Regulation

Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Establishes New Commission to Study Drilling/Pipeline Safety
July 13, 2015July 13, 2015

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has, as he promised in his 2015 State of the State address, formed a new commission on oil and natural gas safety to study and make recommendations on how the industry in the Mountain State can get better at safety. Translation: What new laws and regulations can the state adopt to make things safer without destroying the industry in the process? Tomblin announced the members of this new West Virginia Commission on Oil and Natural Gas Industry Safety. Five of the 14 members are from the oil and gas industry. The group is charged with making a final proposal to Gov. Tomblin by Nov. 16…
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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA Gov Wolf Packs Pipeline Task Force with His Own Minions
July 13, 2015November 10, 2015

In May Pennsylvania “in over his head” Gov. Tom Wolf announced the formation of the Pipeline Infrastructure Task Force (PITF)–an effort to “promote unprecedented collaboration of stakeholders to facilitate the development of a world-class pipeline infrastructure system” (see Disaster on the Horizon: PA Gov Wolf Creates Pipeline Task Force). Translation: We need to slow down the rapid construction of all of these gathering pipelines and since there’s no regulations in PA state law to do it, we’ll create a “task force” to slow it down for us. Last week Wolf announced the 48 people who belong to his hand-picked task force. Not surprisingly, 14 of the 48 members (almost one-third) work for Wolf–in state government, drawing their paychecks from the state and working at the pleasure of Wolf who will fire them if they don’t do what he wants. Another nine work for either county, state or federal governments. That’s 23 of 48 (half) who work for the government. How many are from the oil and gas industry? Only 12 representatives from the O&G industry–and of that, only 6 of them are from pipeline companies, the very entities that will get regulated by this unofficial regulating body…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Everyone’s Talking Lawsuit over New York DEC Frack Ban
July 7, 2015July 7, 2015

Everybody knows a lawsuit is coming against the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation’s “Findings Statement” that bans fracking (see It’s Official: Cuomo Bans Economic Opportunity & Prosperity in NY). Anti-drillers, including DEC Commissioner Joe Martens, the guy hired by the Rockefellers to ban fracking who is now leaving the DEC to return to a Rockefeller job at his previous organization (the Open Spaces Institute), certainly expects there to be a legal challenge to his non-science-based political decision to ban fracking…
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Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Regulation

Federal PHMSA Proposes New “Rule” for Interstate Pipelines
July 6, 2015July 6, 2015

Another new un-legislated law, euphemistically called a “rule”, is on the way from the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). Last week the PHMSA released details of a new rule that would, among other things, require operators of interstate pipelines (pipelines that cross state borders) that flow natural gas or natural gas liquids or oil or condensate or… you get the idea–those pipelines must report a leak within 60 minutes (but “at the earliest practicable moment” meaning 60 seconds or less if you can manage it) to the feds from when the company becomes aware of such a leak. The new “rule” will also punish big pipeline projects costing more than $2.5 billion by hiking fees on the pipeline to cover PHMSA expenses in putting such a project through a PHMSA anal exam/review. Want to reverse the flow of the already-built pipeline? Tell the PHMSA first. Want to provide a tap on a pipeline for farms? Tell the PHMSA first. Had an accident/spill? Every employee from the janitor on up who may have had something to do with the operation of that pipeline will now get subjected to a PHMSA drug AND alcohol test. Welcome back to the USSR PHMSA…
Read More “Federal PHMSA Proposes New “Rule” for Interstate Pipelines”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Research | Statewide PA

3rd SRBC Report: Marcellus Drilling Doesn’t Affect Water Quality
July 6, 2015July 6, 2015

The Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), charged with protecting and managing the water resources in the Susquehanna River Basin, continues to perform its duty with distinction (unlike another commission with a similar name nearby that fails miserably to perform its duties). In 2010 the SRBC began collecting the data through a state-of-the-art Remote Water Quality Monitoring Network (RWQMN). Part of the remit in that effort is to determine whether or not Marcellus Shale drilling is having an effect on the quality of water in rivers and streams in the SRBC region. Two prior reports issued by the SRBC had shown no impact on the water quality of rivers and streams from drilling. Last week the SRBC delivered its third such report (full copy below). It is the most comprehensive study to date, covering data collected from 2010-2013. And guess what? The new report shows that Marcellus Shale drilling has not impacted local rivers and streams. Period. End of story. So now we have both the federal government, via the EPA, saying fracking doesn’t harm water supplies, and the SRBC saying the same thing. And the politicians in New York State ban fracking because of “maybes” and “mights” and “possibles”–all while real data from real drilling shows shale drilling does not harm the environment–not in the way claimed by NY political charlatans. Here’s what the SRBC said in releasing their latest report on water quality in the Marcellus region…
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Bradford County | Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation

