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DRBC Jumps Off Cliff – Votes to Permanently Ban Fracking

The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), a quasi-governmental organization composed of four states (NY, PA, DE, NJ) plus the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, voted yesterday to permanently ban fracking within the boundaries of the DRBC’s jurisdiction, which includes Wayne and Pike counties in Pennsylvania where there is abundant Marcellus Shale deposits. But don’t despair. The DRBC is in the midst of two legal challenges and one (or both) is sure to win, reversing the illegal action taken yesterday. Chin up! The sun will rise again.
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Biden Breaks “No Frack Ban” Promise to PA 5th Week in Office

Remember the statement, uttered by then-candidate Joe Biden as he stood in Bucks County, PA (which sits in the Delaware River Basin) when he emphatically promised PA residents and union workers, “I’m not banning fracking in Pennsylvania or anywhere else!”? It took him slightly less than five weeks to break that promise. Yesterday the Biden administration, in the form of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (which is an Executive Branch agency) abstained and then voiced moral support for the DRBC’s vote to ban fracking in the Delaware River Basin. That action bans fracking in two northeastern PA counties where there are frackable shale deposits (see today’s lead story). FIVE WEEKS. Still happy you voted for lyin’ Biden?
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FERC Gives OK for NFG’s FM100 Pipeline to Begin PA Construction

Some good news to share on this Friday. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has given National Fuel Gas Company (NFG) the green light to begin construction on its FM100 pipeline project. The FM100 Project will beef up and extend an existing pipeline network in northwestern Pennsylvania to flow an extra 330 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of Marcellus gas to Williams’ mighty Transco Pipeline (see NFG FM100 Pipe Project in NW PA to Feed Marcellus Gas to Transco).
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PA DEP Picks Pocket of Sunoco Another $497,000 for ME2 Pipe

The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) is sticking its sticky fingers into the pocket of Energy Transfer/Sunoco one more time, and this time drawing out nearly half a million dollars to pay for a series of small spills of nontoxic drilling mud in Snitz Creek in Lebanon County. It isn’t the first time the DEP has fined ET for Mariner East 2 (ME2) work. We’ve lost track of how many millions of dollars ET/Sunoco has paid in various fines–some of it legit, some of it (in our opinion), not legit.
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Mountaineer NGL Storage Hub Reapplies for Permits, Building Soon?

Last fall Mountaineer NGL Storage, a $500 million project in Monroe County, OH to build underground storage for ethane and other NGLs, asked Ohio regulators to cancel a key permit for the project (see Mountaineer Asks Ohio to Cancel NGL Storage Hub Permits). Our understanding was that until PTT Global Chemical makes a final investment decision (FID) to build an ethane cracker in nearby Belmont County, OH, Mountaineer would not be ready to proceed. The two projects will move along together. We thought Mountaineer would wait to reapply for the permit after PTT announces. PTT has not announced, yet according to statements from Mountaineer’s CEO, the company is now waiting on permits to proceed and hopes to begin construction “later this year.” Ergo they have already reapplied.
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CNX Gets More Diverse – Working with Minority-Owned Co. EQT Dumped

Yesterday, CNX Resources, Bettis Brothers, and The Bus Stops Here Foundation announced a partnership intended to bring greater awareness and access to opportunities in the natural gas industry to disadvantaged urban and rural communities in the Pittsburgh region. Does the Bettis name ring any bells? It should. Pittsburgh-based IntegrServ, a trucking company partly owned by former Pittsburgh Steeler Jerome Bettis, filed a federal lawsuit last summer against EQT claiming discrimination against his company (a minority-owned company) after EQT canceled a contract worth some $66 million (see Trucking Company Sues EQT for Racial Bias, Canceled $66M Contract).
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Enverus US Rig Count Holds Steady at 461, M-U Ties Haynesville!

Another week, another rig count to share with you. As we often point out, rig counts go up and down each week, so it’s good not to get too wrapped up in the “up one week down the next” narrative. After the rig count crashed to historic, all-time lows last year (due to the pandemic and price war from Russia and Saudi Arabia), we began to report more frequently on the rig count. It has become an early indicator for the pace of our country’s economic recovery.
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2nd Biggest NatGas Storage Withdrawal on Record, but Prices Fall

On Monday of this week we reported about natural gas withdrawals from underground storage for the week ending Feb. 12, which were the twelfth largest on record since 2010 and the biggest one-week withdrawal in the past two years (see Biggest Withdrawal from Underground NatGas Storage in 2 Years). Yesterday withdrawal numbers came out for the week ending Feb. 19. Yesterday’s numbers were dramatically higher than the week before–the second-largest withdrawal from storage on record since 2010. Yet the gas traders yawned and didn’t seem all that impressed. The price of natgas actually fell.
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Other Stories of Interest: Fri, Feb 26, 2021

OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Texas natural gas production fell by almost half during recent cold snap; Port Canaveral to welcome first liquified natural gas-powered cruise ship in North America; NATIONAL: EIA: US weekly LNG exports increase; New postal delivery vehicle omits natural gas option; Americans can’t afford president Biden’s green obsession; Jennifer Granholm sworn in as energy secretary; INTERNATIONAL: Macquarie launches WaveCrest Energy to develop LNG markets in Asia, Latin America.
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