Mountaineer

PDC Mountaineer (PDCM), a joint venture of Petroleum Development Corp. and Lime Rock Partners V LP, will pay $152.5 million to National Grid plc for Seneca-Upshur LLC, including the rights to an estimated 90,000 net acres in the Marcellus Shale in north central West Virginia, the company said Monday. Closing is scheduled for Monday (Oct. 3), with an effective date of July 1, 2011.

Trans Energy Inc. has begun drilling the Lucey #1H well, its seventh horizontal Marcellus Shale well in Marshall County, WV, the company said. The drilling of the Keaton #1H well, which was begun by the independent exploration and production company in November (see Shale Daily, Nov. 23, 2010), has been completed. St. Marys, WV-based Trans Energy said it completed the 11-stage hydraulic fracture (frack) of Stout #2H in Marshall County last week and this week will begin the process of drilling out the frack plugs; fracking is scheduled in March for Keaton #1H and in February for Groves #1H, the company said. Trans Energy is moving to a development phase from an exploration phase as it develops its acreage position in northern West Virginia.