Industrywide Issues

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    Pitt Law School Launches ‘Energy Law and Policy Institute’

    A meaningful percentage of MDN’s paying subscribers are lawyers. Energy lawyers. Why? Just about everything involved with shale energy–from exploration to signing leases to drilling, pipelines, production and even selling the end product involves lawyers. Whether the energy industry is in a up-cycle or down-cycle, the one recession-proof area of the industry is the law. So it was no surprise to learn that the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Law has just launched an Energy Law and Policy Institute. The institute “is a major priority of the School of Law and the University” according to the Pitt announcement. The purpose of the Institute? To “advance the training of law students to become leaders in providing legal services to the regional, national, and international energy sectors” by offering new courses, seminars, conferences and the like. Here’s the announcement…
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    NY Antis Now Want LPG Fracking Banned Too, Letter to DEC

    At the risk of sounding pedantic and endlessly repeating what we’ve said many times before–the frack ban in New York is not about water quality concerns or any of the other myriad so-called “problems” that come from using water to hydraulically fracture an oil or gas well. This is how we know. If you remove water from the equation, which is the major concern and why the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has decided to ban fracking (supposedly), anti-drillers still object to fracking. A group of virulent, hardened, and frankly nutty anti-drillers from the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Earthjustice and Frack Action have just sent a letter to the NY DEC asking the DEC to ban ALL fracking, including LPG (propane) fracking that a group of landowners in Tioga County, NY plan to use (see NY Landowners File to Frack Horizontal Well w/Waterless Tech). What has anti-drillers so terrified of LPG fracking? If LPG fracking is used in NY, it will prove that fracking can be done safely in NY–and once that happens, it’s game over for those who object to fracking. Anti-drillers’ call to ban LPG fracking points out what we’ve said for years: these people object to fracking because they irrationally, psychotically, hate fossil fuels–not because fracking pollutes water supplies, because it doesn’t…
    Read More “NY Antis Now Want LPG Fracking Banned Too, Letter to DEC”

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    Special Election for NY Senate in Binghamton Tied to Fracking

    Sadly, pro-drillers in New York State recently lost a big supporter in the NY Senate–Sen. Tom Libous. For those who don’t live in New York, Libous was the long-time Senator from the Binghamton area, in the Senate for 27 years and a powerful member as deputy majority leader of the Senate. Libous was recently found guilty of lying to the FBI about using his influence to get his son a politically connected job. Libous has been removed from office. Essentially Libous got his son a job he didn’t have to work at but got paid for (see this Gannett story). Slimy to say the least, but we can list numerous ethics violations far worse on the Democrat side of the isle. For all of his faults, Libous was a friend to the pro-drilling movement in the state. The race is now on to replace Libous in a special election. The early leader, if you believe local news outlets (which we don’t), is Democrat Barbara Fiala–someone who once supported drilling but now, because she’s in Andrew Cuomo’s back pocket, opposes it…
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    Researchers Look for Life in Marcellus Shale – Natural Fracking?

    Journey to the Center of the EarthThis sounds like something out of a Jules Verne novel. You may recall from school that Verne wrote some of the earliest sci-fi adventures ever, like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Journey to the Center of the Earth. In Journey, Verne wrote about strange and mysterious critters that live deep in the earth–in rock caverns. Turns out Verne may not have been so far from the truth after all. And there’s a tie-in with the Marcellus Shale and with fracking. In November West Virginia University and Ohio State University received an $11 million grant by the federal government to study the Marcellus and Utica Shale (see WVU/OSU Get $11M Grant to Study Shale Energy Best Practices). Work is progressing. Researchers with the Marcellus Shale Energy and Environment Laboratory are taking rock core samples to see if there are microbes living 7,000 feet below the surface in the Marcellus Shale rock layer that could, if present, potentially be “fed” causing them to multiply and grow and maybe even naturally frack (break apart) rock layers, allowing us to get more natural gas and oil from those layers. It sounds pretty far-fetched–but stranger things have happened! Here’s the story of looking for life miles below the surface of the earth in the Marcellus…
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    Rural Belmont County, OH Gets Another New Hotel – in St Clairsville

    St. Clairsville with a population of just over 5,000 is the county seat for rural Belmont County, OH. Small villages like St. Clairsville typically have a handful of stores and other businesses. It’s highly unusual for a small town like St. Clairsville to score a major new hotel–but it just has, thanks to the Utica Shale. Belmont County is in the epicenter for the sweet spot in the Utica Shale. Even with drilling scaling back from low prices, there is still plenty of activity–especially in Belmont County. Commonwealth Hotels yesterday announced the opening of the newly constructed 92-room Candlewood Suites St Clairsville. Located at Mall Ring Road, the Candlewood Suites is the newest hotel in the region, conveniently located near I-70…
    Read More “Rural Belmont County, OH Gets Another New Hotel – in St Clairsville”

