Industrywide Issues

  • | | | | | | |

    PA DEP Caves to Pressure, Extends Comment Period for Shell Pipeline

    Once again, in what appears to be a pattern, the Pennsylvania State Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) is caving to pressure from virulent anti-fossil fuelers. This time in regard to Shell’s proposed Falcon Ethane Pipeline project. Shell is working on an ethane “pipeline system” with two “legs” to feed the mighty cracker plant being built in Monaca, Beaver County (see Shell Working on 94-Mile Ethane Pipeline to Feed PA Cracker). Last October Shell filed an application with the PA DEP for the PA portions of the pipeline, some 60 miles of the total system (see Shell Files PA Application for Ethane Pipe to Feed Cracker Plant). The DEP advertised an official comment period for the project on Jan. 20, giving interested parties until Feb. 20 to file their comments–an entire month (see PA DEP Invites Public Comment on Shell 60-Mile Ethane Pipeline). However, one month isn’t enough time for anti-drillers to marshal the faithful to try and sink the project. FracTracker Alliance, an anti-fossil fuel organization, colluded with other groups to put the word out to flood the DEP with demands to keep the comment period open. The DEP folded, like a flimsy house of cards, and has now extended the comment period to April 17th along with three public hearings (circus freak shows), which will give the FracTracker faithful time to mount publicity and legal offensives to try and stop the project. If the pipeline doesn’t happen, work at the cracker plant stops. Which, of course, isn’t going to happen. But it illustrates the true aim of FracTracker and other virulent (way, way, WAY outside the mainstream) anti-fossil fuel groups…
    Read More “PA DEP Caves to Pressure, Extends Comment Period for Shell Pipeline”

  • | | | | |

    NJDEP Hail Mary – Pleads with FERC to Stop PennEast Pipeline

    The now fully politicized New Jersey Dept. of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), along with the Delaware and Raritan Canal Commission, filed a joint request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) last Friday asking FERC to reconsider and rescind its approval of the PennEast Pipeline project, which FERC granted just last month (see FERC Grants Final Approval for PennEast Pipe – Real Battle Begins). PennEast is a $1 billion, 120-mile primarily 36-inch natural gas pipeline that will stretch from Dallas (Luzerne County), PA to Transco’s pipeline interconnection near Pennington (Mercer County), NJ. The pipeline is an important conduit to move gas from the prolific gas fields of northeastern PA to markets in southeast PA and New Jersey. From the beginning of the project there have been a collection of so-called environmental organizations opposing it–including THE Delaware Riverkeeper, NJ Sierra Club, and the NJ Conservation Foundation. All radical groups. Unfortunately NJ elected an authoritarian Democrat as governor–Phil Murphy–who pledged to try and stop the project (see Dem Candidate for NJ Gov Opposes PennEast, After He $upported It). Murphy (a tool of Big Green) has politicized the NJDEP and has caused them to dance to his radical tune. In addition to receiving a formal request by NJDEP, FERC also received the same request from the nutty Sierra Club (no surprise there), and also a far-left Democrat State Senator, who is using the request as a fundraiser for his next campaign…
    Read More “NJDEP Hail Mary – Pleads with FERC to Stop PennEast Pipeline”

  • | | | | | |

    OH Supreme Court Rejects Anti Request to Stop Wastewater Disposal

    The Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) is actively working on new regulations “regarding storage, recycling, treatment, processing, and disposal of brine and other waste substances.” That is, for wastewater treatment and disposal from the oil and gas industry. It’s taking the ODNR a while to hash out the new regs (they were instructed to do so back in 2014). However, in the meantime, ODNR issues special orders/permits on a case by case basis to allow wastewater treatment and disposal facilities to start up and operate. Hoping to shut down all drilling (in Ohio and other states that send wastewater to Ohio), the odious Food and Water Watch and misnamed FreshWater Accountability Project sued in the Tenth District Court of Appeals, arguing that because ODNR hasn’t released the new regs, they shouldn’t be allowed to keep issuing temporary/special permits. The Tenth District said the radical enviro groups didn’t have standing to file the case and dismissed it. On appeal to the State Supreme Court, the Supremes said the same thing. Therefore, ODNR’s authority to continue granting temporary/special permits for wastewater treatment remains in effect. Another huge loss for Food and Water Watch…
    Read More “OH Supreme Court Rejects Anti Request to Stop Wastewater Disposal”

