Marcellus Drilling News

Accidents | Columbiana County | Energy Companies | Hilcorp Energy | Industrywide Issues | Ohio

Columbiana County, OH Evacuates 450 After Hilcorp Gas Well Accident
July 12, 2023July 12, 2023

Natural gas well head (sometimes called a Christmas tree)

Roughly 450 people within a one-mile radius of a Hilcorp Energy well pad in Fairfield Township (Columbiana County, OH) were evacuated following a mishap at the pad. Hilcorp says a third-party contractor “struck a well head” on the pad around 9:00 a.m. Tuesday, causing natural gas to leak into the air. What does that mean, that someone struck a well head?
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Equitrans/EQT Midstream | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide VA | Statewide WV | Virginia | West Virginia

All Construction of MVP Stopped as 4th Circuit Stays Second Permit
July 12, 2023July 12, 2023

Yesterday MDN told you that on Monday, the clown judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (i.e., the 4th Circus) illegally stayed a THIRD permit issued by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) for Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) to traverse a piddly 3.5 miles of the federally-owned Jefferson National Forest (see Colluding 4th Circuit Judges Do It Again – MVP Halted in Jeff Forest). No sooner had we delivered that news than the clowns returned (cue Judy Collins, Send in the Clowns). Yesterday the 4th Circus judges slapped a stay on a second permit, a THIRD permit issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) concerning endangered species. Both stays, which are blocking new construction, are illegal according to the recently adopted law known as the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) of 2023 (see Equitrans Announces Mountain Valley Pipe to Get Completed in 2023).
Read More “All Construction of MVP Stopped as 4th Circuit Stays Second Permit”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Buckeye Brine | Coshocton County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Wastewater

Buckeye Brine Seeks Permit for 4th Injection Well in Coshocton, OH
July 12, 2023July 12, 2023

Buckeye Brine – Coshocton (click for larger version)

MDN has covered news about wastewater injection well company Buckeye Brine for more than a decade (see our Buckeye Brine stories here). Over the years, the company has drilled and safely operated three injection wells at the same location in Coshocton County, OH. Buckeye recently filed an application with the Ohio EPA to drill and operate a fourth wastewater injection well at the Coshocton location. The OEPA recently held a hearing, and as before, a group of activists and local residents turned up to oppose the plan.
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA DEP Sec. Negrin Sucks Up to Radical Anti-Drillers on Conf Call
July 12, 2023July 12, 2023

What a disappointment Rich Negrin has turned out to be as Secretary of the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection. During a DEP Citizens Advisory Council meeting held yesterday in Harrisburg (and remotely, via teleconference), several virulent anti-fossil fuelers addressed the council, making wild claims against the DEP. Negrin simply accepted their babbling and told them he agreed with them and would investigate any perceived problems. It was a shameful performance.
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Commodity Price | Industrywide Issues | Research

EIA Predicts NatGas Prices Going Higher in 2H23 – July STEO
July 12, 2023July 12, 2023

Once a month, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) analysts issue the agency’s Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), their best guess about where energy prices and production will go in the next 12 months. Last month the EIA predicted an average price at the Henry Hub of $2.66/MMBtu for 2023, and $3.42/MMBtu for 2024 (see EIA Slashes 2023/24 NatGas Price Prediction in June STEO Report). The July STEO, released yesterday, lowers both of those projections once again.
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Industrywide Issues | Regulation

EPA Attacks O&G Again – New Reporting Updates for Methane Emissions
July 12, 2023July 12, 2023

Last week the Bidenistas at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a new proposal to amend reporting requirements for petroleum and natural gas systems under EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. The proposed revisions would “improve the accuracy of reported emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG), including methane, one of the primary drivers of the climate crisis [which doesn’t exist], from applicable petroleum and natural gas facilities.” The EPA is using the so-called Inflation Reduction Act as the excuse to ratchet up new reporting requirements so high it makes life miserable for the oil and gas industry. And that’s the point.
Read More “EPA Attacks O&G Again – New Reporting Updates for Methane Emissions”
Hydrogen | Industrywide Issues

World First: Power Plant Burns 60% Hydrogen Using Flordia Co. Tech
July 12, 2023July 12, 2023

Daesan H2GT Power Plant

Hydrogen is thought by some to be the great energy savior, able to fill an important gap in liquid fuels that batteries and electricity cannot. Hydrogen, a very flammable and ignitable substance (and the most common molecule in the universe), burns clean when it burns, producing only water as a byproduct. A major area of focus for those pushing hydrogen energy is using it to generate electricity. Wouldn’t it be great, they say, if we could swap out hydrogen for nasty old methane? The problem has been nobody has figured out how to mix more than perhaps 40% hydrogen with 60% methane in a standard gas-burning turbine. A company with operations in the U.S. and South Korea has just announced it has successfully performed a test of burning 60% hydrogen in a standard (refitted) gas turbine. That’s a really important breakthrough.
Read More “World First: Power Plant Burns 60% Hydrogen Using Flordia Co. Tech”
Best of the Rest

Other Stories of Interest: Wed, Jul 12, 2023
July 12, 2023July 12, 2023

OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Shell, BP pursue arbitration claims against Venture Global LNG; Eugene natural gas ban removed from upcoming ballot; Cheniere shunning Panama Canal for longer LNG routes to Asia; NATIONAL: US climate envoy John Kerry criticises big oil for backtracking; INTERNATIONAL: Oil rises on signs of declining supply surplus; Crude oil and natgas proved reserves fell slightly in 2022; U.K. gas giant reaches $8 billion deal to import U.S. LNG; Cummins’ Darlington Engine Plant celebrates first natgas engine.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Wed, Jul 12, 2023”