Regulation

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    Sunoco’s ME1 Pipe Restarts, ME2 Pipe Pays Another $355K in Fines

    On March 3, the Mariner East 1 (ME1) natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline was suddenly switched off by order of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) after a sinkhole opened up under the pipeline in Chester County, exposing some of the bare steel to the open air (see PA PUC Shuts Down Mariner 1 Pipeline Due to Mariner 2 Sinkhole). Sunoco Logistics Partners, the owner of ME1, is building a new set of pipelines called Mariner East 2 (ME2) close to the existing ME1 pipeline. Construction work in the area on ME2 led to the sinkhole that exposed ME1. The PUC asked Sunoco to drill holes and pour concrete in them to firm up ME1, which Sunoco did (see PA PUC Asks Sunoco to Drill Holes, Pour Concrete to Firm Up ME1). A full two months after ordering ME1 turned off, costing Sunoco (and Range Resources) millions of dollars in lost revenue, the PUC told Sunoco they could restart ME1. As of today, propane and ethane have resumed flowing through ME1. But what The Almighty State grants with one hand, it takes away with the other. Although Sunoco paid a massive $12.6 million fine in February to the Dept. of Environmental Protection related to ME2 construction misadventures (see Sunoco LP Pays PA DEP $12.6M to Resume ME2 Pipeline Construction), yesterday the DEP assessed Sunoco *another* $355,622 penalty for more ME2 misadventures–what DEP calls “violations of the Clean Streams Law”…
    Read More “Sunoco’s ME1 Pipe Restarts, ME2 Pipe Pays Another $355K in Fines”

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    FERC Review of Risberg Pipeline in NE OH/NW PA Coming June 29

    Click for larger version

    Last October MDN brought you details about the proposed $86 million Risberg Line pipeline project (see New 60-Mile Pipeline Proposed from NW Pa. to NE Ohio). The project will use approximately 32 miles of existing pipeline in an established Right of Way originating in the Meadville, PA area. Approximately 16 miles of new pipeline will be installed in Pennsylvania and approximately 12 miles of new pipeline will be installed in Ohio–meaning 28 miles of brand new “greenfield” pipeline needs to get built. Two school districts in Ohio where the pipeline will traverse agreed to reduce the amount of property tax the pipeline would need to pay by 75% over a 15-year period, a huge vote of confidence (see Update on Proposed 60-Mile Pipeline from NW Pa. to NE Ohio). We have an update on the project. On Tuesday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said it will issue an environmental assessment (EA) for the project on or by June 29th. Both the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission are “cooperating agencies” and part of the EA review process. Following the EA, the clock will begin ticking and FERC will have until Sept. 27th to make a final decision about the project…
    Read More “FERC Review of Risberg Pipeline in NE OH/NW PA Coming June 29”

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    New Bills Limit PA DEP Permit Appeals, Reduce Enviro Judge Terms

    As we reported yesterday, Big Green radicals in Pennsylvania are grumpy that the PA House passed five bills meant to fix the dysfunctional PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (see PA House Passes 5 Bills to Fix Broken DEP, Environuts React). Conservative Republicans in the House continue to play offense (which we love). On Monday of this week, PA Sen. Camera Bartolotta (R-Washington) sent around a memo to fellow House members asking them to co-sponsor two new bills she plans introduce. The first bill will narrow the grounds on which a DEP-issued permit may be appealed. Antis love to file endless appeals of permits for drilling and pipelines, dragging out the process in hopes of eventually defeating a given project. The first bill will fix that. The second bill reduces the terms of sitting Environmental Hearing Board judges. If a judge has been on the bench for 10 or more years, their term will expire and they will not get a chance to continue. The second bill is aimed at draining the EHB swamp (pun intended). Both bills are common sense measures, and of course, Big Green radicals are already howling at the moon because of them…
    Read More “New Bills Limit PA DEP Permit Appeals, Reduce Enviro Judge Terms”

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    Home Rule Chaos Reigns in NY – Towns Vote to Block Wind, Solar

