Industrywide Issues

  • | | | | | | |

    Criminals Arrested Blocking Crestwood Seneca Lake Facility

    We Are Seneca Lake
    We Are Seneca Lake criminals being carted off in a paddy wagon

    When someone organizes and repeatedly shuts down a legal, functioning business with so-called “civil disobedience,” it’s not civil and it’s not an act of disobedience–it’s a crime. If you show up with a bunch of nutters to block the entrance to a facility once and the cameras are there to record it–you’ve made your point. Anti fossil-fuel radicals opposed to creating an underground propane storage facility in a depleted salt mine along the shore of Seneca Lake (in upstate New York) have recently stepped up their so-called civil disobedience at the facility–staging weekly blockades at the site three weeks in a row. One of those instances was on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, when Sandra Steingraber, so-called scholar in residence at Ithaca College (where she’s paid to agitate and never teaches a class) invoked the name of Dr. King attempting to tie the great civil rights struggle with anti-fossil fuel nuttery. It’s offensive. Below is a rundown, with the names of the latest criminals who have colluded to try and shut down a legal business, Crestwood Midstream, from operating the facility they own at Seneca Lake…
    Read More “Criminals Arrested Blocking Crestwood Seneca Lake Facility”

  • | | |

    EIA: New Pipelines Continue to Boost Marcellus/Utica Gas Prices

    It’s a pretty simple case of cause and effect, and economics 101. If you build more natural gas pipelines from the northeast to other regions, drillers can sell their gas to new markets. New demand = higher prices. And that’s just what’s happening in the Marcellus/Utica. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) pointed out in a recent Natural Gas Weekly Update that prices being paid in the Marcellus/Utica have gone UP because of new pipelines (see New Pipelines in the Marcellus Dramatically Improved Prices in 2H15). The great researchers at EIA have now expanded on that theme and have posted a new article on their Today in Energy which expands on that theme…
    Read More “EIA: New Pipelines Continue to Boost Marcellus/Utica Gas Prices”

  • | | |

    Invenergy Eyes SWPA for Second Marcellus-Powered Electric Plant

    Invenergy is in the process of building a $500 million Marcellus gas-fired electric plant in Jessup (Lackawanna County), PA–near Scranton, PA in the northeastern part of the state (see PA DEP Approves Jessup, PA Marcellus Gas Electric Plant). When built, and every indication is that it will get built this year, the Jessup plant will be the largest gas-fired plant in the state, generating 1,480 megawatts of electricity by using clean-burning Marcellus Shale gas. Invenergy now has their eye on building another Marcellus-powered electric plant. This time it’s much smaller (just 550 megawatts) and it’s located in southwestern PA–in the Pittsburgh area…
    Read More “Invenergy Eyes SWPA for Second Marcellus-Powered Electric Plant”

  • | | |

    Antero’s Proved Resources Up 4% to 13.2 Tcfe, 3P Hits 37.1 Tcfe

    Antero Resources, with 569,000 under lease, is one of the biggest leaseholders and one of biggest drillers in the Marcellus/Utica. Every year, in order to comply with Securities and Exchange Commission rules, companies like Antero revisit and revise what they call “proved reserves.” That is, how much gas (and NGLs and oil) do they have in the ground? There’s different types of reserves, with proved having the highest confidence. There’s also the “3P” reserve number: proved, probable and possible. 3P has a lower standard to qualify. The news from Antero is that as of Dec. 31, 2015, the company has 13.2 trillion cubic feet equivalent (Tcfe) of natural gas sitting under their leased acreage. That’s a 4% increase over year-end 2014. Antero’s 3P reserves totaled 37.1 Tcfe at the end of 2015…
    Read More “Antero’s Proved Resources Up 4% to 13.2 Tcfe, 3P Hits 37.1 Tcfe”

  • | |

    ISO New England: We Need More NatGas, Pipelines for Electric Grid

    ISO New England, the independent, not-for-profit corporation responsible for keeping electricity flowing across the six New England states, held a conference call/webinar on Tuesday. On the call, Gordon van Welie, president and CEO of ISO New England delivered a “state of the grid” address. On the call van Welie revealed that 49% of all electricity produced in New England now comes from natural gas-fired power plants–a number that will only go higher as nuclear and coal facilities are shuttered. According to van Welie, more gas-fired plants are needed, and pipelines like Kinder Morgan’s Northeast Energy Direct (NED) and Spectra Energy’s Access Northeast are needed to get cheap Marcellus gas to the region. Natural gas and electric generation are truly joined at the hip. The relationship is between natgas and electricity is tight and getting tighter as electric generation becomes a key market for drillers…
    Read More “ISO New England: We Need More NatGas, Pipelines for Electric Grid”

