastic dashboards–and then buys the chemical company that produces the plastic to make the dashboards. And then the same car company, on the other side, buys the credit union that makes the loans to buy their cars! The company becomes integrated. But then the pendulum swings and in recent years, the trend has been about dis-integrating–spinning things off into their own self-contained units. Better to focus on one thing and do it well, rather than be like GE and spread yourself around to multiple industries and specialties. In the oil and gas world, Chesapeake Energy once owned its own oilfield services company (Chesapeake Oilfield Services)–which they later sold. One thing you don’t hear much about is shale companies vertically integrating and buying suppliers. However, Antero Resources, one of the biggest and best drillers in the Marcellus/Utica, is actively considering such a move. Antero wants to buy its own frac sand company as a way of controlling costs. Is it a good idea, or a bad idea?…
    Read More “Antero Res. Considers Mining its Own Frac Sand to Cut Costs”

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    Cove Point LNG Gets Ready to Ship First Marcellus Molecules in Apr

    Patris LNG tanker

    In early March Dominion Energy’s Cove Point LNG plant shipped its first-ever load of LNG (liquefied natural gas), although the gas itself was imported from Nigeria, used in testing the plant (see Cove Point Ships First LNG Cargo – But Not M-U Gas). Last week MDN told you that a BP-contracted LNG tanker, Patris, is on the way to Cove Point but will not dock until April 9th (see Cove Point LNG: BP Ship Coming for 1st M-U Pickup; India Wants Swap). The Patris will be the first ship to carry Marcellus molecules from the facility to distant shores. It now looks like we have confirmation, of a sort, that indeed the Patris will dock and load Marcellus LNG on April 9. That confirmation comes from Platts, which reports that on Monday feed gas (from the Marcellus) spiked up to 640 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d), which is “the highest level in more than three weeks” of gas flowing into the facility. Here’s the latest on our continuing watch of Cove Point, a true game-changer for the Marcellus, and for companies like Cabot Oil & Gas that will send gas to the facility…
    Read More “Cove Point LNG Gets Ready to Ship First Marcellus Molecules in Apr”

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    PA DEP Stops ME2 Drilling in Huntingdon County for < 1 Gal. Spill

    Sunoco Logistics Partners has had its share of problems in building the Mariner East 2 (ME2) twin NGL pipelines that run from eastern Ohio all the way to Marcus Hook, near Philadelphia. The main issue with construction of the pipeline has been underground horizontal directional drilling (HDD)–drilling under things like roads and bridges and streams and rivers–places where you can’t just dig a trench to lay pipeline. Some early problems with HDD caused the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) to shut down all ME2 HDD work (indeed all work period) for an extended period in January (see PA DEP Caves to Big Green Pressure, Stops All Work on ME2 Pipeline). After Sunoco agreed to pay the DEP a whopping $12.6 million “fine” (i.e. shakedown money), the DEP allowed work to resume in February (see Sunoco LP Pays PA DEP $12.6M to Resume ME2 Pipeline Construction). While doing ME2 HDD work in Huntingdon County last week, Sunoco contractors reported less than one gallon of non-toxic drilling mud (bentonite) went missing–it came back out of a hole it didn’t go down. And because of that, the DEP has shut down all work at the site…
    Read More “PA DEP Stops ME2 Drilling in Huntingdon County for < 1 Gal. Spill"

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    PA Court Tells SWPA Town Can’t Restrict MarkWest Compressor Stn

    Cecil Township

    Cecil Township (Washington County, PA) is one of the original seven selfish towns that sued Pennsylvania over the 2012 Act 13 oil and gas law, a law that replaced a mishmash of local zoning ordinances governing oil and gas activity with one uniform, and fair, set of state regulations. Cecil and the other selfish towns won their case on appeal with the PA Supreme Court (see PA Supreme Court Rules Against State/Drillers in Act 13 Case). Although Cecil (and other towns) have been zealous in using their authority to zone out drilling and pipeline activity, sometimes they go too far, as Cecil has done. The PA Commonwealth Court ruled last Friday that Cecil exceeded their authority by “imposing a slew of conditions” (26 conditions!) on a proposed MarkWest Energy compressor station planned for the municipality, a plant first proposed back in 2010…
    Read More “PA Court Tells SWPA Town Can’t Restrict MarkWest Compressor Stn”

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    Yale Study Claims Ohio Utica Fracking Causes STDs

    What a shame that a university with one of the best reputations in the world, Yale, has sunk this low–to pedal yet another so-called study that claims where there is fracking in the Ohio Utica, there’s also a higher incidence of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) like gonorrhea and chlamydia. This isn’t the first “fracking causes STDs” study. Antis have issued these “studies” for years (see MDN coverage here). This latest study by Yale “researchers” was published in an online journal with no standards, PLOS ONE. Other bought-and-paid-for anti-fracking “science” has been published by the PLOS ONE research-mill (see a list of other fake studies bashing shale appearing in PLOS ONE). PLOS ONE is a favorite place to publish research that can’t meet the rigorous review process of real journals. Here’s the latest substandard anti-drilling “research” from the Yale School of Public Health…
    Read More “Yale Study Claims Ohio Utica Fracking Causes STDs”

  • Other Energy Stories of Interest: Wed, Mar 28, 2018

    The “best of the rest”–stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading: UGI looks to combine gas divisions into one unit; PA unions throw their political weight behind natgas; Wellsville Intermodal facility may qualify as national Opportunity Zone; India looks to swap LNG cargoes from Sabine Pass; India sells Texas shale assets for $100M; US LNG exports quadrupled in 2017; and more!
    Read More “Other Energy Stories of Interest: Wed, Mar 28, 2018”

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    Eclipse Resources Board Considering Either Merger or Acquisition

    Eclipse Resources, a Marcellus/Utica pure play driller headquartered in State College, PA, has just done it again. The company has drilled another massively long onshore lateral–19,335 feet long–in the Ohio Utica. It’s not the longest onshore lateral in the world (currently the Eclipse Outlaw well, at 19,600 feet), but this one comes close. Although drilling a new super lateral is big news, there was other news that (for us) is even bigger: Eclipse issued a statement yesterday that says, in part, the company “has initiated a process to evaluate and consider a full range of potential strategic, operational and financial alternatives to maximize shareholder value.” Eclipse hired investment firm Jefferies LLC and international law firm Norton Rose Fulbright to help with the process. Both firms specialize in mergers and acquisitions (M&A). The statement also says, “There is no assurance that the review by the Board will result in a transaction or other strategic alternative,” which we interpret to mean Eclipse is looking either to buy another company (like EQT did with Rice Energy), or sell itself to another company (like Rice Energy did to EQT). That’s our take on this seemingly innocuous announcement. Big news indeed!…
    Read More “Eclipse Resources Board Considering Either Merger or Acquisition”