Industrywide Issues

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    Good News for Marcellus: New Brunswick Commits Fracking Suicide

    New Brunswick, Canada
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    New Brunswick is a Canadian province that shares a border with the U.S. state of Maine. Since 2014 the brainiacs who run the province of New Brunswick have had a fracking moratorium in place–similar to what the State of New York had. Yep, you can see where this one is going. Last week those same brainiacs announced that the fracking moratorium in New Brunswick will go on “indefinitely.” Meaning it’s a ban, not a moratorium. The Canadian’s stupidity is a gift to the Marcellus/Utica because New Brunswick also shares a border with Nova Scotia and there are several LNG (liquefied natural gas) export facilities actively being planned. Those facilities will not get their gas from Nova Scotia or (now) from New Brunswick. The place those facilities will have to get their gas from is the Marcellus/Utica. So thanks, Canada!…
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    PA DEP Arbitrarily Extends Comment Period for Atlantic Sunrise Pipe

    Atlantic Sunrise econ impact
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    Yesterday MDN pointed out that the battle to build the Williams Atlantic Sunrise pipeline is on–and your help in showing your support to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is very much needed (see It’s Time to Voice Your Support for the Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline). There is now a second front in which your help is needed–by showing support for the project with the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP). The DEP was supposed to have concluded public comments on water obstruction and encroachment permits related to the Atlantic Sunrise project on May 31st. But as they sometimes do, the DEP just arbitrarily decided to extend the comment period another 60 days–until August 1. No doubt because antis fussed about it. So it’s time to submit your comments of support to the PA DEP as well as FERC, to countermand what will surely be a tsunami of form letters coming from anti-fossil fuelers. Here’s how to make positive comments on Atlantic Sunrise to the PA DEP…
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    Coal Supporters Try to Stop Moundsville, WV NatGas Electric Plant

    Moundsville PowerIt’s been a while since we’ve checked in on the proposed 549 megawatt, $615 million electrical generating plant to be built near Moundsville (Marshall County), WV. At last check almost a year ago, Moundsville Power was on schedule for an opening in 2018 (see Moundsville (WV) Electric Plant on Schedule for 2018 Opening). At that time project developer Andrew Dorn said he expected the project to break ground in early 2016. That didn’t happen. What’s the holdup? A group supporting coal-fired electric generation called Ohio Valley Jobs Alliance filed an objection to the West Virginia Air Quality Board’s permit issued for the project. Coal plants are dying almost daily, thanks to President Obama’s war on coal. People who support those dying plants are waging war on natural gas in a desperate attempt to stem the inevitable. Will the delay in construction mean the timeline for Moundsville Power slips?…
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    Virginia Group Proposes Alternative Routes for Atlantic Coast Pipe

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    Atlantic Coast Pipeline Alternative Route – click for larger version

    There’s nothing more frustrating than engaging in a debate with people who fight dirty. The vast majority Big Green groups fight dirty when it comes to opposing natural gas drilling and infrastructure projects. They attempt use arguments about dirty air and dirty water and pollution to confuse the general population. But they can’t back up their words with any proof. The antis true motivation often stays hidden in the background–an irrational hatred of using fossil fuels of any kind. But they can’t help it–their true motivation often leaks out in their statements. There is no reasoning with an unreasonable person. So when we notice a group of antis that actually uses rational, well-thought-out arguments, it’s very much the exception to the rule–and worth noting. We have respect for those on the other side of the fossil fuel debate when they fight fair and challenge us using science and facts instead of innuendo and outright lies. Such is the case with a group opposing the existing route of Dominion’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) project through Virginia. The group, called Friends of Wintergreen, submitted a detailed, 128-page analysis of four alternate routes for the ACP to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) using analysis from national environmental, legal and pipeline engineering firms. Friends of Wintergreen is not demanding that ACP not get built–they’re recommending other routes and supporting their recommendations with lots of analysis. Cool. We applaud them. Here’s what the group said in a recent press release, along with a copy of their 128-page analysis sent to FERC…
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    Constitution Pipeline Doles Out Another $50K in Grants, Despite NY

