The Daily Digger

The Rover Pipeline project has received considerable attention on the Daily Digger – and rightly so. It’s a key piece of infrastructure for the natural gas industry in Ohio. It will undoubtedly contribute to our nation’s energy security by making it easier to transport clean, affordable natural gas from its domestic source to the consumers and businesses who can use it to heat their homes, power manufacturing, and provide fuel to countless other machines and devices. Just as important, the Rover Pipeline will employ thousands of Ohioans. In fact, of the estimated 10,000 construction jobs that will be created by this $4.2 billion project, more than half are anticipated to be located right here in Ohio. These will be good, well-paying jobs that put many skilled residents of our state to work. In addition, many of the parts needed for the pipeline will be sourced from local manufacturers, putting even more people to work in direct support of this important project. That’s not ...

Washington Times:   Obama bat protection decried as ploy to thwart oil and gas extraction, logging   -    "A tiny brown bat known for its long ears is giving the creeps to those fearful of its potential to make jobs in the East and Midwest disappear. Two weeks ago, the Fish and Wildlife Service listed the northern long-eared bat as “threatened” under..." Daily Jeffersonian:   ET ROVER PIPELINE GETTING READY TO ROLL IN 2016   -    "The Energy Transfer Rover Pipeline scenario continues to unfold with few surprises. Well, maybe one. Back in November 2014, Energy Transfer submitted the necessary paperwork to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to begin..." Syracuse.com:   Critics say SU prof hid ties to gas driller Chesapeake in fracking study   -   "A Syracuse University researcher has come under fire from anti-fracking activists for failing to disclose his ties to the gas industry in a recent study. Donald Sieg...

We are happy to introduce our new app for The Daily Digger! In over 3 years of publishing The Digger newsletter and The Daily Digger blog, we have shared over 3,000 articles with our readers.  We know that many access the site via their smartphones and tablets, and we hope that this new app will make it much more convenient to access the latest news and reports on the Utica shale - wherever you may be. FEATURES NEWS - Of course, you will be able to use the app to keep up-to-date on the latest Utica shale events.  Just tap on the "Latest News" icon and you can view the mobile version of The Daily Digger blog. INTERACTIVE MAPS - Some of the most popular posts we have shared over the years have been well maps.  We hope, then, that all who download the app will enjoy being able to access interactive well maps in the palm of their hand.  The latest activity maps from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources will also be easily accessible. REPORTS - Re...

From Powersource: Kinder Morgan is evaluating whether to build a second pipeline to take natural gas liquids from Ohio’s Utica Shale to Ontario.  The second pipeline, dubbed Utopia West, is in the very early stages of consideration, according to a company spokeswoman.  The Houston-based midstream giant already has begun work on its $500-million Utica To Ontario Pipeline Access (Utopia) East project, which will ship ethane and ethane-propane mixtures from Ohio to Canada.  That pipeline is a 240-mile, 12-inch diameter pipeline originating in Harrison County, Ohio, that will connect to Kinder Morgan’s Cochin Pipeline near Riga, Michigan. From there, Kinder Morgan plans to move product eastward to Windsor, Ontario.  Utopia East is expected to be in service in January 2018 and have an initial 50,000 barrels per day of capacity with the capacity for expansion to more than 75,000 b/d. You can click here to read more. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! ...

From NGI: Less than half (44%) of Americans say they are familiar with hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and among them, 44% oppose it while 42% said they support fracking, according to the latest University of Texas at Austin (UT) Energy Poll. A majority of respondents said cities should have the power to ban fracking within their borders.  The Latest UT Energy Poll IS the first to find That more Respondents Oppose fracking than Support it. Two years ago, fracking HAD Support Among 45% of poll Respondents, but That WAS down from 48% in the Prior year (See Shale Daily, April 11, 2013 ). As in previous Surveys, the responses fall out Along political lines. Among survey Respondents familiar with fracking, 65% of Republicans Support it, Compared with only 28% of Democrats.  "Support for hydraulic fracturing on public lands also has declined," researchers said. "Among survey respondents familiar with the practice, 42% say its use should be banned on public lands, comp...

DOVER, Del., April 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE: CPK ) ("Chesapeake Utilities" or "Company") today announced completion of the merger of Gatherco, Inc. ("Gatherco") into Aspire Energy of Ohio, LLC ("Aspire Energy"), Chesapeake Utilities' newest wholly-owned subsidiary. The transaction had an aggregate value of approximately $59.2 million. Gatherco, located in Orrville, Ohio, was established in 1997 when it acquired Columbia Gas Transmission's natural gas gathering assets in Ohio. Gatherco has operations in 40 counties throughout the state. Gatherco's assets include 16 gathering systems and over 2,000 miles of pipelines and right-of-way in central and eastern Ohio. With the merger now completed, Aspire Energy will use these assets to provide natural gas midstream services, processing and transportation services to over 300 producers, and wholesale natural gas supply to over 30,000 end users in Ohio...

