Economic Impact

Economic Impact | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Research

Study Finds Dire Consequences if New England Pipelines Not Built
August 31, 2015August 31, 2015

The New England Coalition for Affordable Energy, a pro-fossil fuel group backed by business groups and unions in throughout all six New England states, issued the results of a study they commissioned that asks the question, What will happen in New England if energy infrastructure, like natural gas pipelines, does not get built? The study, titled “The Economic Impacts of Failing to Build Energy Infrastructure in New England” (full copy below), finds the impacts–if these projects are not built–are dire: Electric ratepayers will pay $5.4 billion in higher electricity costs; 52,000 private sector jobs will be lost; household spending will go down a collective $12.5 billion; $9 billion of investment and 115,600 jobs that would have been created by such projects will never happen; and the list goes on. Here’s the announcement and summary of the findings, followed by a full copy of the study…
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Economic Impact | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | West Virginia

Moundsville (WV) Electric Plant on Schedule for 2018 Opening
August 21, 2015August 21, 2015

Since April of 2014, MDN has written about and monitored a new project to build a $615 million electrical generating plant in Marshall County, WV that will burn Marcellus Shale gas (see MDN stories about it here). Called Moundsville Power, the project received a final green light in February 2015. We also discovered the plant will burn not only methane, but ethane as well (see WV Moundsville Electric Generating Plant to Burn Methane + Ethane!). Moundsville Power continues to make progress. Project developer Andrew Dorn says they expect to break ground in early 2016 and have the new electric plant operating by June 2018…
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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Research

Marcellus/Utica Tied to $43.8B in New NE Industrial Projects
August 19, 2015August 19, 2015

How much of an impact does Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling (and its associated activities) impact the northeast economically? We now have a pretty good idea, thanks to research done by Industrial Info Resources, a research company based in Sugarland, TX. Industrial Info is tracking more than $43.8 billion in industrial capital and maintenance projects that are set to kick off from now through 2016 in the Northeastern U.S. and New England. Industrial Info says, “Abundant natural gas from Marcellus Shale wells in Pennsylvania are responsible for much of the activity”…
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Economic Impact | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues

New NatGas Powered Electric Plant Coming to…Rhode Island?!
August 14, 2015August 14, 2015

Yet another new electric generating plant that will use abundant, cheap and clean-burning natural gas to power it was recently announced in…Rhode Island? Yep–Rhode Island, the socialist paradise on the East Coast. Home to old money and people who oppose change of any kind. At a big ceremony last week none other than RI’s Gov. Gina Raimondo joined the CEO of Invenergy to announce the Clear River Energy Center–a 900 megawatt electric generating plant that runs on natural gas. The new plant will lower RI residents’ electric bills by a collective $280 million and replace aging coal and oil power plants–cleaning the air in the process. With the jobs created, the investment in the facility, and lower electric rates, it’s calculated this single plant will have a $1.3 billion impact on the economy of RI. Now if we can only get either the Kinder Morgan’s Northeast Energy Direct or Spectra Energy’s Access Northeast pipelines built…
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Commodity Price | Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues

A Basic Guide to Understanding “Impairments” for Marcellus/Utica
August 11, 2015August 11, 2015

There is precisely one reporter at the usually anti-drilling Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Anya Litvak, who writes objectively about the Marcellus/Utica and the oil and gas industry in general. Anya used to write for the Pittsburgh Business Times until the Post-Gazette snagged her away a few years ago. It’s our opinion that the Post-Gazette keeps Anya hidden under a bushel where her light doesn’t shine nearly as brightly as it used to. Anya has just written an excellent article about something MDN recently noticed when reviewing quarterly earnings updates–this business of “impairments” or writing down the value of o&g assets on paper. As we’ve noted for a number of the quarterly updates we have reported on for the second quarter, many (most) drillers are reevaluating their acreage in the Marcellus/Utica and, according to specified formulas tied to the price of natural gas and oil, determining those assets (leases and operating wells) are not worth as much now as they were just a few months or years ago–something called an impairment…
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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Research

Marcellus/Utica Provide 85% of Natgas Production Growth Since 2012
July 28, 2015July 28, 2015

