Allegheny County

Allegheny County | Meetings | Pennsylvania

DUG East – Roundup of Big News from Pittsburgh Event
June 24, 2016June 24, 2016

This week the Developing Unconventional Gas (DUG) East event was held in Pittsburgh, PA. There was a fair bit of news and a host of interesting stories coming from the event. Below we’ve listed stories worth your time, with a very brief summary of why to read those stories. To tease you: the money people think land deals are about to pick up in the Marcellus/Utica; Dept. of Energy Deputy Director Carmine Difiglio signs the praises of the Marcellus/Utica; in the weeds talking about technology; CONSOL’s plans for the Ohio Utica; and much more!…
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Allegheny County | Beaver County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Shell

Prepping a Work Force to Build & Operate the Shell Cracker
June 23, 2016June 22, 2016

The coming Shell ethane cracker plant complex in Monaca (Beaver County), PA, will create a lot of jobs–some in the near-term, but many in the medium-to-longer term. The plant won’t be complete for another five years. Between now and then it will take 6,000 temporary workers to build it. Once built, the plant will take 600 permanent employees to run it. Is Beaver County and the greater Pittsburgh region ready for that kind of jobs challenge? As of today, the answer would be “no.” But leaders in the area are working on it…
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Allegheny County | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation

Elizabeth Twp Rejects Clean Invenergy Power Plant at Dump Site
June 15, 2016June 15, 2016

Elizabeth Township PA – Credit: Wikipedia

Invenergy is in the process of building a $500 million Marcellus gas-fired electric plant in Jessup (Lackawanna County), PA–near Scranton, PA in the northeastern part of the state (see PA DEP Approves Jessup, PA Marcellus Gas Electric Plant). When built, and every indication is that it will get built this year, the Jessup plant will be the largest gas-fired plant in the state, generating 1,480 megawatts of electricity by using clean-burning Marcellus Shale gas. With that successful project under way, Invenergy turned their attention to the southwestern part of PA and announced their desire/plan to build a second plant in Elizabeth Township, in Allegheny County (see Invenergy Eyes SWPA for Second Marcellus-Powered Electric Plant). The second plant would be much smaller, at 550 megawatts, and would be built on a brownfield site near Pittsburgh. Even though the site where Invenergy wants to build is a former landfill where fly ash was dumped, making it unusable for just about any other purpose, a group of local residents would prefer to keep it a contaminated dump rather than convert it to a beneficial use like generating electricity (see Invenergy Gets Pushback on Proposed Natgas Power Plant in SWPA). Such is the kooky world of antis. Unfortunately, the local kook antis have now enlisted the support of Elizabeth Township’s zoning board…
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Allegheny County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Supply Chain

New Pipeline Safety Company Launches in Pittsburgh
May 17, 2016May 17, 2016

Dan Garcia

We don’t run every “hey we have new business starting up to service the oil and gas industry” story that’s sent our way. But we do sometimes–especially those that catch our eye and tickle our fancy. Pipeline Compliance Group is one such startup. Dan Garcia, a pipeline safety attorney (we didn’t know there were such things) has started up a new consulting company in Pittsburgh to provide pipeline safety consulting to local governments, regulators and even pipeline operators. We took a look at the website (www.pipelinecgllc.com) and liked what we saw–including the fact that Mr. Garcia is a veteran…
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Allegheny County | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation

South Fayette, PA Restrictive Drilling Ordinance Tossed by Judge
May 4, 2016May 4, 2016

Something noteworthy has happened in western Pennsylvania and (so far) local media has chosen not to cover it. So MDN is happy to break the following story about South Fayette Township in Allegheny County (near Pittsburgh). South Fayette is one of seven PA towns that sued the state after the Act 13 law was enacted in 2012 (see Lawsuit Filed: PA Towns Sue State over Marcellus Act 13 Law). Ultimately the towns won their case at the PA Supreme Court level, winning the right to enact their own ordinances with respect to oil and gas drilling. A nutty concept that towns have the necessary skills to regulate a complex industry like oil and gas–but there you go. Range Resources and landowners in the town, including Cuddy Partners, have had a long-running feud with the town over their hyper-restrictive ordinances (see Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article Drilling regulations face challenge in South Fayette). In 2015 South Fayette decided to revise their ordinance yet again with respect to shale drilling, making the ordinance even more restrictive than before. Cuddy Partners and Alpine Partners (landowners in the town) sued over the revised ordinance. The lawsuit alleged the ordinance was improperly enacted–rushed through without proper public notice. Last week Allegheny Court of Common Pleas Judge Joseph James agreed and ruled that the South Fayette revised ordinance is “invalid, null and void”…
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Allegheny County | Meetings | Pennsylvania

