Industrywide Issues

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    Grant Twp, PA Reorganizes to Avoid a Court-Ordered Injection Well

    In October MDN told you about Grant Township in Indiana County, PA. The town had attempted to illegally block a permitted injection well from being drilled and used inside the town’s boundaries. The town folk have been whipped into an irrational frenzy by the radical leftist PA-based group Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF). As usual, the CELDF-promoted so-called Community Bill of Rights failed in court, costing Grant Township taxpayers big bucks to defend (see Fed Judge Overturns Grant Twp, PA Ban on Injection Wells). People without jobs (like those infesting CELDF) have lots of time to be creative–so here’s the latest. They talked enough town folk into passing another/new plan on the November. The town voted to convert itself from being a PA Second Class Township form of organization to being PA Home Rule Charter form of organization–in an attempt to do an end-run around the judge’s ruling last month. Will it work? Probably not, but here we go again–another delay for Pennsylvania General Energy and their plan to drill an injection well. You know the old saying? Justice delayed is justice denied. When will the courts step in and stop this madness?…
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    Gemma Power Gets Contract to Build Moxie Freedom Electric Plant

    Over a year ago MDN broke the news that Moxie Energy was in the hunt to begin a third new Marcellus gas-powered electric plant project in Pennsylvania (see Moxie Energy in Hunt for Third Marcellus-Powered Electric Plant?). Indeed, our suspicions were borne out and Moxie pursued a project to build a plant in Luzerne County. Moxie is calling it the Freedom project and in November they received approval from Salem Township to proceed (see Moxie’s NEPA Marcellus-Powered Electric Plant Gets 1st Approval). In September Moxie received the all-important approval–permission from the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (see Moxie’s NEPA Marcellus-Powered Electric Plant Gets DEP Approval). We were convinced that like the previous two such projects, Moxie Liberty and Moxie Patriot were sold to Panda Power Funds, the company that is right now building them. However, a press release was just issued by Gemma Power Systems that says Gemma has been selected by Moxie to build the $800 million project. Here’s the details from Gemma on what technology they will use to build the 1,000-megawatt plant near Scranton…
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    EIA Report Predicts NatGas Will Average $2.59/MMBtu This Winter

    Our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), publishes mountains of data and reports and analysis each day/week/month/year. So much if we did nothing but brought you only stuff published by EIA it would fill our daily reports! We always struggle with how much to share from the EIA. We bring you the monthly DPR (Drilling Productivity Report) because it details EIA’s predictions about what the seven major U.S. shale plays will produce in both oil and gas in the coming month (see the latest one published yesterday, EIA November DPR: Marcellus Production Down Again, Utica Increases). A report also just released is the monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook, a report that looks at the recent history of oil, natural gas, coal, renewables, etc., and predicts what will happen in the coming months/up to one year out. Below we’ve pulled and display the “Highlights” section along with the full section for natural gas. We also include a copy of the full report. It’s important to have the entire context in which natural gas (and oil) exists. We don’t live in a vacuum. The price and abundance (or scarcity) of other forms of energy influence the price and availability of natural gas and oil. Less coal coming? Likely means more natgas. More solar and wind capacity coming online? Likely means less natural gas. The energy market is fascinating and complex and shale energy is but one piece of a very large puzzle. This report helps us wrap our brains around it…
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    IEA World Energy Outlook Predicts $80 Oil by 2020

    Each year the International Energy Agency (IEA) issues a special World Energy Outlook report. The 2015 edition has just been published. This newest report examines the critical role of price for crude oil in “rebalancing” supply and demand. The authors note the process of rebalancing (getting to higher prices) is rarely a smooth adjustment. Indeed! In the central scenario of this year’s report, a tightening oil balance leads to a price around $80 per barrel by 2020–just five short years away (hang in there small independents!). The report also examines the conditions under which prices could stay lower for much longer, an all-to-real possibility. Below is a press release about the report and a copy of the Executive Summary for the report. Sadly they don’t release the full report for free–it will cost you €120 (~$129) for the PDF version, and €150 (~$161) for a paper copy…
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    Huge Victory for PA Republicans – NO Severance Tax in Budget Deal!

