626 Mmcf/d of Northeast Shale Gas Begins Flowing to Gulf Today
Fantastic news! More Marcellus and Utica Shale gas will begin flowing to the Gulf Coast, beginning today. Some of that gas will go to the Sabine Pass LNG (liquefied natural gas) export facility owned by Cheniere Energy–the first such facility to (recently) begin exporting natural gas to other countries. In October 2014 Boardwalk Pipeline Partners filed a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reverse the flow on a 690-mile segment of their Texas Gas Transmission pipeline to begin carrying Marcellus and Utica Shale gas from the northeast to the south (see Texas Gas Seeks to Reverse Flow of Pipeline from OH to LA). In September 2015 FERC approved the project, called the Ohio-Louisiana Access Project (see FERC Approves Important Utica-to-Gulf Coast Pipeline Reversal). Today the pipeline reverses and Sabine Pass is the foundation shipper–beginning to accept 300 million cubic feet per day (Mmcf/d) of yummy and wholesome Marcellus and Utica Shale gas…
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MDN previously reported on the injustice happening in Bulter County, PA where a handful of anti-drilling parents from the Mars School District (“Martians”), backed by money from Philadelphia Big Green groups Delaware Riverkeeper and Clean Air Council, have filed frivolous lawsuit after frivolous lawsuit. The effort is aimed at denying landowners in Middlesex Township revenue from legally permitted drilling. The actions by these radicalized parents have cost the taxpayers of Middlesex Township over $80,000 in legal fees. Landowners with leases got together and sued the radicals to stop this miscarriage of justice (see 
There’s an old saying that goes like this: “Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan.” Not long ago MDN reported that Eclipse Resources had drilled what is believed to be the longest horizontal well (on land) in the world–the 3.5 mile “Purple Hayes” Utica Shale well (see 
When did it become “vindictive” to prosecute criminals? That’s what we’re supposed to believe about the prosecution of a radicalized, anti-fossil fuel environmentalist who was just, after nearly one and a half years, sentenced to serve 15 days in jail for lying, falsely claiming local police assaulted her. In February 2015 Heather Doyle, a radical “activist” climbed a crane at the Dominion Cove Point LNG export facility to hang a banner that said, “Dominion get out. Don’t frack Maryland. No gas exports. Save Cove Point.” It’s bad enough that she endangered herself along with another activist who aided her. She also endangered rescue workers and police who had to remove her from the crane. Then Doyle lied to the police and claimed Calvert County Sheriff’s Office deputies assaulted her as they were removing her from the crane SHE climbed up. That’s a very serious charge–especially in this day and age. The police investigated and discovered she was lying, so the District Attorney pressed charges. And it took this long for the case to play out. On May 27, Judge Marjorie Clagett of the Calvert County Circuit Court sentenced Doyle to three months in jail, with all but 15 days suspended, 240 hours of community service, two years of supervised probation, and $165 in court costs. It ain’t much, but it’s a little bit of justice against radicals who frequently break the law in a misguided attempt to protest fossil fuels…
A decision by the Middle District Court of Pennsylvania is worth noting–for both drillers AND landowners. A landowner in Susquehanna County, PA sold some land already under lease to a new landowner/rights owner. Neither the new landowner nor the previous landowner informed the driller of the change in ownership. The time came to renew the lease and under the terms of the contract the driller sent payment–but didn’t know about the change in ownership–so the driller sent the payment to the previous owner. The new landowner used that faux pas as a legal excuse to sue the driller to break the contract. The new landowner claimed the paperwork filed (not the full lease but an abstract) didn’t contain mention of informing the driller. In other words, the landowner used the “we didn’t know” excuse. The judge disagreed and said, a) the lease itself clearly outlines the responsibilities of the old/new landowners to inform the driller, b) there is a reasonable expectation for the new landowner to perform due diligence in seeking out a copy of the original lease to know that. Therefore the new landowner is still under lease. Here’s an outline of the case, with names…
Last week the federal EPA released a draft of its final Environmental Justice Strategic Plan for 2016-2020 (full copy below). The feds are now seeking comments, until July 7, which they will toss in the garbage can. The EPA is and remains a rogue agency–out of control and drunk on its own power (with a need to be reigned in). What is so-called “environmental justice” anyway? It’s coded language for screwing “rich” companies and giving the money to poor folk. The aims of the EPA’s enviro justice plan are: (1) radically expand “rulemaking”–which means enacting laws without the legislative branch doing it, and then enforcing the cockamamie laws they make up using their own thugs; (2) come down on state and local governments like a ton of bricks, forcing them to dance to the EPA’s tune; and (3) continue to use unrealistic standards to punish companies that dare to make money and provide jobs. That about sums up the EPA’s approach, in our estimation. The EPA gets to make up its own laws and then enforce those laws–bypassing Congress altogether. It is a gross violation of the U.S. Constitution. Here’s a copy of the EPA’s “justice” plan, along with a more “objective” (than we offered) description of what the EPA is attempting with this latest power grab…
We have nothing against renewable energy like wind and solar, per se. We just want them to compete with other forms of energy, like natural gas–without taxpayer money propping up renewable projects. Well-intentioned companies like Dominion frequently engage in dalliances with wind and solar projects–more of a public relations thing than a real effort at developing such sources. How can we say such a thing? Why be so harsh? Look at the recent announcement from Dominion that the U.S. Department of Energy has just withdrawn a promised $40 million grant the company was going to use to build two advanced-technology, 6-megawatt wind turbines in federal waters about 24 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach, VA. At peak production, the two turbines would generate enough electricity to power up to 3,000 homes. It will cost $300 – $380 million to build them. Compare that to a new natural gas-fired electric plant built by Dominion in Virginia that recently went online–the Brunswick Power Station. That plant cost $1.1 billion to build, produces 1,358 megawatts of electricity (even when the wind doesn’t blow) and powers 325,000 homes. So for about trip the cost the natgas plant powers 322,000 more homes than the wind project. That’s what we call a no-brainer–and a perfect illustration of why the government should not be in the business of funding dud wind projects…
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Imagine a shale gas “dream well” that yields 100 Bcf and costs under $30M; rig count stabilizes; Supreme Court rules landowners can sue govt over wetlands; oil hits $50/bbl for first time in 2016; will shale oil boom again?; condensates still getting whipsawed; the battle inside OPEC; and more!