WV Data Center Microgrid Bill Signed into Law Using NatGas, Coal
In March, MDN told you about a legislative proposal from newly elected West Virginia Governor Pat Morrisey, a measure called the Power Generation and Consumption Act (House Bill 2014) to expand data center development in the state (see WV Gov. Backs Energy Bill to Attract Data Centers, Use Coal & Gas). The bill, sometimes called the “microgrid bill,” would allow companies to develop independent energy grids using natural resources, including coal and gas. It positions West Virginia as a prime location for data centers, AI processing, and cloud computing. Great news: Governor Morrisey signed HB 2014 into law, along with another bill that makes permitting such projects easier. Read More “WV Data Center Microgrid Bill Signed into Law Using NatGas, Coal”
Diversified Energy, with significant assets in the Marcellus/Utica region (and other regions too), owns approximately 8 million acres of leases with close to 70,000 (mostly) conventional oil and gas wells. The company’s business model is to buy lower-producing wells on the cheap and find ways to make them more productive. One of the new ways Diversified is looking to make money with old wells is by mining cryptocurrency at wells in remote locations not hooked to a pipeline network. In March 2023, MDN told you that Diversified would try crypto-mining at a well in Elk County, Pennsylvania (see 
Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the first step in the DOE’s “largest deregulatory effort in history,” proposing the elimination or reduction of 47 regulations that are driving up costs and lowering the quality of life for the American people. Once finalized, these actions (the list of all 47 is published below) will save the American people an estimated $11 billion and cut more than 125,000 words from the Code of Federal Regulations. These actions, in accordance with President Donald Trump’s Executive Order, “Zero-Based Regulation to Unleash American Energy,” advance President Trump’s promise to restore consumer freedom, lower costs, and unleash American energy dominance. 
A series of earthquakes (low level, sometimes felt, most of the time not felt) have hit Guernsey and Noble counties in eastern Ohio. According to the latest news we can find, some five quakes have hit since April 22, and another couple of quakes hit earlier in the year, in January/February. There is an existing fault line in the area, near Cambridge, known as the Burning Springs-Cambridge fault zone, formed more than 4.6 million years ago. So, earthquakes in the region are not unknown. The question is, why this most recent flurry? The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) claims it’s tied to oil and gas activity in the area. 
Yesterday, the seven members of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court (five Democrats and two Republicans) heard oral arguments in a lawsuit that attempts to force PA to accept the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), an obscene carbon tax on coal- and gas-fired power plants. Former Democrat Governor Tom Wolf tried to force the state to join RGGI in 2019 (see 
Investment firm ArcLight Capital Partners, LLC, announced it has acquired an additional 25% interest in Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America (NGPL). As a result of the transaction, ArcLight will become the largest owner of NGPL with a 62.5% economic ownership interest, alongside partner Kinder Morgan, Inc., which continues to own a 37.5% economic interest and operates the pipeline. NGPL is the largest transporter of natural gas into the Chicago-area market, as well as one of the largest interstate pipeline systems in the country. It is also a major natural gas transporter to large LNG export facilities and other markets on the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast. Most importantly, Marcellus/Utica molecules flow into NGPL. 
Energy Transfer’s (ET) Lake Charles LNG project is in the news again. In April, we told you that ET had landed a new partner to help pay for the project, MidOcean Energy, which will cover 30% of the cost of building the plant (see 
Commonwealth LNG has finalized a binding agreement with Glencore LTD, one of the world’s largest globally diversified natural resource companies, to form a strategic LNG partnership. Under the terms of the agreement, Glencore will purchase 2 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of LNG for 20 years from Commonwealth. Yes, there is a key link between Commonwealth LNG and the Marcellus/Utica. 
Wow, what a difference four years can make! In May 2021, Gulfport Energy, the third-largest driller in the Ohio Utica Shale (by the number of wells drilled), emerged from bankruptcy with a new board and new management (see 
Earlier this year, an undisclosed shale driller asked the Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC) to consider opening up an additional 4,360 acres of state-owned Egypt Valley Wildlife Area in Belmont County for shale drilling under the land (see 
WhiteHawk Energy is smitten with PHX Minerals. WhiteHawk has been trying to get PHX down the marriage aisle in any way it can for nearly two years. PHX has repeatedly given WhiteHawk the cold shoulder (
A key issue has come about with the rapid increase in carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) projects around the country, including here in the Marcellus/Utica region. Where does one store (sequester) all that carbon dioxide (CO2)? The answer is underground in a Class VI injection well. Class VI wells are a relatively new classification for injection wells, created by the federal EPA in 2010. Earlier this year, the federal EPA bestowed “primacy” on West Virginia, granting the WV Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) the authority to approve new Class VI injection wells, bypassing the federal EPA (see 
In his first two days in office, Joe Biden declared war on the oil and gas industry. One of the first things he did was to revive an interagency working group on the “social cost” of greenhouse gas emissions and directed the issuance of an “interim” cost (see