Marcellus Gas has Major Impact on Canadian NatGas Imports/Exports
The Canadian Energy Research Institute (CERI) recently released the “Canadian Natural Gas Market Review” (full copy of the 159-page report embedded below). The study looks at the future of Canada’s natural gas upstream (i.e. drilling) industry, taking into consideration the history of the industry, changing market dynamics due to the advancements in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technology, the recent drop in oil and natural gas prices, and policy developments (i.e. government interference). In the Executive Summary, which we include immediately below, you’ll read that the Canadians have a lot to say about the Marcellus Shale. Canada is importing more natgas than ever–because of cheap, abundant, clean-burning Marcellus Shale gas in the northeast. The report also comments on Canada’s chances of becoming a big exporter of gas via LNG. Canada can, theoretically, increase its own natgas production by 65% over the next 20 years–but only if a number of planned LNG export facilities go online to provide a market for all of that gas…
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We’ve written plenty about President Obama’s so-called Clean Power Plan (CPP), introduced last summer, a plan to force electric generators to convert to using more “renewable” sources of energy–and less fossil fuels (see 
MDN first alerted you to a sleazy tactic used to slow down the pipeline approval process in October 2015 (see 
A poll recently conducted for Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) shows that Massachusetts voters believe that energy issues are important, and that Massachusetts voters STRONGLY support the use of natural gas for electricity generation, AND the expansion of existing natural gas infrastructure. Some 73% of Mass. voters want to use natural gas to generate electricity. That is an astonishing majority in a very liberal state. Some 68% of those voters say energy issues will affect how they vote in November. Here’s the results…
More money is on the way to the oil and gas sector–so says powerhouse consulting and accounting firm Ernst & Young. An EY survey, titled “Capitalizing on opportunities: Private equity investment in oil and gas” (full copy below) says there is close to $1 trillion in private equity waiting to be invested across all sectors. Some 43% of private equity investors say they are looking to spread some of that money in the oil and gas space. The question is, which region(s) of the world will see appreciable amounts of that investment?…
The pieces of a very complicated puzzle continue to fall into place to build what will be Pennsylvania’s largest natural gas-fired electric generating power plant in Lackawanna County, PA–near Scranton. Invenergy plans to build the Lackawanna Energy Center, a 1,480 megawatt plant in Jessup, PA that will cost “well over $1 billion” according to an exclusive MDN source working on the project (not $500 million as we previously estimated). The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) approved the plant last December (see 
Earlier this month MDN shared with you the news that Munroe Falls (Summit County), OH had filed yet another frivolous lawsuit against Beck Energy to prevent drilling–after already losing a similar case before the Ohio Supreme Court (see 
MDN has previously reported on efforts in Pennsylvania to substitute a so-called “gross receipts tax” (GRT) on natural gas for a severance tax as a way to raise millions of dollars for Democrats’ voracious appetite to spend money (see 
The litigious Sierra Club, an environmental organization that may have been founded for good reasons long ago but has become radicalized in their opposition to all fossil fuels, was dealt a serious legal blow last week. None other than the very liberal District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the Sierra Club–responding to a lawsuit brought by the Sierra Club that tries to force the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to consider factors not within their purview when deciding on whether or not to issue permits for LNG (liquefied natural gas) facilities. The court decision directly affects two Gulf Coast LNG facilities but also has implications for the Cove Point, Maryland LNG export facility currently under construction by Dominion, now about half completed. The Sierra Club tried to argue that the more LNG you export, the more drilling (i.e. “upstream”) activity is needed, and drilling activity and what it produces (natural gas) is causing man-made global warming. Ergo FERC should be required to consider those “impacts” when making its decision on permitting such facilities. The problem is, under FERC’s charter they are specifically NOT allowed to consider such peripheral considerations. FERC is to make its decisions based on real science: Would a potential project impact the local ecology and environment in a negative way? If so, it doesn’t get a permit. The normally chatty Sierra Club went silent following the court’s decision…
