Liberal DC Court Tells EPA It MUST Adopt Obama Methane Rules
The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wisely move to begin the process of rolling back Obama-era regulations on methane, designed to regulate the oil and gas industry, last month (see Beginning of the End: EPA Issues 90-Day Stay for Methane Rule). Big Green groups with deep pockets sued a few days later, claiming the agency that instituted the rules in the first place (the EPA) shouldn’t be able to roll back the rules they themselves made up. Egregious, over-reaching rules. A liberal federal court in DC somewhat agreed, telling the EPA they have to justify themselves (see Liberal DC Court Asks EPA to Respond to Lawsuit by Radical Enviros). Now, the liberal DC court has decided the EPA can’t un-decide what it previously decided, even though it clearly has the right and power to do so. On Monday, the U.S. Kangaroo Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ordered to EPA to move forward with the Obama-era methane rules…
Read More “Liberal DC Court Tells EPA It MUST Adopt Obama Methane Rules”
Keane Group is a Texas-based oilfield services company that provides fracking, wireline and top-hole air drilling services to oil and gas companies in the Marcellus/Utica as well as several other major basins. In January 2016, Keane announced they were buying out Canadian-based Trican Well Service for $247 million (see 
Here’s a fact: Fossil fuels have provided more than 80% of total U.S. energy consumption for more than 100 years. Here’s another fact: Fossil fuels provided 81% of America’s energy consumption in 2016–last year. What about all those precious so-called renewables? They provided a little over 10% of our energy needs. However, don’t confuse “renewables” with “solar and wind,” because renewables also include biomass and hydro. If you look only at wind and solar, they provided around 2.5-3% of our overall energy needs last year. When some crackpot claims we could just flip a switch and begin using all renewables anytime before the next 100 years, you know they’re delusional. Ain’t, gonna, happen. You read it here first…
MDN has extensively covered the story of a family in Huntingdon County, PA radicalized by the Big Green movement into opposing the Mariner East 2 pipeline across their property. The Gerhart family, with the assistance of what Sunoco Logistics Partners calls “eco-terrorists,” have pledged to illegally block construction of the pipeline. So a few weeks ago Sunoco asked a Huntingdon County judge to grant an injunction against the Gerharts AND the interloping eco-terrorists–to have them forcibly removed if they attempt to stop construction which is about to begin (see 
A liberal Democrat County from the Washtenaw County, Mich. Board of Commissioners, someone who obviously ignores the rule of law, has pledged to break the law in her misguided attempt to stop Energy Transfer’s Rover Pipeline project from coming through her county. Lib Dems often like to pick and choose which laws they will obey and which they’ll ignore, so we’re not surprised by the mouthy reaction from Commissioner Michelle Deatrick, D-Superior Township. She’s like many other radical anti-fossil fuelers. Michelle is an Al Gore fan and has apparently overdosed on trailers for Gore’s forthcoming Inconvenient Truth Part Deux fictional flick, called “Truth to Power,” because that’s the exact phase she used at a recent board meeting. Here’s what mouthy Michelle had to say…
We’ve written a fair bit about Velocys, a UK-based gas-to-liquids (GTL) company, over the past several years (
Although we understand self-interest and wanting to protect one’s profit margin, we continue to be distressed that some of the biggest chemical companies in the world (meaning in the U.S.) are still actively trying to block approvals for more LNG export facilities. Why? They want the natural gas they buy (in very large quantities) to be as cheap as possible. In April, Big Chemical–companies like Dow Corning, BASF, Eastman Chemical and others–via their trade association Industrial Energy Consumers of America (IECA) launched an effort to try and persuade Energy Secretary Rick Perry and the Trump Administration to create barriers to exports of natural gas, ’cause you know, it’s “America First” now baby, and we want that gas all to ourselves (see 
Last December Spectra Energy pushed the pause button on their Access Northeast Pipeline project, a roughly $3 billion project in New England to connect four existing pipeline systems (with enhancements): Texas Eastern, Algonquin Gas Transmission, Iroquois and Maritimes & Northeast (see 
Ohio is about to pass and adopt it’s latest biennial budget. Part of the budget bill includes language to exempt Ohio’s city and town parks from the state’s unitization (i.e. forced pooling) laws. In Ohio, if 65% of the landowners in a proposed unit have agreed to lease their land for oil or gas drilling, the other landowners in the unit can be forced to join the unit to allow drilling under (not on) their land. There are all sorts of requirements before forced pooling occurs, including a $10,000 fee paid by the driller, and a hearing to review efforts made to enroll said recalcitrant landowners. But in the end, it is possible to force landowners who don’t want drilling, to have it. The justification is that those who don’t want it are harming those who do want it by not agreeing to join the unit. Should the action of someone with a few acres deny benefits to all of his neighbors? We’re not saying we support the concept of forced pooling–just giving you our best interpretation of the arguments used to support it. We understand those arguments. We also understand the sanctity of private property. Until now, local towns and municipalities in Ohio were treated like any other landowner. But now, with the new budget, they will get a special exemption. Local municipalities cannot be forced to participate–unless they want to participate–in a drilling unit…
In January, MDN reported on a well pad fire at Rice Energy’s Papa Bear well pad in Somerset Township (Washington County), PA (see 
Earlier this month MDN reported that extreme partisan Sen. Chuck Schumer had recommended to the White House that Richard Glick, a current a Senate staffer (i.e. swamp dweller) and former lobbyist for the wind industry, should succeed Democrat Colette Honorable as the second Democrat commissioner on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (see 
Pennsylvania does not have a revenue problem–it has an overspending problem. Once again the Republican-majority legislature in PA is caving to the siren song/pressure of wild-spending, liberal Democrats and will pass a budget that is $2 billion over the revenue they can reasonably expect–sprinkled with giveaways like an extra $100 million for teachers unions–and beginning next week the Republicans will face a barrage of media stories and pressure to create a severance tax to help make up the difference. Already we’re seeing stories about the need for a “fair gas tax” and that a severance tax is “long overdue.” What about passing a “fair budget” that doesn’t overspend? What about “fiscal responsibility” that’s long overdue? Where are those stories? And, when will Republicans learn to quit playing the Dem’s game?…
This week has been “Energy Week” at the White House, and yesterday President Trump (we just love saying that, “President Trump”) announced six new initiatives not to just make America energy independent, but to make America energy dominant. We love that too! Energy DOMINANT. Throughout the world. Number one. One of the six initiatives in Trump’s plan was the announcement that Sempra Energy is in negotiations with South Korea to sell them our LNG (liquefied natural gas, see more on that below). That’s a good thing! No doubt some of the gas heading to the Korean peninsula will come from the Marcellus/Utica. Another of the six initiatives announced yesterday is approval for two applications to export LNG from Louisiana. And a yet another initiative involves more offshore drilling for oil and gas. So half of the initiatives announced somehow impact or relate to natural gas (two of which also impact Marcellus/Utica). Here’s the full list of six initiatives announced yesterday in a speech by President Trump…