Industrywide Issues

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    Vermont Gas Pipeline Fined $58K for Killing 77 Sunflower Plants

    How long does it take to lay 43 miles of natural gas pipeline? If you live and work in the socialist paradise of Vermont, it takes at least two years. In May 2015, MDN reported the following: “The fossil fuel hating nutjobs are out in force in Vermont. Anti-drillers who hate fracking because they hate natural gas because natural gas is an evil, nasty ‘fossil fuel’ are trying to stall progress on a 43-mile natural gas pipeline Vermont Gas Systems is laying between Chittenden and Addison counties to deliver clean burning natural gas to Vermonters. Those opposing the pipeline include the wackos from a group called Rising Tide Vermont. But unfortunately, the pipeline is also being opposed by the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association (companies that deliver fuel oil) and opposed by even the socialist Vermont AARP.” (see Vermont Wackos (Including AARP) Oppose 43-Mile Natgas Pipeline). Two years later, and Vermont Gas is STILL laying that pipeline. How sad and how tragic. Here’s the latest twist: Vermont’s contractor, hired to help build the pipeline, “accidentally” mowed down 77 sunflower plants that are (supposedly) “rare” and protected. It will cost Vermont Gas $58,687.50 in fines. That’s $762 for each of the sunflowers mowed down that, according to state officials, will grow back anyway. Excuse us while we spit out sunflower seed shells we’ve been munching on as we write this… Read More “Vermont Gas Pipeline Fined $58K for Killing 77 Sunflower Plants”

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    Study: New England Electric Shortage from Lack of NatGas by 2025

    There is a coming shortage of natural gas to fire electric power plants in wintertime in New England. So says an analysis presented last week to the ISO-New England Planning Advisory Committee. ISO New England Inc. is the independent, non-profit Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) that manages the electric grid for Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The study presented last week shows that there will be enough natgas reaching New England in summer for the foreseeable future, but in the winters of 2025 and 2030, almost every planning scenario shows New England will only have half (50%) of the gas it needs to operate electric generating plants. This is seriously bad news for New Englanders–and something we previously predicted (see Study Finds Dire Consequences if New England Pipelines Not Built). New England’s steadfast opposition to new pipelines will have a real, very tangible effect. They get to choose between no gas for heating, or no gas for electricity… Read More “Study: New England Electric Shortage from Lack of NatGas by 2025”

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    Watch Out Marcellus/Utica, Here Comes Gas from the Permian

    The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article appearing in today’s edition that points out the Permian Basin shale play (in West Texas) may, in a few years, “rival new gas output” from the mighty Marcellus Shale. Really? Where did that come from?! It makes a great deal of sense. The Permian is an oil-focused play. Drillers can’t stand enough rigs in the Permian fast enough. Drilling for oil in the Permian at $50/barrel is profitable–for everyone. So where does natural gas come in? Ever read about “associated gas” here on MDN? We’ve talked about it a fair deal over the years. Whenever you drill for one hydrocarbon–like oil–you get other hydrocarbons coming out of the borehole too. Like natural gas, and gas liquids (propane, ethane, butane, etc.). The converse is also true. Drillers targeting natural gas sometimes get oil and NGLs. In the Permian, an “oil play,” there is a LOT of associated gas coming out of the holes drilled, along with the oil. And the massive drilling program under way there means overall output from the Permian may, at some point, rival (or come close to) the output in the Marcellus. What does that mean for Marcellus drillers and landowners?…
    Read More “Watch Out Marcellus/Utica, Here Comes Gas from the Permian”

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    WV Supreme Court Reverses Itself, Post-Production Deductions OK

