Industrywide Issues

Air Quality | Beaver County | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Regulation | Shell | Statewide PA

Shell Receives Air Quality Permit from PA DEP for Cracker Plant
June 23, 2015June 23, 2015

Finally, after months and months of waiting, the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has granted an air quality permit that allows Shell to operate a proposed ethane cracker plant in Monaca (Beaver County), PA. MDN told you the DEP signaled they would approve the air quality permit back in March (see PA DEP Signals Approval for Shell Ethane Cracker Air Quality Plan). Three months later the DEP finally issued the permit–no small miracle given the agency is now run by PennFuture DEP Sec. John Quigley. Shell had stated getting the permit would be a “critical” step in the process to moving forward. Now that they have the permit, what kinds of encouraging words do we have from Shell? The permit “does not mean we have made a final decision to build the project.” Which is the same standard line they’ve delivered since 2011 when this whole process began (see Shell Commits to Building a Billion Dollar Chemical Plant in the Marcellus Region of U.S.). Four years of being teased with this project has led us to think we’ve contracted post traumatic cracker disorder (PTCD)…
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Braskem | Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Odebrecht | Processing Plants | West Virginia | Wood County

Odebrecht CEO Arrested; What Does it Mean for WV Cracker Plant?
June 23, 2015June 23, 2015

Scandal has rocked Odebrecht, the Brazilian company that in November 2013 announced it wants to build a $4 billion ethane cracker plant complex near Parkersburg, WV (see WV Announces Brazilian Company to Build Ethane Cracker Complex). Marcelo Odebrecht, president and CEO of Odebrecht SA–one of the largest construction companies in South America–was recently arrested for being part of a plan that stole “billions of dollars” from Brazil’s state-run Petrobras oil company. His arrest raises legitimate questions about the viability of the proposed Parkersburg ethane cracker project. We can all pretend that the arrest of the CEO of the company proposing to build the plant has little or no effect on the future of the project–but we’re not children. So let’s not pretend. What do you think is occupying Mr. Odebrecht’s attention these days–building a petrochemical plant in far-off West Virginia, or staying out of jail?…
Read More “Odebrecht CEO Arrested; What Does it Mean for WV Cracker Plant?”
Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Odebrecht | Processing Plants | Statewide WV | West Virginia | Wood County

WV Gov Tomblin Not Ready to Give Up on Odebrecht Ethane Cracker
June 23, 2015June 23, 2015

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, the man who has worked hard to land an ethane cracker plant for his state, is still hopeful that WV will get them a cracker. In a wide-ranging talk at the Wheeling Rotary Club on Monday, Tomblin said Odebrecht, the Brazilian company that announced its interest in building an ethane cracker complex near Parkersburg, WV, continues to move forward with the project–“but at a slower pace.” That certainly is a bit of good news. We’ve not heard anything about Odebrecht advancing the ball on their project since the company announced in April, “the original configuration…needs to be re-evaluated, and a final investment decision on the project will require more diligence.” We took that to mean they’ve hit the pause button (see Odebrect Pushes the Pause Button on WV Ethane Cracker). But Tomblin and his administration don’t view it the same way. Instead of hitting the brakes, Tomblin says Odebrecht has simply reduced pressure on the gas pedal a bit…
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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

More on PIOGA Request to Keep DEP in its Regulatory Box
June 23, 2015June 23, 2015

Yesterday MDN brought you the story of the Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association’s (PIOGA) third request to intervene in the Act 13 lawsuit decided by the PA Supreme Court (see PIOGA Asks Supreme Court to Stop DEP Denying Permits Using Act 13). The point of PIOGA’s request is to make the DEP follow PA law when it comes to granting shale drilling permits. Our headline and some of the language we used in that article was not completely accurate–we’d like to admit that right up front (although our inaccuracy was not intentional). The headline states that the DEP has denied permits based on portions of the Act 13 lawsuit tossed out by the PA Supreme Court. In researching the issue and speaking with those knowledgeable about PIOGA’s request to the Supreme Court, we’ve not found a specific instance where the DEP has denied a permit based on the tossed out Section 3215(b)-(e). But while denying permits based on rejected portions of Act 13 is not taking place, something far more subtle and insidious IS going on–with the same result as if the DEP were denying permits based on tossed-out portions of Act 13. Let us explain…
Read More “More on PIOGA Request to Keep DEP in its Regulatory Box”
Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH | Taxation

For the Children: ET Rover Pipeline $91M in School Taxes 1st Year
June 23, 2015June 23, 2015

