Last May the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) finally, after a months-long delay, issued a favorable environmental assessment (EA) for the Buckeye XPress (BXP) pipeline project (see Buckeye XPress Pipe Project in OH, WV Gets Favorable FERC Review). In October, Columbia (i.e. TC Energy) tried to goose FERC into issuing a final approval to build the project. Last Thursday FERC finally granted that approval–once again after a months-long delay.
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West Rockhill Township in Bucks County, PA (near Philadelphia) waged a legal battle to prevent a natural gas compressor station from being built as part of the Adelphia Gateway project, a plan to convert an old oil pipeline stretching from Northampton County, PA through Bucks, Montgomery, and Chester counties, terminating in Delaware County at Marcus Hook. West Rockhill appealed a decision by the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) authorizing construction of the compressor station to a special court called the Environmental Hearing Board (EHB). Last October the EHB ruled against West Rockhill (see Township Loses Appeal to Block Adelphia Gateway Compressor Stn). The town, along with help from its Big Green friends, is making one last “Hail Mary” attempt to block the compressor.
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We’ve been warning you, for the past two years, that FERC Commissioner Richard “Dick” Glick is nothing more than a Chuck Schumer political hack. He consistently votes against ALL new natural gas pipeline projects, claiming FERC doesn’t pander enough to global warmists in deciding whether a project should get built. Now Glick is siding with radicalized “environmentalists” (socialists) who want to deny FERC the right to use one of their most important tools–called a “tolling order”–a tool FERC uses to counter a myriad of lawsuits Big Green now files against every…single…new…pipeline project. To say Glick has betrayed his office is an understatement.
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Apparently New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, far-left Democrat, is trying to grab the far-left spotlight away from his neighbor, NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Murphy unveiled an insane energy plan for NJ yesterday, a plan that calls for eliminating the use of natural gas in the state by 2050. That’s 30 years away. Even though such a reduction will decimate the state economically and force millions of its residents to suffer from lack of heat and electricity. Natural gas is used to produce produces 50% of NJ’s electricity heat the homes and businesses of 75% of NJ residents! This is a stark raving mad plan. All in the name of solving a problem that doesn’t even exist–man-made global warming.
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It’s not all doom and gloom in the Marcellus/Utica sector. Although there have been plenty of layoffs and announcements of budget cuts and less drilling, at least one company in our space is expanding–sensing new opportunity. That company, we are proud to say, is MDN’s premier sponsor for 2020: Steel Nation. Although Steel Nation builds steel buildings used throughout our industry, it does far more. Steel Nation also offers engineering, environmental and facility services. Unlike other companies currently trimming back, Steel Nation is expanding! The company has just added three new key members to its top-flight team.
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The regional transmission organization (RTO) that oversees the electric grid in New England states is called ISO New England. The organization has just published new data for 2019 which contains some interesting statistics. For example, in 2019, some 48.5% of all the electricity generated in the region (the #1 source) was generated by (yep)…natural gas. That number has been pretty consistent over the past five years. The #2 source of electric generation was nuclear, at 30%. The #3 source was hydro, which produced 9% of New England’s electricity. Wait, what about wind and solar? You know, the blessed renewables that will SAVE THE PLANET. How much did they produce last year?
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Natural gas is one of those commodities that economists consider as close to a “pure” commodity as one can get. Meaning the classic supply and demand curve rules. When you get more supply than you have in demand, the price goes down–along a predictable curve. In the natural gas world, supply signals come from a couple of different numbers. One is overall production. Another is storage–how much natural gas is sitting, unused, in underground storage, put there during summer “injection season” so it can be used during the winter “withdrawal season.” The bad news (for prices) is that with relatively mild temperatures this winter, we are at near-record high storage levels, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
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OTHER U.S. REGIONS: FERC staff issues supplemental EIS for Magnolia LNG capacity project; NATIONAL: Cheniere hits 1000 LNG cargoes milestone; EIA forecasts U.S. crude oil production will keep growing through 2021, but more slowly; Shale production is on DUC life support and will need it going forward; As gas prices crash, will this shale giant survive?; Will Democrats embrace fossil fuels in crucial swing states?; BERNing Down America (video); INTERNATIONAL: China’s promise to buy more US energy probably unachievable.
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How many times over the years has MDN made this observation, using words along these lines: Cabot Oil & Gas is the only Marcellus drilling we know that can spin gold out of straw. Meaning they make money even at some of the lowest natural gas prices in the country, found in northeastern PA. A recent post by an energy investment advisor examines Cabot’s unique ability to make money at low prices.
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Pennsylvania’s Pipeline Investment Program (or PIPE) grants cover part of the cost for building new natural gas pipelines to connect homes and businesses in rural parts of the state to homegrown Marcellus Shale gas supplies. We’ve written about many of the more-than-a-dozen (so far) PIPE grant projects in the past (see our PIPE stories here). Another four such grants, totaling $2.3 million, have just been awarded–in Chester, Monroe and Northampton counties. The big news with this latest round of grants is that they will create 575 *permanent* new jobs in the Commonwealth. Some 500 of those jobs will be at a mushroom farm!
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Big Green groups are colluding on a new lawsuit aimed at overturning a permit that allows a compressor station located in Smith Township (Washington County, PA) to continue operating. Gee, color us surprised.
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We recently became aware of a small (very small) Dominion pipeline project in western PA while covering the news of another smallish Dominion pipeline (see PA DEP OKs Dominion Pipeline to Feed PA NatGas to OH Power Plant). The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently issued a 401 certificate for the JP-40 Pipeline Replacement Project located in Salem, Hempfield, and Penn Townships, Westmoreland County.
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EnCap Investments is a venture capital investor that funds independent companies in the U.S. oil and gas industry. EnCap has its fingers in a number of pies in the Marcellus/Utica. According to a Bloomberg article, EnCap plans to use a pile of $6 billion in cash it’s sitting on to drill new oil and natural gas wells this year. EnCap currently runs 23 drilling rigs at its various portfolio companies. Two of those companies drill in the Marcellus/Utica.
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Seems like all we see in mainstream media are articles bashing Energy Transfer’s Mariner East (ME) NGL pipeline projects. Most of the negative press comes from southeastern PA where the pipeline has hit snags in building through Philadelphia suburbs. Imagine our surprise in seeing a guest editorial in a southwestern PA newspaper supporting the ME project, a column that details just how this massive project has benefitted the Keystone State in numerous ways–all across the state.
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We almost didn’t run this post, but, well, it was just too funny not to! Danny DeVito is running to become the next representative for the 45th District of the Pennsylvania State House, located in Allegheny County (i.e. Pittsburgh). And he’s running as a Republican on a pro-shale drilling platform! Wait, isn’t Danny DeVito that really short Hollywood actor who’s an uber-liberal and hardened Democrat?! Indeed he is. But we’re not talking about *that* Danny DeVito.
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MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Raising drilling permit fees by 150 percent will hurt Pennsylvania’s economy; Another oil major bails on Marcellus shale; Shale Crescent USA wins award; WVU Board of Governors approves switch to natural gas boiler; Plant will operate safely, provide a lot of jobs; Delaware Riverkeeper filing shows DRBC was lying to state reps; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Environmentalists to California restaurants: drop lawsuit over Berkeley gas ban; NATIONAL: U.S. oil rigs up, natural gas rigs down in latest count; U.S. LNG exports reach third place in 2019, with much more coming; INTERNATIONAL: Why the Coronavirus is a real threat to oil markets.
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