    In a decision that will thrill drillers, but anger landowners, the West Virginia Supreme Court decided last week to overturn its own previous decision (from just last December) and allow driller EQT to deduct post-production expenses from royalty payments. Last December MDN reported on the huge West Virginia Supreme Court decision against driller EQT that disallows EQT from deducting post-production expenses from royalty checks, even with signed contracts in place (see WV Supreme Court Rules EQT Can’t Deduct P-P Costs from Royalties). The justices, in their ruling, said that drillers can “not deduct from that (royalty) amount any expenses that have been incurred in gathering, transporting or treating the oil or gas after it has been initially extracted, any sums attributable to a loss or beneficial use of volume beyond that initially measured or any other costs that may be characterized as post-production.” A really big deal. Then in February, with a brand new justice on the bench, the WV Supreme Court agreed to rehear the case after an appeal filed by EQT–a rare and unusual step (see EQT Catches Big Break in WV Supreme Court re Royalty Deductions). Those who won the case say newly elected Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth D. Walker has conflicts of interest and should not have been allowed to vote to rehear the case in the first place (which she did). On that basis, they tried to avoid the rehearing altogether, but that failed, and lawyers were in court arguing the case earlier this month. As it turns out, the lawyers mainly argued over the meaning of three short words: “at the wellhead” (see WV Supreme Court Post-Production Royalty Case Hinges on 3 Words). On Friday, the justices reversed their earlier decision, voting 4-1 in favor of allowing EQT to deduct “reasonable” post-production expenses (copy of the decision below). Newly elected Justice Beth Walker, with (according to the other side) conflicts of interest, voted in favor of EQT. This has BIG implications for landowners and drillers in the Mountain State… Read More “WV Supreme Court Reverses Itself, Post-Production Deductions OK”

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    FERC Responds to Rover Request to Begin Drilling in 2 Locations: NO

    It was full speed ahead for Energy Transfer’s Rover Pipeline construction project in Ohio–until a series of drilling mud spills hit, including one that dumped some 2 million gallons of bentonite mud into a wetland near the Tuscarawas River in Stark County, OH (see Rover Pipeline Accident Spills ~2M Gal. Drilling Mud in OH Swamp). Not long after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) slapped Rover with a “stop horizontal drilling” order (see FERC Slaps Rover Pipeline with Stop Drilling Order). Let’s put that into context. Most of the pipeline getting laid for Rover is in trenches–not from underground horizontal drilling. There are some places along the route when you can’t dig a trench–like crossing a creek or river, or major highway. In those cases, you drill horizontally underground, underneath the object. When drilling, bentonite mud is used to keep the drill bit cool. Sometimes the mud pumped underground finds its way back out again via cracks in the rock. It is those accidents that FERC (and the Ohio EPA) find a little too frequent and voluminous for their liking. So FERC told ET to stop any new underground drilling. Less than a week after FERC ordered ET to stop drilling, ET filed a request with FERC to begin drilling in two locations key to finishing the first leg of the pipeline–locations where the equipment is already in place, and the erosion controls already set up: Captina Creek in Belmont County, OH, where Rover wants to complete the Clarington lateral, and Middle Island Creek in Tyler County, WV, where Rover wants to complete the Sherwood lateral (see Rover Gets Serious About Mud Spills, Asks FERC for OK to Drill). FERC responded to ET’s request to drill in those locations last Thursday: NO…
    Read More “FERC Responds to Rover Request to Begin Drilling in 2 Locations: NO”

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    PA DEP to Hold 4 Public Hearings for Atlantic Sunrise Pipe in June

    Seems like forever we’ve been waiting for the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) to issue the final permits needed for the Williams Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline project to begin construction. 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. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) gave its final seal of approval for the project in February (see Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline Gets Final Approval by FERC). But like NY, PA is holding up the project. The DEP has not, so far, granted necessary permits to allow construction to begin–those permits being Chapter 102 (earth disturbance) and Chapter 105 (waterway and wetland encroachment). Williams embarked on a public relations campaign to enlist support across the state to pressure PA Gov. Tom Wolf and the DEP to grant the permits so construction can (finally) begin. The Wolf DEP is holding up this project and the 8,000 jobs it will create during construction. Williams delivered a petition to Gov. Wolf with the signatures of 3,000 people supporting the project earlier this month (see PA Roars Its Approval of Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline with Petition, Comments). Perhaps that did the trick. Last Thursday the DEP announced four public hearings in June (otherwise known as circus freak shows, where antis parade in front of microphones and behave like asses). The DEP will also accept public comments until June 26. After that, we will hopefully get a swift round of issued permits and the backhoes will start digging… Read More “PA DEP to Hold 4 Public Hearings for Atlantic Sunrise Pipe in June”

