GreenHunter Gets Permission From Coast Guard to Barge Brine...Or Maybe it Doesn't

By -
This story is a little odd, but here you go.  We've mentioned on the blog in the past the efforts of GreenHunter Resources to obtain clearance from the Coast Guard to barge fracking waste on the Ohio River.

So, first an update from the Akron Beacon Journal:
A $3 million plan by a Texas-based company to ship liquid drilling wastes via barges on the Ohio River is gaining steam. 
GreenHunter Resources Inc. said its proposal was quietly approved in the fourth quarter 2014 by the U.S. Coast Guard. 
No announcement was made at the time of the federal approval. 
A new barge terminal at Portland in Meigs County in southern Ohio will be completed in the next six to nine months to handle the new barge shipments, company officials said.
This is, of course, great news for GreenHunter.  But it might be prudent to hold off on popping the cork on the celebratory champagne.  From TribLive:
The U.S. Coast Guard has denied statements by GreenHunter Resources that it has given the Texas-based water management company clearance to ship wastewater from shale drillers by barge along the Ohio River. 
The Coast Guard said Wednesday that it had not taken final action on a 2012 request by GreenHunter Resources “to transport shale gas extraction wastewater and has not classified this cargo for shipment.” 
GreenHunter Resources, based in Grapevine, Texas, said in a statement to investors on its website that it received approval from the Coast Guard late last year. The company's vice president of business development, John Jack, did not immediately respond to phone and email messages. 
Earlier, Jack had said he “can't confirm nor deny” the decision but that the company has been working with the Coast Guard on the issue for three years.
So it is hard to tell exactly what the situation is.

Meanwhile, Casey Junkins writes for The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register that GreenHunter faces further challenges even if the company's barging plan does have (or eventually gains) Coast Guard approval:
The Wheeling Planning Commission approved "Phase 1" of GreenHunter's plan to build the frack water recycling plant in Warwood. Site plans at the time showed the company planned to build 23 separate 1,000-barrel tanks on the 2.35-acre site, some of which would hold clean rainwater, while others would contain reusable frack water, drilling waste fluid, or flowback water. 
However, the planning commission did not approve "Phase 2" of the project, which would allow GreenHunter to load Ohio River barges with fracking waste at Warwood so the material could be shipped southward for disposal in deep injection wells in the Marietta, Ohio area. 
"Without the barging, this facility does not make any sense," GreenHunter Water Vice President of Business Development John Jack said during a January 2014 meeting with city and county leaders. "I won't start this facility until I get approval by the U.S. Coast Guard." 
Jack did not immediately return calls seeking comment Tuesday. However, Trosclair emphasized the growing need for such a facility that would reduce the amount of truck traffic on roadways across the Marcellus and Utica shale fields. He said that for every 10,000 barrels of frack waste transported by barge, the company would be able to reduce the time trucks spend hauling the material by 600 hours. 
"Demand for services at GreenHunter Resources remains strong," Trosclair said. "While the increase in demand for services is an important component of our success, the improvement of increasing efficiencies at GreenHunter Resources is equally important." 
GreenHunter's new dilemma may be finding a barging terminal local leaders will allow the company to use. Wheeling leaders maintain the firm does not have permission to use the barging infrastructure at Warwood because they said the area alongside the Wheeling Heritage Trail is zoned for "residential" use.
What is next for GreenHunter, then?  Your guess is as good as mine.  

Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter!

Popular posts from this blog

Fracktivist in Dimock Releases Carefully Edited Video, Refuses to Release the Rest

By -
Image
From Energy in Depth: There is something very strange going on along Carter Road, in Dimock, Pennsylvania, and I’m not speaking of natural gas, methane migration, contamination, litigation or even the extensive water testing there by the EPA and others.  No, I’m talking about a new “Watergate” conspiracy, complete with 18 minutes of missing tape (well, video, actually). It seems the ever-present Green Party member and  naturist   Vera Scroggins  (a/k/a  Vera Duerga ) has posted a video of Craig Sautner meeting with the EPA.  Mysteriously, the video is but 14 seconds in length, cutting off conversation in what is obviously mid-stream.  It raises a question Craig Sautner, like  Ronald Reagan in Kings Row , might have asked, “Where’s the rest of me?’  Carter Road, isn’t Kings Row, of course, (at least not until you arrive at  the mansion Scott Ely, one of the Dimock litigants, is building with his royalty money ), but there appears to be a whole lot of film editing going on there to fi
Read more

The Second Largest Oil and Gas Merger - Cabot and Cimarex

By -
Image
       Due to investor pressure, the U.S shale drillers are being pushed to improve financial and operational performance after a few years of poor returns. Even though the industry has improved its numbers, when compared to last year, investors still want more to be done for them to earn more money.      That's why two mid-tier shale drillers, Cabot and Climarex, have decided to merge in order to eliminate $100 million in annual costs, which means more money for the investors. This all-stock transaction is valued at about $7.4 billion, which is relatively high for the oil and gas sector.      The new entity will be renamed and the headquarters located in Houston, Texas. Cabot shareholders will own 49.5 percent of the new entity, and Climarex the rest.       The Cimarex-Cabot merger will address the investor's demand for a higher amount of returning cash. The initial plan is to pay a 50-cent-per-share special dividend on closing the deal while offering a quarterly variable div
Read more

Is a Strong Oil Demand Expected This Year?

By -
Image
  According to the world's largest oil traders, global oil demand is set for a rebound. Between now and the end of 2022, global consumption is expected to increase by up to 8 million barrels each day. Vitol Group, the world's largest oil trader, supports this statement.  In an interview with Bloomberg, Vitol's chief executive Russell Hardy said, "We'll need all eight cylinders to get through 2022". This, of course, is due to the lower than average demand for oil at the moment. Reopening economies and Asian markets will create a strong demand rebound by the end of this year and in 2022.  Although the demand for jet fuel will slowly increase, it will still be below average at the end of the year. Nevertheless, a surge in petrochemicals will offset the expected delay in jet fuel demand. Last year, the oil surplus reached a record of 1 billion barrels. This excess is already more than halfway drained, and experts believe it will be depleted by the third quarter th
Read more