Beaver County

Beaver County | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell

Shell CEO Says PA Cracker Now Done, Gradually Coming Online
August 11, 2022August 11, 2022

In June, a Shell executive told the Appalachian Energy Innovation Collaborative conference that the company’s Pennsylvania ethane cracker project was 98% done and would be fully online within “a couple of months” (see Shell Exec Says Ethane Cracker 98% Done, Online “Couple of Months”). He was right. During a recent conference call with analysts about second quarter performance, Shell CEO Ben van Beurden said, “we’re done building it” (referring to the ethane cracker), and that “we will indeed start bringing production on gradually” over the summer. Hot dang! We’re deep into summer right now.
Read More “Shell CEO Says PA Cracker Now Done, Gradually Coming Online”
Beaver County | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | PennEnergy Resources | Pennsylvania

PennEnergy Creek Water Request Now “Complete” – PA DEP Reviewing
June 24, 2022June 24, 2022

PennEnergy Resources recently reapplied (for a second time) for a permit to draw water from Big Sewickley Creek–but this time the request is cut in half, to just 1.5 million gallons of water a day (see PennEnergy Reapplies to Use SWPA Creek Water for Fracking Ops). In March PennEnergy submitted its water management plan amendment application for proposed water withdrawals from Big Sewickley Creek in Economy Borough, located in Beaver County. As before, the request is to use the water for shale well fracking. This second application proposes a lower allocation request of 1.5 million gallons per day. After an initial delay, the DEP is now actively reviewing PennEnergy’s application.
Read More “PennEnergy Creek Water Request Now “Complete” – PA DEP Reviewing”
Beaver County | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell

Shell Exec Says Ethane Cracker 98% Done, Online “Couple of Months”
June 17, 2022June 17, 2022

polyethylene pellets

It’s been a loooong time coming. MDN has covered the Shell ethane cracker plant complex from the very beginning, back in 2016 (see Breaking: Shell Pulls the Trigger, PA Ethane Cracker is a Go!). We’re now six years later, over 8,000 jobs created and billions of dollars spent, and within the next few months Shell will begin full operations at its ethane cracker in Monaca (Beaver County), PA. A Shell executive told the Appalachian Energy Innovation Collaborative’s conference yesterday that the project is now 98% done and will be fully online within “a couple of months.” That is sweet news!
Read More “Shell Exec Says Ethane Cracker 98% Done, Online “Couple of Months””
Beaver County | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | PennEnergy Resources | Pennsylvania | Regulation

Decision Nears, Antis Still Oppose PennEnergy Creek Water Request
June 17, 2022June 17, 2022

PennEnergy Resources recently reapplied (for a second time) for a permit to draw water from Big Sewickley Creek–but this time the request is cut in half, to just 1.5 million gallons of water a day (see PennEnergy Reapplies to Use SWPA Creek Water for Fracking Ops). In March PennEnergy submitted its water management plan amendment application for proposed water withdrawals from Big Sewickley Creek in Economy Borough, located in Beaver County. As before, the request is to use the water for shale well fracking (the company just received permits to drill seven new wells in Beaver County, PA, see today’s permit report). This application proposes a lower allocation request of 1.5 million gallons per day. As a decision by the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) nears, antis and local Democrat politicians still oppose the modified request. No surprise there.
Read More “Decision Nears, Antis Still Oppose PennEnergy Creek Water Request”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Beaver County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Shell

Antis Go Plastics Hunting Near Shell Cracker Outfitted in…Plastics
June 13, 2022June 13, 2022

Captain Evan Clark, the Three Rivers Waterkeeper, takes a “nurdle patrol” crew out on the Ohio River, near Shell’s new ethane cracker plant. Photo: Julie Grant / The Allegheny Front

You really can’t make this stuff up. Anti-fossil fuelers aligned with Three Rivers Waterkeeper recently went on a boat trip on the Ohio River in Beaver County, PA, near where Shell is almost finished constructing a huge ethane cracker plant, to look for plastic “nurdles.” The small plastic pellets or beads are what the Shell cracker will make when it’s up and running. The antis want to establish a baseline for how many nurdles are found in the water now, before operations begin at the cracker plant, so they can visit later and test again to see if anything has spilled into the local waterway. We think it’s fair to say the antis are also anti-plastics, given their comments. So the pictures of the plastics hunters accompanying the article are quite hilarious. All of the plastics hunters are kitted out in jackets, hats, glasses, hip boots, etc. that are made from the very plastics they are hunting.
Read More “Antis Go Plastics Hunting Near Shell Cracker Outfitted in…Plastics”
Beaver County | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell

