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Anti Arrested for Terrorist Threats, Waves Gun at PennEast Workers

handcuffsYet another anti has crossed the line into terrorism–and no, we don’t use that word lightly. Three surveyors working on the PennEast Pipeline in Holland Township (Hunterdon Township), New Jersey were approached by a man with a rifle. The man asked them if they were there working on the PennEast. When the 3-man crew responded “yes,” the man waved the gun in the air, shouting at them that he would stop the pipeline. It was a clearly a menancing threat to the men who were doing nothing more than a survey. Holland Township Police later arrested Lester Kinney Jr., charging him with “making terroristic threats and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.” The Sierra Club was quick to respond and distance itself from Kinney, making us wonder if Kinney is a member…
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PA Drillers Lose Vote to Stop Onerous New Regs in Partisan 3-2 Vote

IRRCEarlier this week MDN told you that a judge refused to sanction a lawsuit filed by the Pennsylvania Independent Petroleum Producers Association (PIPP) against implementation of new rules and changes to existing rules known as Chapters 78 & 78a (see PA Conventional Drillers File Lawsuit to Stop New DEP Regulations). The judges action cleared the way for the new rules to be voted on by the PA Independent Regulatory Review Commission, or IRRC (see Judge Won’t Grant Request to Stop Adoption of New PA Drilling Regs). The IRRC voted yesterday to approve the new rules. The three Democrat members of the commission voted in favor of adopting the rules, while the two Republicans on the commission voted against. The three liberal Dems followed orders from PA’s anti-drilling Governor, Tom Wolf, even though “Independent” is in the name of the commission. Tell us again how shale drilling is not a partisan issue? We have a variety of news reports on the seven hour hearing, along with what happens next and an excellent analysis of yesterday’s vote from a top energy attorney…
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Utility Giant ConEdison Buys a Piece of the Marcellus Midstream

ConEdisonNew York City’s largest utility company–Consolidated Edison Inc.–has formed a 50/50 joint venture to purchase ownership of pipelines and storage facilities from Crestwood Equity Partners (formerly Crestwood Midstream) in the PA and NY Marcellus region. ConEdison is ponying up $975 million for assets Crestwood says are really worth $2 billion. The newly formed jv, called Stagecoach Gas Services, will continue to be operated by Crestwood and includes four natural gas storage facilities (Stagecoach, Thomas Corners, Steuben and Seneca Lake) with a combined storage capacity of approximately 41 billion cubic feet; and three natural gas pipelines (MARC I, North/South and the East Pipeline) with a combined throughput capacity of 2.96 billion cubic feet per day. Here’s the details…
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Supporters Rally for Constitution Pipeline, Cuomo has 1 Week Left

JLCNYTalk about media bias. Yesterday over 200 people crowded into a meeting room at the Binghamton Holiday Inn for a rally supporting the Constitution Pipeline–a $683 million, 124-mile pipeline due to run from Susquehanna County, PA to Schoharie County, NY carrying Marcellus gas. The “newspaper of record” for Binghamton, the Press & Sun-Bulletin (P&SB), is so biased they didn’t run a single word covering the event in today’s edition. The P&SB’s so-called reporter who covers the drilling issue (actually an anti-drilling propagandist), Tom Wilber, apparently couldn’t be bothered to cover a major news story under his nose and part of his beat. The P&SB couldn’t even send an intern. Yes, the P&SB is completely in the anti-drilling tank and not in any way an actual news organization–they’re simply Democrat hacks towing the party line. Here’s what happened at yesterday’s meeting, from real news organizations that did show up…
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Dominion Works with WV Community to Re-Route Atlantic Coast Pipeline

Atlantic-Coast-Pipeline-Alternative-Route-Map
Atlantic Coast Pipeline map – click for larger version

We love it when adults are in the room and discussing important issues, rather than petulant babies stamping their feet and demanding “no drilling” and “no pipeline.” When there’s adults in the room, things get done. Such was the case when Dominion officials met with Randolph, WV County Comissioners to update them on the status of the $5 billion, 550-mile long Atlantic Coast Pipeline project, slated to come through Randolph County. The 42-inch pipeline is not without controversy because anti-fossil fuelers convert what used to be routine pipelines into controversy. But there was no controversy at the meeting. Commissioners, on behalf of residents, had expressed concerns over the pipeline’s route through the Mingo Flats area. And guess what? Dominion has changed the route to avoid that area. Contrary to the image of a Big Evil Pipeline Company that “does what it wants,” Dominion (and others, like Kinder Morgan, and Sectra Energy, and Williams, etc.) makes every attempt to accommodate landowner requests when building a new pipeline. Here’s how it works when there’s adults in the room…
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FERC Fights Critics with Draft EIS for Marcellus/Utica Projects

Columbia Leach Express map
Columbia Leach Express map – click for larger version

In August 2014, MDN told you that Columbia Pipeline Group, a division of NiSource, had decided to move forward with investing $1.75 billion dollars for two new projects: the Leach XPress and Rayne XPress pipeline projects (see Columbia Gas: $1.75B for 2 Projects to Send Marcellus Gas to Gulf). Leach Xpress will begin in Marshall County, West Virginia, cross Ohio and end up in Leach, Kentucky. Rayne Xpress will beef up an existing pipeline from Leach, Kentucky that goes all the way to Rayne, Louisiana with new compressor stations and looping. The two projects together mean up to 2.7 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas can move through the entire system–from West Virginia to the Gulf Coast and all point in between. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has just issued a press release announcing their draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) results. The press release isn’t a typical FERC press release. They take great pains to link to the extensive paperwork that makes up the EIS. What it signals is FERC’s attempt to counter false claims that the agency is simply a rubber stamp for Big Oil & Gas. So the press release below is important for two reasons: (1) It means Leach XPress and Rayne XPress have achieved another significant milestone on their way to being built, and (2) it signals that FERC isn’t going to let anti-fossil fuel nutters set the narrative about the agency any more…
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Southwestern Energy 1Q16: Loses Another $1.1B, Making Progress

southwestern energySouthwestern Energy, which has suspended all Marcellus/Utica drilling for 2016, released their first quarter 2016 update yesterday. Among the things we learn: the company lost more than $1 billion for the third consecutive quarter ($1.159B in 1Q16); it produced more gas (and oil) than it thought it would for 1Q16; they’ve found a few more ways to save money moving forward. Here’s the full update from Southwestern…
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Schlumberger Drilling Marcellus Test Wells in WV for DOE’s NETL

SchlumbergerSchlumberger is the largest oilfield services company in the world. Based in Houston, the company doesn’t do all that much work in the Marcellus/Utica region. The company issued it’s first quarter 2016 update yesterday. We typically don’t cover it here on MDN because they’re not heavily involved in our neck of the woods, but we did spot a reference to the Marcellus Shale in the update, which we’ve extracted for you below…
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Weather Channel Founder Says “Climate Change” Theory has Failed

John ColemanJohn Coleman is the founder of the Weather Channel. He’s been a meteorologist for over 60 years. He was the original forecaster for the first seven years of ABC’s Good Morning America. The man has been around. He knows weather, and he knows science. Penning a column in today’s USA Today, for Earth Day, Coleman skewers the global warming “climate change” hysteria as a hoax that does nothing more than give more power to the United Nations. Happy Earth Day! Here’s what Coleman says…
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Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Apr 22, 2016

best of the restThe “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Columbia Pipeline gets award; tax revenues up in Monroe County, OH from fracking; new EQT directors; no vote on Elizbeth Twp natgas-fired power plant; big renewables co. SunEdison goes bankrupt; making OPEC irrelevant; natgas storage surplus; and more!
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