Les Csorba From Reuters: The energy sector will need a "new breed" of executives who innovate in real-time to effectively navigate through the crude oil price collapse and the industry transformation that is expected to follow, an energy headhunter and leadership consultant said on Monday.  The oil price crash represents for some "a great chance to seize on the crisis and turn it into an opportunity," Les Csorba, a partner with Heidrick & Struggles in Houston, said on the sidelines of the CERAWeek conference.  As baby-boomer oil executives near retirement, their replacements need to abandon the notion that production growth should be pursued at any cost, a mentality that dominated the sector before drilling for oil and natural gas took off in North America's shale formations. Two executives that typify the new breed include the chief executive officers of Apache Corp and Chesapeake Energy . Apache's John Christmann and Chesapeake's Doug Law...

Companies tapping the brakes on West Virginia cracker plant In what could serve as a cautionary tale to Belmont County about not counting their chickens before they hatch, plans for an ethane cracker plant in West Virginia are delayed as the companies involved in the joint venture think twice about starting construction. From the Pittsburgh Business Times: A joint venture's plans for an ethane cracker plant in West Virginia has been paused.  Braskem and partner Odebrecht confirmed in a joint statement that they are re-evaluating plans to build a plant along the Ohio River in Parkersburg, W.Va., but stressed that the project wasn't being cancelled outright.  "From the beginning, we have taken a deliberate approach to Project ASCENT. Under the current energy scenarios, the original configuration of Project ASCENT needs to be re-evaluated, and a final investment decision on the project will require more diligence," the statement said. "We have already b...

From the Wall Street Journal: Add in syndicated bank loans and total borrowing by the oil-and-gas sector rose to $ 2.5 trillion at the end of 2014, up from $ 1 trillion of outstanding debt at the end of 2006, according to the Switzerland-based Bank for International Settlements. It has warned that an "oil-debt nexus" could create a vicious circle whereby overindebted companies pump more oil to ensure they can pay interest on their loans, adding to the current global oil glut, and further depressing energy prices.  "Rapidly rising leverage creates risk exposures in the nonfinancial corporate sector that may be transferred across the global financial system," said in a recent report. Any selloff of oil-company debt could hit corporate bond markets hard, given the huge amounts outstanding, the bank said.  Oil companies are borrowing more in part because they were caught flat-footed by the halving in oil prices since last summer. Several, including Chevron, BP ...

Carrollton Ohio: The results from the initial stationary air sampling study performed by the University of Cincinnati and Oregon State University have been published. The study was conducted about a year ago near shale gas operations in Carroll and Columbiana Counties to gain an understanding of whether these industrial activities have a significant impact on air quality. Erin Haynes, DrPH from the University of Cincinnati and Diana Rohlman, PhD from Oregon State University, will be presenting an overview of the study’s results at Carroll Concerned Citizen’s May 7 meeting. The meeting will be held at the Church of Christ – Christian Disciples located at 353 Moody Ave. Carrollton. It begins at 7pm and is free and open to the public. “There are an increasing number of studies in the news these days about shale gas operations’ impact on air quality and we are glad to see that Ohio’s shale boom epicenter is part of just such a study,” said Paul Feezel the group’s chair. “Carroll Cou...

by Lori Pope, Oilfield Families of America I was talking with my sister who works for Weatherford and sells thru-tubing and she mentioned to me that there had recently been 3 suicides in our Houston area oilfield community. She continued on to tell me about how everywhere she goes these days, she encounters fear and insecurity and acknowledged that this is no way to live. My heart broke hearing of these tragic suicides and knowing that behind each one, was the sense of absolute despair and hopelessness. These are hard times we are in right now and no one really knows what the future holds, but still… LIFE IS PRECIOUS and worth living. There is ALWAYS HOPE, but sometimes we just don’t see it or know where to look for it. By our very nature of being human, we are resilient, but WE – The Strong, The Proud, Hardworking, Oilfield ARE without a doubt the MOST resilient species on earth. We can NEVER GIVE UP, we can NEVER SURRENDER! The oil economy DOESN’T CARE if it loses another...

