The Daily Digger

From the Free Press Standard: Jim Bertram, regional director of Corporex Energy Solutions LLC, presented council with plans for a 100-room, four-story Candlewood Suites Hotel on a 26.916-acre tract north of Discount Drug Mart on SR 43.  Bertram told council they want to break ground in August and be under roof before November snowfall.    Corporex was founded by The William P. Butler Construction Company in 1965 and has developed over 18 million square feet of Class A office and industrial space.  Bertram said the company owns 21 hotels and manages 60.  The home office is located in Covington, KY.    “We are aggressive builders but build good quality,” said Bertram.  “We are a very community friendly company and plan to bring retail, commercial and multi-family single homes to the area.”   Bertram explained the hotel drive will be north of the current underground pipelines and they are working with Tennessee Gas to not encroach...

From The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register: Ohio Department of Natural Resources records show Hess holds the permit for the Lude well that has been flaring. The Lude, just east of the Jamboree In The Hills site, well is still in its early stages, so Hess does not yet have any reporting information for it, but the company has reported some results from eastern Ohio wells. The Capstone 2H9 well, located near Flushing in the area of Ohio 331 and Dutton Drive, produced 2,242 barrels of oil equivalent per day during the first three months of this year. This means the well is yielding an amount of energy equal to what would come from 2,242 barrels of oil, although the well may not be producing a substance that is chemically considered to be oil. The Capstone well is producing more energy than some Chesapeake wells in Harrison County, as well as Ohio County. Also, the Hess NAC 4H-20 well in Jefferson County produced 7.5 million cubic feet of dry methane gas per day during the firs...

From The Motley Fool: If investors have learned one thing about the Utica Shale, it's that the play is really becoming hit-or-miss. That being said, when a company hits, it's usually a really big hit. That gives both producers and investors hope that the play will turn out to be just fine. We saw an example in  Rex Energy 's   ( NASDAQ:  REXX     )  recent Utica well results. One of the wells produced really good initial production, while a second well underwhelmed. However, just as in baseball, hitting a few home runs can really help win the game.  Rex's first well, the G. Graham 1H, produced an average 30-day sales rate of 1,256 barrels of oil equivalent per day if full ethane recovery is assumed. The product mix was 46% natural gas liquids, 33% natural gas, and 21% condensate. This well, which was drilled to a depth of 12,098 feet with lateral length of about 3,973 feet, was completed using the company's "Super Frac" completion technique...

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. ,  June 26, 2013  /PRNewswire/ -- Eclipse Resources I, LP ("Eclipse Resources") announced today that it has acquired The Oxford Oil Company, LLC, with approximately 184,000 net acres in  Ohio  and 13.8 Bcfe of proved developed producing reserves. The Oxford Oil Company, LLC ("Oxford") was subsequently renamed to Eclipse Resources –  Ohio , LLC and will remain a wholly owned subsidiary of Eclipse Resources. In conjunction with the acquisition, the company has completed a private offering of  $300 million  of senior unsecured notes with the ability to sell an additional  $100 million over the next twelve months to the note acquirers. Prior to the acquisition, Eclipse Resources owned approximately 41,000 net acres in  Belmont ,  Guernsey , Monroe  and  Noble  Counties in  Ohio  where the largest wells in the Utica Shale play have been reported to date. With the acquisition of Oxford, Ecli...

Partnership will create jobs and supply critical equipment for Marcellus and Utica oil and gas production YOUNGSTOWN, OH (June 27, 2013) – Valerus ( www.valerus.com ), one of the world’s leading providers of integrated oil and gas handling and processing solutions, held a ribbon cutting yesterday with Youngstown-based Brilex Industries ( www.brilex.com ), celebrating their partnership to manufacture Valerus production equipment at the Brilex facility for deployment throughout the region. Valerus and Brilex employees welcomed state and local civic leaders, business leaders and members of the media to share how their partnership will impact the Youngstown economy and help support the region’s Marcellus and Utica oil and gas industry. Pete Lane, CEO for Valerus, shared his company’s appreciation for those who helped make the partnership a reality. “Valerus greatly appreciates the support it received from the State of Ohio, the City of Youngstown, the Youngstown and Warren Regional Cha...

From The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register: GreenHunter's site plan for the natural gas frack water project in the Warwood section of Wheeling is expected to be up for review again at the 5 p.m. July 8 Wheeling Planning Commission meeting in City Council Chambers. During the June 10 meeting, commissioners determined that GreenHunter needed to address some minor issues before commissioners signed off on the frack water recycling plan. John Jack, vice president of Business Development for GreenHunter, said his company recycles water for natural gas producers such as Chesapeake Energy, Magnum Hunter, Chevron and others. He said there will be 19 storage tanks at the North 28th Street site, but emphasized the old rusty tanks left over from Seidler's will be dismantled and removed. He said the Wheeling facility will operate 24 hours per day every day, though he said "90 percent to 95 percent" of the trucks that come through each day will do say during daytime hour...

