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Wood County, OH Judge Blocks Eminent Domain for UTOPIA Pipeline

UTOPIA Pipeline Project map
UTOPIA Pipeline Project map – click for larger version

On Tuesday MDN brought you the news that Kinder Morgan is scheduled to begin construction next month on their UTOPIA (Utica To Ontario Pipeline Access) pipeline, a 12-inch ethane pipeline that will run ~240 miles across the state of Ohio (see UTOPIA Pipeline Construction Begins, OSU to Study Hole-Digging). Although Kinder has struck deals with most landowners along the route, some are still resisting, which requires (in rare cases) filing an eminent domain case against them. When such cases have been challenged, Kinder has usually won. But they’ve just lost such a case in Wood County, where a county judge says Kinder Morgan can’t use eminent domain in his county with respect to UTOPIA. Is this a big, hairy deal for KM and the project? A slight delay? Or something in between?…
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Dems Use Scranton Newspaper in New Campaign for PA Severance Tax

Comin Around Again - EditedOn Monday we brought you the incredulous news that Democrats Sen. John Yudichak (Wilkes-Barre area) is once again pushing a Marcellus-killing severance tax, using a recent PA Supreme Court decision as the excuse (see Unbelievable: PA Dems Continue to Push for Severance Tax). In what can only be called coordination and collusion (and corruption), the Scranton Times-Tribune editorial board has lent its voice to Yudichak’s new effort. If you follow national politics at all, you have no doubt read that WikiLeaks, in releasing poached emails from John Podesta (Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager), shows “reporters” from newspapers like the New York Times coordinating stories and asking for permission to run certain quotes made by the candidate. It’s sick. It’s sleazy. It’s corruption of the media. Well folks, that not only happens nationally, it happens regionally and locally too. As in the Democrat-run Scranton Times-Tribune
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Panda Power! New NatGas Electric Plant Planned for CT

Panda Power FundsThose willy pandas are on the prowl again. In August 2013, Moxie Energy of Vienna, VA sold the permits/rights to build a new Marcellus gas-powered electric generating plant in Bradford County, PA to Panda Power Funds of Dallas, TX (see Moxie Liberty Sells PA Electric Plant Project to Panda Power). The project was renamed from Moxie Liberty to Panda Liberty. A few months later, in December 2013, Moxie sold a second Marcellus-gas fired electric plant project to Panda, this one slated to be built in Lycoming County, PA (see Panda Power Buys Rights for 2nd Marcellus-Fueled Electric Plant). That project was renamed from Moxie Patriot to Panda Patriot. In June, Panda began operations at both plants (see Panda Power’s 2 PA Marcellus-Fired Electric Plants Complete!). With those two projects in hand, it’s time to look for new opportunities. Panda has found one–in Connecticut. Panda is proposing to build a 550-megawatt plant powered by natural gas in Litchfield County, near Danbury, CT…
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Pieridae Energy to Make FID on Goldboro LNG Project Next 2 Mos

Goldboro LNGWe’ve kept an eye on several LNG export projects along the Eastern shore of Canada (most of them in Nova Scotia) for some time. Why? Because they’re a huge potential market for Marcellus and Utica Shale gas. One of those projects, in Nova Scotia, is the Goldboro LNG project from Pieridae Energy. In February, the U.S. Dept. of Energy approved the plant for exporting to non-free trade agreement counties, back in February (see Goldboro LNG Project Gets Final DOE Approval – Good for Marcellus). In August, Honeywell has announced it was selected to provide the Goldboro project with automation and safety systems and serve as the integrated main automation contractor (see Signs of Life in Canadian Goldboro LNG Export Project). Pieridae officials went on the record this week saying they are still on track to make a final investment decision (FID) by the end of this year, which is just over two months away. We take that to be a very good sign…
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Marathon’s Billion Dollar Bet on the Utica Shale