    celebrateIt appears the fat lady is getting ready to sing with respect to no severance tax in Pennsylvania–at least for this year. The Republicans have won–kudos to them for hanging tough against the unreasonable Marcellus severance tax proposed by a neophyte governor attempting to pay off a political debt to teachers’ unions. There will be no new severance tax this year. Wolf has found another way to pay off the teachers–he’s going to siphon slot machine money for a big boost in education funding. The teachers’ unions don’t care–money is green and spends the same whether it comes from shale or slots. While a final deal is not yet done (let’s not count our chickens just yet), it does appear the outline of a budget deal, now more than five months late, is in place and moving toward passage in the next few weeks. Here’s the details…
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    Environmental “Justice” for Some, Not for All, Courtesy PA DEP

    If you live in Pennsylvania and you live in a community where at least 20% of the people are below the poverty line, or if the community is composed of at least 30% minorities, you now have an important new weapon to oppose shale drilling, courtesy the PennFuture Secretary of the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), John Quigley. Apparently the laws and regulations on the books that apply to everyone else are not good enough for po’ folk or black folk and you need extra special laws and regulations not available to others–so Quigley has “reactivated” the Office of Environmental Justice at the DEP to give you a voice that apparently you had lost. You may recall Quigley recently began talking about “establishing” such a department–only to embarrassingly learn his agency already has such a department (see Quigley Faux Pas: DEP Already has Office of Environmental Justice). With the help of mainstream media, Quigley pivoted to cover his faux pas (see Quigley Changes Story, “Reactivating” Enviro Justice Office at DEP). “Environmental Justice” is now officially reactivated at the DEP, complete with a new hire, an African-American lawyer from (yes) Philadelphia, violating the current state ban on new hiring until a budget is in place. Oh, and if you’re not poor or a minority (i.e. you’re working class or white collar)? No special favoritism for you. You get ordinary/regular environmental “justice”…
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    EIA November DPR: Marcellus Production Down Again, Utica Increases

    Yesterday our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), issued our favorite government report, the Drilling Productivity Report (DPR). The November report predicts what production will show in the month of December for both oil and natural gas from the seven biggest commercial shale plays in the U.S. The numbers EIA predicts shows natural gas production dropping once again–down another 100 million cubic feet per day (Mmcf/d) across all the plays combined. However, as with last month, the Utica Shale and Permian Basin are the exceptions–both predict an increase in natgas production for the month of December. Several major drillers have changed focus in the northeast from the Marcellus to the Utica (EQT and CONSOL Energy come to mind), which may help explain some of those numbers. The Permian is an oil play and doesn’t produce much natural gas–but since natgas comes out of the hole along with oil, and since oil drilling in the Permian is picking up lately–that explains why there’s an increase in “associated gas” for that play. Gas production in the mighty Marcellus continues to drop. It’s the biggest gas producer, so perhaps that’s why it’s dropping the most–down 215 Mmcf/d last month, and predicted to be down average 229 Mmcf/d in December…
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    Canadian Mounties Visit Marcellus to Learn About Greens Who Go Bad

    There is a segment of the radical environmental movement that resorts to violence. That is indisputable as we’ve seen it–in the Marcellus/Utica. To be fair, violence by antis doesn’t happen often. We would say most of the anti movement is non-violent (although a fair number do tend toward criminality with “non-violent” protests). But there are those among radical greens who cross the line and engage in acts of violence and terror, sometimes aimed at people who work in the industry (see FBI Investigates Death Threats Against PennEast Pipeline Workers and Domestic Eco-Terrorism: Worker Shot at Rural WV Oil Well Site). Anti-drillers in Canada (or anywhere in the world, for that matter) are no different than anti-drillers in the United States. Some of them turn violent. For that reason, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (the Mounties) visited Williamsport, PA in June 2014 to learn more about how their American cousins deal with greens who go bad. Apparently this story–that the Mounties came here to learn about dealing with green crazies–is just now coming to light…
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    Panel of 7 PA Senators to Determine AG Kathleen Kane’s Fate

