Marcellus

The West Virginia Department of Commerce is evaluating bids from several exploration and production (E&P) companies interested in valuable mineral rights below the Ohio River in the northern part of the state.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) has rejected a ruling by two administrative law judges (ALJ) that it should dismiss a petition by Sunoco Logistics Partners LP to be a public utility for the Mariner East pipeline. The PUC ordered more public hearings on the issue.

Continuing its push to divest non-core assets across the country in favor of its properties in the Utica and Marcellus shales, Magnum Hunter Resources Corp. has completed the sale of its non-operated working interests in Divide County, ND, for more than $23 million.

Less than a month after federal regulators levied a $3 million fine against Trans Energy Inc. for illegally dumping materials into streams and wetlands in West Virginia, the company pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on Wednesday to three counts of violating the Clean Water Act (CWA).

The Marcellus Shale has for some time now been touted for its low finding and development costs, and even as natural gas volumes in the formation are expected to surpass 16 Bcf/d this month, exploration and production (E&P) companies are bent on getting more for less.

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) has issued a cease operations order to Antero Resources Corp. after an incident that occurred on Sept. 24 in northern West Virginia, when the company inadvertently breached a producing well while drilling another on the same pad.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has levied a $250,000 fine against a pipeline company for more than a dozen construction violations that occurred over a seven-month period in Lycoming County, in the heart of the Marcellus Shale.

Consol Energy Inc. and Noble Energy Inc.’s bid to take their midstream assets public paid off in a big way Thursday. The market debut found their master limited partnership (MLP) raising more than expected, and shares skyrocketed in a nod of confidence for one of the largest midstream systems yet to go public in the Appalachian Basin.

The Marcellus Shale Coalition’s (MSC) annual conference in Pittsburgh was underscored with warnings and apprehension about a battle for public opinion between the oil and natural gas industry and those opposed to it.