In the ongoing fracking wars, pipelines are the latest flash point for irrational anti-drillers. It used to be no one thought twice about a new pipeline going in the ground. But fear mongers from Big Green organizations like the Sierra Club claim those pipelines are a connection straight to Lucifer. We’ve seen groups of anti-fossil fuelers oppose pipelines like the PennEast, the Constitution, the Northeast Energy Direct and many others. One of those many others is the ET Rover pipeline, a 711-mile Marcellus/Utica natural gas pipeline that will serve mostly U.S. customers that will cost $3.7 billion to build and run from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and eventually into Canada. ET Rover is a project of Energy Transfer, the company making a play to take over Williams (see our other stories on that topic). This story is about ET Rover’s campaign to overcome opposition in Ohio where the majority of the pipeline (570 miles of it) will run. According to a press release issued yesterday, the ET Rover pipeline will generate more than $135 million in ad valorem tax revenue for Ohio during its first year in operation. Of that $135 million, an estimated $91 million will be directed to more than 36 local school districts. Perhaps the nutters opposing the pipeline should rethink their opposition before they screw their own kids out of $91 million? As you know, it’s always for the chil’ren. Libraries, hospitals, parks and senior centers are among other local entities that will benefit from the tax revenue from ET Rover…
Read More “For the Children: ET Rover Pipeline $91M in School Taxes 1st Year”
Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Williams

Energy Transfer Makes “Indecent Proposal” to Buy Williams for $48B
June 22, 2015June 22, 2015

Sunday evening MDN spotted what has to be THE biggest midstream story of 2015: Somebody wants to buy out and take over Williams Companies. The biggest midstream story of 2014 was the buyout of Access Midstream (the former Chesapeake Midstream) by Williams, creating a company that is nearly the size and certainly a worthy rival of the country’s biggest pipeline company Kinder Morgan (see Big News: Williams Partners Buying Access Midstream for $6B). Williams said at the time the “total transaction value” (or TTV) would create a combined company worth nearly $50 billion (see Deal Details for Williams/Access Midstream Merger – TTV of $50B!). Sunday evening Williams said, in a pair of prepared press releases, that somebody (they wouldn’t name who) has made an “unsolicited proposal” (almost sounding like an indecent proposal) to buy Williams for $64 per share, or a total deal worth $48 billion. Williams has rebuffed the offering, hiring some high-powered bankers to help them out of this mess. The guy and company making the offer, it has since been revealed, is none other than Kelcy Warren, CEO of both Energy Transfer Partners and Energy Transfer Equity, the main shareholder of ETP. ETP is very active in the Marcellus/Utica. We have as much as we can gather on Warren, background on ETP/ETE, his indecent proposal to Williams, and what Williams–one of if not THE largest midstream companies in the northeast–is doing in response to Warren’s proposal…
Read More “Energy Transfer Makes “Indecent Proposal” to Buy Williams for $48B”
Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Williams

ETE Says Shareholders Big Winners in Potential Williams Merger
June 22, 2015June 22, 2015

Energy Transfer Equity is offering their side of the story in the proposed merger/takeover of Williams. MDN’s lead story today is about that merger. On Sunday, Williams issued a pair of press releases refusing to name who the suitor is, but essentially said that somebody (ETE) is making an offer to buy them (see Energy Transfer Makes “Indecent Proposal” to Buy Williams for $48B). As you know, there’s always two sides to a story. ETE, the main investor in Energy Transfer Partners, is offering their side of the story. ETE’s version is much more lengthy than Williams and includes the claim that the ETE proposal offers a 32.4% premium to Williams stockholders “with a high degree of transaction certainty”…
Read More “ETE Says Shareholders Big Winners in Potential Williams Merger”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PIOGA Asks Supreme Court to Stop DEP Denying Permits Using Act 13
June 22, 2015June 23, 2015

Please see this MDN follow-up story for an important clarification/update: More on PIOGA Request to Keep DEP in its Regulatory Box