Shell Cracker has Not Led to New Petchem Cos. Nearby – So Far
June 10, 2022June 10, 2022

One of the big promises of building a multi-billion dollar ethane cracker plant project is its ability to act like a magnet attracting other petrochemical and manufacturing plants to locate near it, using the outputs of the ethane cracker as their inputs. According to an article appearing in the Pittsburgh Business Times, the great promise of attracting more businesses to the southwestern PA region with the construction of the Shell cracker plant has not, so far at least, resulted in a big influx of new businesses.
Read More “Shell Cracker has Not Led to New Petchem Cos. Nearby – So Far”
Allegheny County | Beaver County | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell

Shell PA Cracker Welders Sue for Bus-Ride Overtime, Class Action
May 18, 2022May 27, 2022

As the mighty Shell ethane cracker plant complex nears 100% completion and startup, which will happen this year, there is a lingering legal issue for some of the workers who helped build the plant. Back in 2017, we alerted you that one of the biggest challenges in constructing the facility was something rather mundane, but key: finding enough parking for the thousands of workers needed to do the construction of the plant (see Shell Cracker Makes Progress; Biggest Problem So Far? Parking). Shell purchased and leased nearby land, mall parking lots, and even built a new road to get workers in and out of the site. But it still was not an easy nor quick process going to and from the site.
Read More “Shell PA Cracker Welders Sue for Bus-Ride Overtime, Class Action”
Beaver County | Carbon Capture | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lackawanna County | Pennsylvania | Shell

Shell, Archaea Energy Explore Carbon Capture Projects for SW, NE PA
April 29, 2022April 29, 2022

click for larger version

Two different companies working on two different plans have met with Pennsylvania’s Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) to discuss potential carbon capture and storage/sequestration (CCS) projects in the Keystone State. Shell, which is nearly done building its multi-billion-dollar ethane cracker in Beaver County, PA, is looking to establish a CCS project in Beaver County. Archaea Energy, one of the largest so-called renewable natural gas (RNG) producers in the U.S., is looking to set up a CCS project in Lackawanna County, PA (near Scranton).
Read More “Shell, Archaea Energy Explore Carbon Capture Projects for SW, NE PA”
Beaver County | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | PennEnergy Resources | Pennsylvania | Regulation

Dem PA Lawmaker Continues to Oppose PennEnergy Creek Water Request
April 18, 2022April 18, 2022

Big Sewickley Creek Watershed (click for larger version)

In July 2021, a Pennsylvania Democrat lawmaker from Beaver County (southwestern PA) who professes to support the Marcellus industry, Rep. Rob Matzie, wrote a letter to Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Pat McDonnell (a fellow Dem) asking him to deny a request by PennEnergy Resources to withdraw as much as 3 million gallons of water a day from Big Sewickley Creek and one of its tributaries for shale fracking (see Dem PA Lawmaker Wants to Block Use of Creek Water for Fracking). McDonnell honored his fellow Dem’s request and blocked PennEnergy’s request to use creek water in October (see PA DEP Blocks Use of SWPA Creek Water for Fracking). Matzie is back, this time to oppose a second request by PennEnergy to withdraw half the amount of water from Big Sewickley Creek.
Read More “Dem PA Lawmaker Continues to Oppose PennEnergy Creek Water Request”
Beaver County | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | PennEnergy Resources | Pennsylvania | Regulation

PennEnergy Reapplies to Use SWPA Creek Water for Fracking Ops
April 14, 2022April 14, 2022

Big Sewickley Creek Watershed (click for larger version)

In July 2021, a Pennsylvania Democrat lawmaker from Beaver County (southwestern PA) who professes to support the Marcellus industry, Rep. Rob Matzie, wrote a letter to Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Pat McDonnell (a fellow Dem) asking him to deny a request by PennEnergy Resources to withdraw as much as 3 million gallons of water a day from Big Sewickley Creek and one of its tributaries for shale fracking (see Dem PA Lawmaker Wants to Block Use of Creek Water for Fracking). McDonnell honored his fellow Dem’s request and blocked PennEnergy’s request to use creek water in October (see PA DEP Blocks Use of SWPA Creek Water for Fracking). In an MDN exclusive, we have discovered (thanks to a tip from a sharp reader) that PennEnergy recently reapplied for a permit to draw water from Big Sewickley Creek–but this time the request is cut in half, to just 1.5 million gallons of water a day.
Read More “PennEnergy Reapplies to Use SWPA Creek Water for Fracking Ops”
Beaver County | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell

Shell PA Cracker Still 95% Done, Online This Yr, Use 96K b/d Ethane
April 7, 2022April 7, 2022

