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Showing posts from January, 2019

Utica Rig Count Hits Lowest Number in 30 Months

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New permits issued last week:   10  (Previous week:  15 )   -5 Total horizontal permits issued:  2992  (Previous week:  2982 )   +6 Total horizontal wells drilled:  2517  (Previous week:  2514 )   +3 Total horizontal wells producing:  2138  (Previous week:  2137 )   +1 Utica rig count:  14  (Previous week:  16 )   -2

15 New Permits in Utica Shale Last Week; Rig Count Drops

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New permits issued last week:   15  (Previous week:  7 )   +8 Total horizontal permits issued:  2982  (Previous week:  2976 )   +6 Total horizontal wells drilled:  2514  (Previous week:  2505 )   +9 Total horizontal wells producing:  2137  (Previous week:  2128 )   +9 Utica rig count:  16  (Previous week:  18 )   -2

Ohio Slips Into Top 5 in U.S. for Natural Gas Reserves

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From Columbus Business First: Ohio has moved into the top five for recoverable shale natural gas reserves in the United States.  Data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows the state saw a 24.5 percent increase in proved shale gas reserves from 2016 to 2017, bringing it to 25.6 trillion cubic feet. That moves Ohio past Oklahoma and behind only Pennsylvania, Texas, West Virginia and Louisiana.  Proved reserves is a measure of oil and natural gas that can be recovered in the future. JobsOhio and economic development groups have said that a robust shale industry will create jobs in Appalachia and reduce energy costs, making it cheaper for other businesses to invest here.  Before development of the Utica Shale, Ohio’s peak year for natural gas production was in 1984 at 186 billion cubic feet. In 2017, it was 1.7 trillion cubic feet, said Dan Alfaro, spokesman for Energy in Depth, an advocacy group launched by the Independent Petroleum Association of Americ

Oft-Delayed Power Plant Project in Cadiz Has New Projected Date for Groundbreaking

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From The Daily Jeffersonian: Harrison Power LLC and its affiliate EmberClear of Houston, Texas, recently announced that progress continues on the development of a natural gas-fired electric power generating plant slated for Cadiz in Harrison County. According to Raj Suri, CEO of EmberClear, while the facility’s groundbreaking originally slated for the Fall of 2018 has been delayed until the first half of 2019, significant milestones have been achieved that continue to move the project forward. EmberClear intends to construct a 1050 MW natural gas-fired electric power generation facility on about 100 acres in the Harrison County Industrial Park. EmberClear, which will invest nearly $1 billion in the construction, estimates that the facility will provide enough electricity to power one million homes. The project is expected to bring about 700 construction jobs to the county for three years, and then create over 20 permanent skilled jobs. The plant is being built near shale formati

One Injured, Three Homes Destroyed in Noble County Pipeline Explosion

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From the Massillon Independent: Authorities have identified the gas line that exploded in rural Noble County Monday morning as a 30-inch line owned by Enbridge Inc., a Canadian multinational energy transportation company based in Calgary, Alberta.  The explosion and resulting fire reportedly injured one person, destroyed three homes and caused damage to three additional homes and the surrounding terrain including Smithberger Road.  “It was a 30-inch line that has been in that location for several years,” said the Noble County Emergency Management Agency in a news release. “United Ambulance treated and transported one injured resident from the scene to a local hospital where that resident received treatment for minor burns.”  The Noble County Sheriff’s Office responded to several reports received at approximately 10:40 a.m. trying to narrow down the exact location as the Caldwell, Summerfield and Lewisville fire departments responded to the scene. Click right here to read mor

Gulfport Energy Provides 2018 Operational Update as Well as 2019 Capital Budget

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From a Gulfport Energy press release (emphasis ours): Gulfport Energy Corporation (NASDAQ: GPOR) (“Gulfport” or the “Company”) today provided an update for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2018. Key information includes the following:  Completed previously announced and expanded stock repurchase program of $200 million during 2018, including deploying $90 million during the fourth quarter of 2018, acquiring 20.7 million shares and reducing shares outstanding by over 10% in 2018. Net production for the full year of 2018 averaged approximately 1,360.3 MMcfe per day. Realized natural gas price for the full year of 2018, before the impact of derivatives and including transportation costs, averaged $2.53 per Mcf, a $0.55 per Mcf differential to the average trade month NYMEX settled price. Realized oil price for the full year of 2018, before the impact of derivatives and including transportation costs, averaged $63.48 per barrel, a $1.30 per barrel differential to the averag