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    GreenHunter Brings 2 New Injection Wells Online in Meigs County, OH

    big newsBig news for GreenHunter Resources: They finally have two more wastewater injection wells up and running at their Mills Hunter facility in Meigs County, OH. In May we reported that GreenHunter was hoping to have four new injection wells operating at the Mills Hunter facility by the end of June, for a total of six operating wells (see GreenHunter Resources 1Q15: Bets the Ranch on OH Injection Wells). However, Mills Hunter has just two new wells now operating, for a total of four, and it’s nearly August. GreenHunter’s COO Kirk Trosclair continues to express his frustration at delays from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR), saying instead of taking 30-45 days for approvals (which is what it used to take), it’s now taking ODNR more than 90 days to issue approvals. GreenHunter has two more wells at the Mills Hunter facility working their way through the approval process now. But let’s not dwell on the negatives…
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    Marcellus/Utica Provide 85% of Natgas Production Growth Since 2012

    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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    PA House Speaker Stands Firm Against Gov Wolf’s Severance Tax

    Thank God for Pennsylvania House Speaker Mike Turzai, Republican from Allegheny. Turzai continues to stand against the lunacy of Tom Wolf’s insane budget proposals, including a proposed Marcellus Shale severance tax that would further gut shale drilling in the state–handing the money raised over to teachers’ unions. Turzai said it’s time to think about overriding Wolf’s veto of the proposed Republican budget–a plan which balances the budget instead of running up the tab as Wolf would do. The Republican budget would INCREASE spending on education (something mainstream media doesn’t tell you) all while not increasing taxes on the middle class and without killing the Marcellus industry with a new/high tax. Socialist Tom Wolf won’t hear of it. So Turzai is putting out the word: Are there 16 Democrats in the House and 4 Democrats in the Senate that will be brave and bipartisan and reach across the isle to vote for a sane budget–to override Wolf’s veto? Apparently not yet–but perhaps there will be in time. Meanwhile, Wolf’s dirty tricks division continues to launch advertisements to smear Republicans, something Turzai calls “tawdry and unproductive”…
    Read More “PA House Speaker Stands Firm Against Gov Wolf’s Severance Tax”

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    Antis Plan to Protest Pipeline Talk Tonight in Lancaster County

    A small group of anti-fossil fuel protesters plans to disrupt an information meeting being hosted by the Chamber of Commerce in Lancaster County tonight. The event will feature representatives from Williams discussing and sharing information about their planned $3 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline project–a project largely embraced by the public but opposed by a few small pockets of dedicated protesters, one such group being Lancaster Against Pipelines. The Atlantic Coast project will flow Marcellus Shale gas to Mid-Atlantic and southern states. Most of the protesters are too cheap to buy a $25 ticket to the event, so they’ll stand outside and make fools of themselves by chanting and hollering at those who enter the meeting. We encourage a contingent of pro-drillers to show up and stand outside to show support for the project. It’s time to show everyone that supporters far outnumber detractors…
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    Mariner East Pipeline Uses Eminent Domain Against SWPA Landowners

    Confession: We have a tough time with eminent domain cases filed by pipeline companies. We believe property rights are sacrosanct–you don’t tell me what I can and can’t do with my property, and I don’t tell you what you can and can’t do with your property. But then zoning laws enter the picture. And statewide bans on fracking. Etc. What happens if all but a handful of landowners sign up to allow a pipeline? Should an entire project that when built results in a greater “good” for society get nixed because of half a dozen of holdout landowners? Tough tough issues. The latest skirmish comes from Washington County, PA where Sunoco Logistics has filed eminent domain cases against a handful of landowners who won’t allow new construction through their property for the Mariner East Pipeline project. Sunoco has taken them to court and seeks leases on a total of 11 acres…
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    UIL Invests $80M in Kinder Morgan’s Northeast Energy Direct Pipeline

    UIL Holdings, a Connecticut-based utility with 725,000 electric and natural gas customers in two states, is investing $80 million in Kinder Morgan’s Northeast Energy Direct (NED) natural gas pipeline project that will stretch from NY to near Boston, MA to bring cheap, abundant and clean-burning natural gas to New England. One of UIL’s subsidiary companies is Berkshire Gas Company, one of NED’s anchor shippers. Berkshire, you may recall, is at capacity now with respect to natural gas supplies they receive from Kinder’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline. Berkshire has put a moratorium on accepting any new hookups for natural gas in Franklin County, MA (see Guts: No New Pipeline in MA? Then No New Natgas for Utility Customers). You may also recall that UIL is the company that offered the City of Philadelphia the best deal it will ever get to sell the city-owned Philadelphia Gas Works utility, a deal ultimately scuttled by the Democrat-controlled–and profoundly corrupt–Philadelphia City Council (see Philly City Council Kills the Phila. Gas Works $1.86B Deal). UIL will get a 2.5% ownership stake in NED in return for it’s $80M investment…
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    Cabot Says Constitution Pipeline Construction to Begin this Fall

    not if but whenLast Friday during the Cabot Oil & Gas quarterly earnings call update with analysts, Cabot’s CEO Dan Dinges provided an important update on the Constitution Pipeline, a 125-mile pipeline that will stretch from the gas fields of Susquehanna County, PA into New York, to Schoharie County. It is a critically needed pipeline to get Cabot’s natural gas in Susquehanna County to markets throughout the northeast and New England. Although Williams is the lead company building the pipeline, Cabot is the other primary partner in the project. Currently the Constitution is 100% FERC authorized and they have 100% of the rights of way leases signed for the project. The only hold-up is the New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation in granting 401 Water Quality Certificates that allows the Constitution to lay pipe through and under swamps, creeks and other bodies of water. According to Dinges, they expect NY to issue those permits any day now…
    Read More “Cabot Says Constitution Pipeline Construction to Begin this Fall”

