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Judge Orders “Eco-Terrorists” to Vacate PA Property, Allow Pipe

MDN has extensively covered the story of a family in Huntingdon County, PA radicalized by the Big Green movement into opposing the Mariner East 2 pipeline across their property. The Gerhart family, with the assistance of what Sunoco Logistics Partners calls “eco-terrorists,” have pledged to illegally block construction of the pipeline. So a few weeks ago Sunoco asked a Huntingdon County judge to grant an injunction against the Gerharts AND the interloping eco-terrorists–to have them forcibly removed if they attempt to stop construction which is about to begin (see Sunoco Seeks Injunction Against Radicalized ME2 Pipe Protesters). The good news is that late last week the judge granted the injunction. The Gerharts and their eco-terrorist friends will sit their butts in jail if they scarper up a tree to sit, or stand in the way when the bulldozers rev their engines…
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ME2 Begins Building Pipeline in Lancaster County, PA

Click for larger version – Clay & West Cocalico in northern tip

Mariner East 2 (ME2), Sunoco Logistics Partner’s 350-mile NGL (natural gas liquids) pipeline that will run from Eastern Ohio to the Marcus Hook refinery near Philadelphia, has begun construction in northern Lancaster County, PA. Currently the work is getting done in the townships of Clay and West Cocalico. Which is great news. Here’s the even bigger news, that most mainstream news outlets are not reporting: “Officials for the two townships…[said] the pipeline faced no opposition.” Huh. Who woulda thunk? Lancaster County, home of the nutjobs who have threatened to establish an eco-terror camp to block Williams’ natural gas pipeline called Atlantic Sunrise–and yet with ME2, an NGL pipeline, no opposition. Nothing. Of course there are still pockets of resistance to ME2 (see today’s lead story about the eco-terrorists in Huntingdon County). But perhaps lack of opposition to ME2 in Lancaster County is a sign that Big Green is running out of steam (or money to pay protesters)…
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CONSOL Energy CEO Bends the Ear of Trump Cabinet @ White House

CONSOL Energy CEO Nick Deluliis

Last week was “Energy Week” at the White House. At a big speech and confab on energy, held at the White House, President Trump delivered a speech highlighting six new initiatives that will help America become energy dominant (see President Trump Unveils 6 Energy Initiatives, Half Involve NatGas). One of the invited guests from industry at that speech/confab was CONSOL Energy CEO Nick Deluliis. CONSOL has transformed itself in a little over a decade from being a coal company to becoming a powerhouse Marcellus/Utica driller. Deluliis took advantage of the meeting to bend the ear, privately, of Energy Secretary Rick Perry and “other cabinet secretaries” to drive home the message “that the Pittsburgh region is at the center of the energy revolution the administration envisions.” Cool! Nick was the unofficial ambassador for the Marcellus/Utica at the meeting. Here’s what else transpired between Nick and Team Trump last Thursday…
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Mich. Official Says She’ll Stand in Front of Dozer to Stop Rover

A liberal Democrat County from the Washtenaw County, Mich. Board of Commissioners, someone who obviously ignores the rule of law, has pledged to break the law in her misguided attempt to stop Energy Transfer’s Rover Pipeline project from coming through her county. Lib Dems often like to pick and choose which laws they will obey and which they’ll ignore, so we’re not surprised by the mouthy reaction from Commissioner Michelle Deatrick, D-Superior Township. She’s like many other radical anti-fossil fuelers. Michelle is an Al Gore fan and has apparently overdosed on trailers for Gore’s forthcoming Inconvenient Truth Part Deux fictional flick, called “Truth to Power,” because that’s the exact phase she used at a recent board meeting. Here’s what mouthy Michelle had to say…
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Marcellus Gas Now Powers Mohegan Sun Casino in the Poconos

Mohegan Sun Pocono CEO & President, Anthony Carlucci, UGI Energy Services President, Joe Hartz, Director of Capital Expenditure for Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment, Jeff Seidel, and UGI Business Development Manager, Steve Johnson, all spoke at and celebrated this milestone. In attendance also, was Cassandra Coleman with the Pennsylvania Governor’s office and Chief of Staff for Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Carroll, Ron Ralston.
Click for larger version

The Mohegan Sun Pocono casino, located near Wilkes-Barre, PA, is now powered by Marcellus Shale gas. On June 20 casino officials along with utility giant UGI and local/state politicians gathered to unveil an all-new co-generation energy plant at the casino. The plant uses Marcellus Shale gas to create electricity. The resulting heat is also trapped and used, to heat water, etc. (the “co” in co-generation). The plant cost $3 million to build. Roughly $1 million from a grant from the Commonwealth Financing Authority. The new plant reduces the Mohegan Sun Pocono casino’s so-called carbon footprint by 3,900 metric tons annually–it’s like taking 820 cars off the road. Here’s the story of how a fossil fuel–Marcellus Shale gas–is helping to clean up the environment, and make it cheaper to run the slot machines, at the same time…
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Velocys Leaving Shale Gas GTL Behind, Moving to Biomass BTL

