Well now. That's some really interesting info. Why do they have only two rigs in OH, but 15 in WV? I thought the Utica was a richer play. Did they get started over there late?
I have heard rumblings of some disappointments with the Utica play in Ohio of late. I forget the details, though.
My assumption of a bigger reason is that you attract more "green" (as in tree-hugging) investors when you position yourself in such a way as to stress your gas-play drilling more so than your oil-play drilling. (And that seems to be in line with the recently restated position of the executive branch on future energy policies, too.) Besides, aren't many West Virginians virtually giving away their interests to Antero right now? Not to mention how the self-owned infrastructure being put into place in WV will likely soon make production there even cheaper for Antero.
Those are all just guesses on my part, though. Nothing more.
And part of me hates to credit any company with that much foresight and intelligence.
:-)
I'd be interested in hearing any other theories on the matter.
Ah, found it:
"The big problem isn’t that the Utica doesn’t contain the hydrocarbon riches once envisioned. In many cases, the rock formation is too dense. In other areas, there are insufficient underground pressures to allow the oil to flow."--http://www.investmentu.com/2013/June/the-secret-behind-12percent-of-ohio-oil-production.html
And as for Utica gas production in Ohio:
"Ohio's lack of pipelines . . . is holding up production. . . . Chadsey said production already at a slow ramp-up is being further delayed by the lack of infrastructure. 'A lot of the wells . . . are being choked off,' he said, referring to the process of slowing or stopping the gas flow."--http://www.tribtoday.com/page/content.detail/id/588077/It-s-wait-and-see-for-future-of-the-Utica.html?nav=5003
I'd heard a rumor that there wasn't quite enough reservoir pressure to make Utica production in Ohio prolific. I guess it's not a rumor. I didn't realize it was because the formation was too dense. I thought it was because it was too close to the surface. Maybe the two are combining.
I knew infrastructure wasn't in place yet. But they're working pretty hard on that.
It makes sense that Antero wouldn't be up in Ohio, then. They do have a lot of infrastructure being completed here in Doddridge/Harrison, and they're getting good production from the Marcellus. I read an article on the Motley Fool that said the Marcellus is the most economic shale play around right now.
Maybe the pressure issues are more of a concern with the oil further west in Ohio than with the gas in the east--I don't know. But advances in technology may change all that in a few years, either way.
Yep. Look what happened in the last ten years. Absolutely amazing.
I read where there was an accident at a well site in New Milton, Doddridge Co. and some workers were injured. I hope they are going to be ok and prayers go out to them. This oil/gas business is very fragile when it comes to a highly flammable product. Every time I read or here of some kind of accident on leased property, i hope the workers are not seriously injured.
Just thinking about another topic that has been mentioned on the sites concerning lease language. So many people just sign on the dotted line and then hope that they did the right thing. Lessors need to put an indemnification clause in those leases to protect them from accidents. It matters not whether you are a surface or mineral owner, you need changes made to the leases. Even though you are not out there working at a well site, if anything happens you could be part of the liability. You may think you are just a one acre mineral holder and not involved. The lease does not say where in that parcel lies your acre. You are part of the whole pie. Some people who are out of state may think they are far removed from anything going on where the mineral property is. They just sign a company lease and go on. What they just signed is a contract for an oil company to go in and commence production on their property. Folks, get protection put in those leases regardless of whether you own an acre or hundreds of acres.
Hear, hear, DT. Working on an oil rig is still dangerous. They've come a long ways from where they were decades ago, but there are always accidents. I hope those guys are all right.
http://wvmetronews.com/gas-well-explosion-in-doddridge-county/
Looks like there were eight guys who suffered burns. That really sucks.
"We and other operators in the area have substantially delineated and de-risked our large contiguous acreage position in the southwestern core of the Marcellus Shale. We have drilled and completed 170 wells on our Marcellus Shale acreage with a success rate of 100%."
"We intend to dedicate substantially all of our $1.20 billion drilling and completion budget in 2013 to develop our liquids-rich areas. Approximately 85% of the 2013 drilling and completion budget is allocated to the Marcellus Shale, and the remaining 15% is allocated to the Utica Shale."
"We intend to continue identifying and acquiring additional acreage and producing assets in our core areas in the Marcellus and Utica Shales. We believe that by managing a large team of dedicated landmen, we have a competitive advantage that enables us to continue to opportunistically add acreage to our core positions. This team of landmen has allowed us to build a large, contiguous acreage position in our Marcellus and Utica Shale plays, making us the logical acreage consolidator in our core areas. We initially targeted and acquired 114,000 net acres in the Marcellus Shale in 2008, based on specific geologic and technical analysis, and have selectively built our position to approximately 317,000 net acres."
