Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Washington County
Cecil Twp Neighbors Complain About Range Flaring, Noise, Smells
Some residents living in Cecil Township (Washington County), PA, are frustrated and concerned over drilling activities by Range Resources near their homes — things like flaring, loud noises, and smells. They took their concerns and complaints to the March 4 meeting of the Cecil Township Board of Supervisors. The Board voted to give Range one week to respond with a plan to address the issues, or else the Board promised to file a lawsuit against Range in county court.
We have a Range Resources update below.
Read More “Cecil Twp Neighbors Complain About Range Flaring, Noise, Smells”
A group of so-called environmental advocates (old hippies) gathered in Albany at the Capitol yesterday to continue their call to ban all “fracking,” including CO2 (carbon dioxide) used to extract natural gas. We wonder if they know that a total ban on “all” fracking includes a ban on fracking geothermal wells being pushed by the governor.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court yesterday debated whether the federal National Gas Act empowers the state to review permits for a pipeline project or bars it from doing so — a question that hinges on whether appeals to a state board are preempted civil actions or administrative proceedings that would fall under the state’s purview. It’s an important distinction. The case can potentially set a precedent that could influence future infrastructure projects and “state-federal power dynamics.”
U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) introduced the Protecting American Households From Rising Energy Costs Act, legislation that would ban the export of crude oil or liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the U.S.’s biggest adversaries: China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. “We should not allow American liquid natural gas to fuel China’s state-sponsored industries. The Chinese Communist Party uses that energy to cheat and undermine Ohio production and Ohio jobs,” said Brown. “Blocking China and other adversaries from obtaining our LNG will protect our national security.”
Yesterday, the American Gas Association (AGA) unveiled a new study, “Advancing America’s Pharmaceuticals: The Value of Natural Gas to U.S. Pharmaceutical Manufacturing” (full copy below). Natural gas and other petrochemicals are irreplaceable for manufacturing medicines, with 99% of pharmaceutical feedstocks and reagents derived from natural gas and other petrochemicals. Face masks, disposable gloves, and syringes are also manufactured from petrochemical feedstocks like natural gas and are critical to combatting the spread of disease. Without natural gas, we would all live short, brutish lives. Billions would die.
In a new low, anti-fossil fuelers who have tried and failed to stop the Mountain Valley Pipeline in Virginia (now 99% done) are now attacking the reputation and character of the Director of the Virginia Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ), trying to slow things down with an ad hominem (“to the man” or “personal”) attack against the guy who oversees the environmental agency that has a partial role in watching over MVP. It’s shameful. DEQ Director Michael Rolband was appointed to his job by newly-elected Gov. Glenn Youngkin in 2022, back when MVP was already 95% done but stalled due to repeated lawfare by Big Green and cooperative (corrupt) 4th Circuit judges. Even though MVP was already mostly done in Virginia, antis say because Rolband — who did some work for MVP in his prior career before heading DEQ — is somehow compromised or unethical and not doing his oversight job correctly now. Complete hogwash!
Once again, Big Green is attempting to illegally block the final bits of construction of the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline as it travels through Roanoke County, VA. Yesterday, two “protesters” chained or otherwise attached themselves to an old (junk) car, a car made entirely from and with fossil fuels, blocking a road that leads to an MVP construction site. We grow tired of reporting these incidents and debated on whether or not to report this one. However, MDN readers deserve to know how the lawless left behaves. Plus, one of the so-called protesters looks like he (or she) is…well, you can fill in the blank.
A new poll released by Axis Research and Pennsylvania Energy Infrastructure Alliance (PEIA) shows 58% of Pennsylvania voters disagree with Joe Biden’s infamous “pause” on approving new LNG export permits. Here’s the astounding part: 57% of poll respondents were Democrat and Independent voters! Yes, a majority of Democrats and Independents in PA disagree with old Joe. But that’s not all. After learning more about Biden’s LNG pause, 41% of those surveyed said they were less likely to vote for Biden because of his LNG pause. Joementia is in trouble in PA.
In January, Freeport LNG said that one of its three liquefaction trains was offline and would remain offline for “about a month” due to a “technical issue” following a recent Arctic freeze that reached all the way to the Gulf Coast (see 
You can’t read about energy in mainstream media these days without seeing multiple stories about geothermal energy and the big push to force-convert homes and businesses to use geothermal as a way of saving the planet from nasty/evil fossil fuels. Yet geothermal uses the same identical drilling rigs, drills the same holes in the ground, and even uses the same fracking technology as that used to drill shale oil and gas wells. But drilling and fracking for geothermal is righteous and clean and pure as wind-driven snow, while drilling and fracking for oil and gas is evil, Satanic, and destroying the environment. How does that work?
In early January, Chesapeake Energy and Southwestern Energy, two companies with major assets in the country’s two leading gas plays — the Marcellus/Utica and the Haynesville — announced an agreement to merge into one company (see 
The 295-mile Portland Natural Gas Transmission System (PNGTS) spans New England from the Canadian border to pipeline connections in New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts. The system began operations in 1999 and is located between three major pipeline networks originating in Canada and the Southern U.S. TC Energy owns 61.7% of PNGTS. The remaining 38.3 percent is owned by Northern New England Investment Company. The system includes 107 miles of facilities jointly owned by PNGTS and Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline. PNGTS owns 32% of those facilities. TC Energy announced today it is selling PMGTS to the evil BlackRock (run by CEO Larry Fink, a known anti-fossil fueler) for US$1.14 billion.
In January, MDN brought you the good news that the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) approved a plan by Catalyst Energy to convert an existing gas production well on Route 646 in Cyclone (Keating Township in McKean County, PA) into a shale wastewater injection well (see 
Democrat Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro told Bloomberg reporters the Biden administration’s recent pause in LNG export licenses should be “limited in time.” Shapiro stopped short of outright criticizing Biden’s pause, something that could undermine job creation in a state that’s relying on energy to drive growth. Shapiro couldn’t even stand up Joementia, what a wimp! What Shapiro said amounts to a tiny love tap. It’s completely meaningless. Shapiro is standing by while Biden DESTROYS Marcellus drilling in the Keystone State.
Last week, the Baker Hughes rig count gained three rigs after losing two rigs the week before. The count went from 626 active rigs two weeks ago to 629 last week. It is the highest total rig count in the U.S. since September 22, 2023! The national count had consistently stayed between 620 and 625 (or one or two above or below that range) since last October, but now appears to be breaking out of that pattern and moving higher. The Marcellus/Utica regained the one rig it had lost two weeks ago. Pennsylvania remained at 24 rigs (the most since last June). Ohio stayed at 12 rigs. West Virginia regained a rig it had lost in the prior week and now operates 8 rigs. The M-U combined is running 44 rigs.