| | | | |

Bankrupt EdgeMarc Sells Butler, PA Assets to KeyBank for $70M

click for larger version

EdgeMarc Energy, headquartered in Canonsburg, PA (once with 50,000 acres of Marcellus/Utica leases), filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last May, looking to sell all of the company’s assets (see EdgeMarc Energy Files for Bankruptcy, Blames Revolution Pipe). Diversified Gas & Oil picked up EdgeMarc’s Ohio Utica assets for $50 million in August (see Bankrupt EdgeMarc Sells Ohio Utica Assets to Diversified for $50M). And now, the balance of EdgeMarc’s assets–located in Butler County, PA– is slated to be sold too.
Continue reading

| | |

PA Gov Wolf Makes Another Push to Kill Marcellus with Severance Tax

Little Johnny one-note, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, is once again singing a single note–and that note is a call to destroy what’s left of the PA Marcellus industry with a severance tax. He sang his one-note tune yesterday, doing his best Santa Claus routine. Wolf says he can give away $4.5 billion of “everything” PA residents desire most in life–if only the evil Republican leadership in both chambers of the legislature would allow a vote on his plan.
Continue reading

| | |

Range Recycles ALL its Wastewater + Water from 14 Other Drillers

A number of Marcellus/Utica drillers recycle most, if not all of, the flowback and produced water from the wells they drill. Produced water (from the depths) continues to pour out of wells for years after they’re drilled. Produced water is super salty, filled with minerals. If a driller can’t reuse the water, they must dispose of it–typically via an injection well (in Ohio). Range Resources not only recycles all of its own produced water but also accepts and reuses produced water from 14 other drillers!
Continue reading

| | | |

WV Legislature Advances Bill Granting Tax Credit for NGL Storage

Two weeks ago MDN told you about two bills important to the oil and gas industry in West Virginia that are quickly advancing through the state’s current 60-day legislative session (see WV House Advances 2 O&G Bills: Orphan Wells & Faster Permits). You may now add a third bill to the list–one previously not on our radar. House Bill (HB) 4421, called the “Natural Gas Liquids Economic Development Act,” is aimed at providing a tax credit to those who would store or transport natural gas liquids (NGLs).
Continue reading

| | | | | | | |

Lancaster Couple Guilty of Trespass re Mariner East 2 Pipeline

Last December the husband and wife team of Mark and Melinda Clatterbuck got themselves arrested for illegal trespass and disorderly conduct at a Mariner East 2 (ME2) pipeline site near Philadelphia (see Antis Arrested for Trespass Near ME Pipe Claim “Intimidation”). This isn’t their first pipeline trespassing offense and arrest. The couple said the December arrest was “harassment” and “intimidation.” A Chester County judge didn’t buy that line of reasoning and yesterday convicted them, ordering the couple to pay a fine plus court costs.
Continue reading

| | |

Not Dead Yet! White House Lobbies to Keep Philly Site a Refinery

Just a few days ago MDN brought you the sad news that the former Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) refinery, now closed, will stay closed permanently following a deal to sell the site to a warehouse developer from Chicago (see Philadelphia Energy Solutions Oil Refinery Permanently Closed). Over 1,000 people are out of work because of the PES bankruptcy and closure. PES is the oldest refinery on the East Coast. But what’s this? The Trump White House is getting involved and supporting a challenge to the sale by another bidder who (a) offered $25 million MORE for the site, and (b) wants to keep operating the site as a refinery.
Continue reading

| | |

Recycled Pap: Yale Study Says Fracking Causes STDs in Mult. States

What is it about Yale University researchers and their obsession with sexually transmitted diseases? It seems like an unhealthy obsession to us. The same Yale brain trust that brought us a sham “study” in 2018 that said fracking causes STDs in Ohio (see Yale Study Claims Ohio Utica Fracking Causes STDs) has just published a new “study” to say the same thing happens in Colorado, North Dakota, and Texas too. Another “f” word certainly can cause STDs, but not fracking. Perhaps the “researchers” got their semantics mixed up?
Continue reading

Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Wed, Jan 29, 2020

MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Edgeworth council approves restrictions on natural gas development; Protesters urge Pitt vote on fossil fuel divestment; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Cambridge, MA discusses natural gas ban, adopts motion to convene stakeholder meetings; INTERNATIONAL: LNG prices fall to 10-year low; India wants to delink Qatar gas supply deals from crude, Qatar says no.
Continue reading