Lord Stanley, No.........Lord Marcellus, Yes

The last time a Canadian hockey team won the cup (Canadiens '92-'93) was the year that Talisman Energy was formed. While US hockey teams have been sliding into the back door and snatching ole Lord Stanley for those fifteen years, the $US 24 billion Canadian gas producer has been sliding into the US and snatching up a very nice chunk of the Marcellus shale.

While doing some background work for the recent Talisman Energy/Hallwood announcement, I found that the company holds a substantial 640,000 acres in the Marcellus play. This makes them the #3 player behind Chesapeake and Range in terms of acreage.

According to Talisman's June presentation, the position is mainly on the NY-PA border with some acreage in southwestern PA very near Range Resources' highly successful horizontal completions. Furthermore, Talisman's Fortuna Energy unit (FEI) is heralded as the #1 producer of natural gas in the state of New York.

The Pennsylvania DEP website shows that Talisman's Fortuna Energy (FEI) unit has only 17 active well sites in Pennsylvania's Marcellus fairway. With 20 vertical test wells drilled since '06 and plans to drill 4 more as well as 20 horizontals by the end of next year, it won't be long that you'll see TLM on the list to the right: The Players..........

Talisman Tweaks North American Shale Plans

Calgary, Alberta, Canada based Talisman Energy, Inc. announced late yesterday that its Fortuna Energy unit (FEI) had reached an agreement with Hallwood Energy L.P to earn up to a one-third working interest in Hallwood's US properties. Talisman and its affiliates will have access to Hallwood's technical staff for assistance on its developing plays in the Montney, the Bakken, the Utica and Lorraine shales in Quebec and Marcellus shales in New York and Pennsylvania.

Full Story at http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/marketwire/0405691.htm

Drillbits

Fire on the Mountain - Lightnin' in the Air

In what must be the most irresponsible writing (I'll refrain from calling it journalism) that I've ever seen, Tom Wilbur, of Binghamton, NY's Press and Sun Bulletin shows an absolute disregard for his professional reputation and that of his paper in last Sunday's article, Drilling carries a hefty environmental price.

His preference for an apocalyptic rather than informational account of the development of the Marcellus shale will leave some landowners shaking in their boots at the prospect of leasing their property to Beelzebub. Others, having surpassed Mr. Wilbur by attaining the intelligence level of a ten year old, will take some time to learn about the subject from neighbors, internet pages and forums; go to a landowner meeting or two; visit a few completed sites and steer clear of the following propaganda:

"For local property owners giddy about the prospects of their own lucrative land deals, it has been a sobering vision to see heavy equipment diverting stream beds and bright red diesel fuel flowing through ditches."

"Spectacular explosions at gas-drilling sites, shooting churning orange and black fireballs into the air and leaving columns of soot visible for miles, are not unheard of. "

"The noise of heavy equipment pounding the earth, clouds of dust settling over their house and swimming pool, and loss of control of their property are too much, Bonnie said. Town officials seem to be helpless in controlling booming noises coming from the site day and night. After a string of sleepless nights, Beagel complained to the operators, she said, and was told this: 'I know your neighbors aren't happy with us, ma'am. One came out of the woods at 2 o'clock last night swearing. But my orders are to keep this operation going'."

Full Story at http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080608/NEWS01/806080359/1001/ARCHIVE

Quest Resource Corp. Acquires PetroEdge

Quest picks up 67,000 acres inside the Marcellus fairway and 11,000 outside with the purchase of privately held PetroEdge of West Virginia. Quest also completed a previously announced farm-out agreement with a private company for 30,000 Marcellus acres in Potter Co., PA. The $140mm price tag includes the following PetroEdge assets:

• Estimated proved reserves of 99.6 Bcfe and PV-10 value of $258 million as of May 1, 2008 based off of May 1, 2008 pricing of $10.14 per MMBtu for natural gas and $105.89 per barrel (bbl) for oil.


• Estimated proved, probable and possible (3P) reserves of 650 to 675 Bcfe


• 100% operated with an average net revenue interest of 81%


• Current net production of approximately 3.3 Mmcfed, including 46 bbls per day of crude oil


• Approximately 95% of total reserves are natural gas


• Natural gas BTU content ranging from 1,160 to 1,406


• Average basis premium in Appalachia of approximately $0.30 per Mcfe over the past three years.
  
  Full Story at http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/080610/0405197.html
  

Get Ready.....Get Ready, 'Cause Here I Come

Steckman Ridge, LLC, a 50/50 joint venture of Spectra Energy and NJ Resources announces FERC approval for a 12 bcf working storage field in Bedford County, PA. The field will have access to Spectra's Texas Eastern as well as Dominion Transmission's interstate facilities.

Full Story at http://investors.spectraenergy.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=204494&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1163563&highlight=