  • | |

    Cheniere’s Sabine Pass LNG Export Plant Delayed

    Corporate raider Carl Ichan isn’t have a good week. His tinkering at Chesapeake Energy hasn’t turned out so well. The company’s stock is hitting new lows. Yesterday Chesapeake’s stock closed at $3.27 per share, down from the mid-$20s just a year ago. Ichan, you may recall, fired Chespeake’s co-founder, Aubrey McClendon–so he has no one to blame but himself. Icahn recently did the same thing at Cheniere Energy–a company building an LNG export facility in Louisiana. Ichan fired Cheniere CEO Charif Souki in December (see Evil Corporate Raider Carl Icahn Claims Another CEO Scalp). Since then, things have gone downhill at Cheniere. The first shipment of LNG from the facility was supposed to happen this month, January 2016. The latest statement from Cheniere says it will be more like late February or even March before the first LNG shipment sets sail. Completing expanded capacity (extra “trains”) at the Louisiana facility is also behind schedule…
    Read More “Cheniere’s Sabine Pass LNG Export Plant Delayed”

  • | | | |

    Shell Shareholders Vote in Favor of BG Buyout/Merger

    Shareholders in Shell just voted to cut 10,000 jobs. Well, not exactly. Shell’s shareholders voted yesterday to approve Shell’s plan to buy BG Group in a $69.7 billion megamerger. As we explained in April 2015 when the deal was first announced, this is a deal about LNG (see LNG Love Story: Shell Makes Play to Buy BG in $69.7B Megamerger). Why the snarky remark about voting to cut 10,000 jobs? Because last week that’s what Shell said they would do once the merger is approved. They plan to ax 10,000 jobs in Shell and at BG (see Shell to Cut 10,000 Jobs After Buying BG; Exiting Shale Drilling). One down, one to go. BG shareholders vote on the merger today. If they vote “yes” as is expected, the merger will be complete on Feb. 15. Expect the pink slips to appear in the mailbox starting Feb. 16. Happy Valentine’s Day…
    Read More “Shell Shareholders Vote in Favor of BG Buyout/Merger”

  • | |

    Canadian Antis Turn Criminal in Quest to Stop Fossil Fuels

    When radical environmentalists use lock cutters to break into an oil pipeline pumping station and turn the values–off or on or anything but what they are supposed to be–that’s a serious crime. It’s not cute. It’s not funny. It’s not “a statement”. It’s a hate crime–hatred of fossil fuels, which is driving some enviros criminally insane. And it’s happening in Canada where lunatic anti-fossil fuelers are attempting to disrupt, on a regular basis, the free flow of crude oil by pipeline throughout the country. We hope these criminals are caught and thrown in jail–for a long time…
    Read More “Canadian Antis Turn Criminal in Quest to Stop Fossil Fuels”

  • | | | | | | |

    Judge Stops WV County from Enforcing Injection Well Ban, For Now

    The second step has been taken in overturning an illegal ban on wastewater injection wells in Fayette County, WV. You may recall we told you two weeks ago that three Democrat county commissioners voted to ban injection wells (see WV County Officially Bans Injection Wells; Children Brainwashed). There are two injection well operators in Fayette County: Danny Webb Construction and EQT. The day after the vote EQT sued to overturn the new ban (see EQT Sues WV County that Banned Injection Wells, Seeks Injunction). On Tuesday, Jan. 19, U.S. District Court Judge John T. Copenhaver Jr. granted an injunction preventing the county from enforcing the ban at least until a Feb. 11 hearing. As part of his reasoning, Judge Copenhaver said EQT “is likely to succeed” in their lawsuit to overturn the ban…
    Read More “Judge Stops WV County from Enforcing Injection Well Ban, For Now”

  • | |

    FERC Investigates 3 Northeast Pipelines for Overcharging

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has launched five investigations into four pipelines, three of which operate in the northeast, to determine whether or not those pipelines have been “substantially” overcharging their customers with the excuse of “we have to recover our costs.” Although you might think the free market would govern what pipelines charge, pipelines, like other utilities, don’t operate in a totally free market. You can’t just up and leave one pipeline and take your gas to another. The government grants permission to operate, and the government keeps an eye on the rates charged–just like they do with your local gas and electric company. In the case of interstate pipelines, the government agency monitoring how much they charge is FERC. Apparently someone complained and FERC is now on the case. The three pipelines in the northeast under investigation are: Empire Pipeline, Iroquois Gas Transmission System and Columbia Gulf Transmission…
    Read More “FERC Investigates 3 Northeast Pipelines for Overcharging”

  • |

    Drilling Slowdown – What to Do With Excess Produced Water?

    Ever hear of something called a crossover point in oil and gas drilling? No, we hadn’t either. When shale drilling is going full tilt, it uses, and produces, a lot of water. We’ve talked about this before. When you frack and force water down a hole, you get about 20% of it back (the rest dissipates into the rock layer a mile or more below ground). Millions of gallons. You also get, over time, something called “produced water,” or water that already existed in the depths that over time will come to the surface along with the oil and gas you’re extracting. In Pennsylvania most flowback (from fracking) and produced water (or brine) is recycled and reused to drill more holes. But eventually you drill so many holes and get so much brine or produced water out of the ground, you will begin to exceed the level that drillers can re-use it. That is, you “crossover” the point at which you produce more water from previously drilled holes than you can now use. Just last year predictions for the Marcellus were that it would be 5-9 years before crossover of water production. With the radical reduction in drilling in 2016, it may be this year we hit crossover. What do you do with all of that extra wastewater?…
    Read More “Drilling Slowdown – What to Do With Excess Produced Water?”