MDN Subscriber Does Bang-Up Job as Moderator at NE O&G Awards
April 4, 2016April 4, 2016

Charlie Schliebs

Each year the Oil & Gas Awards hosts an industry summit followed by an award ceremony in various locations across the country. For the past couple of years MDN editor Jim Willis has been a moderator at the summit. However, Jim could not attend the event held last week in Pittsburgh (see Winners of 2016 Northeast Oil & Gas Awards [FREE Access]). So in his place, Jim nominated Charlie Schliebs, Co-founder and Managing Director at Stone Pier Capital Advisors in Pittsburgh (and long-time MDN subscriber), to be moderator. By all accounts from those we’ve corresponded with, Charlie did a magnificent job. His was the one session reported on by NGI’s Shale Daily (see below). We’d like to once again thank Charlie for his willingness to moderate and for the great job he did. We sincerely hope he puts next year’s event on his calendar! Charlie wrote the following post on LinkedIn about the experience…
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Allegheny County | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Winners of 2016 Northeast Oil & Gas Awards [FREE Access]
April 1, 2016April 1, 2016

Earlier this week (March 30th) the 2016 Northeast Oil & Gas Awards and Industry Summit was held in Pittsburgh. Once again the Awards and the Summit were a smashing success. Congratulations to all of the finalists and winners! Each year the Oil & Gas Awards recognize organizations operating responsibly and supporting the communities they operate within. Now in their 4th year, the Oil & Gas Awards are judged by over 100 senior industry professionals. Partners in the Northeast Awards are The US Chamber of Commerce, The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, The Washington County Chamber of Commerce and the Western Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association. Here is a complete list of the winners, by category…
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Allegheny County | American Petroleum Partners | Belmont County | Brooke County | Greene County (PA) | Jefferson County (OH) | Marion County | Marshall County | Monongalia County | Monroe County | Ohio | Ohio County | Pennsylvania | Washington County | West Virginia | Wetzel County

New Marcellus/Utica Driller Quietly Launches w/$800M Investment
March 23, 2016March 23, 2016

Details are just now coming to light of a new E&P (exploration and production, or drilling) company headquartered in Pittsburgh and focused totally on the Marcellus and Utica region. Until now the company has flown under our radar. The company is American Petroleum Partners (APP)–not to be confused with Aubrey McClendon’s American Energy Partners (AEP)–and is headed by Rice Energy alumnus Varun Mishra, who is the founder and CEO. The big news is that last September Mishra’s new company, founded in 2014, received a major injection of investment capital. Apollo Global Management invested $411 million in APP with the option to double it up to $800 million. MDN has it on very good authority that although APP quietly issued a press release about this last September (see it below), the company has intentionally kept the news quiet. Not any more! Big mouth MDN is blabbing it to the world. Below are the bits and pieces we’ve been able to put together about this newest Utica/Marcellus driller…
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Allegheny County | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania

Invenergy Gets Pushback on Proposed Natgas Power Plant in SWPA
March 18, 2016March 18, 2016

Invenergy is in the process of building a $500 million Marcellus gas-fired electric plant in Jessup (Lackawanna County), PA–near Scranton, PA in the northeastern part of the state (see PA DEP Approves Jessup, PA Marcellus Gas Electric Plant). When built, the 1,480 megawatt plant will be the largest natgas-fired electric plant in the state. In January Invenergy announced they want to build a second natgas-fired electric plant–in southwestern PA (see Invenergy Eyes SWPA for Second Marcellus-Powered Electric Plant). The second plant would be much smaller, at 550 megawatts, and would be built on a brownfield site near Pittsburgh. Even though the site where Invenergy wants to build is a former landfill where fly ash was dumped, making it unusable for just about any other purpose, a group of local residents would prefer to keep it a dump rather than convert it to a beneficial use like generating electricity…
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Allegheny County | Pennsylvania

Maryland Law Firm Specializing in Bankruptcy Opens in Pittsburgh
February 24, 2016February 24, 2016

This isn’t one of those “glad to see you moving in” stories. One of Maryland’s largest law firms, Whiteford, Taylor & Preston LLP, is opening a new branch office in Pittsburgh. The law firm has plans to hire five to ten lawyers to staff it–a pretty sizable operation given all of the paralegals and other support staff it will require. Why aren’t we rolling out the red carpet? Because Whiteford, Taylor & Preston is a top bankruptcy/restructuring firm, and they’re opening an office in Pittsburgh specifically to serve energy companies that need such services…
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Allegheny County | Meetings | Pennsylvania

Attend the O&G Awards Northeast Industry Summit for FREE
February 19, 2016February 19, 2016