  • | | | | | | |

    WV’s Northern Panhandle Sits in the Shale Catbird Seat

    The Northern Panhandle of West Virginia is doubly blessed. The Panhandle is four counties: Hancock, Brooke, Ohio and Marshall. Some add a fifth–Wetzel County. The first four counties in the list sit in a slice of real estate located between Pennsylvania and Ohio. The Panhandle currently produces 38% of WV’s natural gas production, and nearly 70% of its oil production. That’s the first blessing–good rock sits under those counties. The second blessing is the panhandle’s location between PA and OH. On one side, sitting just a few minutes away, is the mighty Shell ethane cracker plant, currently under construction in Monaca (Beaver County, PA). On the other side, also just a few minutes away, sits the proposed PTT Global Chemical ethane cracker site in Dilles Bottom (Belmont County, OH). The second blessing is this: many petrochemical and manufacturing companies will build, even relocate, their operations to take advantage of the raw materials that will come from both cracker plants. And guess where many of them will choose to locate? Yep–right smack in the middle, which is where the Northern Panhandle happens to be–sitting in the catbird seat…
    Read More “WV’s Northern Panhandle Sits in the Shale Catbird Seat”

  • | | | |

    Yet Another Fracking-Causes-Earthquakes “Study” – This Time in Utica

    Yet another “fracking may cause earthquakes” study has been published in the so-called peer reviewed journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences). Researchers from the University of Miami (in Ohio) admit the kind of earthquakes they talk about in their paper, potentially caused by Utica Shale drilling, are “rare.” But, they are also “concerning.” Yes, everyone should be concerned that in zero percent of Utica well drilling cases (statistically speaking) there have been NO earthquakes. Actually a couple of cases are thought to be related to fracking over a fault–but it’s still unproven. Statistically speaking, it’s 0%. But, there could be problems! Maybe. If the conditions are “just right.” Ya never know. We note the researchers didn’t address concerns over fans in football stadiums that, when they all stomp their feet at the same time, have caused “earthquakes” that are higher on the Richter scale than the ones they postulate “may, maybe, might” happen in Utica drilling. No mention of football fan earthquakes in this study. Below is the “news” about this latest, breathlessly urgent report that everyone should read…
    Read More “Yet Another Fracking-Causes-Earthquakes “Study” – This Time in Utica”

  • | | | | | |

    PA Town Sues Sunoco for ME2 Pipe Construction “Too Close” to Homes

    We understand why folks in Uwchlan Township (Chester County, PA) may be upset with Sunoco Logistics and the Mariner East 2 NGL pipeline that’s crossing through their area. Last summer drilling work for the pipeline in Uwchlan created cloudy well water for some residents (see ME2 Pipe Work in Chester County Creates Water Well Issue for Some). The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently allowed Sunoco to resume work in the township (and elsewhere)–after Sunoco paid a $12.6 million fine (see PA DEP Allows ME2 Underground Drilling to Resume in Chester County). So yeah, residents have some concerns. However, they’re going about venting their frustration in the wrong way. Last week supervisors in Uwchlan Township voted unanimously to enforce an ordinance that requires pipelines like ME2 to be set back 1,000 feet from buildings. In some cases, ME2 is being built within 100 feet of buildings. While we appreciate Uwchlan’s concerns, the simple fact is, local municipal ordinances DO NOT override state regulations. In this case, it is the state DEP and Public Utility Commission that regulate the project. It is state law that trumps local ordinances–as it should be. By all means, wheel and deal and pressure and try to get Sunoco to change the route–but you cannot take the law into your own hands, which is exactly what Uwchlan is attempting to do…
    Read More “PA Town Sues Sunoco for ME2 Pipe Construction “Too Close” to Homes”

  • | | | | |

    Williams 17/18 Update: Full Atlantic Sunrise Startup Slightly Delayed

    Last week Williams, the largest pipeline/midstream company operating in the Marcellus/Utica region, released its fourth quarter and full year 2017 update. While the company lost $342 million in 4Q17 due to “non-cash charges related to Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017,” the company made a profit of $871 million for the year, up 100% from making $431 million in 2016. The company brought five big projects online in 2017–Gulf Trace, Hillabee Phase 1, Dalton, New York Bay and Virginia Southside II–which added an extra 2.8 billion cubic feet per day of capacity and led to record-breaking volumes of gas flowing along the Transco pipeline (see Williams Marcellus Buildout Leads to Record Transco Pipe Volumes). However, it was the Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline project that stole most of the limelight in last week’s update. Atlantic Sunrise is a $3 billion, 198-mile pipeline project running through 10 Pennsylvania counties to connect Marcellus Shale natural gas from northeastern PA with the Williams’ Transco pipeline in southern Lancaster County, PA. The pipeline will be ready in July, on schedule. However, an associated compressor station will take “a few months longer” than July, meaning the pipeline won’t be online until early fall sometime (not on schedule). Below is last week’s Williams update, a copy of the latest PowerPoint presentation, and excerpts from the analyst phone call…