  • |

    New Report Says O&G Industry Repeating Mistakes from Last Downturn

    According to a new report published Monday by DNV GL, a Norway-based technical advisory firm for the oil and gas industry, a majority of oil and gas professionals believe the industry is repeating the mistakes they made during the last serious downturn in the industry. Namely, companies are laying off too many workers and cutting budgets too much. The report is titled “A New Reality: the outlook for the oil and gas industry in 2016” (grab a copy below). According to DNV GL Vice President Graham Bennett, “The operators can weather the low oil price storm for some time, but the supply chain will suffer far more, and there is a risk of a permanent loss of capacity in the supply chain if low prices persist.” Rather than being too quick to cut bodies and budgets, survey respondents believe now is the time to cut complexity, increase collaboration and work on standardization…
    Read More “New Report Says O&G Industry Repeating Mistakes from Last Downturn”

  • | | |

    ExxonMobil: Fossil Fuels Will Produce 80% of World Energy Thru 2040

    Understanding the global energy picture is helpful so we know where the shale energy piece “fits” in that picture. Each year ExxonMobil prepares an annual energy outlook. On Monday they released the 2016 ExxonMobil Outlook for Energy: A View to 2040 report (full copy embedded below). Some interesting tidbits from the report: “In 2040, oil and natural gas are expected to make up nearly 60 percent of global supplies, while nuclear and renewables will be approaching 25 percent. Oil will provide one third of the world’s energy in 2040, remaining the No. 1 source of fuel, and natural gas will move into second place.” Perhaps most astonishing (for wacko environmentalists) is this: Fossil fules–oil, natural gas and coal– will continue to meet almost 80 percent of the world’s energy needs through 2040. It is intellectual suicide to pretend so-called renewables will be able to shoulder the energy burden in our lifetime. Ain’t gonna happen. We live in a world powered by fossil energy–and THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH IT…
    Read More “ExxonMobil: Fossil Fuels Will Produce 80% of World Energy Thru 2040”

  • | | | |

    API & GPA Say PHMSA Regs for Liquids Pipelines Not Necessary

    Last October the Dept. of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking for new regulations governing hazardous liquid pipelines. It appears to be another case of aggressive action by the Obamadroids, bent on hassling the fossil fuel industry by requiring unnecessary regulations that don’t really improve safety. They just cost more money and take more time. The new rules will require safety inspections after “extreme” weather events and natural disasters–just to be sure there aren’t any leaks. Stepped up inspections would be required even if no problems are found–just to be sure no problems are found. The new regs also require all hazardous liquids pipelines to be piggable–something not physically possible with some pipelines. The list goes on. Recently both the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the Gas Processors Association (GPA) weighed in on the proposed new regulations. Needless to say they’re not impressed…
    Read More “API & GPA Say PHMSA Regs for Liquids Pipelines Not Necessary”

  • |

    Oilfield Serv. Co. Keane Group Buys Trican Well Service for $247M

    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. Keane announced yesterday they are buying out Canadian-based Trican Well Service for $247 million. The expansion will, according to Keane, triple its fracking capacity and give it access to proprietary technology. Cool, we love shiny new objects! Here’s the Keane announcement they are buying Trican…
    Read More “Oilfield Serv. Co. Keane Group Buys Trican Well Service for $247M”

  • | | | | | | |

    Cuomo Needs to “Snap on a Pair” and Approve the Constitution Pipe

    20160123_140420
    Constitution Pipeline Meeting in Afton – click picture for larger version

    “What do we want? Pipeline! When do we want it? Now!” It was a raucous crowd who gathered last Saturday in the tiny village of Afton, New York to show support for the Williams Constitution Pipeline project. The River Club in Afton was jammed with people–by our estimation some 250-300 people. The meeting was organized and hosted by the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY). The JLCNY’s attorney, Scott Kurkoski (from Levene Gouldin & Thompson LLP) began the meeting with a full-throated yell: “New York Can’t Wait!” That simple sentence summed up the focus of the rally. The Constitution Pipeline is fully permitted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The only thing holding up construction of the pipeline is a stream-crossing permit from New York State. The tail is wagging the dog. Speaker after speaker (politicians, business people, labor reps) outlined the reasons why New York State can no longer wait for Gov. Cuomo to continue his waffling on this project. The frustration with Cuomo and the DEC was palpable in the audience. Whenever Cuomo’s name was mentioned there were cat calls and boos. Perhaps the best line of the day, from all of the speeches, was uttered by Assemblyman Clifford Crouch. Cliff mentioned he had called the Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) just a few days prior to ask about the status of the permits. Without saying so, the DEC rep indicated the delay is not due to the agency itself. The implication was clear: Cuomo is holding it up. Crouch then said this: “We need to contact Snap-on Tools and get the governor a pair to snap on!” The crowd roared. They loved it!…
    Read More “Cuomo Needs to “Snap on a Pair” and Approve the Constitution Pipe”