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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Badlands Cracker

The governor of North Dakota just announced that a $4 billion dollar cracker plant will be built in North Dakota by Badlands NGL’s, LLC. With all the gas buying burned off in the Bakken, it made sense that someone would eventually make an investment to capture all that Nat Gas. The company intends to market the majority of the polyethylene products to U.S. markets, which are closer to North Dakota than a Gulf Coast PE facility, but product will also find its way to global markets, including Southeast Asia. Joseph BaronePresidentShaleDirectories.com 610.764.1232 jbarone@shaledirectories.com www.shaledirectories. The post Badlands Cracker appeared first on Shale Directories.
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Elk herd loves fracking

Nearly seven years into Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale drilling boom, wildlife officials say the state’s elk population continues to flourish despite concerns about industrial footprints, wildlife displacement and habitat degradation. “It hasn’t disturbed any habitat, in fact, it probably creates more than there was to begin with,” said Pennsylvania Game Commission elk biologist Jeremy Banfield, referencing companies who cover defunct well pads with grass, prime elk habitat. The elk population has nearly doubled since 2008, when the state’s Marcellus Shale drilling boom began, rising from 500 to more than 880 and increasing every year. The number is expected to reach 1,000 in 2015. In all the scenarios explored when fracking began, everyone predicted considerable harm to the environment. No one expected nature flourishing like the elk herd. It looks like the oil and gas companies are sensitive to the environment and work hard to protect it. Joseph BaronePresidentShaleDirec
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Boone Pickens Gives Perspective on Falling Energy Prices

As you know, I’m a CNBC junkie and Boone Pickens was on Thursday and gave his perspective on the oil and gas prices. As I’ve stated some CNBC commentators think the Saudis are trying to kill fracking in America. On Thursday, the price of oil closed at $84.06. Boone thinks the price of oil will go below $80, but not below $70.   The price below $80 will cause some consternation at the E&P Companies. Boone does not think the Saudis will do anything until the November OPEC meeting where a decision will be made as to whether the Saudis will cut production and support the price or keep production up and drive the price down. The second option to keep production up will to squeeze the E&P Companies. We’ll have to watch to see how the E&P Companies will respond. There are 1922 rigs drilling in the U.S.; around 1600 are drilling for and the remainder for gas. Will rigs be laid down or will they switch to gas or will they keep drilling for oil? Joseph BaronePresidentShaleDirectories.co
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