Help Wanted: 15,000 Workers Needed for Rover Pipeline, STAT!
[4/7/17 UPDATE: Since publishing this post, MDN has been flooded with calls and emails asking, “Where do I apply for a Rover job?” After reaching out to Rover numerous times, what we have learned is that Rover is using contractors, and union labor. There is no HR office at Rover to accept job applications. Job seekers must either find a job with a local contractor already working with Rover, or by heading down to the local union hall to see if they can help. MDN plans to publish another article next week with more details and strategies on finding a Rover Pipeline job. Stay tuned.]
Some really big news coming from the Utica Upstream conference held Wednesday at Walsh University (in North Canton, OH). As we previously reported, Rover Pipeline got permission from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to begin construction on March 3rd (see FERC Green Lights Rover Pipeline Construction). And construction began, immediately. A local TV station recently did a flyover of one area where construction is happening, and the video is an awesome sight (see Video of Rover Pipeline’s Massive & Complex Construction in OH). Operating all of those bulldozers and backhoes, driving trucks, shoveling dirt, moving material from Point A to Point B–takes people. A LOT of people. So far Rover has hired 4,500 workers–but they need 15,000! And they need them NOW, as soon as possible, stat. What happens if they don’t get enough workers? They won’t make their deadline of completing the first phase of the Rover project by July 1st. What stands in the way of hiring another 10,000+ workers? In a word, drugs. Rover can’t find enough warm bodies who can pass a drug test, which is a sad commentary on society today…
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We find this news somewhat surprising. The West Virginia Oil & Natural Gas Association (WVONGA) has been pushing hard to get legislation passed in WV’s short legislative session on an issue we call “forced pooling lite”–WV Senate Bill 576 which addresses the issues of co-tenancy and joint development (see 
Pardon me, but may I ask, How long is your lateral? We don’t mean to ask such a personal question, but in this case, size matters. You see, the longer the lateral, the more return on investment (ROI) you get–according to top officials from Eclipse Resources. Eclipse Resources, a Marcellus/Utica pure play driller headquartered in State College, PA that drills mostly in Ohio, fielded top officials at two different events this week to talk about the company’s drilling program–and their impressively long laterals. MDN editor Jim Willis heard Eclipse CEO Benjamin W. Hulburt at the Oil & Gas Investment Symposia (OGIS) in New York on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Eclipse’s vice president of drilling, Oleg Tolmachev, appeared at the Utica Upstream conference at Walsh University in North Canton. They both hit on a theme that struck a chord with us–namely, that by drilling longer lateral Utica wells, the company is drastically lowering the cost per foot of drilling–and by doing so, they raise the ROI, making their shale wells more profitable than their competitors’…
In March MDN brought you the news that APV Renaissance Partners (a subsidiary of American Power Ventures) will submit a permit to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) “within the next month” for a combined-cycle power plant at the old Hatfield’s Ferry site in Greene County, PA–to be powered with Marcellus Shale gas (see 
It’s hard to keep track of all the Marcellus and Utica Shale-fired electric plants being planned, built and going online. We recently highlighted a list of 11 such projects getting built in Ohio (see 
Isn’t it refreshing when those who oppose something, like fracking, or pipelines, are just honest about their true “heart of hearts” motivation? We’ve made the case for years that charlatans like Josh Fox (of Gasland infamy) attempt to manipulate public opinion through the use of lies–like “fracking pollutes water” and “pipelines explode.” They attempt to smear fundamentally safe practices like fracking through the use of innuendo, supposition and lies. What is their true motivation? They oppose fossil fuels. They believe, in a rather kindergartenish way, that solar and wind and so-called renewable energy sources are superior–and if you don’t want to pay the high price of those sources, well, they want to FORCE you to accept it. But we’re not Stalinist Russia–yet. They can’t just enforce their will on the public. So they have to convince enough of the public to believe their lies that politicians will follow suit and pass laws to strip away more of our freedoms (see 
The ax is about to swing at the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). While we don’t wish ill on anyone, and especially we don’t like to see people out of a job, this is one time when it’s necessary and LONG overdue. The EPA is populated with many career employees who lean far to the left–and it’s about time they were gone. An internal EPA memo has turned up (full copy below) that outlines plans to downside the agency from 15,000 employees to around 11,500–about a 23% reduction. The bold move has many career Democrats at the agency in “shock” and in “dread” over the prospect of losing their jobs. But in typical fashion, these Dems are not just going to wilt away. Their union plans to fight to keep the jobs and to keep the leftist Obama environmental agenda alive in the Trump Administration. Good luck with that. Remember what happened to the air traffic controllers’ union in the Reagan Administration?…
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Energy analysts call Maryland frack ban “symbolic”; are Atlantic Sunrise opponents just bullies; Vermont Supreme Court considering gas pipeline case; Trump’s failure to appoint FERC posts is hurting key pipeline projects; US energy consumption went up in 2016, even as coal generation went down; Qatar makes bold move to reassert grip on natgas market; Total opens 1st natgas fueling station in France–where they’ve banned fracking; China now top buyer of US crude; and more!