Marcellus Drilling News

Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | PennEast Pipeline | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide PA

FERC Grants Final Approval for PennEast Pipe – Real Battle Begins
January 22, 2018January 22, 2018

PennEast Pipeline Route – click for larger version

It took over three years, but finally (finally!) PennEast Pipeline received a full, final kiss of approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Friday. One of the five FERC commissioners–Democrat Richard Glick (wind lobbyist, hand-picked by Chuck Schumer), voted against approving the project. Why are we not surprised? PennEast is a $1 billion, 120-mile primarily 36-inch natural gas pipeline that will stretch from Dallas (Luzerne County), PA to Transco’s pipeline interconnection near Pennington (Mercer County), NJ. The pipeline is an important conduit to move gas from the prolific gas fields of northeastern PA to markets in southeast PA and New Jersey. From the beginning of the project there have been a collection of so-called environmental organizations opposing it–including THE Delaware Riverkeeper, NJ Sierra Club, and the NJ Conservation Foundation. All radical groups, far far out of the mainstream. Unfortunately NJ elected an authoritarian Democrat as governor–Phil Murphy (see Dem Candidate for NJ Gov Opposes PennEast, After He $upported It). Murphy (a tool of Big Green) intends to obstruct PennEast any way he can (he said so during the campaign). So the fight for PennEast is far from over. The real battle is just beginning. However, with FERC on their side, PennEast can begin construction this year, in 2018. The more pipeline laid in the ground, the harder it becomes for Murphy and his radical supporters to stop it…
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Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio | Regulation | Statewide OH

BLM Auctioning Another 345 Ac. in OH Wayne Natl Forest – March 22
January 22, 2018January 22, 2018

Wayne National Forest

Another 345 acres of mineral rights will be auctioned off by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Ohio’s Wayne National Forest (WNF) on March 22nd. This will be the fifth auction of land in WNF by the BLM. The most recent round was in December, when BLM auctioned 350 acres in Monroe County, OH netting $944,000 (see BLM Raises $944K from 4th Ohio Wayne Natl Forest Auction). This time around there are two parcels–39.65 acres and 305.84 acres. Which may not sound like much–so what’s the big deal? WNF is a “patchwork” of public land scattered among private land. Some 60% of the mineral rights below WNF are privately owned. Those mineral rights owners were denied the use of their property rights for more than a decade–until the BLM finally began auctions of government mineral rights in BLM in 2016 (see BLM Launches Auction to Lease Wayne National Forest for Fracking). The government portions of the patchwork are needed to combine with the private portions in order to form drilling units large enough to drill on/under. That’s why this is a big deal. Below is the information we could find on this next (5th) round of mineral rights auctions in WNF…
Read More “BLM Auctioning Another 345 Ac. in OH Wayne Natl Forest – March 22”
Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Shell | Statewide PA

PA DEP Invites Public Comment on Shell 60-Mile Ethane Pipeline
January 22, 2018January 22, 2018

Falcon Ethane Pipeline proposed route – click for larger version

The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) is taking a close look at Shell’s proposal to build an ethane pipeline to feed the $6 billion cracker plant now under construction in Beaver County, PA. In fact, the DEP wants public input on the ethane pipeline–by Feb. 20th. Brief history: In February 2016, MDN brought you exclusive news that Shell had begun approaching landowners in Beaver County to get them to sign easements for two ethane pipelines to feed the mighty cracker plant they plan to build in the county (see Exclusive: Shell Leasing Land for 2 Pipelines to PA Cracker Plant). At that time Shell had still not fully committed to building the cracker–something they finally did in June 2016 (see Breaking: Shell Pulls the Trigger, PA Ethane Cracker is a Go!). NGI’s Shale Daily broke a story in August 2016 that shed new light on the project–news that Shell is working on an ethane “pipeline system” with two “legs” to feed the cracker, confirming the tip we received in February (see Shell Working on 94-Mile Ethane Pipeline to Feed PA Cracker). Last October Shell filed an application with the PA DEP for the PA portions of the pipeline (see Shell Files PA Application for Ethane Pipe to Feed Cracker Plant). The DEP is now considering those portions–some 60 miles running through the state. Here’s how you can comment on/support the project…
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CNG/LNG | Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Maryland | Processing Plants | Statewide MD

