The Daily Digger

When preparing for the increased demands and economic benefits due to Utica Shale development, TuscarawasCounty is ahead of the curve.  This is thanks in part to a chance meeting that Harry Eadon, President and Executive Director of the  Economic Development and Finance Alliance of Tuscarawas County , had with an oil and gas supplier in the middle of 2011.  Since then, Tuscarawas County has been busy planning meetings and working with the Eastern Ohio Development Alliance ( EODA ) to prepare for the positive changes Utica Shale development has had and will continue to have on the region. When Utica Shale development was still in its infancy, Harry Eadon was visited by a gentleman who was with an oil and gas supplier.  During their breakfast many topics were broached, including locating the best places to acquire goods and services in Tuscarawas County.  The conversation turned to what Tuscarawas County will look like in the next 5-10 years.  The gentleman told Mr. Eadon that the are

From the Dayton Daily News: A Florida-based energy company has proposed building a natural gas-fired power plant in Middletown that would represent an investment of more than $500 million and bring more than 400 jobs to Butler County.  NTE Energy plans to develop, own and operate what it’s calling “one of the most efficient natural gas-fired power plants in the United States.” The facility, to be called the Middletown Energy Center and located on Cincinnati Dayton Road, near Oxford State Road, will generate enough power to supply approximately 400,000 homes, the company said.  Tim Eves, executive vice president of development, said the company is still exploring who will be its customer base.  Middletown Mayor Lawrence Mulligan, Jr., compared the project and its financial impact to the region to Suncoke, a cokemaking and heat generating plant that opened in 2011 in Middletown. The whole article can be viewed here.  Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @Ener

A Hess Corporation press release announced that the company has agreed to sell about 74,000 acres of its dry gas acreage in the Utica shale to a third party.  The press release did not disclose who bought the acreage. However, the Wall Street Journal reports that it was Aubrey McClendon's new company, American Energy Partners LP: American Energy Partners LP, led by Aubrey McClendon, continues to bulk up in Ohio’s Utica Shale, purchasing natural-gas fields from Hess Corp. for $924 million, according to people familiar with the matter. Hess said Wednesday it struck an agreement to sell 74,000 acres in the Utica to an undisclosed buyer. The company has sold more than $7.8 billion in assets over the past year to raise cash and narrow its focus on growing oil output in the U.S. Hess issued fourth-quarter financial results on Wednesday, reporting a profit of $1.93 billion, up from $374 million in the year-ago period. It will use the proceeds from the Utica sale to repurchase s

Ohio State Rep. Robert Hagan From the Ohio House of Representatives : State Representative Robert F. Hagan (D-Youngstown) sent letters on Monday to the regulators charged with overseeing the burgeoning hydraulic fracturing industry, calling on them to be proactive in protecting the health and safety of Ohio’s communities. The letters follow a recent news report that highlights the steps neighboring states are taking to prevent radioactive contamination from fracking waste. “With Ohio’s expanding fracking operations, the notion that radioactive waste could make its way into Ohio’s landfills or waterways is increasingly realistic and alarming,” Rep. Hagan said in his letter to the Directors of the EPA and ODNR. “And yet, state officials reportedly have no plans to take the same precautions that are deemed necessary by our neighboring shale states.” Here is the text of the letter: January 27, 2014  Dear Interim Director Butler,  I write to you today in regards to recent n

DALLAS, Jan. 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Summit Midstream Partners, LLC ("Summit Investments"), the privately held company that owns and controls the general partner of Summit Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE: SMLP), announced today that it has closed the acquisition of equity interests in Ohio Gathering Company, L.L.C. and Ohio Condensate Company, L.L.C. (together, "Ohio Gathering") from Blackhawk Midstream, LLC ("Blackhawk"), a joint venture between Gulfport Energy Corporation ("Gulfport") and Wexford Capital LP. The acquired equity interests from Blackhawk include an option to increase Summit Investments' ownership interest in Ohio Gathering up to 40.0% at a price based on the capital invested by the owners at the time the option is exercised. Summit Investments expects to fully exercise this option in the second quarter of 2014. Upon exercise of the option, each of MarkWest Utica EMG, L.L.C. and MarkWest Utica EMG Condensate, L.L.C. will r

From ShaleOhio: In  Henry v. Chesapeake , Case No. 12-4090, January 14, 2014, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit  held that by filing a Declaration of Pooled Unit (DPU) with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Chesapeake Appalachia, L.L.C. (“Chesapeake”) engaged in “operations” under the terms of the lease.   Plaintiffs leased approximately 447 acres of land in 2006 for a five-year term.  The habendum clause provided that “Any Operations” would extend the lease.  The lease defined operations as  inter alia , “any acts in search for or in an endeavor to obtain, maintain or increase the production of oil and/or gas[.]” Read the rest here .  You can read the complete case by clicking here. So all Chesapeake had to do in this case was file some paperwork 3 days before the expiration of the lease to extend it.  Landowners take note: getting out of an old lease that isn't generating any royalties won't be as simple as one may have thought prior to thi

