Whatever Happened to the PA DEP Air Study Started in 2012?
In July 2012 MDN told you about a one-year study of air quality in and around Chartiers Township in Washington County, PA being conducted by the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (see PA DEP Announces 1 Year Study on Air Quality in Marcellus). The aim of the study is to determine whether or not Marcellus drilling, pipelines and the MarkWest natural gas processing plant in the Chartiers area causes an unhealthy increase in various air pollutants for residents. What did the research find? In 2013 the DEP said testing so far showed “no levels of any pollutant that would violate federal ambient air quality standards.” However, the DEP decided to extend the study until Spring 2014 (see DEP Marcellus Air Study in SW PA Extended Extra Half Year). Then all the wheels came off the cart. The DEP didn’t finish the report, and the good citizens of Pennsylvania made a huge mistake by installing Tom Wolf as their governor. Along with Wolf came an anti-driller as the head of the DEP, John Quigley, who looked over the report and told the DEP to do it over again because it didn’t find enough bad stuff to suit him…
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We’re starting to crack a smile of hope that drilling has once again picked up. Our first bit of evidence that the tide is turning came last week when we reported that Patterson-UTI Energy’s rig count had gone up by two in June (see 
Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas is out with their Mid-Year Job Cut Report (full copy below). Overall, across all sectors, it seems that job cuts are slowing down–a good sign to be sure. But what about job cuts in the energy industry? The news there is mixed. While the pace of job cuts in the energy industry is slowing as the year progresses (a good sign), if you look at the raw numbers for the first six months of 2016 versus 2015, the news is not so good. For the first six months of 2015 the energy industry cut 60,500 jobs. For the same period in 2016, the number of jobs cut was 77,211, a 28% increase this year over last. Oy vey! Will the cuts never stop?…
In May 2015 MDN brought you news of a then-newly released “study” from “scientists” at Oregon State University and the University of Cincinnati that reportedly found people living near fracking sites in Ohio were being exposed to “deadly” air pollution (see 
Another day, another attack on natural gas by the radicals of the Sierra Club. In this case, the Virginia chapter of the Sierra Club found a retired geologist they could buy, er, a, hire to write a report slamming the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a $3.5 billion, 301-mile pipeline that will run from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA. The pipeline is due to be built by EQT, NextEra Energy and several other partners. The geologist who sold himself out to the Sierra Club says the pipeline would run through a “karst” area–an area of sinkholes and caves–and building the pipeline could potentially damage the water aquifer in that area. Below is a news report and a copy of the sham report released by the Virginia Sierra Clubbers…
The Canadian Energy Research Institute (CERI) recently released the “Canadian Natural Gas Market Review” (full copy of the 159-page report embedded below). The study looks at the future of Canada’s natural gas upstream (i.e. drilling) industry, taking into consideration the history of the industry, changing market dynamics due to the advancements in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technology, the recent drop in oil and natural gas prices, and policy developments (i.e. government interference). In the Executive Summary, which we include immediately below, you’ll read that the Canadians have a lot to say about the Marcellus Shale. Canada is importing more natgas than ever–because of cheap, abundant, clean-burning Marcellus Shale gas in the northeast. The report also comments on Canada’s chances of becoming a big exporter of gas via LNG. Canada can, theoretically, increase its own natgas production by 65% over the next 20 years–but only if a number of planned LNG export facilities go online to provide a market for all of that gas…
We’ve written plenty about President Obama’s so-called Clean Power Plan (CPP), introduced last summer, a plan to force electric generators to convert to using more “renewable” sources of energy–and less fossil fuels (see 
More money is on the way to the oil and gas sector–so says powerhouse consulting and accounting firm Ernst & Young. An EY survey, titled “Capitalizing on opportunities: Private equity investment in oil and gas” (full copy below) says there is close to $1 trillion in private equity waiting to be invested across all sectors. Some 43% of private equity investors say they are looking to spread some of that money in the oil and gas space. The question is, which region(s) of the world will see appreciable amounts of that investment?…