From The Associated Press: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency confirmed its investigation of the Jan. 16 incident near St. Marys in Auglaize County in an April 26 letter to the coalition. The alliance comprising the Center for Health, Environment & Justice, the Sierra Club, ProgressOhio and others said it received the letter May 31. The groups had asked the federal EPA to review the St. Marys oil leak as well as alleged Clean Water Act violations in a separate Youngstown case to see if the Ohio Department of Natural Resources' oil and gas regulatory program is working effectively. The coalition proposes that the federal government take back its oversight responsibilities in the state. Its complaint alleged that Ohio has been out of compliance with the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, or EPCRA, under which chemical inventories are to be publicly available, since 2001. In that year, state lawmakers passed a law "that essentially ex...

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources issued 16 new permits for drilling in the Utica shale last week. 5 permits were for Harrison County, 4 for Carroll and Belmont counties, and 1 each for Columbiana, Mahoning and Monroe. The cumulative total for permits now stands at 747, with 366 wells drilled and 109 now producing.  The Utica rig count is 32. View the report here. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From Shale Reporter: A study published this week found methane levels in drinking water wells near fracking sites in northern Pennsylvania are, on average, six times greater than those in wells further away. The authors of the study are now in a safe house, hiding from the oil and gas industry. Methane is naturally occurring, and eighty percent of the wells tested showed some level of methane, even ones not near gas operations. But out of the 12 homes showing dangerous methane levels (above the federal limit of 28 milligrams per liter), 11 were close to drilling sites. Coincidence? Read the rest of that article here. If there is one thing about this study that keeps coming to mind as reason to question the findings, it's this point brought out by Energy in Depth : Fact 4: Still No Random Sample?   One of the quickest ways to undermine your own scientific findings is to engage in selection bias when establishing research parameters. This means, in the simples...

From Reuters: The American “shale boom” is poised to revolutionize global energy markets. It could transform the nation from a longtime net oil importer into an export powerhouse. Consider that the 2012 increase in U.S. crude oil production, announced last week, was the largest not just in U.S. history but the world. To help this transformation, a bipartisan swath of federal and state officials is pressing for new infrastructure, like the Keystone XL pipeline, to move a glut of domestic oil from the center of North America to Gulf ports. This is a crucial step, but unless Congress reforms archaic restrictions on crude oil exports, all that black gold’s going nowhere. These restrictions not only contradict global trade rules and national trade and energy policies, they also threaten to derail the American energy revolution. Yet, unlike similar restrictions on natural gas, almost no one in Washington is talking about them. Read the rest of the story here. Connect with us on Fa...

From New Scientist: The dash for gas is being outrun by the race for renewables. According to the latest projections  from the International Energy Agency, by 2016 global electricity generation from wind, solar, hydro and other forms of renewable power will exceed that from natural gas – and should be double that provided by nuclear plants. This surge is being driven in large part by emerging economies. China is leading the way, accounting for 40 per cent of the projected global growth in renewables between 2012 and 2018, the IEA – a Paris-based body with 28 member countries – notes. So are we on track to transition from coal to a low-carbon future based around renewables, with natural gas as a temporary "bridge fuel"? Not yet, say energy analysts: major changes in policy are still needed if the world is to avoid tipping over the 2 °C threshold that climatologists say constitutes  "dangerous" global warming . Read more of this story by clicking here.  ...

From the Huffington Post: Today, President Barack Obama announced his administration's " Climate Action Plan " for cutting carbon pollution in his second term in the Oval Office  Hydraulic fracturing ("fracking")  is the toxic horizontal drilling process via which gas is obtained from shale rock basins around the world, and touting its expanded use flies in the face of any legitimate plan to tackle climate change or create a healthy future for children.  The rest of the article continues along those lines.   It can be read here. This article is another reminder that the real goal of anti-drilling organizations is to completely put a stop to all drilling for fossil fuels, no matter how much they may state that their goal is to get a moratorium until proper regulations can be put into place. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From an IPAA press release: Key features of the new EID site include: · One Stop News Source. As the EID program has expanded over the years, new regional planks have gradually been added to the platform – first in Pennsylvania and New York, then in Ohio and California. Previously, each of these satellite programs maintained its own website and social media presence separate and apart from EID’s national platform. With the launch of EID’s new web portal ( www.energyindepth.org ) today, all of these state and regional efforts will be consolidated under one program, with users now having the ability to filter and access content on the site in a way that’s tailored to their specific needs and interests – broken down specifically by state or region. The new EID site currently hosts state-specific tabs for Ohio, Calif., Illinois, Michigan and Texas, and regional pages for the Marcellus (Pa., N.Y., and W.Va.) and Mountain States (Colo., Nev., Mont., and Utah). Additional tabs are expect...