OPEC Still Holds Sway Over Oil Market

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From Forbes: So, why did the price go right back up the last two weeks after tanking so dramatically towards the end of December? The answer has largely to do with recent actions taken by OPEC+ nations.  First, despite all the stories we saw throughout December that the OPEC+ announcement at the first of that month that it would cut its collective crude export volumes by a total of 1.2 million bopd was an inadequate action , crude prices began moving upwards as the cuts began fully going into effect in early January. Second was the announcement by Saudi Arabia that it plans to cut its own production to just 7.1 million bopd by the end of January, a drop of more than 3 million bopd from its September peak. The simple fact of the matter is that no other country on earth has the ability to raise and cut its oil production volumes so dramatically in such a short period of time as does the House of Saud.  By the same token, no other group of oil producing countries has the ability

Major Investor Tears Into EQT Leadership, Endorses Rice Team

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From a press release: D. E. Shaw & Co., L.P., on behalf of certain investment funds advised by it that in the aggregate own an approximately 4.5% interest in the common stock and equivalents of EQT Corporation (the “Company” or “EQT”) (NYSE: EQT), today sent a letter to the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of EQT expressing its support for the Rice Team and its concerns regarding recent statements made and actions taken by EQT.   ***   The full text of the letter can be read below:   January 11, 2019 Board of Directors EQT Corporation 625 Liberty Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15222   Dear Members of the Board:   I am writing to you on behalf of certain investment funds advised by D. E. Shaw & Co., L.P. We have been shareholders of EQT Corporation (the “Company” or “EQT”) (NYSE: EQT) for over three years and today own over 4.5% of the Company, because we believe in the significant potential of the asset base.   Like many shareholders, we have been disappointed in the cur

U.S. Shale Continues to Defy Expectations and Surpass Predictions

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From Forbes: I want to write on a recent piece in The Wall Street Journal, " Fracking’s Secret Problem—Oil Wells Aren’t Producing as Much as Forecast, " that speaks of an 'illusory picture’ of prospects for the U.S. shale oil and gas industry. The article is based on the same rhetoric that we have been hearing since the industry's takeoff back in 2008: well decline rates are too fast and recoverable reserves are overstated, so a conveyor belt of drilling must be installed to simply maintain production. If not, output inevitably plummets.  The WSJ story could just as easily been written a number of years ago.  To illustrate, back in 2012, the now defunct peak oil website Oil Drum infamously compared the U.S. shale industry to the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland, who quipped that "It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place."  Back on June 21, 2011, The New York Times ran a now forgotten piece also questioning the viability of sh

EQT Kicks Off 2019 by Laying Off Over 100 Workers

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From the Pittsburgh Business Times: EQT Corp. laid off more than 100 people Monday as the natural gas producer cut costs amid a power struggle at the top of the company.  EQT (NYSE: EQT) confirmed Monday the layoffs had occurred, but did not confirm the number or the timing. Two sources who chaired to remain anonymously showing that more than 100 people lost their jobs, and it could be as many as 132 were laid off.  "With November, the new management team has taken a number of decisive actions to improve operational efficiency, cash flow and EQT's financial position," With this reduction in force "With EQT's financial position," EQT said in a statement to the Business Times in response to in inquiry Monday. " The decision to reduce head count was a difficult but necessary step in our ongoing effort to enhance performance ."  It was not clear the departments that were cut the most, and how many have been in exploration and production. Cli

INFOGRAPHIC: Less Than Six Percent of Federal Lands in Ohio Leased for Oil & Natural Gas

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by Nicole Jacobs, Energy in Depth Ohio’s shale production has been steadily increasing in recent years. In the  third quarter of 2018 , the last quarter of available data, Ohio experienced a more-than- 30 percent increase  in both oil and natural gas production over the same quarter in 2017. Despite the  vocal opposition  of  fringe environmental activists , very little of that oil and natural gas development is occurring on federal lands, according to a new EID infographic. A recent series of  New York Times   articles  suggest that a “wild west” atmosphere exists with regard to oil and natural gas leasing on federal lands at the behest of the Trump Administration and the energy industry. The  Times  narrative suggests that this activity is dramatically escalating, particularly in the western United States. EID  debunked  this narrative using Bureau of Land Management (BLM) data that show less than 10 percent of lands in the Mountain States region are actually leased for oil a

