Rystad Says Oil & Gas Projects to See 10% Rise in Price Inflation
According to Rystad Energy, an independent energy research and business intelligence company based in Norway, supply chain costs are set to increase for oil and gas projects in the US in the next few years. How much? Rystad says engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) will be hit with higher wage and material costs to the tune of a 10% increase by 2023, representing an extra $1.4 billion paid over what companies pay for the same thing today. Ouch.
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Double or nothing? More like double “or else.” In July we told you that Energy Transfer’s (ET) Revolution Pipeline in southwestern Pennsylvania was fined an additional $1 million by the PA Public Utility Commission (PUC) on top of previous fines totaling over $30 million because of an explosion (an accident) when the pipeline first went into service (see 
Anti-drilling zealots have hounded the Mariner East (ME) pipeline project from its beginning, attempting to block the completion of the third and final pipeline (ME2X), due to be done by the end of this year. One of the ways the zealots have attacked is via repeated charges brought to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC), the agency that oversees and regulates the intrastate ME system. In addition to unloading on Energy Transfer’s (ET) Revolution Pipeline system yesterday (see today’s lead story), the PUC also issued an order yesterday with some 14 actions (we call them todos) that ET must complete with regard to finishing construction of the ME system. Some of the todos deal with the ongoing operation of the ME system.
Yesterday the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Richard “Dick” Glick, told everyone to calm down about extending an emergency certificate to allow the Spire STL pipeline to continue operating beyond Dec. 13 when the existing certificate expires. Then Glick took his knife out and proceeded to knife Spire in the back, calling their action in warning customers they may go without natgas this winter (if FERC doesn’t act) “fear-mongering.” Glick also said the entire situation is “a mess” and there was “no evidence” the pipeline was needed when the Commission, during the Trump years, originally approved it. Hey Dick, if people will go cold (and some may die) this winter without it, don’t you think just maybe it *is* needed after all? Why do you refuse to admit you were wrong in voting against it originally?
The Beech Hollow Power Plant in Robinson Township (Washington County), PA broke ground on construction for a 1,000-megawatt Marcellus-fired project last fall when they began to pour concrete. However, construction stopped. The builder, Robinson Power Company LLC, wanted to resume construction but got caught up in a controversy over issued and withdrawn permit applications. The leftwing radicals at the Clean Air Council (located on the other side of the state, in Philadelphia) challenged a permit by the DEP to allow Robinson Power to resume construction. A few weeks later Robinson, tired of repeated lawsuits, threw in the towel and canceled the project (see 
Yesterday MDN told you that the Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board (EQB), a division of the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), has accepted the petitions of rabid anti-drilling zealots aimed at boosting bonds to drill new conventional and unconventional (shale) wells (see 
We told you in October 2020 that a pair of natural gas-fired power plants in and near New York City were fighting for their lives (see 
Although the left so often preaches we should all be colorblind, they are the ones who are obsessed with a person’s, or in this case, a hydrogen molecule’s, color. So-called environmentalists are pushing hydrogen as the nirvana alternative to natural gas. Just one teeny-tiny problem: Some 95% of all hydrogen is produced by and comes from natural gas! Which has given rise to a rainbow of colors when talking about hydrogen. If the hydrogen (H2) is produced by cracking natural gas and capturing/storing the carbon dioxide that’s left over, it’s called “blue” hydrogen. Don’t store the CO2 when producing the H2? That’s called “gray” hydrogen. And there are other colors depending on the process to produce the H2, including “green” (made from so-called renewable energy sources), “brown” or “black” (H2 made from coal), “turquoise” (stores the CO2 in solid form), and now (yes), even “pink” hydrogen, made using nuclear energy. These dipwads with their color designations are too funny…
WT Data Mining and Science Corp. wants to set up a bitcoin mining operation at a compressed natural gas (CNG) facility owned by Geopetro in Darlington Township (Beaver County), PA. WT Data Mining proposes to build an electric generator at the CNG site and use natural gas to generate massive amounts of electricity required to power the company’s computers that mine bitcoin. Some of the neighbors are concerned about noise.
The Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board (EQB) is a division of the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP). The EQB is one of the most powerful governmental agencies in the state, consisting of 20 members with the power to create new regulations. Some 11 of the EQB members are appointed by the governor, Tom Wolf in this case. The EQB yesterday voted 16-3 in favor of considering a petition to boost required bonds to drill new conventional wells by 1,500%, and bonds to drill new shale wells by 830%. The new bonds were proposed by virulent anti-fossil fuel groups with the aim to make it too costly to drill new wells. Wolf’s EQB-stacked board is cooperating with the antis.