The Daily Digger

WEEK ENDING 11/23/19 New permits issued last week:   9  (Previous week:  1 )   +8 Total horizontal permits issued:  3206  (Previous week:  3201 )    +5 Total horizontal wells drilled:  2734  (Previous week:  2732 )   +2 Total horizontal wells producing:  2366  (Previous week:  2361 )   +5 Utica rig count:  10  (Previous week:  13 )   -3

From a JobsOhio press release: Total investment in Ohio's resource rich shale energy sector has reached $78 billion since tracking began in 2011, according to a Cleveland State University (CSU) study.  Prepared for JobsOhio, the report represents the most recent data available and covers shale investment through the second half of 2018. Earlier in the year, IHS Markit released estimates that by 2040, the Utica and Marcellus shale region, of which Ohio is a significant part, will supply nearly half of all U.S. natural gas production.  The study from CSU's Energy Policy Center at the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, showed drilling investments were slightly down in the second half of 2018 compared to the first half, but total upstream investments were up. Total shale-related investment in Ohio for the second half of 2018, including upstream, midstream and downstream, was around $3.82 billion. Total investment from 2011-2018 totaled about $77.7 billion. Upstre

From WXVU: The Ohio Power Siting Board Thursday approved Duke Energy's request for a natural gas pipeline in Hamilton County.  The board approved the Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need for the Central Corridor Pipeline Extension 's alternative plan.  The alternative plan proposes running the nearly 13-mile, 20-inch diameter pipeline from Blue Ash to just south of Golf Manor along a route that primarily follows Reading Road, passing through Amberley Village, Cincinnati, Evendale, Reading and Sharonville as well as Blue Ash and Golf Manor.  You can see the exact route in the diagram below. Click here to continue the article.

From Reuters: U.S. gas exploration and production company Gulfport Energy Corp ( GPOR.O ) on Monday confirmed that it would cut jobs, change its board and end its share buybacks, in a bid to reverse a slide in its stock price.  Reuters had reported the news earlier in the day, citing sources.  Gulfport shares, which fell 7.8% to $2.85 in morning trading, have lost about 67% of their market value in the last 12 months, as weak natural gas prices have eroded its profitability and forced it to slash capital investment.  Gulfport, whose production is focused primarily in the Utica Shale in Ohio and SCOOP acreage in Oklahoma, also made a new commitment to use excess cash to pay down debt, which totaled $2.1 billion as of the end of September.  The company said it would shed about 13% of its workforce. It also said that Chairman David Houston will not seek reelection to the company’s board when his term ends in 2020, with two other directors - Craig Groeschel and Scott Streller - s

From the Times Leader: As drillers tap the natural gas reserves beneath Ohio’s easternmost counties, community leaders to the west hope to pump some of those profits into their own economies by developing ancillary industries. Ohio Rep. Adam Holmes, R-Nashport, met recently with representatives of JobsOhio and the Appalachian Partnership for Economic Growth to discuss ways that counties adjacent to the Marcellus and Utica shale region can capitalize on the activity that is taking place there. At the Zanesville meeting, Holmes said counties such as Muskingum — which lies just west of Guernsey County and within 50 miles of many parts of Noble, Monroe, Harrison and Belmont counties where much of the drilling is taking place — are ideal locations for support services related to the industry.  Holmes suggested that because of its central location less than an hour east of the state capital and along Interstate 70, Muskingum County is a suitable spot for trucking companies to set up main

From WTOV News: There appears to be some movement at the site of the proposed ethane cracker plant. We took SkyView9 to the location Wednesday to get a better look.  You can see dirt being moved and some construction work which appears to be making way for the plant in Dilles Bottom, but there is still no confirmation of the plant from PTT Global Chemical. Click here to view the full article on WTOV's site. 

WEEK ENDING 11/09/19 New permits issued last week:   6  (Previous week:  8 )   -2 Total horizontal permits issued:  3201  (Previous week:  3192 )    +9 Total horizontal wells drilled:  2724  (Previous week:  2714 )   +10 Total horizontal wells producing:  2358  (Previous week:  2345 )   +13 Utica rig count:  13  (Previous week:  14 )   -1 WEEK ENDING 11/16/19 New permits issued last week:   1  (Previous week:  6 )   -5 Total horizontal permits issued:  3201  (Previous week:  3201 )    +-0 Total horizontal wells drilled:  2732  (Previous week:  2724 )   +8 Total horizontal wells producing:  2361  (Previous week:  2358 )   +3 Utica rig count:  13  (Previous week:  13 )   +-0

From the Times Reporter: Gulfport Energy is looking to sell some of its interests in the Utica Shale.  The company announced the plan ahead of its Friday conference call with investors to discuss third-quarter earnings.  Gulfport said proceeds from its sale of non-operated interests would offset higher-than-anticipated spending this year in the Utica. The company expected to have an agreement on the sale before the end of the year, according to a press release. Oklahoma City-based Gulfport lost $48.8 million, or 31 cents per diluted share during the quarter.  The company’s average production was equivalent to 1.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day. Utica wells accounted for 80 percent of production. Click here to continue the article. 