Although Cove Point LNG Not Yet Operational, Gas Flowing to Plant
January 22, 2018January 22, 2018

Last week MDN brought you news that Dominion’s Cove Point LNG export facility along the shore of Maryland has delayed its official start-up until perhaps as late as April (see Uh-Oh: Cove Point LNG Exports Possibly Delayed Until April). An expert analyst theorized the reason for the delay is to install two flaring systems at the plant (a safety precaution). So if the plant is not yet started up for commercial operations, why is gas still flowing to the facility? Other experts, at BTU Analytics, have been watching pipeline flow data and maintain the Cove Point facility has been receiving a steady flow of Marcellus gas since last September! No doubt some of the gas flowing to Cove Point is used for testing the equipment. But how can gas continuously flow to the plant if it’s not yet being liquefied and shipped out? We suspect some of the gas can be stored. As for the rest? We don’t know. What we do know, based on a post by BTU Analytics, is that even though Cove Point isn’t receiving the volumes it eventually will receive (3.5 billion cubic feet per day once it is fully up and running), Cove Point is getting a smaller, steady flow now–and (the point of this post), that smaller, steady flow is an important new market for Marcellus gas…
Read More “Although Cove Point LNG Not Yet Operational, Gas Flowing to Plant”
Electrical Generation | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Millennium Pipeline | New York | Orange County | Pipelines | Regulation

NY DEC Asks Court to Toss FERC Order re Millennium Pipe Project
January 22, 2018January 22, 2018

Millennium Pipeline is building a tiny, 7.8 mile pipeline in Orange County, NY that will connect the main Millennium pipeline to the CPV Valley Energy Center gas-fired electric plant. Both projects are currently under construction. Millennium’s project, called the Valley Lateral Project, was opposed by the corrupt Andrew Cuomo Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC). The DEC refused to grant necessary permits for the federal project, so the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) voted to overrule DEC and allow it to be built anyway (see History Made! FERC Overrules NY DEC on Millennium Pipe Permit). The DEC took FERC to court, but in December, the federal Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the DEC’s request to block the beginning of construction (see Fed Court Denies NY DEC Bid to Block Power Plant Pipe Construction). Construction subsequently began immediately. The DEC, no doubt goosed on by the corrupt Cuomo, has just come back to the Second Circuit with a different request. This time the DEC wants the court toss out FERC’s approval of the project, saying if the FERC approval stands, any company could file a half-baked (i.e. “incomplete” according to DEC standards) application for a water crossing permit and that doesn’t give DEC enough time to chase in a completed application. In other words, companies would “run out the clock” by saying DEC took more than a year to approve an application. DEC calls it “sandbagging” by delaying important information. Somehow DEC’s protestations ring particularly hollow, since they themselves are famous for sandbagging…
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Energy Services | Philadelphia Energy Solutions

Philadelphia Refinery Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
January 22, 2018January 22, 2018

Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES), which operates the East Coast’s largest refinery on the banks of the Delaware River, has sadly filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. PES had been on a mission to expand their operation at the Southport Marine site in Philadelphia by leasing an additional 200 acres to build a terminal for shale oil imports and exports. However, in November 2016, PA Gov. Wolf killed that plan when he decided to give a sweetheart deal to another company to develop a parking lot on the site, to park incoming cars arriving by container ships from Japan (see PA Gov Wolf Kills Plan for PES Refinery Expansion in Philadelphia). PES’ stated reason for bankruptcy is due to an onerous EPA requirement that refiners must blend in biofuel with gasoline and diesel, or purchase very expensive credits. PES can’t blend, so they must buy the credits, and it’s put them under water financially. Sadly, the Trump administration caved to the Midwest corn growers lobby and decided to uphold the Obama EPA’s onerous requirement…
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Accidents | Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Regulation | Tuscarawas County