    money-bag.jpgSince announcing the project in 2012, the Constitution Pipeline has handed out more than $2 million in community grants to fire departments, police departments and a variety of nonprofit organizations that benefit the community. Recently New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo decided to block the Constitution Pipeline to placate his radical left supporters (see NY Gov. Cuomo Refuses to Grant Permits for Constitution Pipeline). Williams and its partners in the project have taken NY to court to overrule their blockage (see Williams Sues NY Over Constitution Pipe – DEC May Lose Authority). Even though Cuomo’s dastardly action has thrown the project’s future into some doubt, Williams and the Constitution are expressing no doubts. They’ve just handed out another $50,000 in grants (the eighth time they’ve done it) to worthy organizations along the pipeline’s proposed route. Here’s who got the money, and how much…
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    SemGroup Buying Units of its MLP Subsidiary Rose Rock Midstream

    Rose Rock Midstream logoWe often debate whether or not a bit of news is actually interesting for the MDN audience. Will this bit of news help either a landowner, driller, midstreamer, supply chain company or investor if they knew about it? The following story comes down right on the line for us. We could go either way, but we elected to include it. We don’t know when, exactly, but at least two years ago SemGroup Corporation, a publicly traded (shares of stock) midstream company that moves mostly oil from the wellhead to market, started up a master limited partnership (MLP) subsidiary called Rose Rock Midstream. An MLP issues “units” instead of shares of stock. MLPs have certain tax advantages for investors. We ran a story in June 2014 about Rose Rock buying some of Chesapeake Energy’s assets, including a trucking operation that services the Utica Shale in Ohio (see Chesapeake Dumps More Assets: Crude Truck Fleet & 200 Employees). SemGroup, the parent company, has just announced they are buying out the MLP units in Rose Rock and folding it into the stock-issuing parent company. From a practical standpoint, day to day operations at Rose Rock will not change. However, if you’re an investor in Rose Rock, your units will be forcibly purchased from you and you are about to enjoy a stiff tax bill…
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    Siluria Gets Partner to Convert Methane Directly into Petrochems

    Siluria TechnologiesA company we’re keeping our eye on is Siluria Technologies. We wrote about them a few weeks back (see New Tech Converts NatGas into Ethylene, Bypassing Cracker Plants). In a nutshell, Siluria doesn’t need to use ethane to crack it into ethylene (the raw material used in plastics). Instead, Siluria has invented a process to go directly from methane to ethylene, bypassing the need for a cracker plant to crack ethane. How cool is that? Siluria is building on their early success by partnering with Italian company Maire Tecnimont to “combine their respective technologies and expertise to bring to the marketplace a unique process to convert natural gas directly into commodity chemicals and their derivative products.” What does it mean? Does it mean Siluria has gotten an Italian partner to sell its technology in Europe? Does it mean Siluria will be able to convert methane into petrochemicals other than ethylene? No idea! But we’ll keep a sharp eye out for more details when/if they become available. In the meantime, here’s the Maire Tecnimont announcement…
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    KM’s Elba Island LNG Export Plant Approved by FERC

    Elba Express
    Elba Express Interconnects – click for larger version

    Great news! Kinder Morgan’s Elba Island, Georgia (near Savannah) proposed LNG export facility has gotten a green light from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). What does the Georgia Elba LNG plant have to do with Marcellus/Utica? Maybe nothing, but we suspect something. Kinder’s arch rival Williams owns the mighty Transco pipeline that connects, via the Elba Express pipeline, to the LNG facility. Currently Elba Island imports LNG. However, Williams has been on a mission to send Marcellus gas south–including to Georgia (see Marcellus Gas Heading to Georgia via Transco Pipeline). We don’t think it’s much of a stretch that Marcellus Shale gas, via the Transco, will be at least some of, if not the primary, source for gas exported from the Elba Island facility. FERC’s approval clears the way for construction to begin. The Savannah region will be the happy recipient of some $2 billion of investment to build the plant…
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    Study: The High Cost of Capturing Every Last Molecule of Methane

