Biden Appoints Richard “Dick” Glick FERC Chair – Forget Pipelines
Democrat Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Commissioner Richard “Dick” Glick, to the best of our knowledge, has voted against every single new or expanded gas/oil pipeline to come before FERC using the same broken-record response: man-made global warming. Yesterday President Biden appointed Glick as the new Chairman of FERC. We seriously doubt any new pipeline projects will now get approved, period. Glick’s chairmanship also threatens existing projects like Mountain Valley Pipeline and PennEast Pipeline.
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With Richard “Dick” Glick as the new Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), life just got harder for the PennEast Pipeline project. Not impossible, but certainly harder. On Tuesday FERC gave PennEast a little bit of love when it turned down a request by a Pennsylvania landowner that PennEast not be allowed to use eminent domain to cross the landowner’s property. But also on Tuesday FERC removed from its agenda a final decision on whether or not to approve PennEast’s request to split the project into two phases.
Last fall Mountaineer NGL Storage, a $500 million project in Monroe County to build underground storage for ethane and other NGLs, asked Ohio to cancel a key permit for the project (see 
After literally *years* of complaints that simple permits in Pennsylvania required in drilling new shale wells–like a Chapter 102 Erosion and Sedimentation permit–are taking two, three, even six to eight months for an approval (instead of the law-mandated 14 days), the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) is finally doing something about it. Why? They’ve just received a swift kick in the seat of the pants.
President Joe Biden is already a complete disaster for the oil and gas industry. His first two days in office (day and a half, actually) can only be described as a full-on attack against our industry. That’s according to the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA). We received a rundown of the damage Biden has already caused. Here’s just one example (out a list of 100+): Biden has put a freeze (pun intended) on the Dept. of Transportation’s rule that allows LNG to be shipped by rail. The rule is being “reviewed” with an eye to reversing it.
Over the past week, the Enverus U.S. rig count added another 6 active rigs, making the new count 430. The Marcellus wet gas region (in southwest PA and WV) lost a rig, while the Marcellus dry gas region (in northeast PA) gained a rig. Overall the Marcellus/Utica combined rig count remained stead at 42 active rigs. The M-U’s chief competitor, the Haynesville Shale, lost one rig, now with 48 active rigs.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Change at White House could mean change on future of fossil fuels in West Virginia; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Regulators deny permit for $2B methanol project in Washington; NATIONAL: EIA expects crude oil prices to average near $50 per barrel through 2022; Biden announces senior Dept. of Energy staff; Exelon applauds Biden Executive Orders on climate change, Paris treaty; On his first day, Biden insults Canada and ends thousands of jobs; Biden administration pauses federal drilling program in climate push; Temporary halt to oil leasing on federal lands: bad for America’s consumers and econ recovery; INTERNATIONAL: European Parliament reiterates call for Nord Stream 2 gas link to be halted; How TTF became a premier natural gas trading hub and global benchmark.