Marcellus Drilling News

Carbon Capture | Hancock County | Industrywide Issues | West Virginia

Hancock County Commissioner Claims CCS Will Limit New M-U Drilling
July 8, 2025July 8, 2025

Tenaska CCS diagram (click for larger version)

In a recent op-ed, a county commissioner from Hancock County, West Virginia, warned residents against signing a lease with Tenaska to allow the company to use their land to store carbon dioxide (CO2) as part of the company’s Tri-State CCS Hub project. CCS stands for carbon capture and sequestration. According to the commissioner, storing CO2 underground in the region will make the shallow Marcellus and the deeper Utica “off limits” for shale drilling in the future. Is that true? Read More “Hancock County Commissioner Claims CCS Will Limit New M-U Drilling”
Electrical Generation | Indiana County | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania

Largest Gas-Fired Power Plant Project in U.S. Hits Legal Trouble
July 8, 2025July 8, 2025

In early April, MDN brought you the exciting news that THE largest gas-fired power plant in the country, along with a MASSIVE data center complex, will be built at a former coal-fired power plant site in Indiana County, PA (see Largest Gas-Fired Power Plant in the U.S. Coming in Western Pa.). The site will be transformed into a more than 3,200-acre natural gas-powered data center campus, complete with a 4.5 gigawatt Marcellus-fired power plant. However, there’s a legal problem, and this problem is not being caused by litigious environmentalists. Read More “Largest Gas-Fired Power Plant Project in U.S. Hits Legal Trouble”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County | Wastewater

Northeast PA Legislator Promotes Lithium from Frack Wastewater
July 8, 2025July 8, 2025

PA Rep. Jonathan Fritz

Two weeks ago, MDN shared two stories about different shale wastewater plants coming (already in testing) in Susquehanna County, PA, tucked in the northeast corner of the state. The purpose of the facilities is to extract lithium from frack wastewater, or “brine” (see Integrated Lithium Production Plant Coming to PA Marcellus in 2026 and Successful Lithium-from-Brine Pilot Test in Susquehanna County, PA). We followed up on those stories with a post last week, pondering the question of whether landowners will see any financial benefit from extracting lithium from what is otherwise a waste product (see Do Landowners Get Money for Lithium Extracted from Wastewater?). That post sparked a heated debate on the topic. Read More “Northeast PA Legislator Promotes Lithium from Frack Wastewater”
CNG/LNG | Diversified Energy | Energy Companies | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Diversified Produces More Gas in WV Than Any Other State; Eyes LNG
July 8, 2025July 8, 2025

WV News recently interviewed two high-level employees of Diversified Energy—Darren Gibbs, vice president of marketing, and Ron Ridgway, executive vice president for energy marketing. While we expected the typical expressions of support for the company and the oil and gas industry, we were delighted to gain some insights into the company’s thinking and strategy that we did not previously know. We were also surprised to learn that Diversified produces more natural gas in West Virginia than it does in any of the other states where it operates. Read More “Diversified Produces More Gas in WV Than Any Other State; Eyes LNG”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Litigation | Pipelines | Tennessee Gas Pipeline

The Battle to Block TGP’s East 300 NJ Pipe & Compressor is Over
July 8, 2025July 8, 2025

The lawfare battle brought by radical green groups in New Jersey, including Food and Water Watch, the NJ Highlands Coalition, and the Sierra Club, aimed at overturning the decision to permit and build an electric compressor station and a pipeline that connects to it, is over. Done. Finished. Can we please stick a fork in it? We’re talking about the battle to block a compressor project in West Milford, NJ, part of Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) East 300 expansion project, an upgrade of TGP to deliver an extra 115 MMcf/d of natural gas to Consolidated Edison and its customers in New York City and surrounding suburbs. The radicals just flamed out in a NJ appeals court and have no options left to challenge it. Read More “The Battle to Block TGP’s East 300 NJ Pipe & Compressor is Over”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PUC Shields Colluding PA Groups’ Internal Communications from PGW
July 8, 2025July 8, 2025

When referring to Big Green groups in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, we often label the groups as “colluding,” meaning they coordinate their legal and public relations attacks against fossil fuel companies. It is something we have long suspected but (unfortunately) can’t prove definitively. We had hoped Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) was about to prove it (see Colluding PA Anti Groups Fear Internal Communications Made Public). Several groups, including POWER Interfaith, Sierra Club, Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania, Clean Air Council, Vote Solar, PennEnvironment, and the Pennsylvania Public Interest Research Group, attacked a recent proposal by PGW to raise rates. PGW asked the Public Utility Commission (PUC) to order the groups to provide internal communications that would prove they have been colluding together. Alas, the PUC turned down the request, preserving the secrecy of the colluders. Read More “PUC Shields Colluding PA Groups’ Internal Communications from PGW”
Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Enterprise Products Partners | Ethane | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

Much Ado About Nothing: U.S. Ethane Exports to China Fully Resume
July 8, 2025July 8, 2025

MDN recently brought you the news that the Trump administration was blocking cargoes of ethane to China (see U.S. Denies Permit for Enterprise to Export Ethane Cargoes to China). Ethane is a raw feedstock used to create plastics. Denying China access to our ethane hurts the Chinese economy. We later reported that the export ban to China was just a bargaining position and had been lifted (see Trump Trade Deal Lifts Ethane Export Ban to China; Cargo to India). However, in another twist to this saga, the Trump administration informed Enterprise Products and Energy Transfer (the two companies exporting ethane to China) that they could load the ethane and ship it. However, before unloading, they will still need U.S. government permission (see Trump Admin Sends Mixed Signals on Ethane Exports to China). The mixed signals are once again clear. Read More “Much Ado About Nothing: U.S. Ethane Exports to China Fully Resume”
Best of the Rest

MDN’s Energy Stories of Interest: Tue, Jul 8, 2025 [FREE ACCESS]
July 8, 2025July 8, 2025

OTHER U.S. REGIONS: US proposes rules that could boost oil, gas output in US West; Elon Musk confirms buying overseas power plant, shipping it to Memphis for xAI; LNG boom hits a snag in Louisiana’s crowded waterways; NATIONAL: Dallas Fed energy survey shows oil, gas activity contraction; Imports made up 17% of U.S. energy supply in 2024, lowest in 40 years; Democrats retreat on climate; The OBBBA resets the energy policy playing field; INTERNATIONAL: Oil gains on Saudi price hike; Carney says new oil pipeline proposal in Canada is highly likely; Quebec to ‘carefully examine’ proposal for new LNG megaproject; Nova Scotia looking to revive offshore gas industry; The green lobby’s dishonest crusade for solar and wind. Read More “MDN’s Energy Stories of Interest: Tue, Jul 8, 2025 [FREE ACCESS]”