Gas & Oil:   Taxation out of control   -     "It appears that Governor Kasich has hit on a surefire way to reduce state income taxes for thousands of Ohioans --- eliminate their jobs. The prime “beneficiaries” of this tough love tax treatment would be the quarter million or so men and women whose jobs are supported by..." Bennington Museum:   CHANNELING GRANDMA: FRACKING PAINTINGS BY LINDA FINCH   -    "Channeling is the belief that a person's body has been taken over by a spirit for the purpose of imparting wisdom and bringing about a conscious transformation. I feel that Anna Moses guided my hands in an effort to inform and educate people to the risks that lay ahead for the American rural landscape. - Linda Finch, Artist" CNBC:   Aubrey McClendon launching 'blank check' company   -    "Despite an embarrassing lawsuit accusing him of stealing trade secrets, energy guru Aubrey McClendon is raising additional cash ...

From the Stow Sentry: Two months after the Ohio Supreme Court delivered a final blow to the city's attempts at controlling oil and gas drilling within its boundaries, City Council has done a bit of housekeeping connected to it.  Council unanimously approved April 21 an ordinance repealing Chapter 1329, which provides drilling regulations, of the city's codified ordinances.  The chapter, the bulk of which dates back to 1980, covers areas such as permits, public hearing requirements, consent of neighboring property owners, inspections, maintenance and landscaping.  Council introduced the ordinance for first reading March 17. Law Director Jack Morrison told Council April 7 that the chapter serves no point since the city cannot enforce its provisions.  "While you are not required to repeal it, I think it is incumbent on the city, because it has been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, to repeal it," said Morrison. Read more by clicking here. Co...

There was an uptick in new permitting for Utica shale drilling last week, according to the weekly report from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.  In fact, more permits were issued last week than in the three preceding weeks combined. In all, there were 10 new permits issued, compared to just nine over the three weeks prior.  Four of the new permits were issued to Chesapeake for wells in Carroll County, four more went to Antero Resources for Monroe County wells, and the final two were for American Energy Utica wells in Belmont County. There have now been 1,883 permits issued for horizontal drilling in Ohio's Utica shale.  1,463 wells have been drilled, and 854 are now producing.  Despite the increased permitting activity, the Utica rig count continued to fall.  It now stands at just 22. You can view the entire report below, or by clicking here . Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From Reuters: Oil is trading around $55 a barrel, and most U.S. shale fields are seen as having break-even costs of $40-$70 a barrel.  In fourth-quarter earnings calls, operators initially were looking for prices cuts for services like fracking of around 20 percent. Now those savings appear to be steeper.  "We're seeing costs fall more for fracking than drilling," Mike Bahorich, chief technology officer at Apache Corp told a CERAWeek breakfast meeting.  He estimates Apache's fracking costs have fallen about 30 percent, while drilling costs have tumbled 20 percent.  Gary Gould, senior vice president of operations at Continental Resources Inc said his company, which has its largest operations in North Dakota's Bakken Shale, had seen service costs "falling most steeply in recent weeks and months."  Analysts at IHS CERA expect fracking costs to fall 32 percent this year, down from a prior forecast for a decline of 24 percent. Lower fracking cos...

From Bloomberg: Half of the 41 fracking companies operating in the U.S. will be dead or sold by year-end because of slashed spending by oil companies, an executive with Weatherford International Plc said.  There could be about 20 companies left that provide hydraulic fracturing services, Rob Fulks, pressure pumping marketing director at Weatherford, said in an interview Wednesday at the IHS CERAWeek conference in Houston. Demand for fracking, a production method that along with horizontal drilling spurred a boom in U.S. oil and natural gas output, has declined as customers leave wells uncompleted because of low prices.  There were 61 fracking service providers in the U.S., the world’s largest market, at the start of last year. Consolidation among bigger players began with Halliburton Co. announcing plans to buy Baker Hughes Inc. in November for $34.6 billion and C&J Energy Services Ltd. buying the pressure-pumping business of Nabors Industries Ltd. Weatherford, whi...

