EQT/Tug Hill Deal Came Only After PA AG, FTC Changed Deal Terms
We should have known there was a price to pay, a “pound of flesh” to be exacted, when we read the announcement that the Bidenistas of the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) had approved EQT’s deal to buy Tug Hill’s West Virginia assets. Two days ago, EQT issued a press release to announce the deal had been blessed by the FTC and would happen within the next seven days (see Bidenistas at FTC Clear EQT to Complete Buyout of Tug Hill & XcL). A day later, yesterday, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office issued its version of the news, stating approval by the FTC (and the AG’s office) came only after both the FTC and the AG screwed with the deal and changed the terms of the deal. We should have known.
Read More “EQT/Tug Hill Deal Came Only After PA AG, FTC Changed Deal Terms”
Yesterday we told you about a new $2 billion hydrogen project coming to West Virginia (see 
We’ll say aloud what no one else appears ready or willing to say: The long-ballyhooed PTT ethane cracker plant project in Belmont County, Ohio, announced eight years ago, is dead. That’s our humble opinion. We periodically look for signs of life in the project, and it has been a flat line for YEARS. Nothing. A local news article from earlier this week asked, “What is the future of the Belmont County Ethane Cracker plant project?” Local county leaders are still “very optimistic” it will get built. We say it’s time to face reality.
On August 17, the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) posted an Interim Final Environmental Justice Policy to guide DEP’s permit application reviews and outreach efforts in environmental justice areas throughout the Commonwealth. New Environmental Justice (or EJ) policies are a euphemism for regulations that prohibit drilling and pipelines built in neighborhoods of color or economic hardship zones because, says the left, those people can’t fight them. It is a uniquely dystopian and prejudiced view of the world. We call it “all shale drilling is racist” regulations. Completely repugnant. The DEP will publish their new anti-shale regs in the Pennsylvania Bulletin on September 16 and immediately implement them on the same day. Meaning the DEP will begin to slow or deny new permits for wells and pipelines as of that date–based on violating made-up EJ standards. We hope the Marcellus industry sues the DEP to stop it.
Earlier this week, University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) researchers released three studies commissioned by the State Dept. of Health supposedly investigating whether or not there is a connection between shale drilling and childhood diseases, including cancer (see 
Last week S&P Global Ratings, the largest and most important of the Big Three credit-rating agencies, which include Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings, announced it is ditching its system of numerically ranking corporate borrowers on their ESG risk (see 
New shale permits issued for Aug 7 – 13 in the Marcellus/Utica crashed for a second week in a row. There were 10 new permits issued last week, down 14 issued the previous week (half of the 29 issued three weeks ago). Last week’s permit tally included 10 new permits in Pennsylvania, no new permits in Ohio, and no new permits in West Virginia (third week in a row for WV). The top permittee for the week was Chesapeake Energy, receiving 6 permits–4 in Bradford County and 2 in Susquehanna County.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Environmentalists call Dominion’s carbon offsets “greenwashing”; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Cruz tells Texas oil and natural gas industry to ‘fight back’; NATIONAL: Trump Energy Sec tapped to lead utility lobbying group; Coalition demands DOE Sec. Granholm’s resignation over ethics lapses; Why America’s shale boom is not over; IRA subsidies might create energy minerals supply shortages; INTERNATIONAL: Workers begin strike vote at Chevron’s LNG facilities in Australia.