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Due to Cuomo Pipeline Ban, Iroquois Imports Canadian Gas for NY

Andrew Cuomo’s blockade of important pipeline projects like the Williams Constitution Pipeline (from northeast PA into NY) continues to keep the price of natural gas high in the Empire State. The Constitution, which was supposed to be built years ago, is supposed to connect to two other interstate pipelines, one of them the Iroquois (see Iroquois Announces Interconnect for Constitution Pipeline in NY). That never happened, and because of it, the Iroquois must import Canadian natural gas *every single day* in order to meet demand–gas that costs much more than the cheap, abundant and clean-burning gas from a few miles away in the PA Marcellus.
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FERC Favorable EA for Columbia Louisiana XPress, M-U Gas to Gulf

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has taken the first, very big and important step of approving an environmental assessment (EA) for TC Energy/Columbia Transmission’s Louisiana XPress Project. TC/Columbia filed an application with FERC last July for the project (see Columbia Asks FERC to OK Louisiana XPress, M-U Gas to Gulf). Yes, there’s a direct tie-in to the Marcellus/Utica…
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WV Rejoices that Obama EPA “Reign of Terror” re WOTUS Now Over

Obama and his EPA chief Gina McCarthy – “regulatory reign of terror”

One of the worst overreaches and offenses of the Obamadroids was to redefine what “waters of the United States” (or WOTUS) actually means. As they were getting ready to leave power, the Obama EPA redefined WOTUS as everything down to large mud puddles–no lie (see EPA Power Grab: Redefines Waters of the U.S. to Include Everything). When Donald Trump took over, he set out to correct Obama’s conceit by bringing the WOTUS definition back into the realm of reality. That happened a few weeks ago (see Finally! EPA, Army Corps Releases Final ‘Waters of the U.S.’ Rule).
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Wolf Lies About 2020 Proposed Budget – Includes $4.5B Tax Increase

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf flat out, 100% lied when he introduced his latest annual budget on Tuesday, declaring “it doesn’t raise taxes.” B.S. As he has done for the past six budgets, Wolf once again is calling for a new severance tax on the Marcellus. On top of the existing impact tax (the equivalent of a severance tax). Wolf’s plan calls for a new tax that would steal $4.5 billion out of the pockets of drillers and landowners in order to redistribute their hard-earned wealth to a panoply of others.
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PA Rep. Daryl Metcalfe Shuts Down Antis During RGGI Hearing

Pennsylvania State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, Majority Chair of the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, doesn’t put up with the juvenile antics from the Democrats on his committee–like Danielle Friel Otten and Greg Vitali–from those who violate decorum by pretending they want to ask a question when in fact they want to pontificate like the gasbags they are. Wednesday at a hearing on the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), Metcalfe shut down Otten and Vitali when they attempted to violate rules and bloviate instead of asking relevant questions.
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Study: Landowners Who Claim Frack Pollution, It’s All in Your Head

A fascinating new study has just been published in the peer-reviewed journal Science of The Total Environment. The new study, titled “Characterizing anecdotal claims of groundwater contamination in shale energy basins,” looks at the perception of landowners who say local fracking activities have impacted (polluted) their water wells–versus reality. The study finds that in most cases the so-called pollution problems of these water wells is (using our own words here) “all in the heads” of the landowners. It’s not real. Fracking, in fact, has NOT caused the pollution of their wells. Researchers studied wells in the Texas Barnett and Eagle Ford, the Louisiana Haynesville, and (yep) the Pennsylvania Marcellus–in Dimock.
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Low Price Silver Lining: Power Generation Uses More Natural Gas

If there’s any silver lining to the ongoing low price for natural gas (NYMEX price closed at $1.86 yesterday), it is that gas-fired power generation kicks in with more demand, which will ultimately cause the price to rise–or at least not fall any further. Electric generation is a critically important market for natural gas. We spotted a couple of interesting articles. The first, from Platts, outlines the relationship of low gas prices to more switching from coal to gas. Platts says if gas stays under $2/Mcf, “power burn could see significant upside risk.” The other article, from Rigzone, says natgas will generate nearly 40% of all electricity in 2020–double what it generated just 10 years ago.
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Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Fri, Feb 7, 2020

MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Appalachia, Permian drop by five rigs each in biggest play changes; Fake news is fracking endemic in environmentalism; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: New olefins cracker starts service in Louisiana; NATIONAL: Natural gas: capital retreat to send prices 50% higher; U.S. natural gas prices dip to four-year lows; Total’s U.S. portfolio said ready to drive global LNG sales growth; Energy Capital pauses pipeline deals on widening shale despair; Liberty Oilfield deploys new frac fleet, plans new build; Exxon: shale production growth is through the roof, and it’s just getting started; INTERNATIONAL: U.S. LNG export arb said ‘nearly’ shut as coronavirus curbs Asian buying; Failed OPEC response to coronavirus shows Russia is in charge; China reneges on commodity deals, worsens global trade chaos.
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