Appalachian

Appalachian operator EQT Corp. and the oilfield services company Green Field Energy Services have completed multiple hydraulic fracturing (fracking) stages using pumps powered 100% by Marcellus Shale gas at a well site.

With up to 18 Bcf/d of natural gas supplies expected by 2018 from the Marcellus and Utica shales, the logical place to carry excess gas is west, according to Rockies Express Pipeline LLC (REX) CEO Bill Moler.

A unit of Chesapeake Energy Corp. has won a victory in the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit about its rights to drill natural gas wells and use open waste pits on private property because the operator had all of the needed permits in place from West Virginia regulators.

The Center for Sustainable Shale Development (CSSD) wants to begin certifying producers in the Appalachian Basin that adhere to its standards by the end of the year.

Southwestern Pennsylvania and West Virginia have formed an “integrated region” for natural gas drilling, an area where well drilling increasingly has been focused in the Appalachian Basin, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

State regulators in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia collectively issued 411 permits for oil and gas drilling during the month of July, most of which targeted the Marcellus and Utica shales.

TheInterior Department’sOffice of Natural Resources Revenue(ONRR) has assessed a $43,040 civil penalty onEQT Production Co., formerlyEquitable Production, for failure to report production on its oil and gas operations. According to ONRR Director Greg Gould, the civil penalty stems from a Feb. 24, 2011 notice of noncompliance that ONRR issued to the company. The Pittsburgh, PA-based company, which has offices in Charleston, WV, may request a hearing on the civil penalty. EQT is one of the fastest-growing exploration and production companies in the Appalachian region.

The elephant named Marcellus that has been sitting on Northeast-Henry Hub basis isn’t about to move along, and what used to be a premium market will see trades discounted to the U.S. gas benchmark for a while, analysts at Credit Suisse said in a note Tuesday.

Marcellus and Utica shale midstreamer MarkWest Energy Partners LP has expanded its service offerings in the Anadarko Basin in a $245 million cash agreement with Chesapeake Energy Corp.