    In June 2014, New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, reaffirmed two lower court rulings that empowers townships and municipalities across the state to strip away property owners’ rights to allow drilling and other energy projects (see Shale Drilling in NY is Over – High Court Upholds Town Bans). NY’s high court ruled in the “Middlefield” and “Dryden” cases that local municipalities have the right to regulate energy development within their jurisdictions–where it can and cannot happen. The seeds planted with the “Dryden” and “Middlefield” cases has sprouted and is now in full bloom–like spring daffodils. So-called “renewable” energy projects are now being blocked using the very same decisions meant to block natural gas drilling–delicious irony that puts a big, fat smile on our face. On the other hand, it points out the truly horrific consequences by NY’s highest court in allowing each community to, in effect, regulate energy production. It is utter folly and lunacy. Welcome to New York…
    Read More “Home Rule Chaos Reigns in NY – Towns Vote to Block Wind, Solar”

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    FERC Allows Rover Pipeline Startup in Michigan, Close to 100% Done

    An order from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued yesterday allows Energy Transfer (ET) to begin full operations along the North Market Segment of the Rover Pipeline–a $3.7 billion, 711-mile natural gas pipeline that runs from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and on to Canada via the Vector Pipeline. On April 13 ET asked FERC for permission to start up service along another major chunk of it’s massive Rover Pipeline (see Rover Pipe Asks FERC for OK to Open New Segments in OH, MI). ET eagerly wants to begin service along a 100-mile segment of Rover in northwest Ohio on into Michigan. FERC has been approving ET’s April 13th request in dribs and drabs. With yesterday’s approval, the entire length of the Rover pipeline is now substantially operational. There are still a few places not yet in service, but ET says they are on track to have the project 100% operational by the end of June. When fully operational, Rover will flow 3.25 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of Marcellus/Utica gas, some it going all the way to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada. Currently Rover is capable of flowing 1.7 Bcf/d. With this new addition, we expect that number will jump considerably…
    Read More “FERC Allows Rover Pipeline Startup in Michigan, Close to 100% Done”

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    PA House Passes 5 Bills to Fix Broken DEP, Environuts React

    In March the Pennsylvania House State Government Committee debated and voted to approve a slate of five bills aimed at fixing not only the slowmo way the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) approves shale permits, but also roll back some of the egregious regulatory overreach that now exists in PA (see PA House Committee Approves 5 “Fix DEP” Bills – What’s Next?). The vote to report the bills out of committee was along party lines, with zero liberal Democrats voting in favor of fixing the DEP. In a move that has alarmed and angered Big Green and its supporters, all five bills were voted on by the full House yesterday–and all five passed! Once again, not a single Democrat voted to fix the DEP. What happens now?…
    Read More “PA House Passes 5 Bills to Fix Broken DEP, Environuts React”

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    Congressman Tim Ryan (D-OH) Wants Feds to Regulate Fracking

    U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, Democrat from Ohio

    U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, Democrat from the 13th District in Ohio, signed up last week to co-sponsor a new bill called the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals, or FRAC, Act. In fact, all 61 co-sponsors of the bill were Democrat–no Republicans–which is a big, fat, red flag. A totally partisan bill. Democrats have been trying this trick since 2009. It’s nothing new. Supposedly the FRAC Act will require “transparency,” forcing frackers to disclose which chemicals are used in hydraulic fracturing. The thing is, drillers already disclose that information! What the FRAC Act is REALLY all about is federal regulation of the oil and gas industry by doing something that has never been done before: subjecting oil and gas drilling to the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. We’re tired of revisiting this topic, but feel compelled to set the record straight because of this renewed attack on the industry. Fact: There is no “exemption” from the Safe Drinking Water Act for drillers–they never were under the Act to begin with! The U.S. Constitution vests the power to regulate oil and gas activity with the individual states–NOT with the federal government. What Ryan and his fellow libs are trying to do in forcing oil and gas under federal regulation is a bastardization of the Constitution–an erosion of states’ rights. Which is why Ryan needs to be voted out of office. Shame on him. He’s from one of the biggest stars in the shale firmament–the Ohio Utica. And yet he’s pushing to kill it. There’s nothing “common sense” about the FRAC Act, as Ryan claims. It’s all “nonsense.” Here’s the latest attack by Dems at the federal level, a group that wants to kill the shale miracle in this country…
    Read More “Congressman Tim Ryan (D-OH) Wants Feds to Regulate Fracking”