"
It is our practice in acquiring oil and gas leases or interests not to incur the expense of retaining lawyers to examine the title to the mineral interest at the time of acquisition. Rather, we rely upon the judgment of oil and gas lease brokers or landmen who perform the fieldwork in examining records in the appropriate governmental office before attempting to acquire a lease in a specific mineral interest. Leases in the Appalachian Basin are particularly vulnerable to title deficiencies due the long history of land ownership in the area, resulting in extensive and complex chains of title."
http://www.nasdaq.com/markets/ipos/filing.ashx?filingid=8938776
"We estimate that approximately 194,000 net acres of our Marcellus Shale leasehold are prospective for the slightly shallower Upper Devonian Shale. As of December 31, 2012, our estimated aggregate proved, probable and possible reserves were 26.1 Tcfe, and our 4.9 Tcfe of proved reserves were 21% proved developed and 75% natural gas. As of December 31, 2012, our drilling inventory consisted of 4,923 identified potential horizontal well locations, approximately 79% of which are liquids-rich drilling opportunities."
They forgot to add that the "dedicated" landman is making their company look pretty bad in a lot of folks eyes. I think a proper statement from them would be that they are looking for unassuming mineral owners who will sign a lease without researching it first.
Yep.
I consider the key phrase in their statement about the work of the landmen they "manage" to be this: "continue to opportunistically add acreage."
According to Webster's 11th Collegiate, "opportunistic" means "taking advantage of . . . exploiting . . . with little regard to principle or consequences . . . feeding on . . .// a . . . microorganism that can become pathogenic when the host's resistance is impaired."
And there you have it in a nutshell.
From their own mouth.
In my opinion.
And I sure hope they correct that spit infinitive on either side of "opportunistically" before publishing that for Wall Street! :-)
My heart goes out to the men and their families mentioned in the following update on the incident mentioned earlier in this thread:
DODDRIDGE GAS WELL EXPLOSION VICTIMS REMAIN IN BURN CENTER - At Least Two In Serious Condition
(07/17/2013) UPDATE 7/15/13 - At least two men of at least five men burned at an explosion and fire at an Antero gas well site in Doddridge County remain in serious condition at the West Penn Burn Center in Pittsburgh, . . . others could also be in serious condition, . . . Antero spokesman Al Schopp said some of the men are going through surgeries and skin grafting procedures and that they are making progress."
Of course, this tragedy has nothing to do with negotiating with anyone, other than the given reminder of how dangerous the work is and thus the need for lease wording protecting oneself legally from repercussions of accidents that can happen on one's property.
JNK, what if anything did you find out about Antero and the EPA permits concerning your property?
I sent an e-mail to the DEP to get everything on the record there. I don't expect to hear back from them right away. Busy people, and all.
I know I really should have a lawyer doing this stuff, but I just hate to lawyer up this early in the game when the game hasn't really even started yet. That's just not how I roll.
The last thing I heard from a landman was something about his wanting to arrange a face-to-face between me and some higher-ups. I told him that meeting face-to-face would be fine and dandy (just tell me where they're buying lunch, if they're coming to me, or which hotel they're putting me up in if I'm going to them :-) ) as long as I have everything in writing by e-mail or snail mail on Antero letterhead well ahead of time outlining exactly what they plan to discuss.
The nicey-nice stage is over, as far as I am concerned, though, given the stuff they've pulled. The only contact I'm interested in personally is a written statement acknowledging what I own and making an offer to buy. Other than discussing that, face-to-face would waste my time and theirs, from where I sit.
And if they pull the kind of shenanigans again that they have been pulling, I may decide to hold out on them for the next two years simply to let their present permit expire out of spite. And then they may STILL have to shorten that planned horizontal or move it to drill around me if they aren't willing to start playing ball in good faith. (Assuming, of course, that some sort of forced-pooling law doesn't get passed before then.)
Here's the latest I've seen on the terrible accident mentioned earlier in this thread.
http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article1333147.ece
My sincere condolences to Mr. Paxton's friends and family.
And let's hope the investigators figure out exactly what happened and find a way to keep anything like it from ever happening again. Dangerous work, and always will be I guess, but if it can be made a lot safer, let it be so soon.
I read of the passing of Mr. Paxton. He was one of our Wv. workers and we send our condolences out to his family. Accidents such as this, dealing with highly flammable products, almost always result in serious injury.
Forced pooling, Ahhh. I think the forced pooling/integration bill will be a reality someday, because of lawmakers making deals that benefit their political future. This bill is a two sided bill. One side is pushing the mineral owner to sign over or we take it and give you what the law says we owe you. The other side is the companies say they want to be able to get into property and there are "lost" mineral owners they can't find. This prevents them from pursuing that interest. I am not sure how they should do this. Those people they say they can't find could turn into people they don't care if they find. They could be people who did not wish to lease and are hindering the companies efforts. I do not think the people who would regulate the law would put any effort into verifying that the owner could not be found. With the company lawyer presenting loads of paperwork, showing they looked for them to the courts, the company would eventually win out. If people would research states that have forced pooling, they would be shocked at what can happen without your approval.