    liar.jpgA few weeks ago MDN brought you the news that the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued onerous new regulations on capturing every last molecule of methane all along the route from wellhead to burner tip (see EPA Does it Again: Tries to Destroy O&G with New Methane Rule). The EPA issued 600 pages of new regulations that requires the industry to install expensive new equipment to locate so-called fugitive methane that may or may not be leaking from wells, pipelines, etc. And if they find such microscopic amounts of methane, they need to capture it. All in the name of preventing non-existent man-made global warming. The EPA reassures the oil and gas industry it’s no big deal. Just install some new equipment, jump through a bunch of hoops, and in no time ‘t all you’ll be making money instead of spending it to comply with the new regs. That is a flat, outright, BS (Barbara Streisand) lie. We have proof. A new study from ICF International has run the numbers from some actual operations and finds the cost to comply with these onerous new regs is 5 times more than what the EPA has estimated. Let’s put it in very understandable terms. The ICF study finds in order to comply with the regs, it will cost $3.35 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) for the volume of gas it will save. Producers are only able to sell their gas at an average of $3/Mcf. In other words, the industry will lose money to comply with the regulation, contrary to the line of bull the EPA has tried to feed us…
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    S&P Global Platts Acquires RigData

    RigDataRigData is one of the oil and gas industry’s most trusted sources for information on drilling activity in the U.S. RigData provides details on drilling rigs–where they are, who’s operating them, what kind of well they’re drilling. RigData publishes reports daily, weekly and monthly. We’ve seen their web and mobile phone app–seriously cool stuff. The company has been around for 25 years. So it was like a fracking-induced earthquake to discover that RigData has been sold–to S&P Global Platts. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Here’s the earth-shaking announcement…
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    Munroe Falls Won’t Let it Go: Files New Lawsuit Against Beck Energy

    Frozen - Let it Go“Unbelievably dense” is how we would describe the “leaders” of Munroe Falls, Ohio. Going back to 2012, Monroe Falls–a “city” with a population of 5,000–has been attempting to stop legally permitted wells from being drilled on private property within city limits. Munroe Falls ordered Beck Energy to cease and desist drilling activity claiming the driller had not secured permits from the city first (Mother May I?). The object was to never let Beck drill, to deny them the permits they would need to seek, so Beck took them to court and an Ohio appeals court struck down Munroe Falls’ “home rule” zoning ordinances as illegal (see OH Appeals Court Strikes Down Home Rule for Drilling). The case was appealed to the OH Supreme Court and the supremes ruled in favor of Beck Energy (see OH Supreme Court Strikes Down Home Rule in Gas Drilling Case). For normal people that would be the end of it. However, it was a close decision (4-3) and the supremes left lots of wiggle room from municipalities to continue making life miserable for drillers (see Some Options Still Available After OH Court Strikes Down Home Rule). So even though Munroe Falls went all the way to the top and lost–once again they’ve just filed another zoning lawsuit against Beck Energy. Do they never learn?…
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    It’s Time to Voice Your Support for the Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline

    Atlantic-Sunrise map
    Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline map – click for larger version

    Now is the time to roar and let the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) know that you support the Williams Atlantic Sunrise pipeline project. Atlantic Sunrise is part of the Transco (Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Corporation) system. It is a $2.1 billion project consisting of compression and looping of the Transco Leidy Line in Pennsylvania, along with a greenfield (brand new) pipeline segment of 178 miles, called the Central Penn Line, connecting the northeastern Marcellus producing region to the Transco mainline near Station 195 in southeastern Pennsylvania (see Atlantic Sunrise Will Pump $1.6B into Economy, Create 8K Jobs). We’ve written numerous stories about Atlantic Sunrise, and irrational opposition to it from places like Lebanon County, PA. Earlier this month FERC issued the Atlantic Sunrise project a positive Environmental Impact Statement (see Williams’ Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline Gets Positive EIS from FERC). That’s a very good sign that the project is about to be approved and for construction to begin. But there’s one more hurdle. FERC will conduct a series of public hearings (that we refer to as freak shows for anti-fossil fuelers), along with receiving written public comment. The irrational antis have cranked up their (very few) supporters to flood FERC with negative comments. Atlantic Sunrise will create $1.6 BILLION in investments to build it–jobs, materials, local companies–everyone benefits! When complete, the pipeline will provide enough natural gas to heat and power 7 million homes. WE NEED THIS PIPELINE. It’s now time for those of us who support safe pipelines like Atlantic Sunrise to make our voices heard. Here’s three things you can do to show your support…
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    Radical Enviro Groups Demand BLM Stop Leasing in OH Wayne NF