    2/22/18 Update: Our original thought was that with a delay in the compressor station starting up, the entire pipeline would be delayed in starting up. Not true! We reached out to Williams for an explanation for how the pipeline could stay on schedule without the compressor going online initially. We got this statement back: “The gas that is placed into the system by producers enters the pipeline at very high pressures. In addition, we have existing Transco compression near the terminus of the line that is pulling the gas through the line. This push/pull dynamic is what allows gas to flow through the pipe prior to the full commissioning of the project’s compression.” So there you have it. While the full startup will be slightly delayed, the pipeline will still flow much of the volume intended–on schedule in July.
    Read More “Williams 17/18 Update: Full Atlantic Sunrise Startup Slightly Delayed”

  • | | |

    TransCanada Spending $1.9B to Bring More Canadian Gas to Northeast

    TransCanada, one of Canada’s leading midstream/pipeline companies, cooked up a deal in 2016 to pipe natural gas from Canada’s West Coast to the East Coast in order to fend off cheap supplies of Marcellus/Utica gas that will flow into Canada from the NEXUS and Rover pipelines (see TransCanada Pipe Drops Price 42% to Compete with Marcellus/Utica). TransCanada dropped their pipeline price to lure drillers by (theoretically) making it less expensive to get gas from Western Canada, some 2,400 miles away, than from the Marcellus, just 400 miles away. Following a couple of open seasons and stiff regulatory hurdles, the plan was adopted and went into service last November (see TransCanada Pipe Begins Lowball Shipping to Compete with Marc/Utica). Last week TransCanada announced a $1.9 billion plan to expand its Western Canadian pipeline system in a bid to gather up and send even more Western Canadian gas to the East Coast–to compete with the Marcellus/Utica…
    Read More “TransCanada Spending $1.9B to Bring More Canadian Gas to Northeast”

  • | | |

    Frac Sand Barge Facility Near Pittsburgh Gets $638K Grant to Expand

    McKees Rocks barge facility

    While we don’t (yet) have hard numbers for how many shale wells were drilled in the Marcellus/Utica in 2017 versus 2016 and 2015, we’re pretty sure the 2017 number went up–a lot. Why do we think so? Because frac sand use went through the roof in 2017. Yes, drillers are using more sand to frack each well, so the numbers could reflect drilling the same number of wells using more sand–but we don’t think that explains it all. Not this much sand. McKees Rocks Industrial Enterprises operates a barge/transloading facility on the Ohio River in McKees Rocks (Allegheny County), PA. Jim Lind, operator of the facility, says sand shipments soared 200% in 2017 over previous years. Put another way, sand shipments doubled–at just this one facility! Sand is barged in to the facility from the Midwest, then loaded onto trucks and rail cars for delivery to Marcellus/Utica well sites throughout the region. Business is good. The barge facility needs to expand. Pennsylvania recognizes the facility’s value to the shale industry, so the state has just made a $638,015 grant to allow McKees Rocks to handle more barges at the same time at the 100-acre facility. That’s good for the Marcellus/Utica, and it’s good for the regional Pittsburgh economy…
    Read More “Frac Sand Barge Facility Near Pittsburgh Gets $638K Grant to Expand”

  • | | | | |

    5 Big Green Groups File Another Lawsuit to Stop Mountain Valley Pipe

    This simply must stop. We MUST begin to countersue (monthly/weekly/daily if necessary) the Big Green radical groups that continue to bring a flood of lawsuits against legally permitted pipeline projects. We must! It is the only way to even the playing field. Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP)–a $3.5 billion, 301-mile pipeline that will run from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA–is one of the targets of Big Green. MVP has had so many lawsuits filed against it, we can’t keep track of them all. Two recent examples. (1) Five radical green groups, including the Sierra Club, Appalachian Voices, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, West Virginia Rivers Coalition, and Wild Virginia, sued the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in federal court in early January over FERC’s approval of the project (see 5 Radical Green Groups Sue to Stop Mountain Valley Pipeline). A few weeks later, the radical Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of more than a dozen environmental groups (the including the ones previously listed) sued the Virginia Water Control Board for approving MVP’s application for stream crossing permits (see Big Green Files Lawsuit Against VA Regulators for Approving Pipe). And now, the same lawyers involved in those other cases are doing it again. On Wednesday, five Big Green groups, including the Sierra Club, West Virginia Rivers Coalition, Indian Creek Watershed Association, Appalachian Voices, and the Chesapeake Climate Action Network sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in federal court over the Corps’ approval of the project. Enough! Start to sue back! Here’s the details (and a copy of) the latest lawsuit by Big Green radicals…
    Read More “5 Big Green Groups File Another Lawsuit to Stop Mountain Valley Pipe”

