Shale Insight 2020 Day #1: Plastics, Politics & Crackers

Yesterday kicked off the first day of the three-day Shale Insight conference, 10th annual edition. This year’s event is all-virtual due to the coronavirus. Headliners for the first day included presentations by Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Pat Toomey, Vice President for Shell (in charge of the cracker plant) Hilary Mercer, and Secretary of the Dept. of Energy Dan Brouillette. There were a number of other presenters too. We have a summary below.
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PA DEP Shakes Down Equitrans $428K for Pipe Building Violations

Equitrans Midstream, which used to be part of EQT as EQT Midstream, is still EQT’s main squeeze when it comes to gathering pipelines connected to its wells. The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced yesterday it has fined Equitrans $427,650 for “slips, stabilization, and erosion and sedimentation violations at pipeline sites in Greene, Washington and Westmoreland counties.”
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Weekly Shale Drilling Permits for PA, OH, WV: Sep 21-25

An unusual situation for permits to drill new wells for last week. Pennsylvania only had 5 new permits while West Virginia had 12 new permits. It’s typically the other way around. Could this be the beginning of the effects from PA raising the permit fee from $5,000 to $12,500 per well? Maybe! Ohio had no new Utica permits issued last week. Drilling seems to have slowed in the Buckeye State.
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Pieridae Hires Bechtel to Design Goldboro LNG in Nova Scotia

Pieridae Energy’s Goldboro LNG project, located in Nova Scotia (with the potential to export Marcellus/Utica molecules) has been on our radar for years. In August Pieridae hired a senior VP to run the project (see Pieridae Hires Senior VP to Run Goldboro LNG Export Project). Now comes word Pieridae has hired EPC giant Becthel to design and (eventually) build it. This project is getting serious.
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Other Stories of Interest: Wed, Sep 30, 2020

NATIONAL: Are parking lots the next target for anti-fracking activists?; E&Ps plot lean second-half investment after second-quarter capex retreat; Polling continues to show voters support fracking; DOJ urged to investigate US environmental NGOs for foreign influence; INTERNATIONAL: Shell to cut up to 9,000 jobs as oil demand slumps; Ontario’s green-energy catastrophe.
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