Lancaster Antis Try to Bully Pipeline Supporters, FERC Reps
MDN has attended several Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) “scoping hearings” in the past (see Vicariously Attend FERC Scoping Hearing on Constitution Pipeline). So we’ve seen first-hand the kind of antics that virulent anti-fossil fuelers engage in at such hearings. Which has led us to comment these hearings are often freak shows–a forum for these people to vent and verbally vomit all over FERC representatives. Such was the case last night in Lancaster, PA at a public hearing held by FERC for the much needed, largely noncontroversial Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline, to be built by Williams. A group of 250-350 (depending on the media source) showed up to listen, with some speaking, at last night’s hearing. Not all in the audience were antis–but many were. People who support the pipeline have better things to do with their time than listen to nutters bleat and blat and carry on. Let’s put the numbers in perspective. Lancaster and Lebanon counties have a combined total population of 653,000 residents. Of that, 350 showed up for the hearing. If all 350 were against the pipeline (which wasn’t the case, but bear with us), that would be .05% of the population–statistically zero. And yet this very small group with very big mouths get all of the media coverage from the event…
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In December MDN told you that Seneca Resources (a wholly owned subsidiary of National Fuel Gas Company) had cut a deal with energy investor IOG Capital to essentially fund Seneca’s Marcellus drilling program in Elk, McKean and Cameron counties in north-central Pennsylvania (see 
MDN has covered, endlessly, the story of opposition to any kind of pipeline in New England. That opposition is largely responsible for Kinder Morgan throwing in the towel on their planned Tennessee Gas Pipeline extension called Northeast Energy Direct, or NED (see 
Yesterday MDN’s favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), issued our favorite monthly report–the Drilling Productivity Report (DPR). The DPR is the EIA’s best guess, based on expert data crunchers, as to how much each of the U.S.’s seven major shale plays will produce for both oil and natural gas in the coming month. One observation from the June report: The worm has turned for natural gas production in the Utica Shale. Until this report, the Utica has stood alone among nation’s seven major plays in a trend of producing more natgas month over month. The EIA now predicts next month that trend will reverse and the Utica will begin to produce less natgas month over month. Not a lot less! Just 4 million cubic feet per day (Mmcf/d). But still, it’s worth noting. Another observation: When you combine all of the plays for both oil and natgas production, the rate of decrease for both is picking up. That is, month over month we’re now producing less and less of both oil and natgas from our shale plays. Which will likely be good for prices (less supply, the same or more demand equals higher prices). Here’s the latest from the EIA…
In December MDN told you that Axiall Corporation, a large petrochemical manufacturer, had made a final investment decision to move ahead and build a $3 billion ethane cracker/petrochemical facility in Louisiana (see 
Listen up Pennsylvania communities with shale drilling: The PA Housing Finance Agency (PHFA) wants to hear from you with proposals for improving the “availability and affordability of housing in the Marcellus Shale region of the state.” The PHFA is back for a second year in a row with $5 million from impact fee revenue to spread around in communities affected by shale drilling (see last year’s story: 
The Shell ethane cracker plant “yes” announcement is still, a week later, reverberating across the northeast (see 
Last week BP released its annual Statistical Review of World Energy–the 65th edition! (We have a full copy embedded below.) A number of big energy companies, like Exxon Mobil, as well as government agencies, publish similar reports that characterize current and future world energy trends. However, one analyst we read says BP’s report is the best: “I have relied upon the BP World Energy report for years. It is not a report to be viewed with a partisan eye, but as merely one of the best, if not the best, energy trend device available anywhere. In comparison to government agencies like the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) the global International Energy Association (IEA) or OPEC’s own World Oil Outlook, the BP report has proven itself to be far more valuable in finding investable trends. I would never recommend any oil sector without having the statistical evidence of the BP World Energy Report behind me.” In scanning a summary of this year’s report, one statistic stands out for us. Environmental radicals constantly prattle on that renewable energy sources could replace fossil fuels, if we only had the will to change. What utter rubbish, as proven by this stat: In 2015 renewable energy, mostly used to generate power, reached 2.8% of global energy consumption, up 2% in the last ten years. Did you get that? Only 2.8% of the energy used in the world is generated by wind, solar, etc. Fossil fuels are here to stay through not only our own lifetimes, but the lifetimes of our children and grandchildren. Someday maybe we’ll be famous for having been prescient in penning these words (we’ll be long dead and gone)–but mark our words, fossil fuels are not going away any time soon…
We’re keeping a close eye on Siluria Technologies. In May we told you the company has pioneered a way to convert methane (i.e. natural gas) directly into ethylene, the raw material used to make plastics (see 
The odious and misnamed Food & Water Watch, a virulent anti-drilling organization, along with several other Big Groups, has just delivered a petition with the signatures of 90,000 wacko radicals to the Democrat National Committee to demand that the DNC add a fracking ban plank to the Party’s platform. Outlandish? Would never happen? Hey, radicals in Pennsylvania got the Dems there to adopt such a plank before the last gubernatorial election (see 
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Manufacturing resurgence, thx to Marcellus/Utica; how will my pipeline easement be taxed; do I need insurance to protect my o&g interests; Penguins are the energy story of the year; PA rig count falls for second week; $50/barrel is the new $100/barrel; natgas price heading higher; natgas glut through end of decade; and more!