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    Supreme Court Rejects Constitution Pipe Request to Overrule NY

    In January 2018, Williams, builder of the proposed Constitution Pipeline–124-mile pipeline from Susquehanna County, PA to Schoharie County, NY to move Marcellus gas into NY and New England–took their last, best shot at overturning a politically-based decision by the corrupt New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to deny the Constitution necessary water permits to build (see Constitution Pipeline Appeals NY Fight Directly to U.S. Supreme Court). Williams appealed an appeals court decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, hoping against hope that the high court would hear the case–and overturn the appeals court decision, thereby forcing NY to allow pipeline construction. Sadly, the attempt has failed. Yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court denied the petition to hear the case. Let’s be honest, it was a long shot to begin with–the Supremes only hear a handful of cases each year. But still, the decision is disappointing. Unlike antis, when our side loses a court case like this, we acknowledge and accept it. If it had gone the other way, antis would have claimed the court decision was illegitimate and launched illegal actions to block construction–like sitting in the tops of trees. They resort to anarchy, mob rule and bullying when they don’t win. We accept the rule of law and pledge to soldier on and fight another day. That’s the difference between unmoored radicals and people with their heads screwed on straight. So what happens now? Is this truly the end of the line for the Constitution? The project has one, possibly two very slim chances left…
    Read More “Supreme Court Rejects Constitution Pipe Request to Overrule NY”

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    List of 6 NatGas-Fired Electric Plants Coming to Michigan

    Last June DTE Energy filed paperwork in Michigan to build a new “state-of-the-art” natural gas-fired power plant in St. Clair County (see DTE Energy Files to Build New Natgas-Fired Elec Plant in Michigan). The gas-fired plant will produce 1,100 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 850,000 homes. If all goes according to plan, the new $1 billion plant will go online in 2022, helping to offset three coal-fired plants set to retire by 2023. Although environmental groups launched a campaign against the project (see Michigan Anti Fossil Fuelers Oppose DTE Gas-Fired Plant Proposal), their efforts were too little too late. Last week the Michigan Public Service Commission approved the project! In addition, we spotted an article about five more natgas-fired plants planned for Michigan (full list below). As we always point out, there is a considerable amount of Utica/Marcellus gas heading into Michigan via the Rover and NEXUS pipelines. These plants are all potential customers for our gas supplies…
    Read More “List of 6 NatGas-Fired Electric Plants Coming to Michigan”

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    Philly Dem Senator Tries to Shut Down ME2 Pipe Construction

    PA State Senator Andy Dinniman

    A Chester County, PA (Philadelphia area) Democrat State Senator by the name of Andy Dinniman (who we think looks like Tony Soprano) continues his mission to stop the Mariner East 2 (ME2) project. This is nothing new for Dinniman. He’s been agitating and lobbying and demanding and pouting for over a year in his quest to shut down ME2 (see our Dinniman stories here). According to a press release from Dinniman issued last Thursday, the Senator has filed “a formal legal complaint and a petition for interim emergency relief with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) to prohibit construction of the Mariner East 2 (ME2) and Mariner East 2X (ME2X) pipelines in West Whiteland Township.” Dinniman claims Sunoco Logistics Partners (builder of ME2) has 20 days to respond to the complaint. No doubt Sunoco will respond, and there’s little doubt the PUC will not do anything about Dinniman’s request…
    Read More “Philly Dem Senator Tries to Shut Down ME2 Pipe Construction”

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    XTO Plan to Drill Wells at Former Golf Course Delayed by Zoning Bd