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: One of Mr. Rice’s signature promises during the proxy battle was to bring EQT’s costs down to $735 per foot. For an average well being drilled next year in southwestern Pennsylvania, at 13,000 feet long, that would translate to $9,555,000. He said EQT will be below that level by the second half of next year in this area. Its West Virginia and Ohio programs have higher cost and shorter laterals.  But while company leaders told analysts on Thursday that “West Virginia will become a larger part of EQT’s story going forward,” the Ohio assets that Mr. Rice personally negotiated at a critical point in his former firm Rice Energy’s trajectory may be headed for a sale.  To pay off debt, EQT is also considering selling off holdings in central Pennsylvania and southern West Virginia.  It is also looking at selling a stake in its mineral interests, as has become more common in the industry with players like Range Resources. A deal on royalty interests cou

From the Pittsburgh Business Times: Murray Energy, the nation’s largest privately owned coal mining company — which owns facilities in West Virginia and Ohio — filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday.  Murray Energy, which is based in St. Clairsville, Ohio, reported between $1 billion and $10 billion in estimated liabilities and assets between $1 billion and $10 billion in the filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Southern Ohio. Its top 10 unsecured creditors have $126.9 million in claims, according to the bankruptcy filing.  Murray Energy founder Robert Murray, one of the strongest voices in the coal industry, will move from CEO to chairman. Robert D. Moore has been named president and CEO of Murray Energy and Murray Energy Corp . Click here to read more. 

From the Washington Times: House Democrats blocked Tuesday consideration of a resolution in support of hydraulic fracturing as Republicans sought to protect the U.S. energy boom from Democratic presidential candidates seeking to ban fracking nationwide  The resolution, sponsored by Rep. Rob Bishop, Utah Republican, affirmed that states should “maintain primacy for the regulation of hydraulic fracturing for oil and natural gas production on State and private lands,” and that no president should impose a moratorium without congressional approval.  “In recent weeks, many of the Democratic candidates for president have pledged to ban hydraulic fracturing in the United States, a campaign promise straight out of the keep-it-in-the-ground playbook,” said Rep. Debbie Lesko, Arizona Republican, in a floor speech.  Sens. Kamala Harris, Bernard Sanders and Elizabeth Warren , all 2020 Democratic presidential hopfeuls, have called for a nationwide ban on fracking, an extraction process use

From Forbes: A number of Democratic candidates have endorsed a fracking ban, recently including Elizabeth Warren, and as Bob McNally said , this would “vaporize the oil and gas boom in the United States.” In this piece, I will try to quantify the impact of a fracking ban on the U.S. natural gas supply, and the concomitant economic effects.  Of course, there is some skepticism that she would actually do that if elected, and suspicion that the suggestion is nothing more than an attempt to appeal to the more liberal Democratic primary voters. Given that Democrats from Barack Obama to Jerry Brown have not opposed (regulated) fracking, and the pertinent fact that politicians often make promises they don’t intend to keep, (shocking I know), I would lean towards that myself.  My belief is strengthened by the nature of the arguments in favor of a fracking ban. Yes, it’s done by big oil (I mean BIG OIL), except many of the companies are much smaller. Yes, it’s a novel method, except it’s

From The Columbus Dispatch: Thousands of acres of land the state of Ohio has agreed to purchase from American Electric Power for recreation and conservation does not include the subsurface rights. AEP is holding onto those rights for potential future drilling for oil and natural gas.  The state’s planned $47 million purchase of more than 31,000 acres of land in eastern Ohio for recreation and conservation does not include the subsurface rights, and some of it likely will be the site of fracking activities, The Dispatch has learned.  Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine — flanked by outdoorsmen and members of the General Assembly — announced the land purchase in eastern Ohio from American Electric Power a few weeks ago . The move was applauded by conservationists because the land, formerly used by the utility for strip mining, would be used by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for recreation and conservation and designated as a state park.  However, a draft of the purchase agreement obt

From Kallanish Energy: President Trump Wednesday celebrated a love-in in the Appalachian Basin.  The president delivered a 64-minute salute to shale drilling and the U.S. energy industry at the 9th annual Shale Insight conference in Pittsburgh. Kallanish Energy was in attendance.  “You are the No. 1 producer of oil and natural gas on the planet Earth, No. 1 by far,” he said. “America is a winner, a winner, a winner, a winner. We’re not being laughed at anymore.”  Shale drilling has reshaped the American economy and Americans are benefitting from lower heating bills and more jobs, Trump said.  ‘I like energy people’  “I like energy people,” he said. He addressed an audience of roughly 5,200 persons at the David Lawrence Convention Center, including nearly 1,480 conference attendees and those involved in staging the conference.  The conference was staged by the Marcellus Shale Coalition, the Ohio Oil and Gas Association and the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association

WEEK ENDING 10/26/19 New permits issued last week:   8  (Previous week:  10 )   -2 Total horizontal permits issued:  3192  (Previous week:  3187 )    +5 Total horizontal wells drilled:  2714  (Previous week:  2708 )   +6 Total horizontal wells producing:  2345  (Previous week:  2340 )   +5 Utica rig count:  14  (Previous week:  13 )   +1 WEEK ENDING 11/02/19 New permits issued last week:   6  (Previous week:  8 )   -2 Total horizontal permits issued:  3198  (Previous week:  3192 )    +6 Total horizontal wells drilled:  2719  (Previous week:  2714 )   +5 Total horizontal wells producing:  2355  (Previous week:  2345 )   +10 Utica rig count:  14  (Previous week:  14 )   +-0

From Cleveland.com: A federal judge has rejected a last-ditch plea by opponents of Ohio’s new nuclear bailout law to be granted 38 additional days to collect petition signatures for a referendum overturning it.  Instead, U.S. District Court Judge Edmund A. Sargus asked the Ohio Supreme Court for its opinion on whether to grant more time, on the grounds that the legal questions involved the Ohio Constitution, not the U.S. Constitution.  “The court has jurisdiction to decide cases and controversies arising only under federal law,” the judge wrote in an opinion issued Wednesday night. “As the parties agree, this court does not have jurisdiction over any claim that the secretary of state or the Ohio General Assembly has violated the referendum provisions of the Ohio Constitution.”  Sargus sent four “certified questions” to the state Supreme Court, including whether anti-HB6 activists should be credited with more time to collect signatures.  Under state law, referendum seekers ha