Increased drilling activity in the Marcellus and Utica Shale in 2014

Marcellus and Utica Shale: A Positive Outlook for 2014 2014 continues to look promising for drilling activity in the Marcellus and Utica Shale region. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources forecasts an estimated 1,180 Utica wells will be drilled in 2014. Already over 1,000 Utica wells have been approved, with 737 drilled and nearly 400 more in production. Projections will become more accurate as the Ohio Department of Natural Resources completes the change to quarterly well results in 2014 from the annual reports of previous years. As new technologies for tapping the shale’s crude oil are developed, this number has the potential to go even higher. For now, some efforts have gone unrewarded, but companies remain optimistic about the future, intending to do some experimental drilling for crude oil soon. Other high-energy natural gas and liquids found within the “oil window” include ethane, butane, and propane, and drillers in Ohio are considering the Washington County and Morga
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MSC Statement on Impact Fee Tax Disbursements

Pittsburgh, Pa. Marcellus Shale Coalition president Dave Spigelmyer issued the following statement regarding the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission’s disbursement of 2013’s nearly $225 million in shale impact fee tax revenues for local governments: “Responsible shale development continues to be an economic lifeline for communities across the entire Commonwealth. These disbursements, which have increased more than 10 percent year-over-year, are providing critical revenues streams directly to local governments as well as for important environmental-focused programs. “Act 13, a commonsense bipartisan law, aimed to strengthen our environmental regulations and ensure that local governments would realize these broad-based benefits, all while keeping Pennsylvania competitive and an attractive state to invest, grow jobs and do business. These tens of millions of dollars in increased tax revenues are proof positive that this law is working. “While we’re making meaningful, share
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Bakken Shale Region Brings Opportunity and Prosperity to North Dakota

Occupying more than 200,000 square miles in the northern United States and Canada, the Bakken shale region is currently proving itself to be one of the biggest oil production resources in North America. Oil reserves in the Bakken Shale region are believed to rival those in Saudi Arabia. Oil was originally discovered in North Dakota in the 1950s, and the area boomed again in the 1980s. Particularly in the northwestern corner of the state, the Bakken Shale yield has created a new boom that is changing the face of the local job market and economy. While vertical oil wells were able to tap into some of the energy resources located in the Bakken Shale region, horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) technologies have brought some of the Bakken Shale’s true potential to light and are bringing oil companies flocking to the area. Other industries are following closely on their shirttails, and with good reason. The boom this technology has created is more than five times the s
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Pad Drilling Increases Bakken Shale Growth Predictions for 2014

Oil and natural gas industry analysts predict that investments by operators in the Bakken shale will exceed $15 billion for drilling and completions this year. If so, Bakken would hold second place in the United States Lower 48, with Eagle Ford in the number one spot. As with other large shale regions, infrastructure problems are continuing to constrain production, but operators still believe they will be able to recover at least 20 billion barrels of oil over the life of the plays. Analyst predictions for Bakken and Three Forks are an average of 1.1 million barrels of oil per day in 2014, with growth exceeding 1.5 million barrels of oil per day in 2020. At the same time, costs for wells continue to decrease, in part due to pad drilling. Three years ago, the average well cost more than $10 million, but with pad drilling techniques, the average well costs between $7 and $8 million. This significant price reduction is not the only benefit pad drilling brings to the table. It also reduce
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US supporting Ukraine with shale play development

Shale Play Development in the US Poised to Decrease Need for Russia’s Natural Gas Supply  Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is an extraction technique for oil and natural gas that has created opportunities for producers in the United States to become major players in world politics. Using vertical rigs, oil and natural gas pockets in shale plays were primarily unrecoverable. With fracking, though, extraction has been so successful in areas such as the Bakken, Eagle Ford and Marcellus Shale regions that the United States has become one of the leading oil and natural gas producers in the world. This has been a critical political factor in the United States as the boom has helped to ease the effects of the recession and start back up the path toward a healthy economy. Most European nations have banned fracking due to concern over environmental concerns that the process could affect water supplies. These bans have created a heavy dependence on the natural gas provided by Russia. With
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Pipelines adjusting to Marcellus Shale Nat Gas Growth

The Marcellus Shale natural gas formation remains at the center of fundamental changes to pipeline infrastructure east of the Mississippi River, as operators send more domestic gas to East Coast markets. Three of the region s major interstate gas pipelines — Williams Cos. Transcontinental Pipeline, Kinder Morgan s Tennessee Gas Pipeline and Spectra Energy s Texas Eastern Transmission — have been debottlenecking their networks in the East as gas production has increased. The Marcellus is producing about 15 billion cubic feet a day, a lightning increase since 2007 when the shale formation produced about 1.2 bcf a day. Consequently, these eastern pipelines enjoy the best organic growth opportunities in North America, according to Moody s Investors Service, as they develop the next round of projects that will take Marcellus gas to new markets further afield to the North, West, and South — a reversal of how gas has traditionally flowed east of the Mississippi. Thank you Energy Wire.
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CHRIS SCHMENK OF BRICKER & ECKLER ATTORNEYS AT LAW TO SPEAK AT MIDSTREAM OHIO 2014

Christiane “Chris” Schmenk of Bricker & Eckler Attorneys at Law in Columbus will be the luncheon speaker on June 11 at Midstream Ohio 2014, a Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce seminar, part of the Chamber’s 2014 Utica Capital Series Presented by Huntington Bank. Ohio has seen nearly $19 billion in new investment due to the Utica Shale exploration, according to Bricker & Eckler, a business law firm with offices in Columbus, Cleveland, Marietta and the Cincinnati-Dayton area. Its report on Utica investments generated news stories across the state in early April. As Crain’s Cleveland Business reported, the sum may be conservative, because the law firm listed several projects and investments for which the value has not been reported. The projects ranged from midstream infrastructure work involving companies with local offices such as Caiman Energy (Blue Racer partnership) and Access Midstream (Utica East Ohio Midstream partnership), to manufacturing investment such as The Timken
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