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Dominion Cancels Atlantic Coast Pipe, Sells Pipe Biz for $9.7B

Dominion Energy has decided to exit the natural gas pipeline and storage business, selling off its vast network of pipelines in the Marcellus/Utica (and beyond) to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway for $9.7 billion ($4 billion in cash, the rest in assumed debt). In a related announcement, Dominion said it is throwing in the towel and canceling the 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) project that would have stretched from West Virginia to North Carolina. We are in grieving. This is a tremendously sad day–not only for Marcellus/Utica drillers and landowners, but for the families of pipeline workers who will now remain out of high-paying jobs. You have the Sierra Club and other radicalized green groups to thank.
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Chesapeake Bankruptcy Puts PA Landowner Royalty Lawsuits on Hold

On Sunday a week ago (June 28) Chesapeake Energy filed for bankruptcy (see Chesapeake Files for Bankruptcy – Debtors to Take Ownership). As part of the filing, the company asked the bankruptcy court to allow it to break existing, legal, enforceable contracts with pipeline companies (see Chesapeake Asks Court to Break Pipeline Contracts, Including M-U). We’re just now learning the company’s filing also puts on hold lawsuits brought by landowners against it over Chessy’s royalty shenanigans. The cases on hold include a case brought by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office argued before the PA Supreme Court in May (see PA Supremes Hear Oral Arguments in Can of Worms Royalty Lawsuit).
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Northeast PA Landowner Settles with Williams for Big Bucks

In 2016 MDN told you about the Holleran family who didn’t want the much-needed Constitution Pipeline to cross their land in Susquehanna County, PA (see Maple Syrup Farm in Path of PA Pipeline, Antis Make Most of It). Hollywood actor James Cromwell and other anti-drillers heard about it and visited to add their shrill voices to the protest (see Actor James Cromwell Admits He’s Clueless, Fights Pipeline Anyway). The protesters tried to stop Williams from clearing trees on the property. A judge got tired of their shenanigans real quick (see Judge Tells NEPA Family to Let Williams Cut Maple Trees, Or Else).
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New Study Shows No Leaks in Utica Shale Gathering Pipelines

It’s such a breath of fresh air (and so rare) when we spot actual, in-the-field, real science being done. So many times the “studies” we see published are nothing more than rehashed interpretations, speculation, and outright fabrications parading as scientific inquiry. We spotted a new study published just yesterday in the journal MDPI Atmosphere by researchers with the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in Pittsburgh. In 2019 researchers flew specially outfitted drones with methane sniffers over 73 kilometers (45 miles) of Utica Shale gathering pipelines and associated infrastructure. Know what they found? There were ZERO methane leaks from the pipelines.
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Radical Greens Protest Clean NatGas Power Plant Project in NJ

Radical greens continue to agitate and protest against a tiny 140-megawatt natural gas-fired electric plant for NJ Transit in Kearny, NJ. A group of radical greens (along with leftist politicians they have coopted) will stage a “rally” this afternoon to try and pressure NJ’s lefty governor, Phil Murphy, into finding a way to block the project.
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Patriotic Signers of the Declaration of ENERGY Independence

Just prior to the 4th of July anniversary last week, a group of patriotic Americans signed what is being billed the Declaration of Energy Independence. Top federal, state, and local political leaders lent their signatures to a document that sticks up for fossil fuels and opposes the nuttery and flummery vomited out by the likes of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
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Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Mon, Jul 6, 2020

MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Shapiro goes full show trial to win over radical greens; Environmental policies stall critical energy projects, hamper economic growth; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Permian Basin reclaims status as top destination for frac crews; NATIONAL: Joe Biden and OPEC threatening US oil independence; Oil industry leaders see tough times ahead; Rising demand and the lowest U.S. natural gas prices since 1995; Democrats unveil sweeping plan to tackle climate change; Natural gas: LNG exports hit new low; Wind Waste (video); INTERNATIONAL: Oil industry not dead yet despite disruptions.
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