From The Columbus Dispatch: A debate over job creation and the economic benefits of eastern Ohio’s Utica shale boom has continued unresolved since drilling and fracking began in late 2010.   Oil and gas industry officials predicted in September 2011 that the growing effort to tap oil and gas in the Utica shale would lead to more than 200,000 new jobs in four years.   So far, that has not panned out, even in the counties with the most drilling activity.   For example, Carroll County’s job market is still below pre-recession levels based on two key measures. In November, the county had 12,800 employed residents and an unemployment rate of 7.6 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In November 2007, the county had 13,100 employed residents and an unemployment rate of 5.7 percent.   Carroll County is the center of shale drilling in eastern Ohio. Its employment statistics are similar to those in other counties where shale drilling is underway. The

From the Toledo Blade: Marathon Petroleum Corp’s new distribution subsidiary MPLX is expected to keep its operations in Findlay, creating an estimated 150 jobs worth $15 million in new payroll, after Ohio apparently won the expansion project over what was characterized as “fierce” competition from other states. The Ohio Tax Credit Authority today voted to extend Marathon's Petroluem's existing 60 percent, 10-year job creation tax credit, originally approved in 2011, to 14 years. The new jobs are expected to pay an average of $48 an hour. The package was negotiated by the private non-profit economic development corporation, JobsOhio, and then placed in the hands of the state panel for final approval. Marathon is expected to expand its corporate headquarters campus in Findlay to accommodate MPLX’s headquarters and, in the process, recommit to maintaining the 1,650 jobs it promised when it was itself a beneficiary of a tax-credit package itself in 2011. The rest of the

From The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register: Ohio Supreme Court Justice Judith French predicts energy-related cases will dominate the court's docket in years to come. Lower courts are already seeing large numbers of filings regarding property ownership and mineral rights, and French said the majority of these cases will proceed through appellate courts to the Ohio Supreme Court. "I think just energy in general will dominate the court docket once those cases get started," she said. "In this part of the state, it's about oil and gas. But in the western part of the state, it's about wind. ... The environmental issues could also come our way." Read the rest of this article by clicking here.  Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From the Columbus Dispatch: The Utica shale boom hasn’t brought drilling rigs to this eastern Ohio town, but it has transformed one local company. Producers Service Corp. used to make its money selling low-volume fracking services to companies that drilled conventional oil and gas wells. Inspired by the large-scale fracking demands of horizontal shale drilling, the 32-year-old company has acquired new equipment and more than doubled its work force, from 40 to 100 employees. “We’re the only fracking company that’s home-grown in Ohio,” said Dan Pottmeyer, the company’s president. “And our … income has certainly more than doubled.” Pottmeyer declined to share revenue figures. Shale drillers typically hire fracking crews from multinational businesses, including Halliburton and Schlumberger. Producers Service now sends two 30-man fracking teams to well sites in Ohio and West Virginia to pump the millions of gallons of  water, sand and chemicals needed to shatter the shale to free

From the Akron Beacon Journal: Colorado-based Antero Resources has unveiled three of the biggest natural gas wells in Ohio — all in Noble County.  The Milligan 2H well in Seneca Township is producing 40.2 million cubic feet per day of natural gas equivalents in initial production, the company announced.  In addition, the company’s Coal 3H well showed 35.3 million cubic feet of natural gas equivalents per day and the Milligan 1H well had 32.1 million cubic feet of natural gas equivalents per day.  All three wells are now among the Top 10 natural gas producers in Ohio, said Shawn Bennett of Energy in Depth-Ohio, a pro-drilling trade group. Read more analysis of Antero's impressive Utica shale results by clicking here. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

DENVER ,  Jan. 27, 2014  /PRNewswire/ -- Net daily production recently surpassed 750 MMcfe/d including 15,000 Bbl/d of liquids Fourth quarter 2013 average net daily production is estimated to be 675 to 680 MMcfe/d, above the midpoint of previously announced guidance range First 10 Marcellus Shale wells with shorter stage lengths (SSL) had an average 120-day wellhead production rate of 7.9 MMcf/d, 27% above the Company's type curve Five additional  Utica Shale  wells completed since 3 rd  quarter 2013 press release had an average 24-hour peak processed rate of 32.2 MMcfe/d assuming ethane recovery (65% liquids) First 11 core area  Utica Shale  wells had an average 30-day processed rate of 14.7 MMcfe/d, assuming ethane rejection (35% liquids), despite producing into an operating environment with 1,100 psi line pressure (no compression) First Utica compressor station recently completed and placed into operation (120 MMcf/d capacity) Firm  takeaway capacity and sales has b