08/27/15 Links of the Day: Oil Prices Plunging, Drillers Penalized for Methane Migration, Natural Gas Under Attack, and More

NGI:  Appalachian Producers Considering More Pennsylvania Utica as Budget Season Nears   -   "Following last year's rush to test the boundaries of the Utica Shale outside Ohio, some producers are reevaluating their prospects in the Appalachian Basin to determine how best to spend capital after consistent success from the formation in West Virginia and Southwest Pennsylvania..."

Gas & Oil:  The Landman Legacy   -   "Bryan Hanks, president and owner of Beta Land Services, knows a thing or two about building relationships with clients, he has been a certified professional landman for 34 years. Hanks was introduced at the recent Buckeye STEPS (Service, Transmission, Exploration, Production Safety Network) meeting at Zane State College by Joe Greco, president of..."

Investors.com:  Dems Change Tune on Exporting Crude as Oil Plunges   -   "With oil futures falling below $40 per barrel, it's getting harder to find reasons to support the long-standing ban on exporting U.S. crude, and top Democrats may be warming up to killing it. Republicans have long been for lifting the ban, but most Democrats want to keep..."

Seeking Alpha:  Oil Sands vs. Shale - Who Gets Hit First?   -   "In an environment of oversupply where nobody will cut production, it is up to the market to ultimately rebalance supply through pricing. Such is the current situation with crude oil. Of some 90 million barrels of global production, most experts estimate an oversupply of 2 million barrels per day. While that might not seem like so much, the amount of crude oil storage space in the world is ..."

Forbes:  Market Rout Deepens as Deflation Jumps from Oil to Everything Else   -   "In the early stages of a commodities downturn, lower prices help spur overall economic growth. Cheap inputs make manufactured goods cheaper, profits fatter and consumer costs lower. Cheap oil encourages everyone to drive more. Thus, until recently, global stock markets shrugged off the commodities slump and leapt..."

Forbes:  Oil Price Slump:  Nearly $250B of Industry Cost Cuts on Cards   -   "As China’s so-called ‘Black Monday’ knocked the stuffing out of global equities and commodities market, yet another classic reactionary sentiment driven selloff in the oil futures space was glaringly obvious. By 15:47 ET, Brent October futures contract was down 6.27% to $42.61 a barrel, while the WTI was down 5.41% or $2.19 to..."

Pennsylvania DEP:  DEP Reaches Penalty Agreements with Three Natural Gas Exploration Companies in the Northern Tier   -   "The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) today announced it has finalized penalty agreements with three natural gas exploration companies for methane gas migration violations that impacted private drinking water wells in Bradford, Lycoming, and Tioga counties. “These were complex and lengthy investigations that took a considerable amount of time to resolve, but the department was..."

E&E Legal:  E&E Legal Releases Report Exposing Coordination Between Governors, the Obama White House and the Tom Steyer-“Founded and Funded” Network of Advocacy Groups to Advance the “Climate” Agenda   -   "Today, the Energy & Environment Legal Institute (E&E Legal), a 501 (c) (3) watchdog group, released an investigative report, Private Interests & Public Office: Coordination Between Governors, the Obama White House and the Tom Steyer-“Founded and Funded” Network of Advocacy Groups to Advance the “Climate” Agenda (and an appendix of source documents), revealing a vast, coordinated, three-track effort by public officials and private interests to promote EPA’s expansive, overreaching and economically devastating greenhouse gas rules, specifically the..."

GuruFocus.com:  Priceline, Google Among Cooperman's New Holdings   -   "Cooperman also bought 1,759,300 shares of Gulfport Energy at an average price of $45.84 per share. Gulfport is an oil and natural gas exploration and production company with properties in the Utica Shale and along the Louisiana Gulf Coast. The stock dropped 41% over the past year, closing at $33.76 on Aug. 20, with a current P/E of 24.99. EPS in 2014 was $2.88, up from..."

Wall Street Journal:  Political Target: Natural Gas   -   "America’s natural gas boom has been a rare economic bright spot, and even President Obama likes to take credit for it. But as his term winds down, the Administration is waging a war of regulatory attrition to raise drilling costs and reduce its..."

FTS International:  FTS International Provides Well Stimulation for EQT’s Record-Setting Utica Well   -   "FTS International (FTSI) is proud to be the stimulation provider for EQT Corporation’s record-setting Utica well in southwestern Pennsylvania. EQT announced that its first deep Utica well, for which FTSI provided hydraulic fracturing and wireline services, achieved an average 24-hour test rate of 72.9 MMcf per day into sales during the initial 24-hour flow back test. This initial production (IP) rate equates to..."

The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register:  AEP Profiting from Shale Expansions   -   "Even while the electricity generator addressed new Environmental Protection Agency regulations on CO2 and mercury emissions, American Electric Power earned $40 million more from April 1 to June 30 than it did during the same stretch in 2014. Now, the Columbus, Ohio-based firm believes..."

Vorys:  Supreme Court of Kentucky Adopts 'At The Well' Rule For Post-Production Costs; Producers Solely Responsible for Severance Tax Payments   -   "In companion decisions released on August 20, 2015, the Supreme Court of Kentucky confirmed that Kentucky follows the “at the well” rule with respect to post-production costs, but held that the payment of severance taxes must be borne solely by the producer. In Baker v. Magnum Hunter Prod., Inc., the Court affirmed the lower court’s decision in favor of..."

U.S. Chamber of Commerce:  Ozone Standard Would Give a Black Eye to the Buckeye State   -   "About the only thing worse for Ohio than EPA imposing a stricter ozone standard would be a Michigan win over Ohio State. According to the Center for Regulatory Solutions (CRS), 34 counties in Ohio will not meet federal ozone air quality standards if EPA lowers the standard from 75 parts per billion (ppb) set in 2008 to somewhere between..."

Fuel Fix:  Shock of Layoffs Still Stings Oil and Gas Workers   -   "On a recent weekday morning, Maisam Otoum and his daughter arrived at a Houston park amid a fever pitch of humming cicadas to find they had the playground all to themselves. “C’mon daddy,” 3-year-old Lamar said, grabbing his hand and shepherding him from the empty swings to the monkey bars. Since losing his job in March crunching seismic data for a local..."

Reuters:  Schlumberger to Buy Oilfield Gear Maker Cameron in $14.8 Billion Deal   -   "Schlumberger Ltd (SLB.N) will buy equipment maker Cameron International Corp (CAM.N) for $14.8 billion, as the world's top oilfield services firm scrambles to offer a broader range of products at lower prices to oil companies..."

Seeking Alpha:  Natural Gas is About to Recover, a Look at the Fundamentals   -   "Electric plants are switching from coal to cheap natural gas and production growth rates are slowing. It was the same in 2012, when natural gas prices plunged below $2/mmBtu. This time the price was stopped at $2.5/mmBtu and it might be a more gradually sloping..."

Reuters:  Oil Falls Towards 6 1/2 Year Lows on Gasoline Build   -   "Oil fell on Wednesday after U.S. gasoline stocks rose more than expected, compounding negative sentiment after worldwide falls in equities that helped drag fuel prices to 6-1/2-year lows. U.S. crude stocks fell sharply..."

Environmental Integrity Project:  Groups File Notice of Intent to Sue EPA Over Dangerous Drilling and Fracking Waste   -  " A coalition of environmental organizations filed a legal notice with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today demanding regulations to stop oil and gas companies from dumping drilling and fracking waste in ways that threaten public health and the environment. The groups filing today’s notice letter are the..."


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