    In February MDN told you that XTO Energy, the shale drilling arm of Exxon Mobil, has plans to begin drilling five new shale wells in Armstrong County, PA on a former golf course (see XTO Plans 5 Shale Wells at Former Golf Course in Armstrong County). XTO presented a plan in February to build a drill pad on what used to the seventh green at the former Phoenix at Buffalo Valley Golf Course in Freeport, PA. The plan calls for drilling 4 Marcellus wells and 1 Utica well on the pad. Some 20 residents showed up for the February meeting. Not a single one spoke out against the plan. Nor did any of the Freeport officials. Last night the Freeport Zoning Board met, ostensibly to vote on XTO’s plan. However, the officials delayed the vote, claiming “there was just too much information to digest.” No date is yet set for another meeting to consider XTO’s “too much information” proposal…
    Read More “XTO Plan to Drill Wells at Former Golf Course Delayed by Zoning Bd”

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    Canadians Adopt Draconian Methane Regs, Which is Good for U.S.

    Unless they walk it back, the country of Canada may well have just shot its very large oil and gas industry in the head. How? By adopting new regulations that aim to cut methane emissions in the oil and gas sector in half by 2025. The problem is, Canada has no idea of how much methane the industry actually emits now. “Half of what?” is the question. But radical antis don’t let a little thing like actual measurements and real science get in the way. They already have an answer–they’ll simply make it up. They plan to “model” it, fantasizing about how much is emitted now, and then demand a cut of half that amount. All of which favors the U.S. oil and gas industry because (so far) we haven’t tipped over into lunatic methane regulations the way the Canadians just have. It was certainly tried under Obama (via the courts and the EPA), but under Trump, methane reduction edicts from the federal government have been walked back. Perhaps when Canada realizes it’s about to literally jump off a cliff and lose an entire industry, they’ll walk their regs back too. If not, oh well! We here in the U.S. will be more than happy to take over the markets previously served by the very dead Canadian oil and gas industry…
    Read More “Canadians Adopt Draconian Methane Regs, Which is Good for U.S.”

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    BLM Blocks Eclipse from Completing Utica Well in Wayne Natl Forest

    Melissa Hamsher, Eclipse Resources

    Something pretty cool took place yesterday in Washington, D.C. MDN friend Melissa Hamsher, vice president for Health, Safety, Environmental and Regulatory with Eclipse Resources (headquartered in State College, PA), testified before the U.S. House of Representatives’ Resources Committee. Melissa has been a speaker on several panels MDN editor Jim Willis has moderated over the years at the annual Oil & Gas Awards Industry Summit in Pittsburgh. The uncool thing is what Melissa was in D.C. to testify about, which is that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), after auctioning off parcels in the Wayne National Forest (WNF), is now stopping Eclipse from drilling under those parcels. Eclipse had already bundled some of the BLM parcels they won at auction with neighboring private land, setting up a drill pad on private (not public) land when the BLM stepped in and stopped Eclipse’s first under-construction Utica well in WNF, claiming the BLM needs to conduct a “new environmental analysis” before drilling can continue. At every turn BLM, while pretending to act in good faith by conducting auctions of WNF land, has acted in bad faith to block Eclipse’s progress after winning those auctions. Melissa shined a bright light on the sleazy tactics used by BLM at a Congressional hearing exploring the “unfair weaponization of the National Environmental Policy Act”…
    Read More “BLM Blocks Eclipse from Completing Utica Well in Wayne Natl Forest”

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    OH Supremes Blow It, Allow Youngstown Frack Ban on May Ballot

