Industrywide Issues

Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Pipelines | Tennessee Gas Pipeline

Conway MA Offers Lame Excuses to Oppose Tenn Gas Pipeline
February 16, 2015February 16, 2015

If it wasn’t so tragic, it would be funny. Otherwise “intelligent” people in the Massachusetts town of Conway have concocted an ominous “report” on the proposed Kinder Morgan expansion of the existing Tennessee Gas Pipeline through their area. Since there are no real negatives to building the pipeline (it IS a pipeline, it gets buried in the ground never to be seen or heard from again)–they have to invent negatives to oppose it. Here’s how the lie goes: shale gas has a lot of radon in it (it doesn’t), and the gas traveling through the pipeline will be shale gas with radon, and EVERYONE knows those pipelines leak like sieves (it’s a wonder any gas actually makes it to market through those pipelines), and that leaking, nasty, fracked shale gas with radon will leak out and cause cancer. Just one teeny, tiny problem with that particular lie. How do you mitigate radon? Anyone? That’s right: You vent it into the air where it dissipates immediately…
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Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Ohio | Statewide OH

OH Court: Developing Shallow Wells Enough to Hold Utica Layer
February 16, 2015February 16, 2015

An important Ohio Appellate Court case was recently decided in Ohio relating to Utica Shale lease rights. The case is called Marshall v Beekay Company. Beekay Company had drilled shallow, non-shale wells on the property of Gary and Cora Marshall. At some point along the way, Beekay had separated the deeper mineral rights (shale) from the shallower mineral rights. The landowners said because Beekay didn’t develop the deeper mineral rights by drilling in the deeper layers, they had broken the original contract. The upshot was the landowners hoped to lease the lower layer to someone who would develop it. But the court found that development and continuous extraction of gas from the shallow layer effectively holds the rights to the deeper layer. That is, the court shot down the request by the landowners to force development of the shale layer…
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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

Using Technology to Stay Profitable in the Marcellus/Utica
February 16, 2015February 16, 2015

Given the low, and for now staying low, price of oil and natural gas, what can Marcellus and Utica Shale drillers do to stay profitable? A professor of Petroleum Engineering & Geology at Marietta College takes a look at some of the recent innovations in technology that hold promise for northeast shale drillers, including liquefied carbon dioxide and gelled propane…
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Industrywide Issues | Research

Just 4 Countries Around the World Produce Shale Gas – Why?
February 16, 2015February 16, 2015

Here’s an interesting factoid from our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Did you know that shale gas is currently produced in just four countries around the globe? One of them is the U.S., of course. Can you name the other three? Before reading the EIA article (which we’ve included below) we didn’t know there are only four countries currently producing shale gas. The other three countries are…Canada, China and Argentina…
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Accidents | Brooke County | Energy Services | Enterprise Products Partners | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | West Virginia

ATEX Express Ethane Pipeline Now Fixed, 100% Back Online Today
February 13, 2015February 13, 2015

Sometime today, the Appalachia-to-Texas Express (ATEX) ethane pipeline will once again be fully operational. On January 26 a section of the pipeline in Brooke County, WV ruptured and caught fire (see ATEX Ethane Pipeline Explodes, Burns in Brooke County, WV). The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is investigating but so far they don’t have a final determination. When that section of the pipeline went offline, two of four processing facilities that feed ethane to the line we bumped off. Starting today, all four processing plants will once again be flowing ethane through the ATEX…
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Earthquakes | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Research | Statewide OH | Statewide WV | Wastewater | West Virginia

EPA Sees Connection Between Some Injection Wells & Earthquakes
February 13, 2015February 13, 2015