1 billionMarathon Petroleum, which purchased midstream company MarkWest Energy last year, continues to grow and expand–because of the Utica Shale. Marathon operates a refinery in Canton, OH that processes crude oil. Question: Did you know that 25% of the crude oil being processed at the Marathon refinery comes from the Utica Shale? No, we didn’t know that either! Marathon has made some big bets on the Utica. In fact, over the past two years, they’ve bet more than $1 billion on the Utica…
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Buffalo Twp in Butler County, PA Approves XTO Compressor Station

stamp-of-approval.jpgThis is so unusual, it qualifies as news: Supervisors in Buffalo Township (Butler County), PA have approved a new compressor station to be built by Mountain Gathering–a subsidiary of XTO Energy. The reason it’s news is for how the approval process was handled. Town residents who live near where the station will be built understandably had some concerns. Those concerns were aired. Town officials visited other compressor stations built by Mountain Gathering. They had XTO officials in to answer questions. There was no bleating and blatting, no parading in front of cameras and microphones, no “die-ins” and radical protests. Just deliberative, calm, adult discussions. And at the end of it, the supervisors voted to grant permission for the compressor station to get built. Unusual!…
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One More Look at Important OH Supreme Court DMA Decision

one-more-timeIn September the Ohio Supreme Court finally ruled on a series of cases involving the state’s Dormant Mineral Act, or DMA (see Important: OH Supreme Court Finally Rules on Dormant Mineral Act). The Supremes issued full rulings in three DMA cases and stated the other cases come under those three. The biggest of the three is Corban v. Chesapeake Energy, in which the justices said the 2006 law now trumps the 1989 law. We brought you initial legal insights on the decisions handed down in our previous post. However, we recently spotted yet another law firm’s “take” on the decisions–in particular in the Corban case. The law firm is Jones Day, a big international firm. The reason their take on the Corban decision is relevant and worth reading is because they were one of the firms that argued the case before the justices. We found their article interesting and think you will too–as the DMA decisions have a huge impact on both landowners and drillers…
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Warning: EPA Attempting to Take Over FERC’s Job in Pipe Approvals

Make Him an Offer He Can't RefuseWe have, as long as we’ve been writing the MDN website, warned that the federal Environmental Protection Agency, particularly under B.H. Obama, is an out-of-control, lawless, aggressive cancer on the country. The EPA has repeatedly attempted to UNCONSTITUTIONALLY control oil and gas drilling–something only state governments have the right to regulate. The EPA has repeatedly sought to influence (i.e. control) o&g development via other means–like expanding the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and Waters of the United States (WOTUS). The latest evidence of EPA’s illegal overreach comes with EPA’s bullying of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). EPA is telling FERC to get its head screwed on straight with respect to an approval for two Marcellus/Utica projects–Leach Xpress and Rayne Xpress Expansion projects. EPA says FERC is ignoring mythological man-made global warming bullcrap in their review of the projects, and EPA is demanding a meeting with the top brass at FERC to bully them into submission…
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Climate Radicals Turn Terrorist, Shut Down 5 Canada-to-US Oil Pipes

confessions of an eco-terroristWhen lunatic man-made global warming Kool-Aid drinkers feel like they’re being ignored, some of them tip over into criminal behavior in a bid to get noticed. It’s not just criminal, it’s terrorism. Terrorists were arrested Tuesday when they cut padlocks and chains at five remote flow stations (four different states) and shut down five oil pipelines coming from Canada into the United States. The terrorists turned off the valves at those stations–creating a dangerous situation. It was a direct attack against the United States and our energy infrastructure–yet it’s being treated (in the media) as, “Look at these devilish imps and what they did, aren’t they cute?” There’s nothing cute about it. The stated reason for the terrorist action is to oppose the “catastrophe of global warming.” Anti-fossil fuel madness has fully metastasized in their rather small brains…
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Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Thu, Oct 13, 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: Utica rigs drop by 3; Equitable Gas looks to expand beyond natgas delivery; NJ locals to weigh in on proposed compressor station; Driftwood LNG seeks DOE export permit; Cheniere gets permit to start LNG exports from second train; the insufferable Josh Fox humiliates himself in Britain; US to dominate global natgas markets; and more!
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