    Wayne National Forest
    Wayne National Forest – click for larger version

    Yet another mindless, useless and scientifically wrong letter has been sent to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) by a group of radical environmental organizations to ask (demand, really) that the BLM halt its plans to allow fracking to take place in the Wayne National Forest (WNF). Nowhere in the letter sent by the Sierra Clubbers, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Ohio Environmental Council and Friends of the Earth does it mention that 60% of the land in WNF is PRIVATELY OWNED. And that the BLM has, for nearly 10 years now, blocked those private rights owners from profiting from their land. Recently the BLM took another baby step on the way to allowing fracking in WNF, which is what has set off the crazies and precipitated this latest factually incorrect letter…
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    UGI Hires PA PUC Commissioner in Brilliant Move for PennEast Pipe

    Pamela Witmer
    Pamela Witmer

    Pamela Witmer, formerly a Pennsylvania Public Utility Commissioner for five years, has left the PA PUC and has joined UGI Energy Services as vice president of government affairs. We previously wrote that Pam was one of the stars at the PUC (see PA PUC Commissioner’s Full-Throated Support of Marcellus Shale). Normally we don’t run announcements of personnel changes–unless its important and somehow affects the Marcellus/Utica. Pam’s new job certainly qualifies. Why? As vice president of government affairs for UGI, Pam will “represent the company’s interests before public officials and regulatory agencies, educate stakeholders on a variety of energy issues, and provide strategic counsel to new and existing customer projects.” In other words, Pam will talk to regulators that she already knows, and be a strong voice throughout the region for projects UGI undertakes. UGI happens to be the main sponsor of the PennEast Pipeline project–a project being vigorously opposed by anti-fossil fuel nutters like THE Delaware Riverkeeper. Now you can see why Pam’s appointment is a brilliant move by UGI…
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    NatGas for PowerGen Record High This Summer; Price to Remain Low

    supply demandStrong demand from electric power generators will push natural gas demand this summer up by an estimated 4 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), according to a new report from the Natural Gas Supply Association (NGSA). However, even though there’s more demand, because supplies are so bountiful, the price of natural gas over the summer is actually expected to go down, not up. Using published data and independent analyses, NGSA evaluated the combined impact of weather, economic growth, customer demand, storage inventories and production activity on the direction of natural gas prices for the summer of 2016 compared to last summer. The NGSA says summer 2016 will see a “remarkable growth in demand.” Even so, NGSA expects “downward pressure on prices compared to last summer.” Bummer. It’s great news for consumers and power generating plants. But not so good news for drillers. Below we have a full copy of the NGSA report…
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    CNBC Survey: How Much Will Oil Cost by the End of 2016?

    Survey saysCNBC, not known for being an objective news source (witness the Republican debate debacle earlier this year), conducted a survey among 22 strategists, traders and analysts on the topic of the price of oil. MDN sometimes covers oil stories because natural gas oil are joined at the hip. Often the same E&Ps that drill for oil also drill for gas. And when you drill a hole in the ground, you get what you get–not only oil, but “associated gas” and gas liquids. Hydrocarbons of all kinds come out of the holes drilled. So it pays to pay attention to the oil market and what’s happening with the price of oil. According to the CNBC survey, those responding said overall they expect drilling to pick back up with the price hitting $50 per barrel. But they also said it won’t really pick up in earnest until the price hits $60 per barrel. Roughly half expect the price of oil to remain in the $40-$50 range until the end of 2016, with the other half thinking it will go higher. Only 9% believe come Dec. 31 the price will be at or above $60/barrel…
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