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Southwestern Energy Cutting Rig Count from 6 to 2 in M-U

Yesterday Southwestern Energy, a major Marcellus/Utica driller, released its second quarter 2019 update and talked about the rest of 2019 and beyond. Southwestern total production in 2Q was 186 billion cubic feet equivalent (Bcfe), an 11% increase compared to 2Q18 (excluding the Fayetteville, which Southwestern sold last year to become 100% focused on the M-U). That 186 Bcfe number includes 148 Bcf of gas production, 937,000 barrels of oil production, and 5.5 million barrels of natural gas liquids (NGL) production.
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Montage Resources Cuts Rigs from 2 to 1, Spending $30M Less

Map showing extent of Marcellus Shale in Ohio (click for larger version)

Montage Resources, which formed in a merger of Eclipse Resources and Blue Ridge Mountain Resources (formerly Magnum Hunter Resources) in March of this year, issued their second quarter update yesterday–the first full quarter for the newly merged entity. The company released an operational update several weeks ago to announce they are cutting back from two to one active drilling rig in the second half of 2019 (see Montage Resources Cuts Drilling Program to 1 Rig in 2nd Half 2019), which they reiterated in yesterday’s update.
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F&M Push Poll Finds Majority PA Residents Want Severance Tax

One of the most liberal governors in America, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, continues his campaign to kill the Marcellus Shale by slapping a severance tax on top of an already-high impact tax. He’s now getting a little help from his lib friends at the polling unit at Franklin & Marshall College. When asked a misleading question, a recent poll of 627 PA residents found 69% of them “strongly” or “somewhat” favor Wolf’s Santa Claus promises in his “Restore PA” plan–if it’s funded by a severance tax on Marcellus Shale.
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PA Antis Trying to Turn ME2 Pipeline Fart into an “Explosion”

Monday evening the Mariner East 2 pipeline was down for routine maintenance at a pump station in Chester County, PA (near Philadelphia). When workers relit a pilot in a flare used to burn off excess gases, there apparently was some accumulated gas in the flare stack and it ignited, creating a loud boom. Nobody was injured, there was no danger. Yet that incident is now being labeled an “explosion” by anti-fossil fuel activists and their sycophants in the press.
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WV Gov. Justice Makes Impromptu Speech at IOGAWV Summer Mtg

WV Gov. Jim Justice

The Independent Oil & Gas Association of West Virginia (IOGAWV) held its annual summer meeting earlier this week in beautiful White Sulphur Springs. WV Gov. Jim Justice, who was not on the agenda to speak, stopped by and gave an impromptu speech to delegates. Which surprises us, given his business interests in coal and his previous bashing of the shale industry (see WV Gov. Justice Blames Shale for Bad Roads, Wants Higher Taxes).
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Old Hippies, Sierra Club Protest Against CT Gas-Fired Elec Plant

A few weeks ago MDN told you the State of Connecticut’s “Siting Council” had changed its mind and decided to approve NTE Energy’s proposal to build a 650-megawatt natural gas-fired electric plant in Killingly (see Connecticut Approves New Natgas-Fired Electric Plant in Killingly). Apparently Connecticut doesn’t want to experience rolling blackouts that are sure to come unless more electric power generation is added to the grid. The Siting Council’s approval brought out a handful of anti-fossil fuel protesters yesterday. Among them were a paid volunteer Sierra Club agitator and some old hippies.

9/23/19 CORRECTION: The Sierra Club representative who participated, Martha Klein, contacted MDN to say that she is a volunteer. She does not receive any compensation from the Sierra Club. We regret the error and have corrected the article to reflect that fact.
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Why Do Some M-U Pipeline Protesters Tip Over into Violence?

We have a proud tradition in America of vigorous debate and free speech. We have protests. We still, for now, have a free press where we can express our ideas–whether others agree with us or not. But some on the environmental left go too far. They don’t just protest, they break the law. Some even become violent. Take the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project, as an example.
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Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Thu, Aug 8, 2019

MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Clean Air Council calls for shutdown of Mariner East 2 pipeline after Chester County ‘backfire’; Williams Pipeline battle continues: What to know about the proposed natural gas conduit; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Tellurian mulling new Driftwood LNG stake deals; Top U.S. shale producer offers bleak view of U.S. output growth; INTERNATIONAL: Black & Veatch: FLNG to push gas industry growth.
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