USGS Says Utica has More Recoverable Shale Gas than Marcellus!
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) released a bombshell of a report yesterday. Two reports, actually. USGS periodically updates its estimates of how much oil and natural gas is still not accessed but is “technically recoverable” in various shale plays. The last time USGS evaluated the Marcellus and Utica plays was in 2011, when the two plays combined had 122 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of recoverable gas. In yesterday’s report, USGS says that number has almost doubled, to 214 Tcf. But the biggest surprise is that the Utica has MORE recoverable gas than the Marcellus!
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The National Association of Royalty Owners’ national convention has been under way this week in Pittsburgh, wrapping up today. One of the big topics at the event has been a push to get a “royalty check stub” bill passed in Pennsylvania. What’s that? It’s a bill that forces drillers to do a better, more detailed job of breaking down royalty statements so landowners/rights owners can see what expenses have been deducted from their royalty checks. Such a bill passed and went into law in West Virginia last year (see 
Yesterday MDN told you that Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has gone completely off his rocker with a power-grab to force PA into a regional alliance to tax natural gas-fired electric plants out of existence (see 
It’s hard to keep track of the multiple lawsuits filed against every single new natural gas pipeline project in the Marcellus/Utica. But we try! Take the PennEast Pipeline, for example. PennEast is a $1 billion (or $1.2 billion, depending on the source) new greenfield pipeline project from Luzerne County, PA to Mercer County, NJ. PennEast will flow PA Marcellus gas to markets in NJ. The project has faced numerous lawsuits and regulatory blockades, much of it in NJ. There are two different lawsuits of current interest, with one affecting the other.
In October 2012, after a rigorous review by New York’s Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC), the Cricket Valley Energy Center in Dutchess County was accepted and approved. Construction of the 1,100 megawatt plant (to fed by PA Marcellus gas) began in July 2017 (see 
In May 2016, the out-of-control Obama EPA issued new methane air emissions rules as a back-door way to try and regulate the oil and gas industry (see 
LNG and the amount of so-called greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions given off to produce LNG is the same the world over, right? We mean, LNG is LNG, right? Turns out, that’s not right. At least according to a new study just released by researchers at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL). In a new report (full copy below), NETL researchers found that LNG produced here in the U.S. gives off lower GHG emissions during its manufacture than does LNG produced in both Russia and Australia. Meaning Europe and Asia should want to buy and use the better-for-the-environment LNG produced by Uncle Sam rather than buy it from one of those other countries.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: The energy of Washington County; Pennsylvania Senator Daylin Leach proposes constitutional amendment to ban fracking; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Dominion Energy to study development of first large-scale solar project at Dulles International Airport; Chevron’s shale allies are its secret weapon in Exxon race; Ashland residents rally against Eversource natural gas pipeline project; NATIONAL: Energy Secretary Rick Perry to step down next month: report; U.S. crude oil exports continued to grow in the first half of 2019; U.S. shale oil boom ends as lower prices take toll: Kemp; U.S. crude production returns to record levels; Natural gas and the electric power sector: the latest trends; U.S. exports are revolutionizing the LNG market; INTERNATIONAL: Climate activists in London lose control of hose spraying fake blood.