The Daily Digger

From the Akron Beacon Journal: Only 240 easements have been filed across northern Ohio for routing the $2 billion Nexus Pipeline, and there remains staunch opposition to the pipeline in Medina County, according to a grass-roots group.  The Coalition to Reroute Nexus reviewed easement filings with local county recorders.  The easements are deals between the pipeline company and individual landowners, giving the company access for building the 250-mile natural gas pipeline. The landowners are paid negotiated fees for use of their land.  Pipeline opponents are proud that the number of signed easements is low, said CORN spokesman Paul Gierosky of York Township in Medina County.  Pipeline supporters appear to have signed easements and opponents are holding out, he said. “Most of us won’t sign until we’re forced to,” he said.  CORN is urging landowners not to sign such agreements. Click here to read more. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Fol...

The Utica rig count rose for the second straight week on the latest permitting report from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, going from 11 to 12.  Only one new permit was issued, going to Enervest for a Carroll County well site.  There are now 2,183 permits issued for drilling in Ohio's Utica shale, with 1,751 wells drilled and 1,328 producing. View the report below or by clicking here . Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From NGI: "The sale of the Illinois Basin assets is another important step for Rex Energy toward improving our liquidity position and providing greater capital efficiency as we continue with the development of our core Appalachian Basin assets, in particular our Moraine East area," said CEO Tom Stabley.  Included in the deal, which is expected to close sometime in 3Q2016, are 76,000 net acres. The assets, Rex said, are currently producing 1,700 b/d of oil. The sale price does not include closing costs, but Rex said it could realize another $10 million in proceeds over the next three years depending on commodity prices. It didn't provide other details on that aspect of the sale.  Rex is selling all of its interest in the basin, transitioning the company to an Appalachian pure-play with all of its assets now located in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The company acquired its Moraine East assets in a larger 2014 deal with an affiliate of Royal Dutch Shell plc for $120 million (...

From Gas & Oil: The recent oil and gas drilling boom in southeastern Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia has brought about an unexpected visitor for many landowners, including some far removed from where shale wells are being drilled—pipelines. Pipeline companies are acquiring easements (also called rights of way) from landowners in order to construct transportation pipelines. They may be acquired through negotiation between the pipeline company or (under certain circumstances) eminent domain (condemnation) proceedings. If you are considering a potential pipeline easement offer, make sure you consult your attorney and tax professional before you sign! Proper planning and negotiation with the pipeline company can minimize and possibly defer the tax generated by the sale of the easement.  Payments for pipeline easements can be categorized in different ways. Different categorizations can have different tax consequences to the landowner. Whether the easement payment qualifies ...

We received the following press release via email this afternoon: Munroe Falls Court Case Over Oil & Gas Well Authority Deemed Frivolous, a Waste of Taxpayers Money The recent Monroe Falls Complaint filed May 27, 2016 seeking Declaratory Judgment (1) requiring Beck Energy Corp. (Beck) to obtain a zoning certificate prior to the commencement of drilling the Sonoco oil and gas well and (2) Stay – prohibiting Beck from commencing any drilling activities until the court rules is without any legal basis as the Ohio Supreme Court has already decided this issue on February 17, 2015 ( Morrison v. Beck Energy Corp ., 143 Ohio St.3d 271, 2015-Ohio-485). According to Beck Energy’s Attorney, Scott Zurakowski of Krugliak Wilkins Griffiths & Dougherty Co., L.P.A., “the complaint the City of Munroe Falls recently filed lacks any good faith basis under existing law, and it is clear Munroe Falls’ intention in filing this complaint is to harass and maliciously injure Beck Energy.”...

From Kallanish Energy: Standard & Poor’s on Thursday declared Chesapeake Energy is in technical default of its debt because creditors were required to take less than promised in the independent producer’s recent debt-for-equity swap.  Chesapeake’s new corporate debt rating is “SD” for selective default, Kallanish Energy reports.  “We view the exchanges as distressed because the investors are receiving less than the original promise and the company is currently holding, in our view, an overleveraged capital structure with potential liquidity issues in the near-term due to total 2017 maturities and a likely put totaling about $1.5 billion,” S&P said.  Chesapeake could not be reached to comment.  Chesapeake’s prior rating was “CCC”, which indicated there were substantial risks, but was still three steps higher than a “C” rating, which means default is imminent. Read more by clicking here. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNe...

by Nicole Jacobs, Energy in Depth The Appalachian Basin that encompasses Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia has a long history of being a  manufacturing hub . This region in the Ohio Valley and throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania recently went from being  part of the Rust Belt  to seeing a  resurgence in investment  in manufacturing,   thanks to shale development . And that story just keeps getting better as more and more companies return thanks to the affordable energy available in the region. The  Wall Street Journal  highlighted this trend earlier this week: “The Ohio Valley from Pittsburgh to Cairo, Ill., has a long industrial heritage, with chemical companies, and oil and gas producers, that have been operating there for decades. A group of them in Marietta, Ohio, and Parkersburg, W.Va. – with a combined population of about 50,000 — aim to tout their low gas prices and industrial heft to energy-hungry businesses from Brazil to...