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Sumitomo Corp Sells JV Stake in Butler County, PA Marcellus

Assets co-owned by Rex and Sumitomo in 2010 (click for larger version)

In 2010 gigantic Japanese trading house Sumitomo Corp. bought a 30% stake (joint venture) in Rex Energy’s Marcellus drilling operation in Bulter County, PA for $150.7 million. Sumitomo wrote down much of the value for that purchase in 2015. In 2018 Rex went bankrupt and now PennEnergy Resources owns and operates the Butler assets (see Rex Energy Sells Itself to PennEnergy Resources for $600M). PennEnergy is getting a new JV partner. Yesterday Sumitomo announced the sale of their 30% share of the action.
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Some Landowners Sell Royalty Payments to Third Parties in PA, OH

A few weeks ago MDN told you about Peregrine Energy Partners buying royalty payment rights from landowners in Doddridge County, WV (see Peregrine Buys Royalty Rights from Doddridge County, WV Landowners). We have another purchase by Peregrine, this time in Monroe County, OH. Plus a similar company that buys royalty interests has made its second such acquisition in the M-U–in Washington County, PA.
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Brooke County Blames Coal Lobby for WV Gas Plant Delay

We should have known that West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice is in league with his fellow coal baron Robert Murray. Officials from Brooke County, WV, where Energy Solutions Consortium is planning to build a $1.25 billion natural gas-fired power plant, are blaming the long fingers of Bob Murray for a last-minute delay of a state loan guarantee that was supposed to be made in August (see WV Gov. “Clarifies” Remarks Bashing Gas-Fired Plant, Doubles Down).
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Glimmer of Hope for Utica Drilling in Northeastern Ohio

Eastern OH counties

Aubrey McClendon, then-CEO of Chesapeake Energy, was the first major shale driller to recognize the promise of the Utica Shale play in Ohio (see Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon Talks to Jim Cramer About the Utica Shale in Eastern Ohio). He once famously said the Utica is “the biggest thing to hit Ohio since the plow.” While McClendon rightly deserves credit for launching the development of the Utica, he guessed wrong on the best places to drill in the Utica.
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Antis Ramp Up Form Letter Machine to Oppose PennEast Pipe Plan

In early August the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) finally issued a favorable environmental assessment (EA) for an amended request by PennEast Pipeline to break the project into two phases–building the pipeline through Pennsylvania in Phase One, and through New Jersey in Phase Two (see FERC Finally Approves PennEast Pipe Split into 2 Phases).
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Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Tue, Sep 8, 2020

MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Joe Biden says he won’t ban fracking, but can we believe him?; Pence to campaign in Westmoreland and Beaver counties Sept. 9; Klaber’s Viewpoint – The energy industry is resilient; Harvest Oil & Gas announces changes in board of directors; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Key documents raise troubling questions about money behind Hoboken climate lawsuit; U.S. shale producers race for federal permits ahead of presidential election; NATIONAL: U.S. shale recovery leans on huge inventory of DUCs; US oil, gas rig count rises by three to 285 heading into last trimester of 2020; Highlights of Joe Biden’s [horrible] energy plan; Rush Limbaugh likens Biden rejecting fracking ban to ‘me telling you that I’ve never been a conservative’; Why midstreamers depend on pigs; U.S. LNG exports: outlook improves as macro headwinds ease; Is the energy transition really accelerating?; Schlumberger deal shows hope for battered oil services sector; INTERNATIONAL: Russian led Nord Stream II in trouble over Navalny poisoning.
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