WV Appeals Lawsuit re Forced Pooling Law to Higher Fed Court
Another twist in the effort to overturn a bill passed earlier this year by the West Virginia legislature, Senate Bill (SB) 694, which finally brings forced pooling for shale wells to the Mountain States after eight years of trying (see WV House Passes Forced Pooling Bill, Done Deal When Gov Signs). Earlier this month, a lawsuit brought by two West Virginia landowners seeking to overturn the state’s new forced pooling (i.e. unitization) law was put on pause by a federal judge (see WV Landowner Lawsuit to Block Forced Pooling Law Dealt Another Blow). The federal judge said the lawsuit belongs in state court. West Virginia officials disagree and have appealed his ruling to the next rung up the federal court ladder.
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We’ve extensively covered the issue of Big Banks and Big Investment Firms turning against and refusing to fund fossil energy companies. Financial institutions are routinely hounded by radicalized leftists to deny funding to oil and gas companies, and sadly, many banks and investment firms have caved to the pressure. The attorneys general and state treasurers in “red” states are fighting back by pulling state business (and pension funds) from said companies, like BlackRock (see 
Kevin Sunday, director of government affairs with the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, recently published an op-ed in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette pointing out how the mighty Shell ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, PA, is the result of business and government (bipartisan government) working together. He makes the case that we need more of this type of thing, especially with many new faces coming to Harrisburg in January. We frankly wonder if hoping for bipartisan cooperation on fossil energy projects in the current political climate is just spitting in the wind.
According to an article by Reuters, U.S. and Canadian natural gas output “could hit growing pains in 2023.” U.S. and Canadian natural gas production is expected to hit new all-time record highs in 2023. However, growth in production is slowing, and likely to hit a ceiling in 2023. Why? Lack of pipelines that can shuttle molecules from places like the Marcellus/Utica to the Gulf Coast, where petrochemical plants and LNG export facilities can use all of the gas they can get. We could produce more here in the M-U–a LOT more. But we can’t, because we have no way to transport the extra production.
The great energy savior many on the left (and the right) are pushing is hydrogen. Never mind that hydrogen is extremely explosive (far more so than natural gas). And never mind that hydrogen is leaky (far more than natural gas because it’s lighter). Hydrogen’s chief advantage is that when it burns, it does not create carbon dioxide–the stuff you breathe out with every breath your take. Some utility companies have conducted small experiments to blend in 5-10% of hydrogen with natural gas to see how it goes. Will stoves and furnaces work OK with hydrogen blended? The Brits aren’t bothering with an incremental approach. They have selected and will FORCE some 2,000 homes in northwest England to convert to 100% hydrogen. No frittering around with half-measures and blending. People in the target village are using terms like “guinea pigs” and “lab rats” to describe their forced conversion to hydrogen.
NATIONAL: ExxonMobil now larger than Tesla; INTERNATIONAL: Osaka Gas, Tallgrass partner to advance Japan’s climate objectives.