January 2019 Shale Activity Maps Published by ODNR

Utica Starts 2019 with Drop in Rig Count, Goes Over 2,500 Wells Drilled

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WEEK ENDING 01/05/19 New permits issued last week:   11  (Previous week:  4 )   +7 Total horizontal permits issued:  2968  (Previous week:  2957 )   +11 Total horizontal wells drilled:  2498  (Previous week:  2491 )   +7 Total horizontal wells producing:  2124  (Previous week:  2120 )   +4 Utica rig count:  17  (Previous week:  19 )   -2 WEEK ENDING 01/12/19 New permits issued last week:   7  (Previous week:  11 )   -4 Total horizontal permits issued:  2976  (Previous week:  2968 )   +8 Total horizontal wells drilled:  2505  (Previous week:  2498 )   +7 Total horizontal wells producing:  2128  (Previous week:  2124 )   +4 Utica rig count:  18  (Previous week:  17 )   +1

Groundwork is Laid for Belmont County Cracker Plant, But Still No Decision from PTT

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From The Times: The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has issued an air permit for a potential cracker plant in southeastern Ohio, about 65 miles southwest of Beaver County.  The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has issued an air permit for a potential cracker plant in southeastern Ohio, about 65 miles southwest of Beaver County.  The decision is seen as the last major regulatory hurdle needed to be cleared before the two companies overseeing the potential project make a final investment decision. Those two companies are Thailand-based PTTGCA and South Korea-based Daelim Industrial Co.  If those two companies agree to build the ethane cracker plant, the development could look a lot like what’s happened in Beaver County. According to a news release from the Ohio EPA, the potential cracker plant could result in hundreds of permanent jobs and thousands of construction jobs in the region. Read the whole story by clicking here. 

New Ohio Law Clarifies Requirements for Oil and Gas Landmen

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From McDonald Hopkins' Business Advocate: Since the Ohio Supreme Court’s September decision in Dundics et al. v. Eric Petroleum Corp ., Ohio’s oil and gas landmen have found themselves in a precarious position. That decision held that oil and gas landmen, specifically leasing agents and mineral rights brokers, are subject to the requirements of R.C. 4735. Effectively, that statute would require landmen who negotiate oil and gas leases or the sale of mineral rights, as well as pipeline rights-of-way, to become licensed real estate brokers, or face potentially severe penalties. Because the requirements of R.C. 4735 bear little to no relation to their long-established and highly-specialized profession, many landmen had hoped for a wholesale evisceration of the Dundics holding by the Ohio General Assembly. On December 19, they received good, if slightly disappointing news in the form of SB 263. That bill, which passed in the Ohio Senate by a 31-0 vote and was signed into law by Go

Oil in 2019 - What Do the Experts Expect?

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From Bloomberg: Oil had a tumultuous 2018, with prices rising to a four-year high in October before plunging more than $30 in the following months. Oversupply and demand worries are high on the concern list for the industry, making volatility a buzzword this year as well. There are other power dynamics at play. OPEC’s Viennese waltz in early December was a perfect example of a shift, with Russia brokering a deal to curb output and sharing the reins with traditional leader Saudi Arabia. President Donald Trump’s tweets demanding lower oil prices and U.S. shale producers pumping out unprecedented volumes of crude, threaten to undo all of OPEC and Russia’s years-long work. There are “major uncertainties” and forecasting trends in 2019 is “even more hazardous than usual,” said Neil Atkinson, head of oil markets at the International Energy Agency. Geopolitical uncertainty is a serious risk to the industry, according to Ryan Lance, chief executive officer of ConocoPhillips. Still, there

Weirton-Steubenville Corridor Feels Jobs Impact of Shale Development

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From The Intelligencer: The shale gas industry’s impact on the Weirton-Steubenville metropolitan area is expanding.  The Associated General Contractors of America reported the largest percentage gain in construction jobs in the nation — 26 percent, or 500 jobs — occurred in the Weirton-Steubenville corridor, which consists of Brooke and Hancock counties in West Virginia and Jefferson County in Ohio.  AGCA said there are now 2,400 people working in the construction industry in the Weirton-Steubenville corridor, up from 1,900.  “It tells you we’re reaping the benefits of the growth in the shale gas industry,” said Pat Ford, executive director of the Business Development Corp. of the Northern Panhandle, citing investments in public infrastructure, pipelines and private investments in energy, the chemical industry, value-added metals, transportation logistics, and retail services. Read on by clicking here. 