  • | | | | |

    York, PA Electric Plant to Drop Coal, Burn Only Marcellus Gas

    Something momentous has just happened. The loons at the Sierra Club, who once loved natural gas until they began irrationally hating it, have just admitted to the world that burning natural gas to produce electricity is A.O.K. with them. Brunner Island Power Plant is located in York County, PA, straddling Lancaster County. It is a huge, 1,490 megawatt coal-fired electric generating plant, and has been the target of environmentalists for years. In February 2017, MDN told you that the new owner of the plant is investing $100 million to retrofit the plant so it can, at least part of the time, burn Marcellus Shale gas (see York County, PA Electric Plant Begins Using NatGas as Fuel). Talen Energy (the new owner) said it “plans to burn little or no coal until 2019 as part of a ‘site evaluation.’” Meaning almost all (perhaps all) of the fuel powering the plant at this point is Marcellus Shale gas. Which is why we’re interested in the plant and what happens to it. However, it appears they still burn coal from time to time. Talen has just signed to settle a lawsuit brought by the odious Sierra Club. The terms of the settlement say they will burn only Marcellus gas during “peak ozone season”–from May 1 through Sept. 30–starting in 2023. Talen will phase out coal completely by 2028. In other words, the Sierra Club, contrary to its own “end natural gas” campaign, has just signed a settlement admitting they think natural gas is far better for the environment than coal. Actions speak louder than words…
    Read More “York, PA Electric Plant to Drop Coal, Burn Only Marcellus Gas”

  • | | |

    Co-Tenancy Bill Passes WV House, Goes to Senate for Final Vote

    MDN has written a number of posts about an effort in West Virginia to correct an ongoing issue called co-tenancy (see our co-tenancy stories here). In some cases rights owners can’t be found to sign leases, resulting in a great deal of acreage being unavailable for drilling that otherwise would be. In WV there are often multiple rights owners listed for a property–sometimes 200 or more rights owners for a single piece of property! It is difficult, if not impossible, to track them all down and get them all to sign on the dotted line. Co-tenancy corrects that situation by allowing 75% of rights owners to agree/sign for everyone. Yesterday we told you that the full House of Delegates was slated to vote on House Bill (HB) 4268, “Co-tenancy Modernization and Majority Protection Act” (see WV Co-Tenancy Bill Survives Challenge, Amended, Final Vote Today). Indeed they did vote, and the bill passed–60 voting for, 40 against. Which is good news for everyone–for drillers AND for rights owners. The bill now goes to the WV Senate for consideration. Here’s an update on yesterday’s vote…
    Read More “Co-Tenancy Bill Passes WV House, Goes to Senate for Final Vote”

  • | | | | | | |

    Green Antis Try to Reverse City’s $7.5M Deal to Allow NEXUS Pipe

    MDN told you last week that anti officials who lead the City of Green, OH (Summit County), had finally faced the reality that NEXUS Pipeline–a $2 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that will run from Ohio through Michigan and eventually to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada–will come through their vicinity (see Antis of Green, OH Finally Face Reality – Will Allow NEXUS Pipe). Green previously hired a high-priced Cleveland law firm to try and scuttle the NEXUS project (see Green, OH Paying Lawyers $100K to Fund Stop NEXUS Crusade). In the end, everyone has their price. For Green, the price is $7.5 million and 20 acres of land that sit next to an existing city park. While Green antis in city government hate the idea of the pipeline getting built at all (especially Green’s anti-pipeline mayor), the writing is on the wall. They will lose and they know it. To save face, the mayor negotiated a deal with NEXUS that city council voted to accept. However, the mayor and city council’s actions don’t sit well with some of the more radical elements in Green. The rads have since launched a campaign to force the city to accept a vote on whether or not to settle with NEXUS. The city says the signed settlement from last week is an administrative action, not subject to a popular vote. The rads say otherwise. It’s shaping up to be a legal battle royale in Green–antis against antis. Grab the popcorn!…
    Read More “Green Antis Try to Reverse City’s $7.5M Deal to Allow NEXUS Pipe”

