Most Evacuees Return Home After XTO Well Explosion in Ohio
As we reported yesterday, last Thursday XTO Energy was drilling a fourth Utica Shale well on the Schnegg well pad near Captina Creek (York Township, Belmont County, OH) when XTO “lost control” of the well and it exploded and caught fire (see XTO Energy Utica Well Explosion in Belmont County – 100 Evacuated). We have an update. Most of the evacuees have now returned to their homes (a few still have not). Also, the well is still not capped, meaning “unknown quantities” of methane are leaking into the air. Which, judging by most press accounts, is a greenhouse gas environmental catastrophe. Actually, it’s nothing of the sort. The amount of gas a single well vents into the atmosphere until it’s capped doesn’t even move the needle on the faux global warming scale. Frankly, it’s laughable. No, we’re not laughing at this accident/disaster. Far from it. We thank God nobody was hurt. It should not have happened. And yes, the well needs to be capped–quickly–which XTO and the company hired to do it (Cudd Energy Services) are working hard to do. We’re just providing balance to the “methane leaking from this uncapped well is the end of the world” narrative so prevalent–even in local news outlets. Here’s the latest update on what’s happening at the Schnegg well pad…
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Yesterday MDN brought you news that Uwchlan Township (Chester County, PA) has filed a lawsuit in an attempt to stop construction of the Mariner East 2 Pipeline (ME2) through portions of the town, claiming the pipeline violates a town ordinance for “setbacks”–how far the pipeline is located from buildings and other structures (see 
Last September none other than West Virginia’s Secretary of Commerce, Woody Thrasher, admitted publicly that his beloved state is decidedly unfriendly to new natgas-fired electric plant projects (see 
Uncommon common sense can be found among county leaders in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, who approved a rezoning request last night for the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP)–a $3.5 billion, 301-mile pipeline that will run from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County. Although the entire path for MVP is important, there are two places where the pipeline’s path is critical and cannot be moved. One of those points is where it starts–and the other where it ends and connects to the mighty Transco. Pittsylvania County is where MVP ends–and where it can’t be moved. There many (many!) people who spoke out against MVP in various county hearings. Here’s where the uncommon common sense was exhibited. In speaking about those who railed against the pipeline, Pittsylvania Supervisor for the Westover District, Ron Scearce, said this: “One thing that’s surprising to me with all of this [opposition] is that there has not been one county resident who was affected by the project who spoke [against it].” Scearce gets it. A very vocal minority of environmental zealots, dedicated to defeating any fossil fuel project, are the ones who show up and speak out. The people across whose land the pipeline will run? They’re fine with it. Scearce and the other supervisors voting last night were not fooled by the tactics of the enviro-left. The property was rezoned to allow MVP by a UNANIMOUS vote…
West Virginia royalty owners (which sometimes means landowners, sometimes not) are pushing Senate Bill (SB) 360 to fix the issue of post-production deductions drillers take from royalty checks. A brief history: In December 2016, MDN reported on the huge WV Supreme Court decision against EQT that disallows EQT from deducting post-production expenses from royalty checks, even with signed contracts in place (see 
What if a private company wanted to locate in a state, bringing with it 243,000 direct and spin-off jobs with an average salary of $93,000? And what if that company invested billions of dollars in the state economy? No doubt the state (and local municipalities) would offer up plenty of incentives to ensure they get the business. Pittsburgh and Philadelphia (and the State of Pennsylvania) are doing just that–offering up all sorts of incentives to attract Amazon to build its HQ2 project in the Keystone State–a project that promises a huge investment and thousands of employees. However, Amazon’s HQ2 will not employ 243,000 people and inject billions–not anywhere close. But there is an industry that is ALREADY doing exactly what we’ve outlined in the opening sentence. The Marcellus Shale industry has created 243,000 direct and indirect jobs (with an average salary of $93K per year) and has already pumped billions of dollars into the economy. And yet the State of PA and places like Pittsburgh and Philly are, in many ways, fighting against the industry! They don’t offer tax breaks, instead they offer new tax increases! What’s going on here? Why does PA treat Jeff Bezos and Amazon one way, and the Marcellus industry another? Why does PA pick “winners” and “losers” economically? That’s the important topic of a column we recently spotted by Lowman Henry, chairman and CEO of the Lincoln Institute…
The “best of the rest”–stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: How’s the Rice Energy into EQT merger going?; Antero appoints new member to Board; Crawford/Venango counties get new natgas buses; East Coast natgas prices hit all-time highs during cold snap; law prof says California climate change lawsuits are a for-sure loser; EIA says ethane consumption, exports will increase this year; frac sand shortage threatens shale boom; Cheniere talks with Panama Canal about more LNG shipments; and more!