From The Canton Repository: On Wednesday, the Canton Community Improvement Corporation acquired 17 parcels between the 2200 and 2400 blocks of 13th Street NE that were previously in foreclosure. The CIC paid a total of $564 for the properties in deed preparation, recording and transfer fees.   The former Weber Dental and Ohio Cast Products sites bookend the prospective industrial park that Joseph A. Jeffries Company plans to develop. The CIC has plans to acquire two more parcels where existing businesses operate. Those businesses will relocate within the city, Development Director Fonda Williams said.   The developer already has tenants in mind, even though the project is two to three years away from beginning.   “We hope to have (a role in the project),” said Bill Jeffries, a partner in the development firm. “You’re talking about a two- or three-year plan. ...The advantage of that site, of course, is its location. It has access to rail and is a multi-acre ...

Savage today introduced bulk material handling and rail transloading services at the Ohio Commerce Center (OCC) in Lordstown, Ohio. Located in the heart of the Utica Shale Play the OCC is uniquely positioned to serve the oil and gas markets by rail. Savage has extensive experience transloading, managing logistics and operating rail terminals that handle oil and gas field products. This new Savage operation benefits from OCC’s 500+ acres of land adjacent to Route 45 and just minutes from I-80 and the Ohio Turnpike. The OCC has direct access to the CSX Class 1 rail line and over 10 miles of track to handle in and out bound unit trains. Savage’s transload services include the handling, loading and distribution of hazardous and nonhazardous materials. The OCC is currently undergoing an expansion which will equip the facility with loop tracks able to accommodate the loading of unit trains. “We are pleased to offer our services and oil and gas expertise to the OCC’s existing and new cus...

STATEMENT BY AGA PRESIDENT AND CEO DAVE MCCURDY ON PRESIDENT OBAMA’S CLIMATE ACTION PLAN    Washington, D.C. –Dave McCurdy, President and CEO of the American Gas Association (AGA) issued the following statement in response to President Obama’s Climate Action Plan: “Working alongside renewables and energy efficiency, our domestic abundance of natural gas provides an incredible opportunity to deliver the essential energy that will help drive economic growth while protecting the environment.  Natural gas utilities are committed to actions that, in the words of the President, 'save families money, make our businesses more competitive and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.' “In communities throughout the country, demand for safe and responsible delivery of natural gas has increased and local utilities have heeded that call, upgrading and expanding what the U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration calls the safest and most...

From Forbes: The chief method of cutting emissions is to effectively declare war on coal. In the plan’s most controversial aspect, “President Obama is issuing a Presidential Memorandum directing the Environmental Protection Agency to work expeditiously to complete carbon pollution standards for both new and existing power plants.” These standards, it says, should be drafted by this time next year, and put into place by mid 2015. How tough will they be? This “blueprint” doesn’t say, but if the EPA’s recent rule-making actions are a guide, the plan is to drive as many coal-fired power plants into mothballs as possible. The document states that “65% of all greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed to energy supply and energy use.” About 40% of those emissions come from coal and a similar portion from oil. The president’s policy then, is to promote natural gas as a “bridge fuel” to get the country away from coal and oil. “We will promote fuel-switching from coal to gas for electr...

From The Record Courier: A Democratic state lawmaker representing part of Ohio's burgeoning Utica Shale oilfields wants the state to increase taxes on fuel produced via horizontal hydraulic fracturing -- and use a big portion of the resulting proceeds to help eastern counties. The general gist behind the new legislation offered by Rep. Bob Hagan (D-Youngstown) is not too different from past bills and amendments he's offered. But Hagan's new legislation, HB 212, puts a new spin on the proposal. He wants the state to enact a 7.5 percent severance tax on oil and gas produced via fracking. Of that total, 5 percent would go to local governments, mostly in eastern Ohio. Another 1.5 percent would go to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to hire and train well inspectors and supplement other costs related to the drilling industry. And the remaining 1 percent would go into a special trust fund, inaccessible to lawmakers until after 2020, for use in future economic...

DENVER ,  June 19, 2013  (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --  PDC Energy, Inc.  ("PDC" or the "Company") (Nasdaq:PDCE) today announced that it closed yesterday,  June 18, 2013 , on the previously disclosed sale of its non-core  Colorado  natural gas assets. The Company's non-core  Colorado  assets were sold to  Caerus Oil and Gas LLC  for approximately  $185 million  in net proceeds, subject to customary post-closing adjustments. Under the purchase and sale agreement, the transaction was given economic effect as of  January 1, 2013 . The assets sold are approximately 99% natural gas in terms of reserves and include an estimated 85 billion cubic feet equivalent (Bcfe) of net proved developed producing reserves as of  December 31, 2012 . The assets produced approximately 40 million net cubic feet of natural gas equivalent per day in the first quarter of 2013. James Trimble , President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, ...