Activists Still Fighting Against NEXUS Pipeline

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From Law360: The Ohio city of Oberlin along with a fellow opponent of the $2 billion Nexus pipeline told the D.C. Circuit that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was wrong to approve the project, saying its need was overstated and it was not in the public interest.  Oberlin and the Coalition to Reroute Nexus said Monday that much of the pipeline’s capacity was not committed and that a significant amount of the existing commitment was with affiliates of the owners of the pipeline, Enbridge Inc. and DTE Energy Co., which each have a 50 percent share of Nexus. That low commitment was part of the reason the project couldn’t demonstrate it was truly needed, according to the brief.  That was one of several alleged faults highlighted in Oberlin’s petition, which also said the pipeline was not approved under the correct section of the Natural Gas Act. The project includes about 255 miles of greenfield pipeline and affects areas in Michigan and Ohio. Continue reading by clicking

Chamber of Commerce Blames Environmental Activists for $91 Billion in Economic Loss During 2018

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From the Washington Examiner: The Chamber of Commerce and trade unions took aim at anti-fossil fuel activists in releasing a scathing report on Tuesday that concluded that their form of environmentalism slowed economic activity by over $91 billion in the U.S. in 2018.  “Taken together, anti-energy activism has helped prevent at least $91.9 billion of economic activity in the United States, which is larger than the entire economies of 12 states,” according to the report , “Infrastructure Lost: Why America Cannot Afford To ‘Keep It In the Ground.’”  The report was issued by the Chamber’s Global Energy Institute and the Laborers’ International Union of North America.  The Keep It In the Ground movement began in the latter years of the Obama administration, with the aim of ending all fossil fuel production by blocking pipelines, coal export terminals, and similar projects. You can read the rest of this article by clicking here. 

New Oil and Gas Projects to See Big Increase

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From Reuters: The number of new oil and gas projects will rise five-fold next year from a 2015 trough but overall spending is still unlikely to be enough to meet future demand, consultancy Wood Mackenzie said in a report.  Shaken by a sharp drop in oil prices in recent months, boards are generally expected to stick to spending discipline imposed following the 2014 price crash.  Global investment in oil and gas production, known as upstream, is expected to reach around $425 billion next year, according to WoodMac analyst Angus Rodger.  That compares with a total spending of $770 billion in 2014, which dropped to $400 billion in 2016 and 2017. Click here to read more of this article. 

Activists Get a Win in Settlement with Patriot Water

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From the Youngstown Vindicator: Though a lawsuit filed by an environmental group against the company Patriot Water is still pending, the recent settlement by Warren would suggest Patriot’s experiment in treating wastewater from the gas and oil industry and have it end up in the Mahoning River might be over.  An attorney for Freshwater Accountability Project of Grand Rapids, Ohio, and Warren Law Director Greg Hicks say Warren resolved its part of the case by agreeing to pay $116,616 of Freshwater’s legal fees and no longer allowing Patriot to discharge “drilling mud,” which is wastewater from the gas and oil industry, into the city sewer system, as it did starting in 2011.  Patriot, which is located on Sferra Avenue in the Warren Industrial Park, stopped discharging wastewater into Warren sewers June 16, 2017, after the Freshwater suit was filed June 27, 2017, and has not resumed.  The plant is still open, however, its president, Andrew Blocksom, said earlier this month. Block

Wells Drilled and Producing in Utica Shale Climbs in Latest ODNR Reports

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WEEK ENDING 12/22/18 New permits issued last week:   4  (Previous week:  9 )   -5 Total horizontal permits issued:  2953  (Previous week:  2953 )   +-0 Total horizontal wells drilled:  2490  (Previous week:  2467 )   +23 Total horizontal wells producing:  2116  (Previous week:  2088 )   +28 Utica rig count:  18  (Previous week:  19 )    -1 WEEK ENDING 12/29/18 New permits issued last week:   4  (Previous week:  4 )   +-0 Total horizontal permits issued:  2957  (Previous week:  2953 )   +4 Total horizontal wells drilled:  2491  (Previous week:  2490 )   +1 Total horizontal wells producing:  2120  (Previous week:  2116 )   +4 Utica rig count:  19  (Previous week:  18 )   +1