Marcellus Drilling News

Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Millennium Pipeline | New York | Orange County | Pipelines

NY Anti-Driller Claims Compressor Station Causing Son’s Asthma
June 20, 2014June 20, 2014

A small group of virulent anti-drillers from New York City, who flee the city on the weekends and live in places like Orange County, NY, are once again slandering Marcellus drilling in New York State by targeting industry-related initiatives like pipeline compressor stations. To wit: A family who opposed the compressor station built by the Millennium Pipeline in Minisink, NY (southwest Orange County) now claim their 16-year old son has had a “sudden onset” of asthma which occurs only when they flee the city for the weekends to their summer home in Minisink. They conveniently blame the compressor station. What to do? Hire a so-called consultant to address a small group in the area, get a local reporter to show up and regurgitate a whopping pack of lies to scare everyone who reads the local rag…
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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA Royalty Bill 1684 Off the Agenda, Likely for Rest of 2014
June 20, 2014June 20, 2014

Pennsylvania landowners can and should be angry with the Republican-controlled PA House of Representatives. Word has just come that an important royalty bill–HB 1684–is now on the “back burner” until fall. Fall is the height of the election season and you know darned well nothing will get done on the bill at that point–so for all intents the bill is dead for this year. Which is a shame. What is HB 1684? Our shorthand name for the bill is the “stop Chesapeake Energy from screwing landowners out of their royalties” bill…
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Economic Impact | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Luzerne County | Pennsylvania

Moxie Energy in Hunt for Third Marcellus-Powered Electric Plant?
June 20, 2014June 20, 2014

A very interesting news tidbit to pass along. Is Moxie Energy considering a third, new natural gas powered electric generating plant for Pennsylvania–this one near Wilkes-Barre? Quite possibly…
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East Resources | Energy Companies | Erie County (NY) | New York

Will Marcellus Blood Money Buy the Buffalo Bills?
June 20, 2014June 20, 2014

If you’re an anti-driller in Western New York and a Buffalo Bills fan, you’re in a serious quandary. The Bills NFL franchise is for sale, for the first time ever, and it may be your single best hope for keeping the Bills in Buffalo is if Terry Pegula buys the team. As MDN previously reported, Pegula is the owner of the Buffalo Sabres NHL team. He’s also the founder and CEO of East Resources, an evil oil and gas company. Could it be that the Marcellus Shale–and money derived from it–will save the Buffalo Bills? Can anti-drillers ever live with themselves if that happens? Will anti-drilling Bills fans switch allegiance to their arch rivals the New York Giants or the hated Pittsburgh Steelers if Pegula buys the Bills with his Marcellus “blood money”? All burning questions for inquiring minds…
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Economic Impact | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | UIL Holdings

Phila. Gas Works Deal in Jeopardy Due to Vacationing City Council
June 20, 2014June 20, 2014

In March, the Democrat mayor of Philadelphia, Michael Nutter, announced a deal to sell the city-owned Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) for $1.86 billion (see Phila. Gas Works Deal for $1.86B – Marcellus/Utica One of Keys). UIL Holdings Corporation, a Connecticut-based investor-owned gas and electric utility, is the potential buyer. However, it didn’t take long for the union and a former Enron executive to make a play to screw the deal (see Former Enron Exec Makes “Unethical” Play to Derail PGW Deal). City Council has had three months to review the deal put together by Nutter, but now they’re heading out of town on summer vacation and not coming back until September. Will UIL stick around that long?…
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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Chesapeake CEO Lawler Calls Himself “Anti-Core”
June 20, 2014June 20, 2014

Speaking at a conference this week, Chesapeake Energy CEO Doug Lawler says he doesn’t believe in nonsense like “core of the core” in given shale plays–like the Utica. Lawler says he’s “anti-core” and instead of trying to zero in on the best-producing locations in a play he would rather not limit himself or technology. Which is all kind of funny since Chessy missed the core in the Utica Shale. Lawler’s comments are a tacit admission that they blew it in the Utica, so now they’ll make some lemonade with the lemons in their hand and simply ignore reality…
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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

RINO Introduces 4.9% Severance Tax Bill in PA House
June 20, 2014June 20, 2014

A Republican in Name Only (RINO) in the PA House, Gene DiGirolamo (greater Philadelphia area), yesterday introduced House Bill 2358 that would make it legal for the state to steal money from a single industry and give it away to groups of people who didn’t earn it. It’s called a severance tax and the money raised from such a tax would be used for anything and everything but the impacts that happen from mining natural gas and oil. The arrogant DiGirolamo is all proud of himself for introducing this abomination…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Pipelines | Tennessee Gas Pipeline

Lib MA Town Tells Tenn. Gas Pipeline: Stay Outta Town!
June 20, 2014June 20, 2014

Taking the law into his own hands, as fascist liberals typically do, Andover, MA Town Manager Reginald “Buzz” Stapczynski sent a letter to officials at the Tennessee Gas Pipeline telling them to keep their people the h— outta town–at least that was the sentiment expressed. Such nice, tolerant, peaceful people those anti-drilling libs, aren’t they? Just lovers of all mankind, willing to listen to any harebrained viewpoint–until it’s a viewpoint that doesn’t match theirs. Then the baseball bats come out…
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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

The Sinister Link Between Fracking and Ice Cream
June 20, 2014June 20, 2014

Hey it’s Friday and time to cut loose a little more than normal here at MDN. Anti-drillers float a boatload of made-up, cockamamie reasons to oppose shale drilling for natural gas and oil. Their philosophy is to issue an ongoing torrent of false charges–fling it all against the wall and see what sticks. However, we’ve finally discovered one reason (overlooked by the antis) that may indeed have some merit. Ice cream. As in, shale drilling leads to high prices for your favorite summer desert. How?…
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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Jun 20, 2014
June 20, 2014June 20, 2014

The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:
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