Maryland Will Miss Important Fracking Deadline on Oct 1
Maryland is supposedly working on revisions to revisions of revisions of fracking regulations that will allow the state to begin fracking on or about October 1, 2017. At least, that’s the theory. There has been some evidence that work is actually getting done to revise the revisions already released by former Gov. Martin O’Malley. In June the Maryland Dept. of the Environment held public hearings where anti-drilling nutjobs paraded around spreading lies about how fracking will kill ya (see Maryland Holds Hearings on Fracking, Crazies Turn Out to Complain). In order to meet the deadline of Oct. 1, 2017 (the date when the current two-year moratorium expires), newly revised regulations need to be published a year in advance–by Oct. 1, 2016. According to “officials” who spoke to the very liberal Baltimore Sun, that isn’t going to happen. So what now? If the two-year moratorium runs out, can drillers begin drilling–without the revised revisions of the revisions of the regulations? Theoretically, yes they could. The better question is: Will anyone try to drill even if they could?…
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Cheniere Energy operates the only liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility in the United States–currently. There are others planned, like the Cove Point, Maryland facility currently under construction. We keep tabs on Cheniere, even though it’s located in Louisiana, because the pipelines that serve it either are or soon will have Marcellus/Utica natural gas flowing through them–to the Cheniere plant. It’s potentially a very important market for our natural gas. We’ve had plenty of Cheniere news lately. Earlier this week we told you about a major restructuring at the top of the company, and the news that Train 2 at the plant is about ready to rock and roll (see 
Anti-coal, anti-natural gas, anti-oil, anti-logic…the radicals who make up the Sierra Club are anti-everything. They can’t even stand themselves! Self-loathing seems to be a requirement for membership. The Allegheny sub-group of the Sierra Club is planning to protest in front of the David L Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh this coming Thursday morning. Why? Because presidential candidate Donald Trump is scheduled to speak and they HATE HIS GUTS. They also hate frackers and those who support them, like your humble editor. There’s no better unifier on the left than hatred. MDN will be on location at the event and if we get a chance we’ll snap a picture or two of the nutters out front protesting. Meanwhile, here’s the Sierra Club game plan for Thursday…
As MDN previously reported, Range Resources, the very first driller in the Marcellus Shale (in 2004) and one of the largest Marcellus drillers, has decided to take advantage of the down market and branch out into another shale play (see 
After firing Cheniere Energy’s CEO and co-founder last December, Charif Souki, corporate raider Carl Icahn then installed his own puppet to run the LNG exporting company (see 
The International Energy Agency (IEA) is a European run and influence group of 29 countries that fervently believe the sky is falling, and that Mom Earth is toasting. Yep, global warmists. According to the IEA, the group is “an autonomous organisation which works to ensure reliable, affordable and clean energy for its 29 member countries and beyond. The IEA has four main areas of focus: energy security, economic development, environmental awareness and engagement worldwide.” Er, ah, right. That makes it plain as day. Anyhow, the socialist IEA has no problem charging a king’s ransom for the reports they periodically issue. Last November the IEA issued their annual World Energy Outlook, predicting the world will see $80/barrel oil by 2020 (see 
You did know that it’s not only the Obama EPA that routinely overreaches by issuing draconian regulations, right? Other Obama agencies, like the Dept. of Labor (DOL), are also guilty of draconian overreach. On May 18, 2016, the DOL published new changes that affect who is and who is not exempt from charging overtime. With the wave of the DOL’s magic wand they doubled the minimum salary necessary for white collar jobs to be “exempt” from overtime. That is, if you now earn a salary below $47,476 annually (or $913 per week), and if you work more than 40 hours a week, it doesn’t matter what your job is–you will be owed overtime for any hours over 40. Which may sound just dandy. Except if your company can’t afford to pay it, you’re about to get laid off, fired or otherwise put out to pasture. Tell me again how much Obama loves me. Employers have until December 1st to figure out what the heck to do, and how to comply, with these draconian new regulations. The legal beagles at law firm K&L Gates have put together a handy guide to help…
Gas-to-liquids (GTL) plants often convert natural gas into methanol. Methanol is one of the most commonly used substances in the chemical industry–used to produce antifreeze, fuels, solvents and many types of plastics. Converting methane (or natural gas) into methanol has been around for a while–but converting it at room temperature, using far less energy, is new. Scientists at KU Leuven and Stanford University have figured out how to do it. And it’s a really big deal…
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has given a preliminary thumbs up to the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a $3.5 billion, 301-mile pipeline that will run from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA. The project, which filed an official application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last October, is being built by EQT, NextEra Energy and several other partners (see 
This story is unbelievable on so many levels. A pointy-headed liberal who cloisters himself inside the insular Beltway of Washington, DC made a trip to Pittsburgh last week to talk to a small class of 70 students at Carnegie Mellon University. In this talk the lib proclaimed that the “incentives” provided by PA to Shell to lure a cracker plant to the state are, essentially, monies the state didn’t have to spend and a burden to the taxpayers of PA because Ohio and West Virginia may also reap some of the benefits of the cracker (without “paying” for it). The lib’s operating assumption is that 100% of everyone’s money belongs to the all-knowing government–including money made by big, evil corporations like Shell. He further states that by granting a few exemptions on taxes to Shell, PA is taking money out of the pockets of common folk. His philosophy and assumptions are so twisted it’s beyond belief. What’s more twisted is that the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote a major story about the talk–as if it’s news…
The Ohio Business Roundtable (BRT) is a partnership of the CEOs of leading Ohio companies that collectively account for more than $1 trillion in annual revenues, $1 trillion in market value and $2.6 trillion in assets. BRT’s members employ 2.6 million men and women, invest hundreds of millions of dollars annually in combined charitable contributions and research and development, and generate billions of dollars in sales for small and medium-sized businesses that are part of the supply chain. When the BRT in Ohio talks, people had better listen. Here’s the latest in what the BRT has to say: The state (i.e. Gov. Kasich) needs “a comprehensive reworking of the state’s energy policies in order to accelerate shale gas development.” No more tiptoeing around. Build those pipelines and build them NOW. That’s the upshot of a new report from the BRT titled, “Improving Ohio Energy Competitiveness” (full copy below). The report is backed up by detailed research from powerhouse consulting company McKinsey and Co. (their research is also embedded below). The BRT’s report points out the importance of the state’s natural gas-fired electric generating plants and says without more pipelines, new power plants won’t get built. The two issues are joined at the hip–vitally important for Ohio’s shale drillers, midstream companies, electric generators and yes Ohio’s electric ratepayers as well. LISTEN UP: Here’s what the BRT had to say…
Last November, MDN told you about Pilgrim Pipeline Holdings, developing an East Coast pipeline to carry refined petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel, heating oil, and jet and aviation fuel northbound from Linden, New Jersey to Albany, New York (178 miles). In addition, a second Pilgrim pipeline will carry crude oil from Albany south to NJ and other locations. Two pipelines, side by side, liquids flowing through them in different directions (see