    The end is near for accused criminal Kathleen Kane. Kane also happens to be the top law enforcement officer in Pennsylvania–the PA Attorney General. We’ve covered the rapid rise and fall of Kathleen Kane. She’s a hardened anti-driller bent on attacking the Marcellus industry which is why we’re doing a happy dance that she’ll soon be gone. However, the Marcellus industry has nothing to do with her impending removal from office. Kane leaked protected grand jury information to a reporter in an attempt to discredit a political enemy, and then she lied under oath about it–the worst offense anyone who’s a member of the justice system can do. If truth is not sacrosanct in the justice system, it all comes unraveled. You lie under oath and it’s the equivalent of a death sentence–you have no future in the justice system. Kane violated that trust and her oath and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court suspended her license to practice law (see End is Near: PA AG Kane’s Law License Suspended by Supreme Court). Now a panel of Pennsylvania Senators will decide her fate. The special panel is holding a series of public meetings to discuss whether or not she can still do her job without a law license. At the end of November the panel will then vote–and if the vote goes against her it goes to the whole Senate for a vote, and if they vote against her, Kane will be forcibly removed from office…
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    Summit Midstream 3Q15: Current Owner ECP Looking to Sell

    Summit Midstream has a small but growing presence in the Marcellus/Utica region largely through purchasing pipeline systems from other companies, including Mountaineer Midstream, Summit’s Marcellus-area pipeline system in Doddridge County, WV. Yesterday the company issued its third quarter 2015 financial results. Of particular note: Summit is majority owned by Energy Capital Partners (ECP), a private equity firm (investment company). ECP is talking about selling their interest. That is, it’s sounding like Summit may soon see a change in ownership. Below is the update on that possible change, along with an update on Summit’s Mountaineer Midstream gathering system…
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    Youngstown Frack Ban Measure Voted Down 5th Time in a Row

    Five times the anti-drilling zealots of Youngstown have garnered enough signatures from dead folks and others to get a so-called Community Bill of Rights (i.e. ban fracking) measure on the ballot for a citywide vote. FIVE TIMES. And you know what? As of last Tuesday, the ballot measure has been voted down–FIVE TIMES. In a row. And yet the crazies keep getting bringing it back. If they get a single vote more than the previous vote, they herald it as “movement” in their direction. The crazies enlisted a few quite a few more crazies this time around. The vote was a lot closer than one would like: 5,683 (48.53%) voted for it, and 6,028 (51.47%) voted against it. Following the results, the Youngstown Warren Regional Chamber of Commerce issued the following statement…
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    NY AG Schneiderman Launches the Climate Witch Trials

    Once a witch-hunter catches the scent of a suspected witch–better watch out! It struck us as we read about the drummed up false charges New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is alleging against ExxonMobil–charges that the company has knowingly made false statements about their own complicity and contribution to mythical climate change–just how doomed we really are to repeat history. Schneiderman’s actions reminded us of something, and then we found it: “Rebecca Nurse, a sick and elderly woman of seventy-years old, stood for examination before the court on charges of practicing witchcraft on March 24, 1692. Judge John Hathorne, assisted by Judge Jonathan Corwin, conducted the examination in the meeting house of Salem Village before a crowd of people from Salem Village. The examination of “Goody Nurse” developed into a spectacle worthy of the attendance of so many onlookers, as a number of afflicted women launched into “grevious fitts” and openly denounced Rebecca Nurse as the cause of their torment. In the end, after one of the great confrontations between an accused and the infamous Judge Hathorne, the Judges found cause to bind Rebecca Nurse over for trial after which she was executed on Gallows Hill on July 19, 1692.” (University of Virginia). We’re facing the Salem Witch Trials all over again–some 323 years later. Apparently we didn’t learn anything the first time around. MDN calls Schneiderman’s current campaign the Climate Witch Trials–the prosecution and persecution of innocent companies based on a false belief that mankind causes global warming by burning fossil fuels. Now we learn Schneiderman may be gunning for more than just ExxonMobil…
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    Ohio Supreme Court Rules in Important Dormant Mineral Act Case

