PA PUC Shuts Down Mariner 1 Pipeline Due to Mariner 2 Sinkhole
Sunoco Logistics Partners (aka Energy Transfer Parnters) has had its challenges in constructing the twin Mariner East 2 (ME2) pipelines across Pennsylvania. Earlier this week MDN told you that underground horizontal directional drilling (HDD) work in Chester County has led to a third sinkhole developing in the area (see 3rd Sinkhole Appears Near ME2 Construction in Chester County, PA). For most of its length, ME2 is being built right next to ME1 (Mariner East 1), a liquids pipeline originally built in 1931. ME1 now flows 70,000 barrels a day of NGLs like propane to Marcus Hook, PA. The third sinkhole has exposed a portion of ME1. That is, bare steel pipeline was uncovered due to the sinkhole. Not good. That situation led to the PA Public Utility Commission (PUC) slapping ME1 with an emergency shut down order yesterday…
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On Feb. 15, XTO Energy was drilling a Utica Shale well on the Schnegg well pad near Captina Creek (York Township, Belmont County, OH) when they “lost control” of the well and it exploded and caught fire (see 
We spotted an intriguing story that summarizes some of the information found in a newly-released report from private equity firm Baird Equity Research. Baird’s report purports to show, using data, “the most productive operators in the Marcellus shale.” What is the criteria used? They use productivity per average well along with how much money the average well is generating for the operator (i.e. driller). We wish we had a copy of the full report. Sadly, we do not. However, we do have the article summarizing it, which shares the top three operators. The top operator stands head and shoulders above the rest. Would it surprise you to learn the top operator in the Marcellus, according to Baird, is Cabot Oil & Gas? No, it didn’t surprise us. What about the other two in the top three? And what about the top Utica operator? Read on…
Invenergy is currently building the Lackawanna Energy Center, a 1,480 megawatt plant in Jessup, PA (near Scranton) that will cost “well over $1 billion” according to an exclusive MDN source working on the project. When the plant is completed (first phase now done), and when it goes online (to be determined), it will be Pennsylvania’s largest natural gas-fired electric generating plant. As with all fossil fuel-related projects, there is a dedicated (small) group of antis attempting to stop the project. They frequently conduct smear campaigns, making all sorts of wild claims, in their futile attempt to stop the project. Here’s the latest example. The plant is, this week, going through a “short” commissioning stage–a time when they test the machinery in preparation to begin operations. As part of the commissioning, there is a “visible vapor plume and audible noise”–but NO chemicals are involved. Yet a local, well-known anti, upon seeing a waft of “yellow smoke” coming from the plant, immediately claimed she felt “burning [in] my nose, throat, sinuses and chest”–even though no chemicals were used during testing. What does that tell you about the veracity of the antis opposed to the plant?…
Earlier this week MDN highlighted Pin Oak Energy Partners and their strategy of targeting the northern Utica Shale, in counties like Mahoning and Trumbull in Ohio, and Mercer in Pennsylvania (see 
Last December MDN told you about the bastardization of our justice system. The New York University (NYU) School of Law is paying to hire radical (Democrat) attorneys to work inside the offices of the Attorneys General in 10 different states–Pennsylvania being the latest (see 
There’s a reason the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in California) is often called the “Ninth Circus”–because of the clowns who pass for judges who sit on the bench for that court. Lawyers representing children (children we maintain they are mentally abusing), filed a lawsuit that aims to force the end of the use of all fossil fuels in the United States, in the name of so-called man-made global warming (see 
The “best of the rest”–stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading: DRBC concludes shame hearings on frack ban with comedy routine; free program offers fast-track to join natgas industry; mobile oilfield learning unit comes to NEPA; goodbye radicalized Trout Unlimited; industry eagerly waits for WV gov to sign co-tenancy bill into law; North American shale growth faces setbacks; US shale revolution helps other countries with energy security; Saudis give shale a try; Chevron joins Shell in predicting LNG shortage by 2025; and more!