MDN has long pointed out that the United States has more natural gas reserves than any other country on earth, dethroning Russia years ago on that score–thanks to the shale revolution and the miracle of hydraulic fracturing. We’ve often heard the phrase that “the U.S. is the Saudi Arabia of natural gas.” But what’s this? A new research report issued by the respected Rystad Energy, an independent oil and gas consulting service, finds that the U.S. is now the Saudi Arabia of oil too! That is, the U.S. has more oil reserves, because of shale, than Saudi Arabia. Fracking has handed the U.S. what we’ve wanted for years–total energy independence from the tyrants in OPEC…
We hear it time and again when visiting rallies and talks by fossil fuel haters: The U.S. could transition to so-called renewable energy sources (like solar and wind) TODAY, right now, if we only had the “will” to do it. Having the will to do it typically means mass starvation and death, turning thermostats down to 50 degrees in the winter and the like. But these nutjobs conveniently leave out that part when they talk. The bare naked truth is that fossil fuels are here to stay for AT LEAST the next two generations, and perhaps longer. How do we know? Try this fact on for size (from the U.S. Energy Information Administration): Three fossil fuels–petroleum, natural gas, and coal–have provided more than 80% of total U.S. energy consumption for more than 100 years. In 2015, fossil fuels made up 81.5% of total U.S. energy consumption. It is beyond ludicrous to declare that we can end fossil fuel use any time within the next 100 years–and people who say otherwise are either lying, or delusional. Here’s an update on fossil fuels and their continuing dominance in the U.S….
In 2008 Dominion approached oil and gas producers in West Virginia, before the Marcellus Shale was a household word, looking to build a pipeline for “several hundred million dollars” (ended up costing $750 million). Dominion held several meetings and told West Virginia’s independent natural gas producers that the producers would need to commit to firm transportation if they wanted to sell their natural gas. At those meetings Dominion handed out forms asking producers to write down how much production they might have for firm commitment. Following the meetings, producers received contracts in the mail “out of the blue” with a very short deadline and a not-so-subtle threat that if they wanted to sell their gas, they would sign on the dotted line. The producers say they were pressured into signing a 10-year deal. Dominion’s Appalachian Gateway Project, with 110 miles of new pipeline and upgrades to several compressor stations, went online in September 2012 (see 
Pennsylvania legislators went home for the long Fourth of July holiday weekend without a final budget in place. The clock is ticking. The spending part of the budget–some $31.5 billion (a massive amount) has been agreed to by both the Republican-controlled legislature and Democrat Gov. Tom Wolf. However, the budget needs to find another $1.5 billion to fund it–the shortfall in the current plan. Wolf wants “sustainable revenue”–by which he means permanent tax increases on something. Wolf’s preference is to slap a Marcellus Shale-killing severance tax on the natural gas industry. That’s a non-starter for the Republican-controlled legislature–people who actually know how economics work. It does appear the two sides are close to getting the budget passed. This week should tell the tale of how the state plans to raise enough money to bridge the shortfall…
A new bill in the Pennsylvania legislature, Senate Bill (SB) 1327 looks to undo some of the damage done by the now departed anti-drilling Secretary of the Dept. of Environmental Protection, John Quigley. The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently introduced draconian new rules to govern methane emissions from oil and gas drilling (see 
Relief is on the way for some Ohio landowners who want to see drilling on or under their land, but have been held up because their land border state-owned land belonging to the Ohio Dept. of Transportation (DOT). Apparently the DOT (and/or the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources, or ODNR) has been reluctant to pool or unitize land under DOT control to allow shale drilling. OH Gov. John Kasich has just signed House Bill (HB) 390 into law–a new law that gives the the ODNR 45 days to pool DOT-controlled land into units so drillers can begin drilling under it. Although the bill forces units to be issued, it allows drillers up to two years to begin their drilling after the units are issued, given the low prices in the market right now…
Last Friday MDN told you that TransCanada completed its $10 billion purchase of Columbia Pipeline Group (see