The politics of fracking

The recent election has some interesting results. • In Ohio, every town that had a fracking ban on the ballot voted it down.• The voters in Denton, Texas voted to ban fracking in the city limits.  The lawsuits have already been filed to fight the ban.• PA elected a governor who wants to have a severance tax on the oil and gas companies, but they also elected more republicans into the state assembly and senate.  We’ll have to see if the severance tax is passed and how high it is.  If it’s high, will rigs start moving to OH and WV? The Republican victories should bode well for the oil and gas industry.  Here are some of the questions that may get answered: • Will the Keystone Pipeline get approved?  • Will the EPA’s attack on coal be blunted?  • Will there be drilling on federal land? • Will there be more offshore drilling?  • Will U.S. oil companies be able to sell oil overseas? • Will the government expedite the approval to ship LNG overseas?•
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Latest comments about oil price war with the Saudis

• U.S. companies in shale fields from North Dakota to Texas are talking tough in the face of Saudi Arabia s price war, believing they have more staying power than many of the OPEC partners.• “Saudi Arabia is really taking a big gamble. If they take the price down to $60-$70, you will see a slowdown in the U.S. but you’re not going to see it stop. The consequences for other OPEC countries are far more dire, says Chesapeake Energy chairman Archie Dunham.• Execs at several large U.S. shale producers, including CHK, EOG Resources, and Whiting Petroleum said as they reported earnings that they plan to maintain and even raise production.• Shale producers cite success in reducing costs as proof they can still be profitable at prices below $70/bbl; CHK says well costs at its two largest production areas Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale and Texas Eagle Ford fell 11% and 13% respectively Y/Y during the first seven months of this year.• But not all shale is alike: Bakken and P
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Shell schedules local meetings on proposed ethane cracker

Shell Chemicals is planning a pair of public meetings to discuss its proposed ethane cracker plant for western Pennsylvania. The Shell cracker continues to move forward, but is still delaying a final decision. Besides the Shell cracker plant, three other cracker plants are in various stages of development. Braskem’s cracker project in Parkersburg, West Virginia, along with Appalachian’s Resins plant in Salem Township, Monroe County, OH have identified sites and are in the planning phases. Bangkok-based PTT Global Chemical and Tokyo-based Marubeni Corp are evaluating three sites for their cracker plants. Shell’s two identical meetings will be held Thursday, November 13th at the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center in Midland, Beaver County. Both will last approximately two hours. The first one will begin at 11am; the second begins at 5:30pm. In an email to residents, Shell describes the meetings as, “a brief overview of the proposed project, a short presentation on the topics, a
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OH is catching up to PA in the rig count

According to the October 24th Baker Hughes rig count report, there are 52 rigs in PA and 44 rigs in OH. PA has 47 rigs in the Marcellus and 5 in the Utica while all the rigs in OH are in the Utica. I think the rig count in PA is under reported because E&P Companies are drilling in the Devonian Shale, but Baker Hughes is not reporting those rigs. PA could have a few more rigs. What is difficult to understand is the permitting activity in PA versus OH. There is considerably more activity in PA than in OH. PA is averaging between 30 to 40 permits per week. OH has between 5 and 15. We know that the drilling in PA has become incredibly efficient. For instance, PA is producing 20% more nat gas in 2014 than it did in 2013. Last year this time there were 57 rigs in the Marcellus and 2 in the Utica. This past week the count was 49 in the Marcellus and 5 in the Utica. One has to wonder if the election has any impact on the rig count in PA. It looks like Tom Wolf, the Democratic gubernatorial ca
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Oil Price Decline Will Not Impact Drilling until 2015

I attended Evonik’s Oil & Gas Symposium in Houston this past week. There were presentations by two companies, Spears Associates and Wood McKenzie, which track oil and gas production in the U.S. Both presentations commented on the fact that oil would have to go to $70 or below to seriously impact the production in the U.S. If cutbacks in production were to occur, it would probably be the second half of 2015 before we began to see the impact of the drilling cutbacks. I have stated in previous newsletter that the reductions in oil drilling could result in the rigs being moved back to PA for more natural gas drilling. I asked Jeff Spears of Spears Associates if that could occur. Spears stated that natural gas production is so efficient in the PA that there is no need for any more rigs. Marcellus production is up 20% over last year so there’s no need for more rigs. Joseph BaronePresidentShaleDirectories.com 610.764.1232 jbarone@shaledirectories.com www.shaledirectories.com The post Oil
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Utica Summit II Highlights

We held our second annual Utica Summit II this last Tuesday at Kent State Stark. The key observations of some of the presenters are: The current Utica Shale production could support four cracker plants. The biggest opportunities from the Shale Play game changer are going to be downstream. The U.S. will have considerable price advantage over the rest of the world in manufacturing and chemicals/plastics. The U.S. has so much oil, gas and coal reserves it’s unbelievable. Technically Recoverable Resources* 206 Years of Oil 120 years of Nat Gas 464 years of Coal In-place Resources* 586 years of Nat Gas 536 years of oil 9,844 years of coal  * Institute for Energy Resources Analysis of U.S. Government Data Joseph BaronePresidentShaleDirectories.com 610.764.1232 jbarone@shaledirectories.com www.shaledirectories.com The post Utica Summit II Highlights appeared first on Shale Directories.
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Oil down but Nat Gas holding steady

The price for oil at the start of trading today is $80 which is 20% below the June price. The two questions everyone in the energy industry is asking: How low will it go and when will it rebound. The key issue for the U.S. energy market will be the impact on drilling for oil in the major shale plays – Eagle Ford, Permian and Bakken. Will rigs be laid down or will they be moved to the Marcellus and Utica to drill for Nat Gas. The price of Nat Gas has remained steady trading in a range of $3.80 to $4.00 in spite of the somewhat mild weather in early fall. In this price range, we’ll monitor to see if rigs move from TX to the Marcellus and Utica. Joseph BaronePresidentShaleDirectories.com 610.764.1232 jbarone@shaledirectories.com www.shaledirectories.com
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