We’ve written a fair bit about Velocys, a UK-based gas-to-liquids (GTL) company, over the past several years (see our stories here). Velocys previously purchased a GTL project planned for Ashtabula, OH, receiving all necessary permits to begin construction, but then put the project on indefinite hold in August 2016 (see Ashtabula, OH GTL Plant on Hold “Indefinitely”). GTL plants convert natural gas, a hydrocarbon, into other hydrocarbons, like diesel fuel, gasoline, solvents and waxes. They are a potential new market for an overabundance of supply in the Marcellus/Utica–hence our keen interest in companies like Velocys. Last December the company released a plan to “jump-start” the company (see GTL Vendor Velocys Releases Plan to Jump-Start the Company). Nowhere did we see mention that Velocys was thinking about abandoning their GTL focus, but NGI is now reporting the company is “suspending” its work and focus on GTL and instead is pivoting to work on “woody” biomass-to-liquids (BTL) instead. What’s woody biomass? Turning discarded trees and tree limbs into things like diesel fuel. Why the pivot? Because the company thinks it can score big money from the government to fund it…
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Utica Super Lateral Wells Now Catching on in Other Plays

Click for larger version

What is a “super lateral” as opposed to a “long lateral” when it comes to shale drilling? And who is drilling these really long wells? That’s the topic of a recent post by energy expert Richard Zeits on the Seeking Alpha investors website. We’ll give you our definition. But first, some brief background. When you read about a “lateral” in shale wells, it refers to the part of the well that is horizontal. When drilling a new well, you first (of course) drill vertically–more or less straight up and down. But at a certain depth, when you hit the shale layer you are targeting, you gradually turn the hole so that it becomes horizontal, running through the rock layer (see the illustration). The horizontal part is the lateral. In the early days of Marcellus (and Utica) shale wells, laterals were perhaps a maximum of 2,000 feet in length. Today? The longest on-shore lateral in the world (all three of them, actually) are located in Ohio–drilled by Eclipse Resources. Eclipse’s wells–first the Purple Hayes, then the Great Scott and most recently the Outlaw–are considered “super laterals” because they exceed 15,000 feet. In the case of the Outlaw C 11H well in Guernsey County, OH, the lateral is a staggering 19,500 feet long (see Eclipse Breaks Record Again – New Longest Shale Well in World!). If we use the metric that a “super lateral” is 15,000 feet or longer, there is one Marcellus well that qualifies (see Range Resources Drills Longest Marcellus Well Ever – in Washington Co.). While Mr. Zeits doesn’t use the exact metric of 15,000 feet, he does talk about super laterals, and predicts they will soon become common. He notes some new news for us: Chesapeake Energy has drilled an Eagle Ford oil well with a 17,000 foot lateral. Zeits says we should expect to see this in other plays too. We found his musings over super laterals, and the economics behind them, interesting…
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Big Chemical Continues to Lobby Trump Admin to Limit LNG Exports

Although we understand self-interest and wanting to protect one’s profit margin, we continue to be distressed that some of the biggest chemical companies in the world (meaning in the U.S.) are still actively trying to block approvals for more LNG export facilities. Why? They want the natural gas they buy (in very large quantities) to be as cheap as possible. In April, Big Chemical–companies like Dow Corning, BASF, Eastman Chemical and others–via their trade association Industrial Energy Consumers of America (IECA) launched an effort to try and persuade Energy Secretary Rick Perry and the Trump Administration to create barriers to exports of natural gas, ’cause you know, it’s “America First” now baby, and we want that gas all to ourselves (see Big Chemical Selfishly Wants to Block NatGas Exports). Even though last week was “Energy Week” at the White House, and Trump announced even more LNG exports on the way (to South Korea), the IECA is still keeping up the pressure. They sent another letter warning that more LNG exports will put Trump’s agenda of more American jobs in danger…
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Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Jul 3, 2017

The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Gas drilling inches in Tioga County, PA back as prices rise; national rig streak ends, down by 1 last week; natgas and electric grid reliability; so-called clean energy’s dirty little secret; Senators intro bipartisan energy bill; gas market glut far from over; US shale drillers are drilling themselves into a hole; EIA annual energy conference; Qatar blockade; and more!
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