SWPA Unions Join Shale Cos. to Back House ‘COVID Comeback’ Bills
Back in March, just as the COVID-19 pandemic was beginning to enter the public consciousness, some 500 people from labor unions and industry met in Pittsburgh to launch an organization called Pittsburgh Works Together (PWT), dedicated to fighting back against those who want to end southwest PA industries including steel, natural gas, and petrochemicals (see CNX CEO Backs New SWPA Group to Counter “Elites and Extremists”). The alliance is going strong. Last week MDN editor Jim Willis had the pleasure of interviewing (via phone) Jeff Nobers, Executive Director for both the Builders Guild of Western Pennsylvania and PWT.
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In July Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf signed into law House Bill (HB) 732, a bill that will grant tax breaks to companies willing to build brand new petrochemical plants in the Keystone State–plants that use huge quantities of Marcellus Shale gas (see 
Bet you never thought you’d read about (or watch) a Justin Bieber video on MDN. We never thought we would write about or feature Bieber’s music. But then we watched a video of his newest song called Holy, a video that’s been watched (so far) over 32 million times since it was released to Youtube on Sunday! In the video Bieber plays the part of an oilfield worker who gets laid off. It’s poignant. Frankly, it brought tears to our eyes.
The Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) released an important new study yesterday. Titled “How Pipelines Can Spur Immediate Post-COVID Economic Recovery,” the new study finds delays, obstruction, and cancellation of pipeline infrastructure projects are threatening at least $13.6 billion in economic activity, over 66,000 jobs, and more than $280 million a year in state and local tax revenue at a time when America’s financial recovery from COVID-19 requires MORE investment and tax revenue. A section of the report finds anti-pipeline fanatics in NY, NJ, and PA threaten $3.5 billion worth of investments and 17,000 jobs in our region alone.
Oil and gas drilling giant Equinor (formerly called Statoil) is owned by the Norwegian government. Equinor/Statoil has drilled in the Marcellus/Utica for years. As recently as June 2019 the company reported drilling 9-14 Utica wells per year (see 
It’s been a tough past five months in the shale industry. While it’s been tough in the gas-focused plays like the Marcellus/Utica, it’s been tougher in the oil-focused plays like the Permian. Employment in the O&G space has shrunk, by one account, by some 86,000 jobs. We’re now at the same employment level as we were following the downturn in 2014-2016. “But everyone knows this industry is cyclical. It’ll bounce back again, right?” This time it may be different. According to analyst John Kemp, this time some of the jobs (and companies) leaving the industry will be gone for good…
It’s time for a victory lap. Pennsylvania Republicans, with the help of some brave Democrats (and former Democrats), passed and convinced Gov. Wolf to sign a bill into law that will grant tax breaks to companies willing to build brand new petrochemical plants in the Keystone State–plants that use huge quantities of Marcellus Shale gas. Wolf signed the bill yesterday, after vetoing a similar bill earlier this year. The normally chatty Wolf press operation barely mentioned his signature on the bill.
Last week we brought you news that Shell had temporarily suspended adding back some 300 workers per week at its ethane cracker construction site in Beaver County, PA following a spike in COVID-19 coronavirus cases (see 
When the COVID-19 coronavirus hit, Shell stopped all work on its mighty cracker plant in Beaver County, PA, sending nearly 8,000 workers home in mid-March for what was thought to be “a few days to a few weeks” (see 
Wow! That was fast! Last week we brought you the rumor that a bill to allow incentives for petrochemical plants willing to build new facilities in Pennsylvania (generating hundreds of jobs and hundreds of millions of investment in the state) appears to be back on after the bill was previously vetoed by Gov. Tom Wolf earlier this year (see