Chesapeake Energy’s Theft of PA Landowner’s Royalties
July 6, 2015July 6, 2015

It’s no wonder Pennsylvania landowners are up in arms over their treatment by Chesapeake Energy. Two weeks ago MDN told you about a new bill, HB 1391, that will ensure Pennsylvania landowners receive a minimum 12.5% in royalties for any gas or oil taken from their land (see New Bill HB 1391 Will Guarantee PA Landowners 12.5% Royalties). The reason such a bill is necessary is because landowners are being robbed by some (not all) drillers who are deducting certain “post production” expenses from royalty checks–essentially stealing money that belongs to landowners. Here is a perfect example from Bradford County, PA–the most drilled Marcellus county in the state…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Cuyahoga County | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio | Regulation

The Mad Moms of Broadview Heights Remain Mad over Tossed Lawsuit
July 6, 2015July 6, 2015

The Mad Moms of Broadview Heights, OH (a suburb of Cleveland) say they’re “not going away” when it comes to opposing fossil fuels in their neighborhood. MADION (Mothers Against Drilling in Our Neighborhood) are appealing a tossed-out lawsuit filed by the group following a defeat handed to them by the Ohio Supreme Court. In March, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled a 2012 so-called Community Bill of Rights law adopted by Broadview Heights that prohibits drilling is unconstitutional (see OH Antis Handed Crushing Defeat in Broadview Hghts Home Rule Case). That didn’t sit well with the (stark raving) Mad Moms (see Broadview Heights, OH Moms: Don’t Frack With Us). The Mad Moms filed a new lawsuit to stop the drilling. Last week Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Timothy McCormick tossed the new lawsuit citing the Supreme Court decision. The Mad Moms plan to appeal Judge McCormick’s decision…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Athens County | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Regulation | Statewide OH | Wastewater

Athens County Asks Gov Kasich & ODNR to Stop New Injection Wells
July 2, 2015July 2, 2015

Athens County, OH Commissioners have just passed a resolution calling for a ban on new injection wells in the county. The resolution has zero force and no weight of law–it’s not a legal document and if it were, it would be illegal. Only the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) can decide whether or not to issue permits for Class II injection wells in Ohio. Local municipalities have no say in the matter. But that doesn’t stop the nutters in Athens County from mouthing off (the thing they do best). Here’s their latest haughty communication requesting the Governor and the ODNR immediately and indefinitely refrain from issuing any more injection well permits not only in the People’s Socialist Paradise of Athens County, OH, but throughout the entire state of Ohio as well…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

With Frack Ban Mission Accomplished, Joe Martens Leaves NY DEC
July 1, 2015July 1, 2015

A day after issuing the final nail in the coffin of fracking in NY (see It’s Official: Cuomo Bans Economic Opportunity & Prosperity in NY), the guy doing the nailing is leaving. Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens is leaving the DEC to go back to the anti-drilling Open Spaces Institute–the organization where he was employed before coming to the DEC. It certainly appears like the main purpose in hiring Martens was to slow down, and then stop the momentum to allow fracking in NY. Now that Martens’ mission has been accomplished, he’s ready to make more money again, working for an organization dedicated to stopping any kind of development on land–including and particularly oil and gas development. MDN has been around long enough to have seen Martens come, and now go. We’re proud to say from his very first day on the job we questioned his appointment and commitment to seeing that fracking happens in the Empire State (see our article from February 2011: Gov. Cuomo’s Nomination to Head the NY DEC: Will the Real Joe Martens Please Stand Up?). We’ve always suspected, and shared with you our suspicions, that Martens is anti-drilling. We were right–not that being right feels any better because Martens has royally screwed every landowner in our beloved home state…
Read More “With Frack Ban Mission Accomplished, Joe Martens Leaves NY DEC”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Pipelines | Regulation | Tennessee Gas Pipeline

Kinder Morgan Scores Important Victory in NH to Build NED Pipeline
July 1, 2015July 1, 2015

The first domino has fallen. Kinder Morgan won an important victory in New Hampshire with respect to building the Northeast Energy Direct (NED) pipeline project–an extension of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline from New York through Massachusetts into New Hampshire and back into Massachusetts. On Friday the staff of the NH Public Utilities Commission (PUC) signed off on a request by the state’s largest utility company, Liberty Utilities, to buy capacity from the new NED pipeline as it passes through the state. Because Liberty’s action will potentially affect ratepayers (some of the cost may be passed to utility customers), the PUC must approve it. Full approval for Liberty to contract for capacity on NED will happen later in July–but full approval is almost certainly a foregone conclusion because of this initial approval…
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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY Landowners, Drilling Industry React to Cuomo’s Frack Ban
July 1, 2015July 1, 2015

Yesterday MDN brought you the news that the Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) had finally issued a “Findings Statement” that provides the official rational, twisted as it is, for why New York is temporarily banning high volume fracking in the Empire State (see It’s Official: Cuomo Bans Economic Opportunity & Prosperity in NY). Organziations for both landowners (the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York) and the oil and gas industry (American Petroleum Institute New York) provided their reaction to this profoundly sad news…
Read More “NY Landowners, Drilling Industry React to Cuomo’s Frack Ban”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

It’s Official: Cuomo Bans Economic Opportunity & Prosperity in NY
June 30, 2015June 30, 2015