This story is why you pay MDN the “big bucks”–to break down complex issues into an easy-to-understand report. Last Friday the Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association (PIOGA) filed paperwork with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court asking for permission to, once again, intervene in the Act 13 lawsuit brought by seven selfish PA townships that resulted in portions of the Act 13 oil and gas drilling law to be struck down. Twice before PIOGA, which represents the companies directly affected by the Act 13 law, has filed to intervene and both times it was (incredibly) prevented from doing so. Apparently the people most affected by a lawsuit don’t have “standing” to defend themselves in PA courts–such is their system of “justice.” At any rate, PIOGA’s third attempt may succeed where the first two attempts failed, and that has the anti-drilling selfish towns, along with the Wolf administration, nervous. Why might PIOGA succeed this time? That’s where it gets complicated. In a nutshell, the zoning portions of the Act 13 law (Section 3304) were not the only sections to be struck down by the PA Supremes…
Read More “PIOGA Asks Supreme Court to Stop DEP Denying Permits Using Act 13”
Beaver County | Belmont County | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell

Are OH Officials Worried about Shell’s PA Ethane Cracker? Nope
June 22, 2015June 22, 2015

In April Ohio officials announced Belmont County, OH has been chosen as the site of a potential ethane cracker plant (see It’s Official: Belmont County Chosen as POSSIBLE Cracker Plant Site). Which led us to admit that since we’ve been teased with a cracker for over three years now–with NO ONE actually committing to such a plant–we’re experiencing “cracker fatigue.” But not long after Shell made some serious moves toward committing to build a cracker plant in western Pennsylvania, not far from Pittsburgh. The most recent positive sign is that Shell finally, after three years of faffing about, earlier this month purchased the property the plant would be built on (see Shell Buys Beaver County, PA Property for Future Cracker Plant). Does a Shell cracker reduce the likelihood of an cracker plant being built less than two hours away in Belmont County, OH? Not according to officials in Ohio. In fact, they’re not worried at all…
Read More “Are OH Officials Worried about Shell’s PA Ethane Cracker? Nope”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Crime | Industrywide Issues

The Envrionmental Radicalization of the Anti-Drilling Movement
June 22, 2015June 22, 2015

MDN is beginning to see a pattern. It dawned on us as we were recently listening to several news reports of why young people become “radicalized” and join forces with militant Islamists like those in ISIS (what we used to call Al-Qaeda). People who have become radicalized break laws. They often kill other people. They sometimes commit suicide by strapping bombs to themselves in an attempt to kill others. Sane people have a hard time understanding it. What drives these people to such extremes? What motivates them? Why do kids–some of them from America and other Western counties–become radicalized? Frankly, it usually (almost always) stems back to their childhood. Their heads have been crammed with liberal pap about hating America from a young age. People hate America because they hate freedom. As we were mulling this over, we had a revelation: It’s the same with some anti-drillers. In the same way some young people (and some older people) become radicalized and join ISIS, some are radicalized and join the “green” movement…
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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Talk of Upstate NY Seceding & Joining PA Comes Roaring Back to Life
June 19, 2015June 19, 2015

This story comes right from MDN’s own backyard–in the Town of Windsor, NY. Following Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s decision to temporarily ban shale drilling while he’s in the governor’s chair, there was talk that some New York towns along the border of Pennsylvania are considering seceding from NY State and joining PA (see 15 NY Towns Consider Seceding from NY, Join PA Due to Frack Ban). It was certainly good for a few headlines–the story actually got international play for a while. But then it all seemed to simmer down. The “secession” story has now come roaring back to life with a proposal by a Windsor man (and MDN acquaintance) who is pushing a plan to split NY in two–and have all of upstate NY join Pennsylvania–not just a few towns. He’s even got a proposed platform and he’s working to organize a secession convention! Is this for real? Or is it a stunt–a clever way to focus attention on the abuse of upstate residents at the hands of a corrupt governor? You decide…
Read More “Talk of Upstate NY Seceding & Joining PA Comes Roaring Back to Life”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA | Taxation

Philly Area Dem State Senator Introduces Plan to Tax Pipelines
June 19, 2015June 19, 2015

State Senator Andy Dinniman, Democrat from Chester (Delaware County), PA, has just introduced a new bill in the PA Senate that would require natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) pipelines to pay local and school property taxes in the Keystone State. His rationale is that pipelines should be required to help the communities that they affect (by traversing) in the same way the impact fee helps communities where drilling takes place. Good idea, or bad?…
Read More “Philly Area Dem State Senator Introduces Plan to Tax Pipelines”
Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

How the Wolf Administration is Cooking the Marcellus Jobs Numbers
June 19, 2015June 19, 2015