From National Review Online: In December 2011, the EPA released a draft report of a study it conducted in Wyoming, eliciting a furor of media attention. The  New York Times  reported that “chemicals used to hydraulically fracture rocks in drilling for natural gas in a remote valley in central Wyoming are the likely cause of contaminated local water supplies, federal regulators said.” The  Financial Times  ran a story headlined “EPA blames fracking for Wyoming pollution.” National Public Radio announced that “for the first time, federal environmental regulators have made a direct link between the controversial drilling practice known as hydraulic fracturing and groundwater contamination.” And the  Salt Lake Tribune  ran an editorial subtitled “EPA report shows water poisoned.” In reality, the study conclusively proved no such thing. The research was fundamentally flawed, with the conclusion being derived less from science than from politics. Read the wh...

Duke University takes another stab at linking drilling to water contamination From eenews.net comes this report on a new study by Duke University which concludes that testing may show a link between drilling and contaminated water wells: The team, which also includes researchers from the University of Rochester and California State Polytechnic University, sampled 81 new drinking water wells in six counties in northeastern Pennsylvania. It combined the data with results from 60 previously sampled wells in Pennsylvania and included a few wells in New York's Otsego County. The researchers detected methane, the principal component of natural gas, in the drinking water of 82 percent of the 141 homes. Concentrations were six times higher in homes within a kilometer (about 3,300 feet) of natural gas wells, the study found. Of 12 houses where the concentration of methane were greater than the federal threshold for immediate remediation, 11 homes were within the 3,300-foot radius...

From the Youngstown Vindicator: In a 26-page ruling issued today, the Ohio Oil and Gas Commission denied D&L Energy’s request to have its permits permanently reinstated — essentially terminating its business in Ohio’s waste-disposal industry. The ruling, which can be appealed in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, comes after nearly a month of deliberations among the commission’s members, which serve as an independent body of review for decisions made by the chief of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management.  Read the entire article here.  Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From the Salem News: Fifty-one new oil and gas drilling leases recorded from May 8 to 24 were in Columbiana County with most of them in the northern part of the county. There were 20 leases in Salem Township, 12 in Unity Township and five in Fairfield Township, representing the majority of leases signed. All of the leases in Salem Township were with Chesapeake Exploration LLC, while four of the leases in Fairfield Township were with Chesapeake and one was with Atlas Noble LLC. The article also includes an update on the natural gas processing plant in Kensington which was originally projected to be up and running last month: "It seems to be what's going on is pipeline," [ Columbiana County Engineer Bert Dawson]  said, adding that M3 Midstream Energy natural gas processing and NGL refinery in Kensington is expected to come on line at the end of July.   Read the whole article here. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From an EPA press release: In 2009, at the request of citizens living outside of Pavillion who reported objectionable taste and odor in their well water, EPA began working with the State of Wyoming and the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone Tribes to identify the source and extent of impacts on domestic well water quality. To date, after five phases of sampling, EPA’s domestic water well sampling results have documented constituents of concern; however a source of those constituents has not been determined. EPA efforts to evaluate potential migration pathways from deeper gas production zones to shallower domestic water wells in the Pavillion gas field are inconclusive. Wyoming, through the WOGCC and the WDEQ will conduct a comprehensive review of all relevant data and initiate an additional science-based investigation. The sampling data obtained throughout EPA’s groundwater investigation will be considered in Wyoming’s further investigation. The WOGCC and WDEQ will retain the s...

In a case that has been watched closely by pro-drilling and anti-drilling interests alike, the battle between the city of Munroe Falls and Beck Energy will now be headed to the Ohio Supreme Court. From the Akron Beacon Journal: The Ohio Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case from Summit County on whether local governments have any say in gas-oil drilling, according to the People's Oil and Gas Collaborative, a grass-roots group that has been following the case.. The case — it is being watched closely across Ohio by both sides — involves the city of Munroe Falls and Ravenna-based Beck Energy Corp. The key question is whether oil and gas well drillers must follow city ordinances or whether state control takes precedence over local home rule. Read the rest of the article here.  Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio comes this graphic showing the number of pipelines that can be expected all over Ohio. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

In related news, Farm and Dairy has an article about the pipeline activity in Ohio which includes some tips for landowners as well.  What follows is an excerpt, while the whole article can be viewed by clicking here . Peggy Kirk Hall, director of Ohio State University Extension’s Agricultural and Resource Law Program, suggested landowners refrain from signing anything when first approached about a pipeline easement. Hall reminded landowners that they have time, no matter what a  landman  tells them.  Walk the line. She encourages landowners to take the time and walk the property with the  landman  trying to obtain the easement. Hall said landowners should consider who will be responsible for the upkeep of the line and if landowners will get reimbursed if the company has to come in and dig the land up again to take care of the pipeline. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog