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PA DEP Trash Talks ET/Sunoco re Mariner East 2 Problems
The bad blood between Energy Transfer (ET) and the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) continues. ET’s Sunoco Pipeline subsidiary is desperately trying to complete the Mariner East 2X pipeline from eastern Ohio through to Marcus Hook near Philadelphia. A recent drilling mud spill in Marsh Creek State Park prompted the DEP to demand Sunoco change the route for ME2X (which was less than 60 days from being done) to a new route around the State Park (see PA DEP Orders Sunoco to Reroute ME2X Pipeline Around State Park).
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It’s all starting to come undone for FirstEnergy Corporation. Last week two of Ohio’s three largest cities sued to block annual $150 million payments to FirstEnergy’s Energy Harbor subsidiary on the basis those payments are ill-gotten gain, the result of FirstEnergy bribing government officials to pass House Bill 6 (HB 6) and keep it passed (see 
Last week EQT Corporation announced a deal to buy Chevron’s considerable Marcellus/Utica assets (land and wells) for the lowball price of $735 million (see 
In July, now-former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and four of his associates were indicted for felonies related to an alleged $60 million bribery scandal in passing the hugely unpopular House Bill 6 (see 
The Enverus U.S. rig count rose by 1 to 348 over the past week, after having going up by 11 and 13 (respectively) the two weeks prior. However, the count in the Marcellus Shale dropped by three rigs in the wet gas area and the Marcellus dry gas region gained 1 rig, for a net loss of two.
When checking the NYMEX futures price for natural gas, which is based on the spot price at the Henry Hub in southern Louisiana, we had a surprise. Just a few days ago the NYMEX was showing right around $3 per million BTUs (or per Mcf, thousand cubic feet). Yesterday the price closed at $3.30/Mcf. Why the huge jump?
Rystad Energy says worldwide the oil and gas industry has lost some 400,000 jobs in 2020. About half of those, says Rystad, are jobs lost in the U.S. Reuters is quoting Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette as saying U.S. oil production will likely not return to its pre-pandemic peak of 13 million barrels of production per day–at least not any time soon. Ergo, those jobs are not coming back any time soon.
Last week the U.S. Dept. of Energy announced it has extended the terms of seven long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) export authorizations through 2050. One of the facilities receiving an extension is the Cove Point LNG export facility in Maryland, a facility that exports 100% Marcellus molecules.
The French government has asked one of its own companies, Engie, to hold off on signing a deal worth $7 billion to buy U.S. LNG from NextDecade’s planned Rio Grande export facility in Brownsville, Texas. It seems France thinks our fracked-gas LNG is too dirty for them.
There is another new scam being perpetrated on the liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector. It’s called “green LNG.” Supposedly pimple-faced millennial investors are demanding the companies they invest in (with some $110 trillion worth of money) clean up their carbon dioxide emissions or the spoiled kids will refuse to invest. Some LNG companies are going to extraordinary lengths to prove their green worthiness to these idiots.
Looks like the rumors were true, at least one of them. Yesterday EQT announced it has cut a deal to buy Chevron’s considerable Appalachian assets for $735 million. The Reuters rumor from September said EQT had offered $750 million (see 
Eagle Manufacturing, located in Wellsburg, WV, was struggling in the early 2000s. The company makes plastic safety products. Foreign competition was hammering the company (tough to compete with children in China who work in factories for a dollar an hour). The company almost offshored production to China, but decided to stick it out a few more years here at home. And then the Marcellus/Utica Shale miracle happened.
Anti-fossil fuel nutters believe they have an opening to try and bully the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) into de-certifying a fully permitted and ready-to-start compressor station in Weymouth, Massachusetts because of an “emergency” release of a few puffs of natural gas during final testing of the facility.