Wow, did MDN peg it right or what? Yesterday we told you that Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration/gang had politically, arbitrarily, rejiggered the Marcellus Shale industry employment numbers, dumping 151,000 jobs credited to the industry, in an attempt to smear the “brand” of the Marcellus as a jobs creator in the minds of Pennsylvanians (see Gov Wolf & Co Wipes Away 151K PA Jobs by Changing Formula). Our view was confirmed by a former Corbett administration official who exposes this numbers change-up for what it is: 100% political and 100% the work of the Wolf administration. Writing in the Harrisburg Patriot-News, Dennis Roddy calls out the Dept. of Labor and Industry for bowing to political pressure from the Wolf gang and arbitrarily changing the formula used to track direct, indirect and induced jobs from the Marcellus–a jobs formula accepted by economists across the country and a formula the Dept. of Labor and Industry themselves devised–not one devised by the Corbett administration…
Read More “How the Wolf Administration is Cooking the Marcellus Jobs Numbers”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA DEP Sec Quigley Creating His Own FracFocus; SRBC in Crosshairs
June 19, 2015June 19, 2015

More antagonism for the oil and gas industry, and more radical environmentalist philosophy, from the new PennFuture Secretary of the Dept. of Environmental Protection in Pennsylvania, John Quigley. (Once again, you have these Republicans to “thank” for his appointment: List of Republican Senators Who Voted to Confirm Quigley @ DEP). Last night Quigley announced at a radical enviro dinner in Philadelphia, hosted by the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, that although under the Act 13 law all Marcellus drillers must file a list of the chemicals used at each well site with the national registry FracFocus.org, that’s not good enough for Quigley. The Act 13 law also requires drillers to file the info with the PA DEP, so Quigley has decided the DEP will create it’s own online database/website to show the information (wasting taxpayer’s money). It’s all about being more “transparent” according to Quigley. We’d say it’s all about being a control freak, but we digress. Quigley also reiterated his absolute faith in the man-made global warming fairy tale, and he has ominously set his sites on the SRBC in northeastern PA…
Read More “PA DEP Sec Quigley Creating His Own FracFocus; SRBC in Crosshairs”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Wastewater

FWAP Asks SEC to Investigate GreenHunter for False Statements
June 19, 2015June 19, 2015

The anti-fossil fuelers are getting desperate. They’re concerned that GreenHunter Resources, a fresh water and frack wastewater company operating in the Marcellus/Utica, may actually pull it off and begin to barge frack wastewater (brine, actually) down the Ohio River. MDN was the first to disclose that GreenHunter is going to push back against the ongoing delays coming from the Obama White House in pressuring the U.S. Coast Guard to delay granting permission to GreenHunter to barge brine. We analyzed and told you what’s happening–that GreenHunter is using the Coast Guard’s own regulations from 1987 against them, using the definition of oilfield wastes to apply to brine from shale wells (see GreenHunter/Coast Guard War of Words — MDN Explains It). Essentially GreenHunter is daring the Coast Guard to take them to court to try and stop them (a brilliant move). GreenHunter says they will begin barging in three months’ time (see GreenHunter Says OH River Wastewater Barging to Begin September). Along comes the virulent anti-drilling organization FreshWater Accountability Project (FWAP, which we pronounce “fuh-wop”) with their own twist to try and stop GreenHunter. FWAP has asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to investigate GreenHunter for making false statements to investors about their permission (or lack thereof) to begin barge shipments of brine…
Read More “FWAP Asks SEC to Investigate GreenHunter for False Statements”
Accidents | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Regulation | Trumbull County | Wastewater

OH Injection Well Operator has Until Today to File Remediation Plan
June 19, 2015June 19, 2015

We’ve been following the story of water contamination in close proximity to five injection wells owned by Kleese Development Associates (KDA) of Warren, OH. The wells were shut down when water contamination was found in a local wetland (swamp) and a nearby pond. But after investigating, the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) found that the injection wells were not the source of chemical contamination, but rather a salvage yard was at fault (see Trumbull Injection Wells NOT the Source of Wetland Contamination). The salvage yard is also owned by KDA, so the company is certainly not off the hook. The last word we had was that the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) along with the Ohio Attorney General’s office executed search warrants for KDA looking for evidence of “environmental crimes” (see Youngstown Injection Wells Previously Shut Down Resume Operation). Meanwhile, the injection wells were reportedly restarted after correcting an issue found by the ODNR when they were there investigating. The new news is that Ohio EPA (not the feds, but Ohio) says KDA has until today to file a remediation plan to clean up a local creek affected by the so-far still undetermined source of a chemical spill coming from the salvage yard…
Read More “OH Injection Well Operator has Until Today to File Remediation Plan”