On February 5th the Underground Injection Control National Technical Workgroup, part of the federal Environmental Protection Agency, released their final report on a potential link between wastewater injection wells (called Class II wells) and earthquakes. To which we say, we knew a probable connection existed three plus years ago. That’s the typical lag you get with when the federal government “investigates” something. The report is titled “Minimizing and Managing Potential Impacts of Injection-Induced Seismicity from Class II Disposal Wells: Practical Approaches” (the full 415-page copy is embedded below). The report says, in essence, while they can’t prove there’s connection between injection wells in some locations and earthquakes, the relationship is “undeniable.” MDN’s comment: What everyone acknowledges is that when you inject fluid into the earth over an active fault line, that fluid acts like grease and eventually the rock layers can, in RARE circumstances, slip and slide, causing a LOW LEVEL earthquake–typically so light no one feels it at the surface. The EPA study was based on cases from four states, two of them (OH & WV) in the Marcellus/Utica region…
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Bucks County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Taxation

Latest Tax Marcellus Bill from Rep Tina Davis: Effective Rate of 11%
February 13, 2015February 13, 2015

It’s another day, must be time for another liberal Pennsylvania Democrat to propose taxing the the Marcellus industry into oblivion, and right on cue PA Rep. Tina Davis (Bucks County, near Philadelphia) has introduced one. Her plan goes well beyond the plan offered earlier this week by PA Gov. Tom Wolf. Wolf’s plan is for a 7.5% tax, that taken with the existing state corporate income tax pushes an effective severance tax rate to well over 10%. That’s not enough for the tax ravenous Tina Davis: She not only wants a 5.2% severance tax with 4.6 cents per Mcf (effective rate of maybe 8% total), she wants to keep the current impact fee, which is another 3% (not the 1.9% claimed), creating an effective rate of somewhere around 11%. Let’s just save the Dems some time: Tax the Marcellus industry 99% and let those money-grubbing corporations keep 1%. That’s what PA Dems really want. What’s that? You say not all money earned by corporations (and citizens) belongs to the government? You silly goose. Of course it all belongs to the state…
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Carbon County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Luzerne County | PennEast Pipeline | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation

More Silly Antics from Antis at FERC PennEast Pipeline Hearing
February 13, 2015February 13, 2015

We’ve been to a number of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) scoping hearings, as well as hearings by the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation. Whether it’s a hearing on pipelines, compressor stations or shale drilling, anti-fossil fuel nutters always show up and it seems as if they read from the same script every time. The latest example of that comes from Carbon County, PA where the silly antics of antis was on full display once again, this time at a FERC hearing on the PennEast Pipeline. Example: One anti-pipeline nutter used part of her 3 minutes of talk time to read the lyrics from a Disney movie (boggles the mind)…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Williams

Williams CEO Says Pipeline Opposition Equals More Coal Use
February 13, 2015February 13, 2015

In a recent interview, the CEO of Williams, Alan Armstrong, was quite candid: The problem slowing natural gas pipeline development is not the low price of oil and gas–it’s politics. Armstrong says he would prefer federal oversight, by FERC, shutting out “local voices” that muck up the works. We’re not sure we totally agree with that viewpoint. Freedom and liberty are messy things, but we understand his sentiment. Armstrong points out there’s no one “who’s in charge” when it comes to pipelines, and process which makes for endless debates and trying to reconcile innumerable opinions…
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Baker Hughes | Energy Services | Halliburton | Industrywide Issues | Jobs

Halliburton Laying Off Up to 6,400, Says Baker Hughes Not a Factor
February 13, 2015February 13, 2015

Halliburton, the county’s second largest oilfield services company, announced earlier this week they’re laying off some 6.5% to 8% of their 80,000 employees, which translates to 5,000 to 6,500 jobs. The company Halliburton is buying, Baker Hughes, announced in January they are laying off 11% of their workforce (see Baker Hughes Announces 7,000 Layoffs Due to Low Oil Price). Also in January, the country’s (and world’s) largest oilfield services company, Schlumberger, laid of 9,000 workers (see Schlumberger Firing 9,000 to Reduce Head Count, “Low Oil Prices”). To which we say, it’s getting ugly out there…
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Air Quality | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Research

New Study: Most Natgas Processing Facilities Leak < 1% Methane
February 13, 2015February 13, 2015

