The Daily Digger

From Bloomberg BNA: A company that is drilling for oil could be forced to extract natural gas, as well, on an Ohio property or lose those rights as part of a lawsuit that tests the requirements of a 37-year-old contract signed before fracking became commonplace.  The lawsuit, considered by the Ohio Supreme Court Sept. 26, turns on a 1980 contract that Linda Alford signed with Collins-McGregor Operating Co., allowing it to drill for oil on 74 acres of her property near Ohio’s West Virginia border.  The drilling company has continually extracted oil from the property as required by the contract, but Alford wants to force the company to dig deeper for natural gas—or allow her to sell those rights to another firm now that hydraulic fracturing is more practical and lucrative ( Alford v. Collins-McGregor Operating Co., Ohio, No. 2016-1281, oral argument 9/26/17 ).  Forcing Collins-McGregor to explore deep fracking would be the first such requirement in the nation and would be prohibi

Source: Streetwise Reports   09/28/2017 An analyst with Raymond James explained this energy company's recent announcement about its sales volumes and guidance. In a Sept. 25 Company Comment, analyst John Freeman reported that Raymond James "raised its full-year EBITDA estimates on Noble Energy Inc. (NBL:NYSE) by 1%" after the company boosted its "estimated Q3/17 sales volume guidance by 10 Mboe/day." Revised guidance is 352–358 Mboe/day, which is higher than Raymond James' estimate of 347 Mboe/day. Oil volumes are now expected to reach 126–130 Mbbl/day, Freeman wrote. This compares to previous guidance of 120–126 Mbbl/day and Raymond James' anticipated 124 Mbbl/day. Natural gas volumes are now expected at 965–990 Mcf/day (versus 910–950 previously), but "this will be partially offset by lower than expected natural gas liquids volumes," noted Freeman. What prompted the boost in guidance was "

by Jackie Stewart, Energy in Depth Following decades of steel mill closures, the Wall Street Journal  reported  in 2012 that U.S. steel companies could see a resurgence as a direct result of local, affordable and abundant natural gas. Now that forecasting is starting to become a reality in the Appalachian Basin where the Marcellus and Utica Shale-rich region is boasting the lowest natural gas prices in the developed world, giving energy intensive industries – like steel manufacturing – a global cost advantage. Acero Junction, one of the companies that is proudly making American steel in Ohio, was formed just last year.  According to Acero’s website ,  the company credits the shale renaissance for its very existence, “The mill lies in the heart of Marcellus and Utica gas regions and is serviced by two railroads, the Norfolk Southern and Wheeling Lake Erie. Our strategic location gives us excellent access to our customers, as well as convenient access to high quality raw material

From Reuters: Chesapeake had warned that Harvey would impact its business and said on Tuesday it expects current-quarter production to be about 542,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), lower than the 638,100 boepd it reported a year earlier.  The company’s forecast was below Wall Street’s estimate of about 550,000 boepd, according to investment bank Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. Shares of Chesapeake, which also trimmed its adjusted production forecast for the full year, were down 1.5 percent at $4.30 in morning trading. The S&P energy index was lower due to a drop in crude oil prices.  Chesapeake, which is selling assets worth $2 billion to $3 billion, said sales completed so far and changes to the way it allocated capital also contributed to the drop in production, but did not give further details.  “We look to the Marcellus or Utica as potential asset sale candidates,” Tudor Pickering said, noting Chesapeake has been focusing on producing oil, rather than nat

From PA Homepage: Nearly six months after a federal judge threw out a multi-million dollar verdict in a water contamination trial, the case has now been quietly settled.  According to a court filing late last week, two families from Susquehanna County and Cabot Oil & Gas have reached a settlement.  The one-page court document says the civil lawsuit has been "amicably resolved" by the parties and the lawsuit is being dismissed without prejudice.  The settlement brings to a close a nearly decade-long fight.  There is no denying that Cabot Oil & Gas and other natural gas drilling companies have made their mark in Susquehanna County.  For some, news that there is now a settlement in the high-profile water contamination lawsuit in Dimock is not surprising.  "No. I'm not surprised because I think sometimes people ask too much, you know? They expect, okay, their big money and I'm going to get big money," Janet Hogle of New Milford said. Read

New permits issued last week:   5   (Previous week:  15 )  -10 Total horizontal permits issued:  2625   (Previous week:  2620 )  +5 Total horizontal wells drilled:  2131   (Previous week:  2123 )  +8 Total horizontal wells producing:  1688  (Previous week:  1683 )  +5 Utica rig count:  26  (Previous week:  23 )   +3 Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From the Toledo Blade: Mr. Parker said the approval by the Ohio EPA will put the company on track to begin construction this fall, with the third quarter of 2018 targeted for when gas would begin to flow.  Next is a notice to proceed with construction from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. But citizen groups fighting the pipeline’s construction say they plan to continue to challenge the project in court.  Paul Gierosky of Coalition to Re-Route Nexus said a May 12 federal lawsuit out of Akron about the pipeline is still pending. The group also plans to file for rehearings on FERC’s decision, and will also appeal in federal court the commission’s decision to issue the notice to proceed, which is expected.  The Ohio EPA’s decision was not surprising, Mr. Gierosky said.  "The states have control over this,” he said. “We have had absolutely no support from our governor on this.” Click right here to continue this article. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter!

