Clean Air Council Claims Victory in Marcus Hook Air Permit Case
The radicals of the Clean Air Council (CAC) are claiming a (very small) victory in their campaign against processing NGLs at the Marcus Hook refinery located near Philadelphia. CAC is CACkling that they have forced Energy Transfer, builder of the mighty Mariner East (ME) pipeline system (a pipeline that CAC couldn’t stop), to back down on how permits are issued for the Marcus Hook facility–the place where NGLs from ME end up for processing and loading for export. The end result is…well…not much. Nothing will really change. The same volume of NGLs will still flow to Marcus Hook, and the same volume of NGLs will be loaded onto ships and exported to other countries. The only thing that changes is that ET spends more time and pays more money to obtain a single large permit instead of two separate, smaller permits. We’ll explain.
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Northeast Natural Energy (NNE) is a “top 10” shale driller in West Virginia, headquartered in Morgantown, WV (see 
When a pipeline company considers whether or not to build a new pipeline, the company conducts an “open season”–a time when drillers (producers), traders, buyers, and others who want guaranteed capacity along that pipeline can sign long-term contracts. Such contracts guarantee pipeline companies will be able to make back the considerable amount of money they have to spend to build the pipeline. What happens when those 5-, 10-, and 20-year contracts expire?
In a post on EIA’s Today in Energy, the now-politicized EIA attempts to prop up the tattered reputation of the Biden administration with respect to natural gas using the headline, “FERC approves new natural gas pipeline projects to increase U.S. exports.” We excitedly read the post hoping to spot a project or two that had escaped our notice, something that would end up flowing more Marcellus/Utica molecules to other regions. It wasn’t until the very last sentence we discovered the truth that even EIA could not ignore: “In 2021, we estimate that the United States added 7.44 Bcf/d of new pipeline capacity, the lowest amount added to interstate transmission since 2016.” In other words, new pipeline additions haven’t been this low since the last days of the Lord Obama administration.
You have to hand it to West Virginia Joe Manchin, he doesn’t much care what the snobby intelligentsia think about him. For whatever reason Manchin is attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. It’s an event where all the smarter-than-you-are people go to pronounce they’re smarter than you are. According to the WEF website, “The World Economic Forum brings together decision-makers from across society to work on projects and initiatives that make a real difference.” Errr, right. Most of the attendees are fossil fuel haters, so it was with interest we read Manchin’s comments at Davos in front of the haters, sticking up for fossil energy.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Pennsylvania gas is the key to world energy security; NATIONAL: USA fuelmakers shifting into higher gear; Inflation will be higher for longer and you won’t like what comes next; Biden administration says it has not ruled out export curbs to ease fuel prices; INTERNATIONAL: Saudi Arabia says it has done all it can for the oil market; Qatar willing to help UK but West must also take responsibility; Germany plans to keep coal-fired plants ready in case Russian gas is cut.