PA PUC Explains Federal Power Grab in Regulating Gathering Pipes
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) has traditionally not regulated nor overseen low-pressure natural gas gathering pipelines in the state because it’s not required to (nor allowed to) by the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). That has changed. The PHMSA published new standards that bring gathering pipelines under its regulatory umbrella. The PA PUC held a public hearing in early December and subsequently published material from that hearing in the Pennsylvania Bulletin in late December–material that discusses how the change in PHMSA’s gathering pipeline regulations affects PA.
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The Freeport LNG export terminal, located in Quintana Island, Texas, has been offline and not producing LNG since June 2022 due to an explosion (see 
It’s that time of year. Typically at the end of a year, or the very beginning of a new year, publications will pontificate on what they predict will happen in the coming 12 months. We’ve seen a number of such articles about the energy space, including some predictions targeted specifically for the Marcellus/Utica. We’ve selected three such articles to share with you–all of them from authors and publications we highly respect.
Last July, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, controlled by the extreme left in the Democrat Party, allowed PA House Bill (HB) 2644 to become law without his signature (see 
The Marcellus/Utica is THE number one natural gas-producing region in the country–by far. Much of the country, including the M-U, was affected by the bomb cyclone called Winter Storm Elliott over the Christmas break. The bitter cold froze off wells and caused the M-U region collectively to experience a temporary drop in production of roughly 27%. Pennsylvania’s production dropped around 20%, while Ohio’s production dropped 50%.
We came “this close” to a major electricity blackout in New England over the Christmas break, during the bomb cyclone cold snap called Winter Storm Elliott. The ONLY thing that prevented a major blackout (with people freezing to death) was…oil. Fuel oil, specifically. So-called renewable energy–solar and wind–bombed out during the bomb cyclone. Natural gas did what it could, but there wasn’t enough natgas to keep the power generators turning because people like newly-elected Gov. Maura Healey (Massachusetts wacko leftist) blocked new natgas pipelines during her tenure as the state’s Attorney General. What was left was to burn to keep the lights on and to keep people from freezing to death was fuel oil (much dirtier than natural gas). Welcome to the leftist utopia of New England. During the next bomb cyclone, New England may not be so lucky.
Last Thursday, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) published its 2021 Oil and Gas Annual Report (about five months late). This is the sixth year in a row the DEP has published the report in an interactive, electronic (i.e. online only) format. Don’t worry, we’ve turned the report into a convenient PDF for MDN readers. What does the 2021 report show? Permits issued went down, but the number of new wells drilled went up. Natural gas production has gone up (again)–to another new all-time record high.
It’s been a while since we’ve updated rig count numbers–mainly because the most reliable source we can find about basin numbers comes from S&P Global Commodity Insights (based on Enverus rig data), and S&P has not provided an update for a few months. This week they did update the number, and they are interesting. According to S&P’s analysis, based on Enverus data, the Haynesville Shale in northern Louisiana and eastern Texas (the main competitor to the Marcellus/Utica) is showing 81 active drilling rigs. That is an astonishing number, up some 37% over the same time last year. The current active rig count in the M-U, according to S&P, is 47 (with 33 rigs operating in the Marcellus and 14 in the Utica). The Haynesville is running 1.7 rigs for every 1 rig in the M-U. This is the worst imbalance we’ve seen to date.
Another twist in the effort to overturn a bill passed earlier this year by the West Virginia legislature, Senate Bill (SB) 694, which finally brings forced pooling for shale wells to the Mountain States after eight years of trying (see 
We’ve extensively covered the issue of Big Banks and Big Investment Firms turning against and refusing to fund fossil energy companies. Financial institutions are routinely hounded by radicalized leftists to deny funding to oil and gas companies, and sadly, many banks and investment firms have caved to the pressure. The attorneys general and state treasurers in “red” states are fighting back by pulling state business (and pension funds) from said companies, like BlackRock (see 
Kevin Sunday, director of government affairs with the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, recently published an op-ed in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette pointing out how the mighty Shell ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, PA, is the result of business and government (bipartisan government) working together. He makes the case that we need more of this type of thing, especially with many new faces coming to Harrisburg in January. We frankly wonder if hoping for bipartisan cooperation on fossil energy projects in the current political climate is just spitting in the wind.
According to an article by Reuters, U.S. and Canadian natural gas output “could hit growing pains in 2023.” U.S. and Canadian natural gas production is expected to hit new all-time record highs in 2023. However, growth in production is slowing, and likely to hit a ceiling in 2023. Why? Lack of pipelines that can shuttle molecules from places like the Marcellus/Utica to the Gulf Coast, where petrochemical plants and LNG export facilities can use all of the gas they can get. We could produce more here in the M-U–a LOT more. But we can’t, because we have no way to transport the extra production.
The great energy savior many on the left (and the right) are pushing is hydrogen. Never mind that hydrogen is extremely explosive (far more so than natural gas). And never mind that hydrogen is leaky (far more than natural gas because it’s lighter). Hydrogen’s chief advantage is that when it burns, it does not create carbon dioxide–the stuff you breathe out with every breath your take. Some utility companies have conducted small experiments to blend in 5-10% of hydrogen with natural gas to see how it goes. Will stoves and furnaces work OK with hydrogen blended? The Brits aren’t bothering with an incremental approach. They have selected and will FORCE some 2,000 homes in northwest England to convert to 100% hydrogen. No frittering around with half-measures and blending. People in the target village are using terms like “guinea pigs” and “lab rats” to describe their forced conversion to hydrogen.