From Cleveland.com: Gates Mills has organized a committee of regional players and residents to deal with possibility of fracking in the village, after a year of debate over drilling gas wells.  Gates Mills Village Council , with backing from Mayor Shawn Riley, founded the Regional Commission to Study and Address Oil and Gas Well Drilling late last year. The group of more than 40 has been meeting since January.  Members include the Lyndhurst Fire Chief Mike Carroll, Gates Mills Fire Chief Tom Robinson, Mayfield school board member George Hughes, Pepper Pike Mayor Richard Bain and Bentleyville Councilwomen Karen Esposito and Kathleen Hale.  The commission aims to develop a formal plan to tackle fracking in and around eastern Cuyahoga County, as cities grapple with the lack of local control over drilling regulations . Read more by clicking here. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From Energy in Depth : TESTIMONY OF SIMON LOMAX WESTERN DIRECTOR, ENERGY IN DEPTH HEARING ON “HYDRAULIC FRACTURING: BANNING PROVEN TECHNOLOGIES ON POSSIBILITIES RATHER THAN PROBABILITIES?” BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 23, 2015 Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Johnson and distinguished members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me to testify. My name is Simon Lomax and I am here today representing Energy In Depth, a research, education and outreach program of the Independent Petroleum Association of America.  The IPAA represents thousands of oil and natural gas producers and service companies, and its members are responsible for developing 95 percent of the nation’s oil and gas wells.  Today, Energy In Depth is releasing a whitepaper called A Look Inside New York’s Anti-Fracking Echo Chamber. It deals with the unprecedented decision of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to effectively ban Marcellu...

From Bloomberg: With OPEC ceding control for the first time since the 1980s, U.S. shale oil has been anointed the world’s new “swing producer” by everyone from ConocoPhillips and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan.  But can America’s oil really swing it?  Producers cut billions in spending, idled half the country’s rigs and kept more than 3,000 wells off the market, and it still took five months for U.S. production to start dropping. Analysts and banks say a recovery in production will also prove slower and more difficult than it would be for a single producer like Saudi Arabia. “When you think of a swing producer, you think of OPEC and you think of spare capacity that can be turned on and off,” said Trisha Curtis, director of oil and gas research at Energy Policy Research Foundation Inc. “U.S. oil can respond, but the response is going to be messy, it’s going to be jagged and it’s not going to happen overnight.”  At the heart of all ...

From DownstreamToday: After meeting in Houston April 10 to review updated project economics and financing needs, the Appalachian Resins, Inc. (AR) development team has agreed to continue moving forward with plans to build an ethylene/polyethylene production facility in Monroe County, Ohio, DownstreamToday has learned.  "The world market price of polyethylene tracks the price of crude oil," Jim Cutler, AR's chief executive officer, told DownstreamToday. "This is because most of the world’s ethylene is produced from naphtha, which is obtained from crude oil. Lower crude prices mean lower naphtha prices, which in turn triggers lower polyethylene prices. The lower crude price scenario reduces the relative advantage of using ethane as an ethylene feedstock. In addition to lower polyethylene margins, we have seen an escalation to capital costs."  As this August 2014 article indicates, AR had estimated an approximately $1 billion price tag for the project.  ...

From JobsOhio : Today Governor John R. Kasich announced that PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC), Thailand's largest integrated petrochemical and refining company, and its project partner, Marubeni Corporation, a Japan-based company, have selected a site in Belmont County, Ohio for the possible construction of a world-scale petrochemical complex, also known in the industry as an ethane cracker. With a site now selected, PTTGC and Marubeni will take the next 12-to-16 months to complete the detailed engineering design and permitting at the Ohio site. For nearly two years, PTTGC and Marubeni have considered project sites across the Utica and Marcellus shale region. JobsOhio, the private, non-profit corporation designed to drive job creation and capital investment in Ohio, has worked with the companies throughout this time and led the effort to move this project forward in Ohio.  "Ohio is at the center of America's new energy industry, and the smart companies want to come here...

From TheHill: A pair of Democratic House members introduced a bill Wednesday to ban hydraulic fracturing for oil and natural gas, commonly known as fracking, on federal land.  Reps. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) touted the measure as the “strongest anti-fracking bill” ever introduced. It would cover national parks, Bureau of Land Management property, national forests, wilderness areas and other lands under federal jurisdiction.  “Our national parks, forests and public lands are some of our most treasured places and need to be protected for future generations,” Pocan said in a statement announcing the bill on Earth Day. Read more by clicking here. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

First, from the Washington Post : Halliburton Co. has cut 9,000 jobs — more than 10 percent of its workforce — in about six months and is considering more cost-cutting moves as falling oil prices sap demand for its drilling help.  Halliburton executives disclosed the job cuts Monday on a conference call with investors. The Houston oilfield-services company reported a loss of $643 million in the first quarter.  Oil prices plunged starting last summer, leading to a decline in drilling activity. Spot prices for crude have risen slightly since early January but remain about half their level of last July.  That has led to belt-tightening across the industry as oil companies move to curb production, with oil-field services and drilling companies especially hard hit.  Haliburton’s oilfield rival Schlumberger Ltd. said last week that it would cut 11,000 jobs on top of 9,000 planned job cuts that it announced in January. Halliburton previously announced that it w...