The Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board (EHB), a special court set up to hear appeals of decisions by the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), ruled on Wednesday that Sunoco Pipeline’s Mariner East 2 project does NOT have to reroute around Marsh Creek State Park in Chester County as ordered by the DEP. At least, not yet.
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Day: December 18, 2020
PA PUC Proposes $1M Fine for ET Revolution Pipe Explosion in 2018
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC), the agency in charge of issuing permits for building the Mariner East pipeline projects, has just poked its head up to weigh in on another Energy Transfer project it issued permits to build: Revolution Pipeline. The PUC is proposing a $1 million penalty for “multiple violations” that led to an explosion of the pipeline as it entered service. The PUC also details a bunch of hoops ET must jump through in order to start service on the pipeline.
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FERC Approves Another 17 Miles of MVP Construction Near Natl Forest
Yesterday the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued approval to Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) to restart work in private land next to the Jefferson National Forest. The order allows MVP to complete installing pipeline along a 17-mile stretch. Of course, FERC Commissioner Richard “Dick” Glick (Democrat) strongly objected, because he hates all fossil fuels and votes against any and every gas and oil pipeline project.
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IFO Says PA Impact Fee Revenue Will Fall to “Record Low” for 2020
Pennsylvania’s Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) provides revenue projections for use in the state budget process along with impartial and timely analysis of fiscal, economic, and budgetary issues to assist PA residents and the General Assembly in their evaluation of policy decisions. The IFO published its Monthly Economic Update on Wednesday (for December). The update contains a rather ominous paragraph projecting impact fee revenues for 2020 will drop by $53 million–to the lowest level of revenue generated since PA enacted an impact fee.
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Enverus U.S. Rig Count Drops by 5 to 401, M-U Steady at 38
For some reason, S&P Global Platts has not tabulated and reported on the latest Enverus rig count numbers for the past few weeks. Have no fear. MDN pulled the latest rig count report directly from Enverus. It shows that over the past week (ending Dec. 16), the U.S. rig count fell by five to 401 active rigs.
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MDN Calendar: List of In-Person and Virtual O&G Events
MDN is updating our Calendar page more frequently to bring you the latest news on events of interest that have either been canceled, postponed, or in some cases, have gone virtual. We encourage you to review the list. A number of free and low-cost webinars and online events have popped up as an alternative to in-person meetings.
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Other Stories of Interest: Fri, Dec 18, 2020
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Californians can now pay more to get natural gas from cow manure; NATIONAL: Williams’ deal with Chesapeake wins bankruptcy court approval; U.S. shale patch reduced breakeven costs by 20% this year; Ovintiv targets 33% reduction in methane intensity by 2025; Biden pick for US Interior post seen potentially curbing fossil fuel development; Biden names Michael Regan as EPA head; 2020 in review: one of the oil and gas industry’s worst years approaches a merciful end; INTERNATIONAL: U.S. backs EastMed pipeline to supply gas to Europe.
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