The EPA is getting ready to drop draconian new regulations on the oil and gas industry claiming that methane is leaking out everywhere. A major field study led by Colorado State University and published this week in the peer reviewed journal Environmental Science & Technology examined 114 gathering facilities and 16 processing plants across 13 states looking for methane leaks. What did they find? The vast majority natural gas facilities had minuscule leak rates of less than 1%…
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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA Gov Wolf Proposes Marcellus-Killing 7.5% Severance Tax
February 12, 2015February 12, 2015

Newly elected Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has turned out to be another tax and spend liberal. Surprise! If you’re a regular MDN reader, you’re not surprised. We warned you about this from day one. Wolf released his severance tax plan yesterday, and it’s even worse than what he talked about on the campaign trail. He’s proposing a 5% severance tax PLUS another 4.7 cents per thousand cubic feet of natural gas that flows from a well. PA’s House Majority Leader Dave Reed (Republican) says it works out to be roughly a 7.5% tax–one of the HIGHEST IN THE NATION. On top of low low gas prices and rigs beginning to idle and capital budgets slashed 30-50%. In other words, if this tax is passed, not only will it not bring in Wolf’s disingenuous promise of $1 billion “for the children” (i.e. teachers unions), it will KILL Marcellus drilling in the state–and that’s not a bluff. It’s now apparent that Wolf is a man completely out of his depth and not ready for a big job like governor…
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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA Towns to Gov Wolf: Don’t Kill the Impact Fee with Your New Tax
February 12, 2015February 12, 2015

Yesterday Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (Democrat) proposed what amounts to a 7.5% severance tax on Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling in the state (see our lead story today). Wolf’s severance tax is being erroneously reported as a 5% severance tax PLUS 4.7 cents per thousand cubic feet of natural gas produced at the wellhead. When you work it out, it’s actually about 7.5%, NOT 5% as Wolf misleadingly implies. Coupled with PA’s high corporate income tax rate, the proposal, if passed, would put PA at the top of the list of states taxing the oil and gas industry, essentially killing future Marcellus Shale drilling in the state (not an idle threat). Some of those most opposed to this hare-brained plan are the townships where drilling actually happens–they stand to loose big-time because the impact fee money they get now will be traded away for a few table scraps. The impact fee will be converted into the severance tax–and given away to Philadelphia…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

John Quigley’s Old Employer Likes High Wolf’s Marcellus-Killing Tax
February 12, 2015February 12, 2015

MDN has several stories today about the newly proposed 7.5% severance tax on Marcellus Shale drilling proffered by newly-elected Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf. If you want to know whether or not this severance tax will work to undermine, and even stop, Marcellus Shale drilling, all you have to do is look at the comments of anti-drilling groups in the state–like the comments of the radical PennFuture. You may recall that Wolf’s nominee to head the Dept. of Environmental Protection, John Quigley, used to work for PennFuture (what does that tell you about the future of drilling in the state?). According to the new “acting” CEO and head of PennFuture, this severance tax will help to end Marcellus Shale drilling in the state…
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CNG/LNG | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

Repsol Accelerates Plan for Canadian LNG Exports Fed by Marcellus
February 12, 2015February 12, 2015

Spanish oil giant Repsol loves North American shale. In December, Repsol purchased the troubled Canadian company Talisman Energy for $8 per share (see Spanish Respol Buys Marcellus E&P Talisman Energy for $8/Share). That deal is awaiting regulatory approval before it becomes official. Repsol is also contemplating building an LNG (liquefied natural gas) export facility along the coast of Saint John, Newfoundland. Those plans, according to new filings with Canada’s National Energy Board, have been accelerated. Part (much?) of the gas that will feed the Saint John LNG operation will come from, yes, the Marcellus and Utica Shale…
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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Property Value | West Virginia

Marshall County Property Values Rise Yearly Thx to Marcellus
February 12, 2015February 12, 2015

In contravention to the erroneous claim by anti-drillers that property values go down when drilling comes to town, Marshall County, WV continues to prove it’s just the opposite. Last year at this time MDN told you that the property values in Marshall County for 2013 had collectively risen an astonishing $605 million–in just one year (see When Drilling Comes to Town, Property Values Go…UP, Not Down). What about property values in 2014? They broke the record, again. Values are up a collective $631 million!…
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