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    Chesapeake Scores Court Victory to Prevent PA Royalty Class Action

    Sometimes we wish we had gone to law school–to better understand some of the cases involved with oil and gas. This is one of those times. When you read words like “arbitrability,” the eyes start to glaze over. We’ll do our best to summarize some important news for landowners who want to sue Chesapeake over shorted royalty checks. Starting in 2008, Chesapeake Energy, under then-CEO Aubrey McClendon, began leasing acreage in northeastern Pennsylvania for shale drilling. Said drilling happened and in 2013, Scout Petroleum purchased royalty rights from some NEPA landowners. That is, Scout took over receiving the royalty payments in return for giving those landowners an up front, lump sum. In 2014, when it became obvious Chesapeake was using aggressive deductions from royalty payments (i.e. landowners were getting hosed), Scout filed a lawsuit against Chesapeake, requesting (under the lease language) that their grievances against Chessy be arbitrated AND (not specifically under the lease language) that Scout and thousands of other landowners be lumped together into class action arbitration (see Bad to Worse: PA Royalty Owner Asks Court for Chessy Class Action). Scout lost the case over class action and appealed. In late April, an appeals judge found that class action arbitration is not part of the original lease language, express or implied, and therefore is not allowed. Scout is appealing the decision once again. This is far from over, but for now, Chesapeake has a small victory in forcing landowners to file individual lawsuits…
    Read More “Chesapeake Scores Court Victory to Prevent PA Royalty Class Action”

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    NJ DEP Keeps Badmouthing PennEast Pipeline

    PennEast Pipeline route through NJ

    PennEast Pipeline is caught between a rock and a hard place in New Jersey, and the NJ Dept. of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) isn’t lifting a finger to help. In April, MDN told you NJDEP has temporarily rejected PennEast Pipeline’s Freshwater Wetlands Individual Permit and Water Quality Certificate application, submitted April 6 (see NJ DEP Temporarily Rejects PennEast Request for Wetland Permits). NJDEP said in their response that PennEast has not provided enough detail about the project–leaving out key pieces of information for two-thirds of the pipeline’s 37-mile trek through NJ. NJDEP says they want the application refiled within 30 days, and if PennEast doesn’t give them what they want within 60 days, the DEP will consider the application “withdrawn.” Here’s the Catch-22: In order to get the details needed via surveys, PennEast needs access to property. But many NJ landowners have been convinced by groups like the odious Sierra Club to deny permission. So PennEast can’t do their surveys to get the details needed for the the NJDEP. Since it’s a federally approved project, NJDEP certainly won’t issue eminent domain to allow PennEast access to survey. For that, PennEast must wait on FERC. It’s rumored that FERC will grant eminent domain sometime this summer for PennEast to allow them the right to access NJ (and PA) properties of holdout landowners. Antis are elated and breathlessly say PennEast will be delayed for months, maybe years (doing things like multi-year surveys on plants). PennEast continues to say the NJDEP’s responses are routine and being handled. Who’s right?…
    Read More “NJ DEP Keeps Badmouthing PennEast Pipeline”

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    Fate of 2 Important Pipelines May Rest in Virginia Governor Race

    Election matters, and elections for governor really matter–at least with respect to shale drilling and pipelines. Here in New York State, where MDN is written, we are ruled by a corrupt autocrat by the name of Andrew Cuomo. Single-handed Cuomo has decided to ban fracking and block new shale gas pipelines (see After 6+ Years, Andrew Cuomo Bans Fracking in New York; NY Gov. Cuomo Refuses to Grant Permits for Constitution Pipeline; and Cuomo’s Corrupt NY DEC Blocks NFG Northern Access Pipeline Permit). So when a Democrat candidate in Virginia to be the next governor vows to block pipelines there, we don’t take it as just electioneering. These people are serious–and dangerous. Our court systems have failed to reign in Democrat autocrats who rule by fiat. It’s up to the people to ensure they don’t get elected. On June 13 Virginia will hold a primary in their gubernatorial race. Since a Democrat has won the governor’s mansion in nine out of the last ten elections, it pays to pay attention to the two leading Dem candidates for governor in Virginia. One of them, former Congressman Tom Perriello, says he’ll block both the $5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline through his state, and the $3.5 billion Mountain Valley Pipeline. His opponent, the sitting Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam, doesn’t outright oppose the projects but instead says they will be put under an extreme review by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Just one problem with that: The DEQ says FERC is the one who will monitor and review the project, not the DEQ. In other words, what Northam has been promising is just another empty political promise (surprised?). With a close race, will this late-breaking news from the DEQ tip the balance in favor of the radical Perriello?… Read More “Fate of 2 Important Pipelines May Rest in Virginia Governor Race”