MDN is very excited to once again support the Oil & Gas Awards Northeast Industry Summit, happening on Wed. March 30 in downtown Pittsburgh. This year’s Summit will run from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm and is FREE to attend (register here). MDN editor Jim Willis helped craft the program for this year’s Summit, which will focus on operating in the current tough environment. Attend to hear from leading organizations like: U.S Chamber of Commerce, Stone Pier Capital, EdgeMarc Energy Holdings, Chevron Appalachia Business Unit, Eclipse Resources, Hodgson Russ, Blank Rome, U.S. Well Services, Columbia Pipeline Group, Civil Environmental Consultants, M3 Midstream, Themark Corporation, Shalewater Solutions, McCutcheon Enterprises, Select Energy Services, and Mustang Oilfield Services. Details below…
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Allegheny County | Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Education | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania

Pitt Brats “Demand” Endowment Divest from < 1% Fossil Investments
February 17, 2016February 17, 2016

This is how retarded (yes, we’re using the “r” word) students are at the University of Pittsburgh. We use the “r” word because something has retarded or stunted their intellectual growth. They are substandard–stupid–dumb. How else can you explain why spoiled rotten brats attending Pitt are “demanding” that the university divest their endowment from fossil fuels? The Pitt endowment is $3.6 BILLION. How much of that is invested in dirty, filthy, evil fossil fuel companies? $26 million. That’s 0.007 of the fund (seven tenths of one percent) invested in fossil fuels. It’s a rounding error. Fossil fuel insanity is rampant on the campus of Pitt. Stay away or you may catch it too!…
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Allegheny County | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania

Invenergy Eyes SWPA for Second Marcellus-Powered Electric Plant
January 28, 2016January 28, 2016

Invenergy is in the process of building a $500 million Marcellus gas-fired electric plant in Jessup (Lackawanna County), PA–near Scranton, PA in the northeastern part of the state (see PA DEP Approves Jessup, PA Marcellus Gas Electric Plant). When built, and every indication is that it will get built this year, the Jessup plant will be the largest gas-fired plant in the state, generating 1,480 megawatts of electricity by using clean-burning Marcellus Shale gas. Invenergy now has their eye on building another Marcellus-powered electric plant. This time it’s much smaller (just 550 megawatts) and it’s located in southwestern PA–in the Pittsburgh area…
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Allegheny County | Chevron | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania

Exclusive: Chevron Appalachia Head Nigel Hearne Going to Australia
January 19, 2016January 19, 2016

In 2013 MDN highlighted the news that a Brit, Nigel Hearne, had been appointed vice president (the guy in charge) of Chevron’s Appalachian-Michigan business unit (see Chevron’s Marcellus/Utica Unit Gets New President). Prior to arriving in Pittsburgh to run Chevron’s Marcellus and Utica division, Hearne worked in Chevron’s “downstream” or refinery business. Hearne is a young (under 50), rising star at Chevron. The big news is that Hearne is leaving his post at Chevron Appalachia to become deputy managing director of Chevron Australia–essentially a huge LNG (liquefied natural gas) operation. Hearne will become deputy to Roy Krzywosinski, but everyone knows/says that Hearne will replace Krzywosinski once the first of three trains goes online at the $54 billion Gorgon LNG project, which is Krzywosinski’s baby. Hearne is Krzywosinski’s protege in line to run the entire Australian operation. The question is, who will replace Hearne in Pittsburgh?…
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Allegheny County | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Finalists Announced for 4th Annual Northeast Oil & Gas Awards
January 19, 2016January 12, 2017

The Fourth Annual Northeast Oil & Gas Awards will take place on Wednesday, March 30 in Pittsburgh. The O&G Awards have just released the list of this year’s finalists. These companies, all of them already winners in our book, have been shortlisted by the judging panel for their commitment to the key areas of Health & Safety, Operational Excellence, Innovation, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Stewardship. MDN congratulates the following finalist companies in the Fourth Annual Northeast Oil & Gas Awards…
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Allegheny County | Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh Plans to Divest from Mutual Funds that Own Fossil Fuels
January 11, 2016January 11, 2016

Can this POSSIBLY be true? The City of Pittsburgh, which has fashioned itself as “the new Houston” and center of the energy universe, is beginning a program to divest from any investments it has in fossil fuel companies?! It appears it is true. Ever hear the phrase, “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you”? Of course the drive to divest is coming from Democrats–they’re the ones who run city government. If they actually go forward with it, we predict they will rue the day they decided to do it. The plan, as it’s been outlined, would be to divest “gradually,” over a period of years. The real kicker is that Pittsburgh doesn’t invest directly in stocks like CONSOL Energy or EQT or many of the other big independents who call the Pittsburgh region home. But they do invest in mutual funds that own those stocks. It is the mutual funds they plan to shed, over time. Talk about blithering idiots…
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