The Daily Digger

North America Shale Blog:   The Fight to Stop the EPA’s “Clean Power Plan” Continues   -    "On February 19, 2016, 27 states, the United States Chamber of Commerce, and over 150 different organizations and entities (the “Petitioners”) filed their joint Opening Brief on Core Legal Issues (the “Opening Brief”), related to their petitions for..." Bloomberg:   Iran's Oil Market Return Not Yet Fulfilling Grand Promises   -    "Iran’s return to global oil markets after sanctions were lifted isn’t living up to the country’s grand ambitions, or at least not yet. Six weeks after the historic nuclear deal that allowed Iran to resume oil sales around the world, the OPEC member is shipping barely a third of the..." Reuters:   Oil Prices Have Bottomed Out, But Growth Will Not Be Sharp   -    "Global oil prices appear to have bottomed out and are expected to rise through this year as investment cuts help to reduce a supply glut, a s...

From NGI: A semi-truck hauling oil and natural gas wastewater through Southeast Ohio left the road and crashed into a field, spilling 5,000 gallons of the fluid into a stream that empties into a drinking water reservoir, state regulators said Thursday.  The incident occurred early Wednesday in Belmont County in the village of Barnesville. Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) spokesman James Lee said the village's water system was not taking in water at the time of the accident, adding that "there has been no impact to the community water supply." The truck was operated by locally-based ECM Energy Services Inc., which specializes in trucking and logistics for the onshore energy industry.  The driver, Hiley Wogan of Ohio, was reportedly flown by helicopter to a hospital in Columbus with non life-threatening injuries. ECM was hauling the load of brine water for Gulfport Energy Corp. The truck was transporting fluid from the company's Routh 3C well in Monroe ...

Recently, an increasing number of natural gas pipeline projects have arisen in the state of Ohio. Understandably, farmers – particularly those running organic projects – have expressed concerns about the effects that these construction projects might have on their land and their agricultural endeavors. As president of the Ohio State Grange, a family farming organization dedicated to growing a healthy and vibrant agricultural supply, I sought to dispel some of these apprehensions. In order to further explore infrastructure construction, the Ohio State Grange undertook a study of the economic effects of natural gas pipelines on agriculture, partnering with Charles Steele and Gary Wolfram, two economists at Hillsdale College. This study resulted in the publication of a white paper titled “Natural Gas Pipeline Infrastructure and Its Impact on Michigan and Ohio Agriculture.” Our findings might surprise some people. We determined that the construction of natural gas pipeline infrastructure ...

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has now released the production data from the Utica shale for the fourth quarter of 2015. As always, we are going to give you a look at how the numbers compare to past quarters, past years, and how they break down among the various drillers who are active in Ohio and the counties where they are drilling. We also have the top 10 oil and gas wells detailed below. Despite the slowdown brought on by low commodity prices, production in the Utica shale in 2015 towers over past years, and the increases continued from the third quarter into the fourth. First up, let's take a look at how the quarterly data compares from the 1st quarter of 2014 through the final quarter of 2015: QUARTER # OF WELLS/# WITH DATA OIL GAS DAYS OIL/DAY OIL/WELL GAS/DAY GAS/WELL 2014-1 476/418 1,950,979 67,333,945 28,019 70 4,667 2,403 161,086 2014-2 562/504 2,467,283 88,673,741 37,922 65 4,895 2,338 175,940 2014-3 717/674 3,013,667 132,017,386 50,858 59 4,471 2...

From WKSU: March 19th is the last day for Atwood Lodge. The company that has been running it since 2012 says the lodge and golf complex is losing too much money too quickly to keep it open. Atwood Lake Resort was struggling four years ago when Carroll County accepted it as a donation from the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District. The county commissioners felt revenue from Utica shale workers needing a place to stay, and perhaps royalties from wells on the property, could put the lodge in the black until a tourist following developed through facilities upgrades and marketing. Click here to read more and listen to the report. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From Bloomberg Business: A U.S. bankruptcy court ruling has thrown into question how heavily oil and natural gas pipeline operators can rely on their contracts with energy explorers to shield them from the worst industry downturn in decades.  Judge Shelley Chapman ruled Tuesday that driller Sabine Oil & Gas Corp., which filed for bankruptcy in July, can reject contracts with two pipeline operators, HPIP Gonzales Holdings LLC and Cheniere Energy Inc.’s Nordheim Eagle Ford Gathering LLC affiliate. Analysts including energy consultancy WTRG Economics say the ruling threatens to set a precedent for other distressed energy explorers looking to break transportation commitments.  The decision comes as operators have already seen their market values sink on concern that sliding oil and gas prices will force energy producers into bankruptcies and cut their revenues. The Alerian MLP Index, made up of nearly 50 pipeline partnerships once favored by investors for their high payo...

From the Akron Beacon Journal: The volume of liquid drilling wastes injected underground in Ohio grew by 27.2 percent in 2015 and set a new all-time record.  The volume of salty injected wastes totaled 28.8 million 42-gallon barrels.  It has increased from 16.3 million barrels in 2013 to 22.0 million barrels in 2014 to the new total.  That 2015 total volume is enough to fill nearly 1,840 Olympic-sized swimming pools.  Athens, Coshocton and Guernsey counties are the top injection counties in Ohio. Portage County is seventh and Stark County is No. 10.  Such wastes have been linked to small earthquakes in Ohio and other states and critics say injecting such wastes into underground rock formations poses a threat to groundwater.  Industry and state officials say injection wells are a safe disposal method and the growing volume of waste is simply evidence of the Utica and Marcellus shale booms in Ohio and surrounding states. Click here to read more...