  • | | | | | |

    PA DEP Allows ME2 Underground Drilling to Resume in Chester County

    In what can only be considered a government shakedown, Sunoco Logistics Partners agreed last week to pay a massive (historically high) $12.6 million fine to the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) for “permit violations related to the construction of the Mariner East 2 pipeline project” (see Sunoco LP Pays PA DEP $12.6M to Resume ME2 Pipeline Construction). So we’re not surprised to learn that a few days later the DEP has magnanimously allowed Sunoco Logistics Partners to resume drilling work in Chester County for ME2–work that had been on hold since last summer (see ME2 Pipe Work in Chester County Creates Water Well Issue for Some). As we reported last year, the water wells for a dozen households in Chester County became cloudy–or lost pressure–after underground horizontal directional drilling (HDD) by Sunoco attempting to install pipes underground in places where digging trenches will not work. Sunoco paid for five families to temporarily stay in local hotels for several nights. Sunoco also provided bottled water for all of the affected families. The working theory is that bentonite clay (i.e. drilling mud) is the source of the cloudiness. Fortunately, bentonite is non-toxic and used to manufacture many products, including toothpaste and kitty litter. Because of the episode in Chester and several locations, the DEP stopped HDD work for the project. Sunoco later cut a deal to continue the work (see Sunoco Strikes Deal with Devil, “Settles” with Anti Groups re ME2). Then, all work everywhere for the ME2 project was stopped by the DEP in early January. That is, it was stopped until Sunoco paid the DEP $12.6 million for permission to restart construction. So yes, $12.6 million ought to buy the right to restart HDD drilling in Chester County, as it just has, although the DEP is still holding the threat of “further penalties” over Sunoco’s head as a way of encouraging them to avoid any further drilling mud spills…
    Read More “PA DEP Allows ME2 Underground Drilling to Resume in Chester County”

  • | | |

    Antero 2017: Big Swing from Red into Black, 9 Long Marc. Laterals

    Lots of news coming out of Antero Resources, one of the Marcellus/Utica’s biggest (and best) drillers. Antero issued its fourth quarter and full year 2017 update, along with a statement about the company’s proved reserves, earlier this week. Perhaps the biggest news is that after losing $849 million in 2016, net income for Antero in 2017 was $615 million–a $1.4 billion swing (to the good) over the course of a single year! Average daily production in 2017 was 2.25 billion cubic feet equivalent per day (Bcfe/d)–a 22% increase over 2016. Zooming in on just the fourth quarter, Antero completed and placed on line 28 Marcellus and 10 Utica wells. Antero said they are getting into long laterals. Of the Marcellus wells drilled in 4Q17, nine had laterals over 12,000 feet, with two of those exceeding 14,000 feet in length (over 2.5 miles horizontally underground). Even with long laterals, Antero decreased the average number of days it takes to drill a well–from 15 to 12 (20% less). They also upped the amount of sand they use in fracking by 23%–to over 2,000 pounds of sand per foot. At the end of 2017, Antero estimates it had 17.3 trillion cubic feet equivalent of natural gas sitting in the ground that can be extracted using today’s technology at today’s prices (“proved reserves”). That 17.3 Tcfe is 12% higher than at the end of 2016. Below is the whole enchilada–two updates from Antero, excerpts from the analyst phone call, and the latest and greatest PowerPoint presentation…
    Read More “Antero 2017: Big Swing from Red into Black, 9 Long Marc. Laterals”

  • | | | | | | | | | | |

    Rover Pipeline’s SWPA Burgettstown Lateral Ready for Startup

    Click map for larger version

    On Tuesday, Rover Pipeline (Energy Transfer Partners) sent an official request to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) asking for permission to begin service on one of the remaining legs of the pipeline not yet up and running as part of Phase 1 development. Rover wants to begin service on the Burgettstown Lateral by Feb. 26. The Burgettstown Lateral (see the map below) extends from Burgettstown (Washington County), PA through Hancock County, WV and into eastern Ohio, connecting to the main Rover Pipeline in Carroll County. The Burgettstown Lateral is 51.3 miles long and includes a compressor station in/near Burgettstown to push the gas along the entire length of the lateral. Rover still maintains they will have the entire Rover Pipeline network up and running by the end of March. There are still some areas in Ohio where they are working (drilling for a second pipeline under the Tuscarawas River), however, most of the work remaining to be done is in Michigan–Phase 2 of the project. When it’s all done, up and running, Rover will flow 3.25 billion cubic feet per day of Marcellus/Utica gas to the Midwest, Gulf Coast and Canada. Below is Rover’s request to “start me up” for the Burgettstown Lateral, along with a map of the lateral…
    Read More “Rover Pipeline’s SWPA Burgettstown Lateral Ready for Startup”