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    5 Climate Jihadists Disrupt Senate FERC Nominee Hearing

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    Last Thursday the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a confirmation hearing for two nominees for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Neil Chatterjee, energy adviser to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Robert Powelson, a Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission member and president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners were put through their paces, questioned by Senators for two hours. Getting these men confirmed is a high priority–to restore a voting quorum. Right now there are only two (soon to be one) FERC commissioners. You need three minimum for a voting quorum. When filled, there are five FERC commissioners. During the hearing, extremists from Beyond Extreme Energy attempted to disrupt the hearing with yelling. They were taken out of the room and arrested. These are the same kinds of people Powelson previously called environmental jihadists–those who show up at FERC commissioners’ homes to intimidate them before votes (see Potential FERC Com. Powleson Calls Anti-Fossil Fuelers “Jihadists”). Powelson later walked back his “jihad” statement, sadly. By all accounts the disruptions by the jihadists at the hearing were minor and didn’t (as the nutters had hoped) slow down anything. One jerk handcuffed himself to a chair and the Capitol police whisked him out while the hearing continued, uninterrupted (see the image). Below are accounts of the hearing and what was said, along with a press release from Beyond Extreme Energy…
    Read More “5 Climate Jihadists Disrupt Senate FERC Nominee Hearing”

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    6 Towns, 3 Schools in Jefferson Co., OH Split $5M/Yr in Pipe Tax

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    With all of the negative talk about pipelines and opposition to pipelines and pipelines will kill ya and pipelines are from the devil, you may have overlooked the fact that some areas bow down and kiss the ground and thank their lucky stars to have a pipeline. One of those places is Jefferson County, OH. Six townships and three school districts in Jefferson County will be part of taxing districts to share in $5 million a year in public utility taxes paid by the Texas Eastern Transmission pipeline (TETCo), a major interstate pipeline system. This is newfound money that school districts and towns are starved for in this era of budget cuts. And the money doesn’t come out of taxpayers’ pockets. It comes from private industry–from a pipeline flowing clean-burning natural gas. In a situation not unlike Warren Beatty giving Faye Dunaway the wrong envelope, TETCo gave the wrong information to the Ohio Department of Taxation about which taxing districts the pipeline passes through. So some schools and towns that were initially elated and now deflated, and others have hit the lottery. Frankly, it’s too bad the pipeline doesn’t go through all of them!… Read More “6 Towns, 3 Schools in Jefferson Co., OH Split $5M/Yr in Pipe Tax”

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    $700M CPV Power Plant in Cambria, PA Gets Ready to Break Ground

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    It’s taken a few years, but we are now only a few months away from groundbreaking to build a new Marcellus gas-fired power plant in Cambria County, PA. Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) will build the $700 million CPV Fairview Energy Center off Route 271 near Vinco, in rural Jackson Township (see 2 Natgas-Fired Electric Power Plants Coming to Cambria County, PA). Last June the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) held a public hearing on an Air Quality Plan Approval Application for the project (see Voice Support for CPV NatGas Power Plant in Cambria County, PA). After securing financing and filling out a forest worth of paperwork, CPV Fairview Energy is almost ready to begin construction. What can the locals expect from this new plant? Perhaps a field trip to another CPV power plant, in New Jersey, can enlighten us… Read More “$700M CPV Power Plant in Cambria, PA Gets Ready to Break Ground”

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    Major Gen. James “Spider” Marks Takes Aim at Lawless PA Protesters