From MDN: Not everyone on the “pro” side of the pipeline issue is happy with Rover Pipeline and the work they’ve done in Ohio. You know that MDN is supportive of the Rover project. You also know that MDN believes Craig Butler, director of the Ohio EPA, is way out of line with his campaign to fine Rover $2.3 million. However, Rover is not lily white in their handling of building the pipeline across Ohio. They’ve made mistakes. And they’ve made some enemies of the people who should be their biggest supporters–farmers whose land they cross. MDN editor Jim Willis recently spoke with one of those farmers, from the Definance, OH area. Ben Polasek owns a farm that has been in the family for four generations. He plants wheat, corn, and soybeans on his Ohio land. Polasek says he is a strong supporter of the energy industry–and of pipelines. However, he says, “Rover has not shown any respect for the landowners of this project.” Polasek says Rover made promises–like being able to access fields

by Jackie Stewart, Energy in Depth The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) conducted a competitive  online auction  today for federal minerals on 191 acres located in the Wayne National Forest (WNF). The combined sale of this acreage – all of which is located in Monroe  County, Ohio — totaled $192,023.84, bringing the grand total for the three WNF lease sales thus far to just under $7 million. That grand total only accounts for five percent of the potential acreage available to lease in WNF. The state of Ohio will receive approximately 25 percent of today’s sale, and each county with WNF acreage will also receive a share of the proceeds.  This is certainly good news for the people who live and work in Monroe County, as Monroe County Commissioner Mick Schumacher recently  told the  Times Leader , “The money goes to the county to be divided. The school district gets 68 percent, and the rest is to be divided between the townships, local governments and levies. This is only initial sal

From NGI: "After more than three years of public and agency review, we were pleased to receive the 401 Water Quality Certification from the Ohio EPA," project spokesman Adam Parker said. "This receipt marks another key milestone as we prepare for construction and work toward an in-service date late in the third quarter of 2018.""  Securing the Ohio water quality certificate counts as a major win for Nexus given that anti-pipeline groups have looked to state CWA 401 reviews recently as a means to thwart projects. After New York state regulators successfully stalled progress on the Constitution Pipeline by denying a CWA 401 permit last year, environmental groups and other project opponents have been paying close attention to state water quality reviews for natural gas infrastructure, most recently the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines.  Nexus has faced pushback from landowners along the route and from Michigan regulators, who have scrutinized

From NGI: The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) still wants Rover Pipeline LLC to submit a stormwater permit application and pay $2.3 million in fines, and the regulator has asked the state attorney general (AG) to assist in enforcement, Director Craig Butler said Wednesday.  Butler said during a conference call with media that he sent a letter Wednesday to Ohio AG Mike DeWine asking for help in pursuing a stormwater permit from Rover. But with Rover and Ohio EPA at an impasse in negotiations, the dispute could end up in court, he said.  While Rover has completed Ohio EPA’s clean-up requirements following a drilling fluids spill earlier this year, the state regulator still wants the pipeline to apply for a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) stormwater permit, part of a series of unilateral orders issued in July.  Ohio EPA took the "unfortunate, unprecedented step" to issue those unilateral orders after the agency and Rover could no

From BTU Analytics: It has been a bumpy ride, but the Northeast has finally begun flows on the first major greenfield project to come to market in almost a decade – Energy Transfer’s Rover. This begins a major shift in Marcellus and Utica production dynamics, with implications for the future of Dominion South and Henry Hub pricing– but what is changing in the here and now?  Rover received a notice-to-proceed yesterday for horizontal directional drilling activity which will bring critical capacity to market (we expect a November start-up for the next tranche of Rover capacity), as of today, Rover is receiving volumes only at two points along the Cadiz lateral: MarkWest’s Cadiz processing plant and the Ohio River System. Today we’ll take a granular approach and look at receipts only around those two points. We can see in the graphic below, which compares Rover receipts from the Ohio River system with declines seen on other pipelines, that while Rover has been flowing full at its curre

by Jackie Stewart, Energy in Depth For years, Energy In Depth has reported on how Ohio anti-fracking activists have  tried to slow down first responders  with added bureaucracy and misinformation campaigns based on dubious assumptions regarding regulatory exemptions. Meanwhile, Ohio oil and gas operators continue to lead in terms of streamlining information access for first responders with aggressive training and communication strategies. Those efforts are paying off, as first responders are  reporting , “[T]he companies will email us weekly updates of what’s going on in their company and locations. That way, in the event that something’s going on, we’ll have up-to-date information. They usually keep us pretty well informed.” This first-hand report from Cumberland Trail Assistant Fire Chief Tim Hall is yet another example of how out-of-state Keep It In the Ground activists are misrepresenting the reality of what actually is occurring in oil and natural gas producing states. In