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    Multiple Courts Dismiss Shareholder Lawsuits Against Magnum Hunter

    under the radarHere’s one flying under the radar that we didn’t know about–until now. In the spring of 2013 Magnum Hunter Resources (MHR), a driller now focused totally on the Marcellus and Utica Shale region, dismissed it’s accounting firm. Apparently some investors didn’t like that action and accused MHR’s senior management and board of directors of “breaches of fiduciary duties and other matters.” The investors filed lawsuits in seven different courts alleging misconduct. As of June 22, the last of those lawsuits was dismissed. In fact, all of the lawsuits filed have been dismissed and MHR paid out zero dollars to settle. Yes, it cost the company big money to defend themselves, but they held firm and didn’t cave and in the end they were exonerated from any wrongdoing…
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    Pipeline Case: OH Judge Finds Public Right to Free Flow of Energy

    There are a number of pipeline battles currently going on. While residents in New England tend to be more unreasonable than most when it comes to pipelines, landowners in other regions also oppose new pipeline construction. Some of their opposition stems from nutty opposition to fossil fuels. But some opposition is legitimate–concerns over where the pipeline will go through a property. Or concerns about lease terms/compensation. One thing that doesn’t hurt anyone is to allow a survey of a property. We would encourage landowners to begin their dialog about a potential pipeline with the surveyors–to make companies aware of your concerns about the routing of a pipeline across your land. But some holdout landowners unreasonably resist even a survey–and they’re consistently losing in Ohio courts. Specifically we’re talking about the NEXUS Gas Transmission pipeline–a $1.5-$2.0 billion natural gas pipeline that will carry Utica and Marcellus Shale gas spanning 11 counties in Ohio, 3 counties in Michigan, and eventually connect to the Dawn Energy Hub in Canada. We recently told you that in most cases when landowners refuse access to surveyors, they lose (see NEXUS Pipeline Sues for Survey Access, Wins Most of the Time). Below we have news of a court decision from Fulton County, OH in which the judge outlines his reasons for ruling in favor of NEXUS to allow surveys to commence on properties for 15 hold-out landowners. The judge’s ruling is instructive. In it, the judge says the general public has a “right” to expect a “free flow” of energy products…
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    Group of Bostonians Use Religion to Protest 5-Mile Natgas Pipeline

    Every now and again it’s important to connect the dots–yet again–for new readers to MDN. Those who have been reading MDN for several years know that the category of what we broadly call anti-drillers don’t oppose natural gas shale drilling and pipelines and injection wells and railroad transloading terminals and…the list goes on…because of the sometimes legitimate issues of noise and truck traffic and lease abuses, etc. Every industry has it’s negatives. But that’s not why these people in their heart of hearts oppose natural gas. They oppose it because it’s a fossil fuel–which is, as we point out, an irrational position to hold. It’s irrational because the very sneakers on their feet they wear in protest marches, the clothes on their bodies, the materials their homes are built from, the cars they drive, the televisions they watch, the cell phones their faces are glued to, are all products made by with with fossil fuels. Plastics = fossil fuels. Plastics are hydrocarbons–you did know that, right? Hydrocarbons are fossil fuels–oil and natural gas etc. Like cancer metastasizes and invades its host, so too does the cancerous philosophy that mankind by burning fossil fuels is killing Mother Earth. So-called global warming is the philosophy–the point of view–that drives and justifies anti-drillers’ irrational opposition to shale energy. The latest example comes from a group of people in Boston (ab)using religion to oppose a 5-mile pipeline. The stated reason for their opposition? “Climate change is the pressing moral issue of our time, and religious leaders must speak out against practices that are destroying the environment”…
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    Will NY Gov Cuomo Ban LPG Fracking Too?

    A column in the New York Post asks the question of whether or not Gov. Andrew Cuomo will work to block LPG (liquefied petroleum gas, or gelled propane) fracking in the Empire State as he has done with water-based fracking. MDN told you earlier this month about the ingenious plan by Tioga County, NY landowners who have filed for a permit to use LPG fracking in a limited test (see NY Landowners File to Frack Horizontal Well w/Waterless Tech). We also gave you our analysis of how this action paints Cuomo into a corner (see Update on LPG Fracking in New York – What Comes Next?). The NY Post column does a great job exposing the lies of New York’s anti-drillers. They bleat and blat about contaminated water sources–that’s their stated objection to shale drilling. That’s the argument they always lead off with–how shale drilling will contaminate everyone’s water supply within a hundred miles. The argument is 100% false, but for the sake of our discussion, let’s remove water from the process, as LPG fracking does. To drill and frack an LPG well takes zero gallons of water. And yet, NY’s anti-drillers still object. Why? Because they irrationally hate all fossil fuels, including natural gas…
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