    For several years MDN has been telling you about a thorny legal issue in Ohio, bubbling in the background–the Dormant Mineral Act (DMA). In a nutshell, there are two DMAs in Ohio–one passed in 1989 that went into effect in 1992, and another in 2006 which added certain additional procedural requirements to the 1989 version. The DMA in its various versions provides for mineral rights that had previously been separated from surface rights to transfer to the surface owner under certain conditions. The problem for both drillers and for landowners in Ohio, is in knowing which set of DMA rules to use (1989 or 2006) in determining who owns the mineral rights. There are a dozen cases sitting before the Ohio Supreme Court dealing with the DMA. Last December we gave you a run-down on four of the most important DMA cases before the Supremes (see 4 Important Dormant Mineral Act Cases with OH Supreme Court). One of those cases, Chesapeake v. Buell, was decided last week. It has big implications for both drillers and mineral rights owners…
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    Dictator-in-Chief B.H. Obama Rejects Keystone XL Pipeline

    Dictators do as dictators want to do. Last week the U.S. Dictator (used to be called President), Barack Hussein Obama, decided to cave to his kook left enviro-Nazi fringe and rejected granting permits to build the TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline–a pipeline that would flow oil from the tar sands of Canada all the way to the Gulf Coast for refining. It’s a huge blow to our relationship with our neighbors to the north and sets back U.S./Canadian relations by decades. It also prevents 20,000 jobs from being created. But dictators don’t care about any of those trifling details. They want what they want and you have to live with it–because you’re a serf. A dullard. You don’t know what kind of energy you should buy and use–so our Dear Leader will do it for you. No this isn’t a story about the Marcellus/Utica strictly speaking, but it is illustrative of what we are all up against–fossil fuel hysteria–the flames of which are fanned by people like Obama. Below is reaction from a number of senators, labor unions, the oil and gas industry and others to this travesty…
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    Report: Fracking Reduces CO2 Emissions 13x Faster than Solar

    A new report out from the conservative think tank Manhattan Institute finds that fracking–and NOT so-called renewables like solar–is the “single most effective tool” for reducing carbon dioxide emissions. The report, much to the consternation of the greenies, finds that fracking helped reduce CO2 emissions 13 times faster than solar power. Did you know that solar and wind together generated LESS electricity in the first half of 2015 than they did in the first half of 2014? Here’s the report the greens don’t want you to know about…
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    NY AG Targets/Accuses ExxonMobil of Lying about ‘Climate Change’

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    Eric Schneiderman, NY AG

    We’ve written before about the lawless Attorney General from New York–Eric T. Schneiderman. He attacks his own constituents like landowners in the state (see NY AG Schneiderman Files to Dismiss JLCNY Lawsuit Against Cuomo), threatened the Delaware River Basin Commission that he would sue them if they allowed fracking (see NY AG Schneiderman Threatens New DRBC Lawsuit over Fracking), and he regularly bullies oil and gas companies (see NY Attorney General Schneiderman Subpoenas Shale Drillers and More on NY AG Schneiderman’s Bullying of Anadarko & EOG Resources). Schneiderman has just performed a breathtaking act of chutzpah: He’s launched an investigation and subpoenaed ExxonMobil, the largest oil company in the United States (4th largest in the world), accusing them of making false statements about so-called man-made global warming. He’s saying they contribute to global warming and they’re lying about their role in it–that they’ve made false statements to the public that contradict what their own internal research has found. That is, he is using the same strategy used against tobacco companies 20 years ago…
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