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PA AG Shapiro Says 2017 Inflection Wastewater Spill is a Crime

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro claims an accident in 2017 (based on human error) that resulted in 63,000 gallons of produced water in Lycoming County, PA spilling onto the ground (outside the well pad) is negligent and a crime. Shapiro has filed criminal charges against Inflection Energy and the subcontracting company they used, Double D. We view it as yet another stunt by a man who wants to tee himself up to run for governor.
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S&P Downgrades Credit Rating for Six Big Marcellus/Utica Drillers

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Large Marcellus/Utica drillers continue to take it on the chin in the financial markets. The stock prices for almost all M-U drillers have tanked, and now (at least for some of them), their credit ratings have been downgraded too. Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings recently downgraded the credit rating for six of the biggest M-U drillers…
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EQT Subleasing Most of its Downtown Pittsburgh Office Building

EQT Tower

EQT is downsizing its footprint in the city of Pittsburgh–again. Last October we told you that EQT was looking to sublease space in its mammoth downtown office building (see EQT Looks to Sublease HQ Space – Leaving Downtown Pittsburgh?). The EQT building has 32 floors. Lately, the company has occupied 15 floors. By next month EQT’s occupancy will shrink to just five floors. Is EQT getting ready to leave downtown?
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Range Fights DEP Order to Fix Methane Problem They Didn’t Cause

A longtime dispute between the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Range Resources reemerged in January when the DEP ordered Range to fix a well in Lycoming County the DEP alleges is leaking methane into the surrounding ground and water supplies. The DEP says faulty cement casing allows methane to leak. Range maintains the methane was already in the ground/water supply long before it drilled the well. Range is appealing the DEP’s order to “fix it” to a special environmental court.
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THE Dela. Riverkeeper Mouths Off at Congressional Hearing re FERC

The U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Energy (of the Committee on Energy and Commerce) held a hearing yesterday called “Modernizing the Natural Gas Act to Ensure it Works for Everyone.” The Natural Gas Act of 1938 created the Federal Power Commission (FPC), giving the agency control over the regulation of interstate natural gas sales and pipelines. Later on, the FPC was dissolved and became the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). One of the witnesses at the hearing, there to bash FERC, was (suprise!) THE Delaware Riverkeeper herself, Maya van Rossum.
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Debunking the Divestment Meme: NY Teachers Invest $1M in Antero

We’ve reported on the divestment meme for years–the effort by anti-fossil fuel radicals to force banks and investment firms to withdraw funding and refuse to invest in (or lend money to) any company that produces “fossil fuels.” Most recently Jim Cramer from CNBC’s “Mad Money” said, “I’m done with fossil fuels. They’re done. They’re just done.” (see Jim Cramer Succumbs to the Dark Side – “Done with Fossil Fuels”) Cramer’s words seem to echo the sentiment of many in mainstream media. And yet…and yet, we have evidence that divestment is NOT happening. Not anywhere near the level anti-fossil fuelers would have you believe.
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Parsley Energy CEO Calls for “Shale New Deal” Targeted at Teens

Matt Gallagher

Speaking yesterday at the NAPE (North American Property Expo) Summit in Houston, Parsley Energy CEO Matt Gallagher warned that the oil and gas industry MUST do a better job of convincing today’s teenagers, Generation Z, that the O&G industry is necessary and good–not evil and rotten. How? Gallagher says by tackling three issues: perception, pollution and profits. He calls this the “Shale New Deal.” Is Gallagher on to something? Maybe!
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Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Thu, Feb 6, 2020

MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Tom Wolf throws trades overboard to sail with fellow trust-funders; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Legal cloud lifted, Tellurian LNG tycoon glad to get back to work; NATIONAL: TPH drops 2020 natural gas price to $2.06/Mcf; INTERNATIONAL: Coronavirus prompts CNOOC to declare force majeure on LNG deals; Cheniere Energy continues to supply liquefied natural gas to China; Mark Ruffalo calls on European Parliament to block new gas projects.
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