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U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Atlantic Coast Pipeline Case

Dominion Energy’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) previously filed a request with the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit that judicially creates a new law stipulating pipelines can’t cross under the Appalachian Trail without (no kidding) an Act of Congress. The Supremes get 8,000 such requests each year, and accept maybe 80 (or 1%). Lightning struck. The ACP case was accepted by the Supremes on Friday. This is *seriously* good news!
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PennEnergy Sues Energy Transfer re Revolution Pipeline Explosion

Revolution Pipeline, built by Energy Transfer, runs through Bulter, Beaver, Allegheny and Washington counties in southwest PA. The 24-inch gathering pipeline shifted and exploded more than a year ago, in September 2018, just as it was entering service (see Revolution Pipeline Near Pittsburgh Explodes – Home & Barn Destroyed). The ongoing outage is credited with forcing EdgeMarc Energy into bankruptcy (see EdgeMarc Energy Files for Bankruptcy, Blames Revolution Pipe). The outage also negatively affects another driller/producer: PennEnergy Resources.
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PA DCNR Leases SWPA Creek for $4K/Acre, 20% Royalties

It’s not often (these days) we come across a new instance of publicly-known leasing terms in the Marcellus/Utica. We like to highlight such cases when we see them. In Saturday’s Pennsylvania Bulletin, the state Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), the agency in charge of state-owned land, published details of a newly signed lease for 40.6 acres of creekbed in Greene County, PA. The DCNR got its standard $4,000 per acre signing bonus plus will get a 20% royalty from any gas produced. Who did they lease to? And why do we object to this practice so strenuously? To learn those details, you need an MDN subscription
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Grant Twp, PA Continues Legal Battle Against PGE Injection Well

For the past several years we’ve reported on the case of Grant Township, PA, a town that passed an ordinance cooked up by the radical Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) to try and block a state-approved injection well. Part of the ordinance was tossed, and earlier this year a judge ordered the town to pay $102,000 in legal fees incurred by the operator the town has harmed by its action (see Judge Orders Grant Twp to Pay PGE $102K in Legal Fees). Grant appealed the fine to federal court. In the meantime, Grant Twp continues to burn through taxpayer money by appealing the poorly-written ordinance that bans injection wells. Grant was in court again on Friday paying lawyers to defend the indefensible.
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Kinder Morgan: Startup of Elba Island LNG Units 2 & 3 “Underway”

Last Wednesday MDN told you that the first “train” or unit of Kinder Morgan’s Elba Island, Georgia LNG export facility is now up and running (see FERC OKs Kinder Morgan Elba Island LNG Train #1 to Begin Service). On Friday, KM confirmed what we already knew–that unit #1 is now operational. But they went further with an important update on the rest of the units (ten in all).
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List of WV Bills Supported and Opposed by Oil & Gas Industry

Each year the West Virginia legislature meets for 60 calendar days. Those days are jam-packed with activity when they happen. As the WV oil and gas industry looks ahead to the next session, due to begin in January, there’s already a list of proposed bills the oil and gas industry supports, and some bills it definitely does not support. According to Anne Blankenship, executive director of the West Virginia Oil and Gas Association (WVONGA), West Virginia has “for years” been behind both Pennsylvania and Ohio when it comes to promoting the shale industry. It’s time, says Blankenship, to become “more competitive” with those states. Will this be the year?
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Marathon/MarkWest Tells Activist Investor Co. Will Not Split

As MDN reported two weeks ago, so-called “activist investors” Elliott Management and D.E. Shaw want Marathon Petroleum (parent of MPLX, otherwise known as MarkWest Energy) to split itself into three separate companies, and a couple of other large shareholders are calling for Marathon CEO Gary Heminger to be fired (see Major Investors Pressure Marathon Petroleum to Split into 3 Cos.). Heminger and board member Greg Goff have just politely, but firmly, told Elliott, Shaw, et al to “buzz off” (our words). Heminger is going to fight the effort to split the company and dump him.
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Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Mon, Oct 7, 2019

NATIONAL: Rigs keep dropping out of U.S. patch as oil, gas both down; Trump sides with farmers in ethanol proposal, angering oil industry; Working natural gas storage capacity utilization reaches 80% or more in EIA’s three largest regions; Slower production growth putting less pressure on prices in 2019/20 winter, says NGSA; U.S. shale oil and natural gas, underestimated its whole life; Rising ethane demand means less rejection, more recovery and higher prices; INTERNATIONAL: Energy transition? Not so fast, one expert says; Pipelines from Russia cross political lines; OPEC chief invites all 97 oil producers to join OPEC+ coalition; Iran says Chinese state oil firm withdraws from $5b natural gas deal.
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