PA’s Act 66 Sets Stage for “Transformative Growth” in NEPA Marcellus
In July 2020, PA Gov. Tom Wolf signed into law House Bill (HB) 732, a bill that grants tax breaks to companies willing to build brand new petrochemical plants in the Keystone State–plants that use huge quantities of Marcellus Shale gas (see Victory Lap! Gov. Wolf Signs Tax Break Bill for New Petchem Plants). Wolf vetoed a prior version and got a lot of negative feedback, so when the bill came around a second time he signed it. HB 732 became Act 66 in PA’s codes and regulations. Act 66 is meant to attract big petrochemical plants to northeastern PA. So far only one such facility (already in the works prior to the new law) has taken advantage of the Act 66 law. Efforts are underway to change that.
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Nuverra Environmental Solutions (formerly Heckmann) is one of the largest companies in the United States that handles transportation and disposal of shale drilling wastewater and leftover rock and dirt from drilling. The company has major operations in the Marcellus/Utica region. We keep an eye on its performance as an indicator of whether there is more or less drilling happening in the M-U. For over a year, it’s been less. In 2020 Nuverra’s revenue sank by 34% and the rig count that it tracks fell by 27% (see 
Summit Midstream Partners, formed in 2009 and headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, operates natural gas, crude oil, and produced water gathering (pipeline) systems in several unconventional shale plays, including the Marcellus and Utica. Last week Summit issued its first-quarter 2021 update. The company’s Utica Shale segment continued to be the star performer.
Yesterday MDN reported comments by Energy Transfer (ET) that the company plans to finally (after years of delays) complete the final pieces of the Mariner East 2 pipeline project by the third quarter of this year (see 
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