Ohio EPA Continues Campaign to Stop Rover Pipe, Hounds FERC Again
January 22, 2018January 22, 2018

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) continues to hound the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) about a potential spill of drilling mud by Rover Pipeline near the Tuscarawas River. Last week we told you that OEPA, which has ZERO regulatory oversight of the Rover Pipeline project, had been told (by informants) that when Rover restarted underground horizontal directional drilling (HDD) work at the Tuscarawas site, some 146,000 gallons of drilling mud went down the hole but never came back out (see OEPA Continues to Hunt Rover Pipe, Claims 2nd Spill Near River). In April 2017 Rover experienced an inadvertent return (i.e. spill) of some 2 million gallons of drilling mud at the same location (see Rover Pipeline Accident Spills ~2M Gal. Drilling Mud in OH Swamp). Last year’s accident shut down all HDD work for months. It wasn’t until December that FERC allowed Rover to restart HDD work at the Tuscarawas site. After OEPA went blabbing to FERC last week, Rover pushed back by saying there has been no spill or inadvertent return (see Rover Refutes Ohio EPA Claim of 146K Gal. Spill @ Tuscarawas River). We theorize that some (maybe even all 146,000 gallons) of the drilling mud did go down the hole and stayed down the hole. So far it hasn’t come back out, which is not a problem in anyone’s book. OEPA was back at FERC on Friday like an ankle-biting Chihuahua, asking FERC to shut down Rover HDD work because of this unsubstantiated rumor of drilling mud gone missing. Enough is enough! When will FERC slap OEPA around and tell them to back off?…
Read More “Ohio EPA Continues Campaign to Stop Rover Pipe, Hounds FERC Again”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA | Wastewater

New Park Foundation “Study” Targets PA Conventional O&G Wastewater
January 22, 2018January 22, 2018

For years now the radical Park Park Foundation has been buying its research from a few select professors at a few select universities. One of the scientists for sale is Avner Vengosh, professor of geochemistry and water quality at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment (see Duke Hit Piece on Shale Water Usage from Same Park-Sponsored Prof and Latest Case of Duke U Bought & Paid “Research” by Park Foundation). Here’s how it works: Park funds Dr. Vengosh’s “research,” and he conveniently “discovers” all sorts of nasty things about shale fracking, publishing his “research” in obscure, peer reviewed journals. Mainstream media picks it up and runs it. Readers who only scan headlines get the impression fracking is evil. Mission accomplished for Park (another hit on fracking) and for Vengosh (another buck in his pocket). That’s how it works in the world of bought-and-paid-for fractivism. We though Vengosh had reformed. In October 2016 he published a fracking wastewater study, funded by the National Science Foundation (NOT the Park Foundation) that found there’s really nothing to worry about after all when it comes to Marcellus Shale wastewater (see Duke U Researcher Tries to Repair Reputation with Wastewater Study). But Vengosh has had a relapse–perhaps he needs more money? Vengosh, with funding from the Park Foundation, has just published a new study that blames conventional (not shale) oil and gas development in Pennsylvania for an increase in radioactivity in streams/rivers where conventional (not shale) wastewater has been treated and released by local sewage treatment plants…
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Calendar

Calendar of Marcellus/Utica Events for Jan 22 – Apr 21
January 22, 2018January 22, 2018

Events related (or of interest) to the Marcellus and Utica Shale, primarily pro-drilling events.

To have your event included (or if you are aware of a worthy event you believe should be on this page), please send the details and/or a link to have it included to the calendar@marcellusdrilling.com email address. Thank you!
Read More “Calendar of Marcellus/Utica Events for Jan 22 – Apr 21”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Jan 22, 2018
January 22, 2018January 22, 2018

The “best of the rest”–stories that caught MDN’s eye over the break that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Keystone XL pipe construction to begin next year; forward gas prices key to keeping Haynesville recovery alive; Patterson-UTI Energy announces closing on $525M in notes; Congress wants to give FERC final say on natgas exports; China boosts LNG imports ahead of next cold snap; Venezuela’s oil industry is done for; and more!
Read More “Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Jan 22, 2018”