If you look at the incredible increase in shale production from 2012 to the present, 85% of that growth comes from two shale plays: the Marcellus and the Utica. So says the venerable U.S. Energy Information Administration. Why from those two plays? According to the EIA, “because of ongoing improvements in precision and efficiency of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing occurring in those regions.” Not only do we have the biggest reserves in the northeast–we also have better tech and ways of getting at those reserves. How cool is that?…
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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

New Reality in the Utica: Producers Hurting, Midstreamers Flush
July 24, 2015July 24, 2015

According to the president of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association (OOGA) David Hill, oil and gas producers–the ones who find, drill for and pump out of the ground oil and gas, are hurting bad and “concerned” about the future. On the other hand, if you’re in the midstream (pipelines) part of the industry, things are humming along. Welcome to the new reality in the Marcellus/Utica…
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Carroll County | Economic Impact | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio | Utica Shale

$800M Utica Gas-Fired Electric Plant Breaks Ground in Carroll Cnty
July 22, 2015July 22, 2015

Exactly two years ago this month MDN brought you news that Carroll County Energy in Carroll County, OH–a subsidiary of Advanced Power Services–would spend $800 million to build a new 700-megawatt natural gas electric generating plant in the county to be fed by Utica Shale gas (see New NatGas Powered Electric Plant Coming to Carroll County, OH). It took a while, but yesterday officials held the official ground-breaking ceremony for the plant. Over the next 30 months Advance will create some 700 “temporary” jobs to build the plant–and when it goes live, the plant will employ 25-30 permanent full-time employees…
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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA Bill Gives Tax Breaks to “Downstream” Natgas Businesses
July 21, 2015July 21, 2015

Here’s a cool idea: What if Pennsylvania granted 10 years of tax breaks to businesses that use shale gas and create at least 10 new jobs within three years? And what if those tax breaks for businesses were available in PA’s more rural areas–not the big cities? In other words, what if PA created more “downstream” jobs–jobs in manufacturing? Sure sounds like a winner to us. PA State Senator Scott Hutchinson (Republican from Oil City) has introduced Senate Bill (SB) 886 that would do just those things–turning PA into a jobs-creating powerhouse in the downstream sector…
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Economic Impact | Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH | Supply Chain

ET Rover Spending $85M with 7 OH Companies to Help Build Pipeline
July 14, 2015July 14, 2015

One of the arguments often used to incite opposition to pipelines is “all of the pain, none of the gain”–as in landowners and other members of the community must put up with pipeline construction for a short period of time, and then live with a pipeline in the ground for decades, without seeing any real benefit. Except that argument is patently not true. Take the ET Rover pipeline project, for example. ET Rover is a 711-mile Marcellus/Utica natural gas pipeline that will serve mostly U.S. customers and will cost $3.7 billion to build and run from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and eventually into Canada. Some 570 of the 711 miles of ET Rover will run through the state of Ohio. How do Ohioans benefit? First, the pipeline will generate $91 million in tax revenues for local schools–in it’s first year (see For the Children: ET Rover Pipeline $91M in School Taxes 1st Year). Second, it will mean cheaper natural gas all along the pipeline’s route. Third, Energy Transfer, the company building Rover, is investing a staggering $3.7 billion to build it. Do you know the kind of economic ripples that makes throughout an economy? For example, ET just announced a list of seven Ohio companies they are set and ready to spend $85 million with to help build the pipeline. Below is a list of those companies and the products/services they will provide to ET Rover. A few million dollars here and a few million dollars there adds up to company expansions, new jobs, more tax revenue for local communities–the good times just keep on a rollin’ thanks to a pipeline that “doesn’t benefit anyone” except a vile, nasty fossil fuel company…
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CNG/LNG | Commodity Price | Crude Oil | Decline/Depletion Rates | Economic Impact | Education | Ethane | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | M&A | NGLs | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Regulation | Research | Reserves (Proved and Unproved)

Join MDN at RBN Energy’s “Summer in the City” Event July 23 – NYC
June 30, 2015July 9, 2015

MDN invites you to join us in attending RBN Energy’s “State of the Energy Markets” one-day event in New York City on July 23. Before you hurry to say “yes,” a few caveats. It costs money (a lot of it). It’s aimed at executives working in the industry, as well as traders and investors. If that describes you (and we know that many of you read MDN), you may be interested in attending. We guarantee it will be a great event. Rusty Braziel & company will provide an overview of the key issues facing natural gas, NGLs and the crude oil market. They will explain how the markets for those three commodities interact and affect each other. They will also take a look at prices, where they may be heading, and how infrastructure affects price. If you are really “into energy” as we are, this is a must attend event. Details are below, along with a link to register…
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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Regulation | Research