    Major General James A. “Spider” Marks is the former Commanding General, U.S. Army Intelligence Center, and was the senior intelligence officer for the 2003 liberation of Iraq. Since retiring from the military, General Marks has led many business ventures in education, energy, and research, and served as the President and CEO of Global Linguist Solutions, a private company that provided linguistics services to the U.S. military in Iraq and was the largest employer of native Iraqis. He is an on-air national security, military, and intelligence contributor to CNN and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. Spider Marks doesn’t suffer fools gladly. In an op-ed written for the Harrisburg Patriot-News, Marks takes aim at so-called protesters (paid activists) who ran up a $40 million tab of destruction in North Dakota (paid for by taxpayers) with their so-called protest camp there, and who now are attempting to invade Pennsylvania and recreate the same chaos. Marks calls a spade a spade in his deft column… Read More “Major Gen. James “Spider” Marks Takes Aim at Lawless PA Protesters”

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    Radical Antis Ask FERC to Stop ET Construction on Rover Pipeline

    Radical environmental groups are seeking to stop the Energy Transfer Rover Pipeline project by using recent violations as leverage. The FreshWater Accountability Project, begun in Ohio after the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District signed agreements to sell water to the shale industry, along with Michigan Residents Against the ET Rover Pipeline, filed a complaint with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Wednesday asking the federal agency to stop all construction on Rover. The request will almost certainly go nowhere–but Rover’s own actions have opened the door to this action. We understand that accidents happen when drilling horizontally underground for pipelines and that sometimes you get an “inadvertent return” (leak) of drilling mud slipping up to the surface. But it’s tough to explain away a 2 million gallon leak (see Rover Pipeline Accident Spills ~2M Gal. Drilling Mud in OH Swamp). It’s also hard to ignore storm water runoff fouling farmers’ fields where Rover is digging trenches (see OEPA & Rover at Odds Over Storm Water Runoff, “Fine” Now $714K). It smacks of a rush job, and that gives the other side an opening in their quest to stop fossil fuel infrastructure projects like Rover… Read More “Radical Antis Ask FERC to Stop ET Construction on Rover Pipeline”

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    Radicals Protest Outside PA Senate Hearing on NatGas Benefits

    On Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Senate Majority Policy Committee and Environmental Resources and Energy Committee held a joint hearing to examine the economic benefits natural gas production has brought the Keystone State. MDN friend David Spigelmyer, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, was present and let legislators know that PA has become the #2 natural gas producer in the country, and that remarkable feat has brought PA billions of dollars in investment. The investment in new or converted natural gas electric plants alone has reached $10 billion! Thad Hill of Calpine Corporation (nation’s largest generator of electricity from natural gas) also spoke. While the adults were inside talking about serious issues, children in adult bodies were outside misbehaving, as they typically do. Radicals (paid protesters) from Earthworks held a protest rally on the steps of the Capitol where they held up big, black balloons. Yeah, we have no idea what makes them tick either… Read More “Radicals Protest Outside PA Senate Hearing on NatGas Benefits”

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    MarkWest’s Washington, PA Processing Plant Plans Reactivated

    In October 2016, MDN reported that electric company FirstEnergy had begun construction of a new electric substation in Washington County, PA to provide electricity to “support two natural gas processing facilities being developed in the area” (see Work Begins on $40M Electric Substation in W PA to Help Marcellus). At the time we speculated that at least one of the beneficiaries would be MPLX’s MarkWest Energy subsidiary. We were right. Not long after, NGI’s Shale Daily reported that one of the projects to be served by FirstEnergy’s new substation will be the MarkWest Harmon Creek Complex, a new processing plant that would be built to process natgas for Range Resources (see MarkWest Building New Processing Plant in Washington County, PA). But then all went quiet, when the project went on “indefinite hold.” The hold is now over. MarkWest officials recently attended a Smith Township planning commission meeting (where it will get built) to discuss the project which is now front and center once again. According to MarkWest, plans call for initially building one cryogenic plant and one de-ethanizer. Eventually MarkWest wants to build four cryogenic plants and two de-ethanizers at the Harmon Creek Complex… Read More “MarkWest’s Washington, PA Processing Plant Plans Reactivated”