MDN has long pointed out that the United States has more natural gas reserves than any other country on earth, dethroning Russia years ago on that score–thanks to the shale revolution and the miracle of hydraulic fracturing. We’ve often heard the phrase that “the U.S. is the Saudi Arabia of natural gas.” But what’s this? A new research report issued by the respected Rystad Energy, an independent oil and gas consulting service, finds that the U.S. is now the Saudi Arabia of oil too! That is, the U.S. has more oil reserves, because of shale, than Saudi Arabia. Fracking has handed the U.S. what we’ve wanted for years–total energy independence from the tyrants in OPEC…
We hear it time and again when visiting rallies and talks by fossil fuel haters: The U.S. could transition to so-called renewable energy sources (like solar and wind) TODAY, right now, if we only had the “will” to do it. Having the will to do it typically means mass starvation and death, turning thermostats down to 50 degrees in the winter and the like. But these nutjobs conveniently leave out that part when they talk. The bare naked truth is that fossil fuels are here to stay for AT LEAST the next two generations, and perhaps longer. How do we know? Try this fact on for size (from the U.S. Energy Information Administration): Three fossil fuels–petroleum, natural gas, and coal–have provided more than 80% of total U.S. energy consumption for more than 100 years. In 2015, fossil fuels made up 81.5% of total U.S. energy consumption. It is beyond ludicrous to declare that we can end fossil fuel use any time within the next 100 years–and people who say otherwise are either lying, or delusional. Here’s an update on fossil fuels and their continuing dominance in the U.S….
Last December MDN ripped the mask off a group of extremely partisan, virulently anti-drilling Democrats who call themselves the innocent-sounding Multi-State Shale Research Collaborative (see 
Don’t worry, you stupid farmers in Belmont County, OH. A really really smart liberal from Yale University (who believes in the fairy tale of man-made global warming) has arrived in your midst and is willing to pay you big money–$20 (yes, twenty dollars)–to participate in a “study” with a pre-determined outcome that you’re being poisoned by fracking. The latest laughable “research study” by a small group of Yale “researchers” is underway in Belmont. The researchers are looking for 100 local yokels who are willing to tell them how they’ve been harmed by fracking, so the researchers can plaster the Yale name on yet another fraudulent study funded by Big Green organizations. We’ve seen this movie before. In 2014 Yale researchers released a similar study of 180 people in Washington County, PA, funded by Heinz Foundation and other Big Green funders (see 
On Monday MDN brought you the latest quarterly production numbers for the Ohio Utica Shale, direct from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (see 
The legal beagles of top energy law firm Babst Calland recently released their sixth annual energy industry report called, “The 2016 Babst Calland Report – An Unprecedented Time for the Oil & Gas Industry: Price Down, Supply Up, Reform Ahead; Legal and Regulatory Perspective for Producers and Midstream Operators.” This annual review of energy and natural resources development activity acknowledges the continuing evolution of this industry in the face of economic, regulatory, legal and local government challenges. In an MDN exclusive, we have the first six pages of the 68-page report (see below), along with details on how you can request a full copy. Worth the read!…
LNG, or liquefied natural gas, is an increasingly important part of the natural gas ecosystem in the U.S. We’ve imported natgas for years–and we’re not beginning to export it as well. Each month the U.S. Dept. of Energy issues a report tabulating both imports and exports of LNG–who shipped it in and out, from where, and how much. It’s a good picture. The April report was recently released (takes a few months before the number crunchers are done). What do we find in the latest report (full copy below)? We find that the U.S. imported 34.8 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas in the first four months of the year–all of it from Trinidad. We exported 28.9 Bcf during the same period. The vast majority of exports were from Cheniere’s Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana, although a small amount of LNG was exported from American LNG’s export facility in Miami, Florida…
We now know why the oil and gas industry has laid off some 200,000 people over the past few years–they’re not spending money. A new research report from powerhouse consulting firm Wood Mackenzie finds that global upstream development (i.e. drillers) have cut their spending from 2015-2020 by 22%. If you role in cuts to conventional drilling, the total amount cut from budgets (worldwide) from 2015-2020 is a staggering $1 trillion! One of the biggest expenses in a drilling operation is human resources–people. Unfortunately we don’t have a copy of the £1000 (~$1,500) report to share with you. But we do have a high level overview provided by Wood Mackenzie…