PIOGA Makes Legal Play to Stop Chapter 78a Regs from Taking Effect
Last Friday the Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association (PIOGA) filed a letter with the PA Joint House Senate Committee on Documents asking them to NOT publish the Dept. of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) final Chapter 78a Marcellus Drilling regulations, citing last week’s PA Supreme Court ruling on Act 13 as the basis. As MDN previously reported, the DEP plans to publish the final regulations in this week’s Oct. 8 Pennsylvania Bulletin (see PA’s New Article 78a Drilling Regs Go into Effect Oct 8). PIOGA previously sued asking the Commonwealth Court to block the new regulations based on the legal fact that key parts of Act 13, which Chapter 78a is based on, have been “enjoined” that prevent certain Chapter 78a provisions from being adopted in their current form. It kind of gets into the weeds with legal speak, but essentially PIOGA is (a) warning these agencies they should not publish the new regulations, which prevents the regs from going into effect, until the invalid provisions are removed, and (b) further litigating to keep the regulations stopped. Below is an overview of what’s happening, along with the letter sent by PIOGA to the Joint Committee, and a copy of the appeal filed to the Supreme Court…
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Last week MDN brought you the news that DTE Energy, a BIG utility and midstream company based in Detroit, MI, is buying 100% of M3 Midstream’s Appalachia Gathering System (AGS), located in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and 40% of M3’s Stonewall Gas Gathering (SGG), located in West Virginia (see 
Last week Cabot Oil & Gas CEO Dan Dinges issued a company-wide memo to observe a very important milestone in the life of the company–the 10th anniversary of the start of drilling at the company’s very first Marcellus Shale well in Susquehanna County, PA. With a quick stroll down memory lane to recount other major milestones reached over the past 18 months, Dinges then makes this powerhouse prediction: In the “next couple of years” when new pipelines (like the Constitution) finally go online, Cabot plans to hit 4 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of Marcellus Shale production–per day! Going from memory, that would vault Cabot to the position of #1 Marcellus gas producer, ahead of the current #1, Chesapeake Energy. Put into context, the U.S. produces around 71-72 Bcf/d right now. If Cabot begins producing 4 Bcf/d, that represents 5.5% of the entire production of natural gas in our country–from a single driller in a single county in northeastern PA. Behold the miracle of the Marcellus! MDN adds our own hearty congratulations to our friends at Cabot (Buddy, George, Bill and Brittany)…
In 2014 David Hughes from the so-called Post Carbon Institute made one of the stupidest remarks he’s ever made when he said, “I think the Marcellus is getting pretty close to the peak in [total] production…I wouldn’t be surprised to see a peak in the Marcellus this year, maybe next year at the latest.” Dumb. Marcellus (and Utica) production has done nothing but go up since that time. Oh, the last few months the EIA has reported that Marcellus production is declining–a little bit. But that’s because of a lack of new drilling due to low low prices, a situation that is right now turning around. You can expect Marcellus production to pick up again very soon. The fact is, there is decades (perhaps centuries) of Marcellus/Utica Shale gas supplies waiting to be tapped–with no let-up in sight. Forbes contributor Jude Clemente, one of our favorite Forbes writers, goes on a riff to talk about the huge amount of gas available in the northeast, and its key role in U.S. production…
Over the years MDN has watched various threatened and endangered species get listed, which impacts drillers and midstreamers. Most notably in the northeast has been the northern long-eared bat (see 
Weather is a major driver in the natural gas markets and primary cause for ups and downs in the price of natural gas. The hotter or colder it is, the more natgas is used for cooling (in the summer) or heating (in the winter). Some of the best weather forecasters in the business can be found making predictions for the energy markets–specifically in the natgas market. One of the country’s top weather outfits is AccuWeather. The forecasters at AccuWeather have just released their long-range forecast for the winter months in the U.S. Their forecast shows much colder and snowier conditions in the northeast than we experienced last year. If their prediction comes true, it means gas prices in our region may move higher (watch out pipeline deficient New England, your gas AND electric rates will skyrocket again), and it means drillers will face challenges with drilling through the winter months. Here’s what AccuWeather says (and shows, via maps) about the coming 3-4 months across the country…
Events related to drilling in the Marcellus and Utica Shale, primarily pro-drilling.
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Downstream expansion will boost ethane prices; northeast pipeline plans will affect more than just the northeast; Bob Howarth goes all-in on fractivist shilling; Ohio Valley running gasoline made from Utica oil in cars; PA DEP won’t change water notifications even though Supreme Court struck down law; counties near cracker plant will benefit; OPEC decision good news for shale in US; and more!