API Study Shows Energy Regulations are Killing Jobs & Economy
June 24, 2015June 24, 2015

The American Petroleum Institute (API) released a new study yesterday authored by Wood Mackenzie, a global research firm, which compares government policies that promote the growth of the energy industry with government policies that stifle energy growth. The study, titled “A Comparison of US Oil and Natural Gas Policies: Pro-development Policies vs. Proposed Regulatory Constraints” (full copy embedded below) finds that the study found that unnecessarily restrictive energy and environmental regulations proposed by the Obama administration will lead to 830,000 lost jobs and a decrease of $133 billion per year in the U.S. economy. In other words, Obama is ruining this country with his energy/environmental policies…
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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Lease & Royalty Payments | Pennsylvania | Supply Chain | Susquehanna County

Drilling Slowdown Creates Domino Effect in Susquehanna County, PA
June 18, 2015June 18, 2015

Low natural gas prices and lack of pipelines is affecting more than just the drillers in Susquehanna County, PA–it’s also affecting landowners, gas workers, and the businesses that depend on all of the above. Drillers in northeastern PA (as well as elsewhere) are laying down their drilling rigs. Fewer rigs means fewer new wells being drilled, meaning no royalties for those landowners. And it means fewer jobs for workers, and less business for companies that provide goods and services to drillers, the people who work for them, and landowners with less disposable income. A TV station in NEPA shines a light on the situation in Susquehanna County…
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Bradford County | Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania

NEPA Tungsten Plant Begins Converting Marcellus Gas into Hydrogen
June 18, 2015June 18, 2015

This is the story of how abundant and cheap Marcellus Shale gas is helping to secure the jobs of 550 people in Bradford County, PA, people who work in a business that has nothing to do with the Marcellus Shale industry. Yesterday, Global Tungsten & Powders Corp. in Towanda, PA held a ribbon cutting ceremony for a new piece of equipment at the company’s plant that will convert Marcellus Shale gas, extracted locally, into hydrogen used in enormous quantities at the plant. The Global Tungsten plant in Towanda is one of the country’s largest users of hydrogen (who knew?). The company uses hydrogen to manufacture tungsten products at the plant, including components for solid oxide fuel cells (i.e., big batteries). Until now, liquid hydrogen has had to be trucked to the plant daily, from hundreds (even thousands) of miles away. The new equipment unveiled yesterday, which will be owned and operated by Air Products, will provide 80-90% of the plant’s hydrogen needs. Just one more way this evil, nasty fossil fuel called Marcellus Shale gas is benefiting Pennsylvanians (jobs and economy) AND making the planet a better/safer/greener place to live…
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Economic Impact | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Mahoning County | Ohio | Supply Chain | Vallourec

Youngstown Plant Starts Operations, Selling Pipes to Shale Industry
June 16, 2015June 16, 2015

Although drilling activity in the Marcellus/Utica, indeed across all shale plays, has decreased in the past six months, that doesn’t mean all gas and oil related businesses have been adversely affected. Take Vallourec’s VAM USA LLC subsidiary–a pipe manufacturer with a facility in Youngstown, Ohio. In May, VAM began producing the first pipes for commercial sale at its new premium threading plant in Youngstown. More money, more jobs, rolling into eastern Ohio–thanks to the miracle of hydraulic fracturing. Here’s the details on VAM’s startup in producing pipe products for the shale industry…
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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Research

Manhattan Institute Report Says Shale 2.0 Just Getting Started
June 15, 2015June 15, 2015

The New York-based Manhattan Institute, a non-profit think tank with a mission “to develop and disseminate new ideas that foster greater economic choice and individual responsibility,” released a new report in May titled, “Shale 2.0: Technology and the Coming Big-Data Revolution in America’s Shale Oil Fields” (full copy embedded below). The report explores and debunks the current meme coming from mainstream media, Saudi Arabia and other opponents of shale energy that with the current low price climate shale energy in the U.S. is done…fini…kaput. Mark Mills, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute and author of the paper, says Shale 1.0 is now done, having run it’s course. But we’re still very early in the game and Shale 2.0 is just getting started. And oh, the (economic) places Shale 2.0 will take us!…
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