    Although Youngstown, OH voters have voted down various versions of a proposed frack ban law six previous times, on Tuesday the Ohio Supreme Court voted 5-2 to allow a seventh such ballot measure to appear before Youngstown voters on May 8. The kicker: This seventh ballot measure is even worse–far more radical–than the previous frack ban measures voted down. The new ballot measure makes the illegal, legal (see Youngstown Antis Seek to Legalize Anarchy with 7th CELDF Petition). In addition to the usual no fracking, no pipelines pablum, this latest ballot measure has language that makes it legal to break the law. If the ballot measure passes, and if an anti got it into her head to sit in front of a bulldozer that was about to clear ground for a wellpad, or dig a trench for a pipeline, the police would not be able to arrest and remove the law-breaking anti. It would be within her rights to sit there and block legal, legitimate activity–all in the name of saving the planet. That’s the insanity the Supremes, in their “wisdom,” are allowing to go before voters in two weeks. It would be institutionalized anarchy. Of course the ballot measure doesn’t stand a chance of passing, which is good. But it does cause angst, and it causes the adults who live in Youngstown to once again have to spend time and money to defeat it. We wonder, will we be writing about the 25th ballot measure to come before voters after 24 of them have been voted down–say in five years from now? When will Ohioans say “enough” to the CELDF and their radical agitation and send them packing?…
    Read More “OH Supremes Blow It, Allow Youngstown Frack Ban on May Ballot”

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    PA PUC Asks Sunoco to Drill Holes, Pour Concrete to Firm Up ME1

    For more than a year, Marcellus/Utica ethane and propane have been flowing through the converted Mariner East 1 (ME1) pipeline safely, hauling the two natural gas liquids (NGLs) from southwest PA all the way to the Marcus Hook refinery near Philadelphia. The primary shipper using ME1 has been Range Resources, although other companies like CNX Resources use it too. However, ME1 was suddenly switched off on March 3 by order of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) after a sinkhole opened up under the pipeline in Chester County, exposing some of the bare steel to the open air (see PA PUC Shuts Down Mariner 1 Pipeline Due to Mariner 2 Sinkhole). Sunoco Logistics Partners, the owner of ME1, is building a new set of pipelines called Mariner East 2 (ME2) close to the existing ME1. Construction work in the area on ME2 led to the sinkhole that exposed ME1. The PUC shut down ME1 until further notice, requiring Sunoco to conduct a study of the area and provide the PUC with evidence to reassure them that ME1 is OK and will not leak or explode. Sunoco conducted the study, provided its results, and told the PUC it’s time to restart ME1–but the PUC is dragging its feet (see Sunoco Says ME1 Ready to Restart, but PUC is Dragging its Feet). The new news is that the PUC recently told Sunoco that before ME1 can restart, the company must first drill 10 new holes in the area of the sinkholes and pour in concrete (“grout”) in an effort to ensure ME1 doesn’t move around and break open…
    Read More “PA PUC Asks Sunoco to Drill Holes, Pour Concrete to Firm Up ME1”

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    Some PA Drillers Threaten to Spoil it for All via Royalty Shenanigans

    We’ve written a number of posts over the years about the ongoing, sometimes quiet sometimes not, civil war between Pennsylvania landowners and some (not all) drillers who use inflated post-production deductions to pad their own bottom lines, leaving landowners with peanuts–sometimes with no royalties at all (see Deep Dive: PA Royalties Civil War Between Landowners & Drillers). If we can oversimplify and summarize this complex issue, landowners maintain that a 1979 PA law guarantees landowners a 12.5% royalty regardless of expenses involved in extracting the gas, and drillers say no, landowners must abide by the contracts they’ve signed and if those contracts allow post-production costs to be deducted before calculating a royalty, the rate may go lower than 12.5%–sometimes to zero and below. PA landowners have, for the past six plus years, lobbied for legislation to clarify and protect a 12.5% minimum royalty. Today we have a guest post from the landowner point-of-view. Thad Stevens is a Gaines, PA resident and real estate developer. Thad has negotiated more than 50 oil and gas leases. He sits on the Dept. of Environmental Protection Citizen Advisory Council and is a director with the National Association of Royalty Owners PA chapter. We consider Thad a friend. He’s smart and he’s passionate about the the ongoing issue that some companies take inflated post-production deductions leaving PA landowners with little or nothing. Thad writes that some of PA’s gas drillers are displaying real arrogance in their attitudes toward the very people they need the most–landowners…
    Read More “Some PA Drillers Threaten to Spoil it for All via Royalty Shenanigans”