Let the lawsuits begin! Yesterday the anti-drilling, anti-fossil fuel head of the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Joe Martens, did his master’s bidding (his master being Lord Andrew Cuomo, Earl of the Hamptons) by imposing an official, TEMPORARY (not permanent) ban on hydraulic fracturing in the Empire State. The document issued yesterday by Martens is called a Findings Statement (full copy below) and it provides the DEC’s official rationale for the action they are taking in not granting permits for high volume fracking in the state. News coverage is blaring the trumpets that New York has “banned” fracking. Well, yes, in a sense that’s true. But the implication is that it’s a permanent ban–which is not true. Far from it. Martens uses profoundly weak arguments in the Findings Statement to justify his political action. One of his central arguments is what fracking “may” do to water supplies. A few weeks ago the federal EPA, after four years of intense study, found fracking is perfectly safe for water supplies (see EPA Draft Report Says Fracking Doesn’t Pollute Groundwater Supplies). We’d be embarrassed to try and peddle this horse manure if we were Martens–but he’s shameless. One thing is for sure: landowners and their lawyers, who have had their property rights illegally stripped away by Cuomo and Martens, are reading the Findings Statement and preparing lawsuits even now…
Read More “It’s Official: Cuomo Bans Economic Opportunity & Prosperity in NY”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

Last Minute Change in PA Budget Stops DEP’s New Drilling Rules
June 30, 2015June 30, 2015

How can we put this gingerly? Pennsylvania Democrats (and Democrats in general) like to do the screwing, but they don’t like to get screwed. That about sums up what’s happening with the Pennsylvania budget and some last minute legislation slipped into a budget-related bill that will tie the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection’s hands on proposed new drilling rules. The 2012 Act 13 law required the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) to update sections of the older 1984 PA Oil & Gas Act (see Rewrite of 1984 PA Oil and Gas Act Underway). That process was pretty much done and dusted under PA Gov. Tom Corbett. But then Tom Wolf won the governor’s race and installed John Quigley to head up the DEP. Quigley re-opened a closed process to change drilling rules for both conventional and unconventional (shale) drillers (see PA DEP Sec Quigley Pulls a Fast One, Changes Drilling Rules). That is, Quigley did some screwing of the drilling industry. Over the weekend the PA House introduced and passed an amendment that would require the DEP to go back and start over with respect the rules they plan to adopt. That is, Quigley has now gotten screwed. And he doesn’t like it…
Read More “Last Minute Change in PA Budget Stops DEP’s New Drilling Rules”
Air Quality | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Regulation

US Supreme Court Knocks Down Draconian EPA Emissions Rule
June 30, 2015June 30, 2015

Too little, too late is what sums up yesterday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision that slaps the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for not considering cost when implementing draconian new rules limiting certain emissions from coal-fired electric power plants. Many coal plants have already shut down and many more are in the process of shuttering–driven out of business by the EPA’s draconian (unlegislated) laws. The small victory is that it pushes back against an out-of-control Obama EPA–perhaps slowing them down just a bit. One analyst said the Supreme Court decision translates into a “big win” for natural gas. How? Because the draconian new rules won’t go into effect right away, that means natural gas will continue to pick up momentum as the best alternative to coal, shutting out solar and wind power as alternatives. Nothing against solar and wind (we love them both), but they’re WAY more expensive than natural gas–and last time we checked, we still live in sort-of free country that sort-of uses capitalism and sort-of has free choice when it comes to power. Which is sort-of good news for natural gas…
Read More “US Supreme Court Knocks Down Draconian EPA Emissions Rule”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

Quigley Not Just Creating New Registry, He’s Dumping FracFocus
June 30, 2015June 30, 2015

Two weeks ago MDN told you that the PA PennFuture Sec. of the Dept. of Environmental Protection, John Quigley, has decided he wants to start his own version of FracFocus in Pennsylvania (see PA DEP Sec Quigley Creating His Own FracFocus; SRBC in Crosshairs). What we didn’t know or understand at the time is that Sec. Quigley, who continues to be antagonistic toward the shale industry, isn’t just creating a PA version of FracFocus–he now arrogantly intends to dump PA’s participation in FracFocus…
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CNG/LNG | Commodity Price | Crude Oil | Decline/Depletion Rates | Economic Impact | Education | Ethane | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | M&A | NGLs | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Regulation | Research | Reserves (Proved and Unproved)

Join MDN at RBN Energy’s “Summer in the City” Event July 23 – NYC
June 30, 2015July 9, 2015

MDN invites you to join us in attending RBN Energy’s “State of the Energy Markets” one-day event in New York City on July 23. Before you hurry to say “yes,” a few caveats. It costs money (a lot of it). It’s aimed at executives working in the industry, as well as traders and investors. If that describes you (and we know that many of you read MDN), you may be interested in attending. We guarantee it will be a great event. Rusty Braziel & company will provide an overview of the key issues facing natural gas, NGLs and the crude oil market. They will explain how the markets for those three commodities interact and affect each other. They will also take a look at prices, where they may be heading, and how infrastructure affects price. If you are really “into energy” as we are, this is a must attend event. Details are below, along with a link to register…
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