FERC Acting Chair Cheryl LaFleur Tries to Reassure Pipeline Cos.
As we reported yesterday, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) chairman Norman Bay has his knickers in a twist over getting a demotion by President Trump, who has named another sitting FERC Commissioner, Cheryl LaFleur, to become the chairwoman of FERC (see FERC Commissioner Resigns Threatening Major M-U Pipeline Projects). Bay is leaving in a huff this Friday. His resignation means there will only be two (out of five) Commissioners left until Trump names three new ones. Since FERC Commissioners must be approved by the Senate and since Democrats in the Senate are obstructing Trump’s nominations (sore losers), getting new appointments anytime soon is not in the cards. In the meantime, after this Friday there will not be a quorum–not enough people to vote on important projects like the NEXUS Pipeline and Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline. The oil and gas industry–and employees at FERC–are “unsettled” to say the least. In an effort to calm the storm, Ms. LaFleur was interviewed on FERC’s own Open Access podcast series (transcript below). What did she say? Even with the quorum, important work at the agency will continue–things like hydropower inspections, safety reviews of natgas facilities, audits and other activities. You don’t need Commissioners for that. LaFleur said the three Commissioners are working flat out this week to get as much done as they can before old Norm goes home, taking his marbles with him (our words, not hers). LaFleur is also working, presumably with FERC’s lawyers, on the “potential expansion” of what staffers can and can’t do–expanding their role during the period when there is not a quorum. Apparently there is precedence for doing so. Here’s what she said on the podcast…
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World Oil calls itself “the premier trade publication for the international upstream industry.” Perhaps it is–who are we to say otherwise? The folks at World Oil have done us all a favor. They surveyed the upstream (i.e. drilling) oil and gas industry to find out what drillers are planning for 2017. Overall, they find drillers plan to drill 18,552 wells in North America this year–a big 26.8% jump from last year. In releasing a summary of the results, Wold Oil outlines region by region in the U.S. what they predict will happen this year, based on survey results. The northeast section caught our eye. World Oil predicts Pennsylvania will see a 29% increase in new well drilling this year (total of 774 new wells drilled). Ohio will see an increase of 19.1% in new well drilling (380 new wells). And West Virginia will see a big 21.9% increase (245 new wells). Here’s the full summary from World Oil…
“Johnny could only sing one note / And the note he sang was this…” Ohio Gov. John “severance tax” Kasich is Johnny One Note when it comes to his desire to tax the Utica Shale industry and transfer their hard-earned money away to other people who didn’t earn it. Kasich announced he would obstinately include a nosebleed-high Utica Shale severance tax (6.5%) in his biennium budget–again. Kasich has been pining for an increase in Ohio’s severance tax for years (
It’s the end of an era in West Virginia. Due to term limits, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin (Democrat) could not run for reelection this past November. Jim Justice (also a Democrat) won that election. Upon assuming office this month, Justice appointed a new head of the WV Dept. of Environmental Protection–Austin Caperton. It’s only natural for an incoming governor to pick his own team, even if the outgoing governor was from the same party. And, we suppose, it’s only natural that the new head of a department (Caperton) would want his own team too. In a move that appears to have generated some controversy, Caperton has given the boot to the leader of the DEP’s Office of Environmental Advocate, Wendy Radcliff, as well as the DEP’s communications director, Kelley Gillenwater. Radical anti groups like the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, West Virginia Sierra Club and the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition were up in arms over the firing of Radcliff. Which must mean it was a good move…
It’s been a while since we’ve updated you on Canadian driller and midstream company Epsilon Energy. As a reminder, Epsilon had a shareholder rebellion in 2013 and threw out the sitting board of directors (see 
As MDN has covered (shouted) for several years now: natural gas-fired electric plants are a really big deal. The conversion from using coal (and some other forms) to natgas to generate electricity is happening at an increasing rate. And those electric generating plants use A LOT of natgas–meaning new markets for drillers. Just yesterday we gave you a list of 409 such projects across the Fruited Plain (see 
In November 2015, MDN told you about Pilgrim Pipeline Holdings, developing an East Coast pipeline to carry refined petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel, heating oil, and jet and aviation fuel northbound from Linden, New Jersey to Albany, New York (178 miles). In addition, a second Pilgrim pipeline will carry crude oil from Albany south to NJ and other locations. Two pipelines, side by side, liquids flowing through them in different directions (see 
PennEast Pipeline has just released a list of 28 non-profit organizations receiving grants of “up to” $5,000 from the pipeline company. It’s not the first time (
Last week President Trump issued a pair of executive orders meant to speed up approval for the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipeline projects (see 
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: New REX Zone 3 capacity for northeast gas markets; Indian Point nuke closing, how will NY replace 25% of Manhattan’s electricity; Sunoco hiring at Marcus Hook refinery; Trump’s election “complicates” gas politics in PA; rig counts stable in PA; natural gas prices running out of time for a rally; oil prices slip; and more!