In January MDN reported comments by a Shell representative who said the mighty ethane cracker the company is building in Monaca (Beaver County), PA was 95% complete (see Shell Ethane Cracker 95% Complete, Online in “Matter of Months”). Nearly three months later a Shell rep said yesterday the plant is…still just 95% complete. However, the rep also said the plant is “well into commissioning” and will “be a fully operational site later this year.” According to analysts at the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), when the Shell plant comes online this year it will suck up 96,000 barrels per day (b/d) of Marcellus ethane.
Read More “Shell PA Cracker Still 95% Done, Online This Yr, Use 96K b/d Ethane”
Antero Resources | Armstrong County | Ascent Resources | Beaver County | Belmont County | Butler County | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Monroe County | Ohio | Ohio County | PennEnergy Resources | Pennsylvania | Snyder Brothers | Southwestern Energy | Susquehanna County | Tyler County | Washington County | Weekly Permits | West Virginia

31 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Mar 21-27
March 30, 2022March 30, 2022

Last week Pennsylvania issued 21 new shale well permits, with Snyder Brothers grabbing seven, PennEnergy Resources getting six, and Coterra Energy (formerly Cabot Oil & Gas) receiving five. In each case, the permits for each company were for a single well pad. Ohio issued just three new permits last week, two for Ascent Resources and one for Southwestern Energy. West Virginia finally came back to life, issuing seven new shale permits last week. Six of the WV permits were for Antero Resources, one for Southwestern Energy.
Read More “31 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Mar 21-27”
Ascent Resources | Beaver County | Energy Companies | Harrison County | Lycoming County | Ohio | PennEnergy Resources | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Repsol | Susquehanna County | Weekly Permits

6 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Feb 21-27
March 9, 2022March 9, 2022

The good news is that the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection’s online reporting site is back online and we were able to retrieve new shale drilling permits for two weeks ago (Feb. 21-27). The bad news is that there was a paltry four permits issued during that week. Perhaps the DEP site/system is not yet fully populated with permits issued during that time? Ohio issued two permits during the same week. And West Virginia issued (gasp) zero during that week. This has to be the lowest number of permits issued during a single week we can remember–ever.
Read More “6 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Feb 21-27”
Arsenal Resources | Ascent Resources | Beaver County | Belmont County | BKV/Banpu | Carroll County | Columbiana County | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Greene County (PA) | Harrison County | Hilcorp Energy | Infinity Natural Resources | Jay-Bee Oil & Gas | Marshall County | Ohio | Olympus/Huntley & Huntley | Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania General Energy | Pleasants County | Range Resources Corp | Repsol | Southwestern Energy | Susquehanna County | Tioga County (PA) | Tug Hill Operating | Washington County | Weekly Permits | West Virginia | Westmoreland County | Wyoming County (PA)

33 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jan 24-30
February 3, 2022February 3, 2022

Our apologies that this latest weekly permit update is a day late. Normally we issued these updates on Wednesdays. Yesterday the Pennsylvania database we use to locate information on new permits issued was throwing an error. We alerted the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection, which maintains the database, and they got it fixed sometime last night. So we’re back! Our thanks to the programmers at the DEP.

The total number of permits across PA, OH and WV last week were down by about half from the week before. There were 33 new permits issued last week vs. 61 two weeks ago.
Read More “33 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jan 24-30”
Armstrong County | Beaver County | Butler County | Energy Companies | ESG | Industrywide Issues | Lawrence County | PennEnergy Resources | Pennsylvania | Westmoreland County

PennEnergy Receives “Responsibly Sourced Gas” Rating for Most Wells
January 31, 2022January 31, 2022

PennEnergy Resources LLC, which according to the Pittsburgh Business Times is the 11th largest shale driller in Pennsylvania (with 405 active shale wells), has achieved responsibly sourced natural gas certification from Project Canary on nearly all of its wells. Project Canary has issued its top “Gold” and “Platinum” ratings on 375 of PennEnergy’s wells.

NOTE: This article was revised from an earlier version after MDN received a copy of the official press release.
Read More “PennEnergy Receives “Responsibly Sourced Gas” Rating for Most Wells”
Beaver County | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell

Shell Ethane Cracker 95% Complete, Online in “Matter of Months”
January 25, 2022January 25, 2022

Just a few weeks ago we told you a Shell rep said the mighty ethane cracker is 80% complete and the company is now searching for permanent employees to fill some 600 positions (see Shell Says PA Ethane Cracker 80% Done, Looking for Perm Workers). We have an update. Another Shell rep says the plant is now 95% complete! The local newspaper says the plant “will likely be online in a matter of months.”
Read More “Shell Ethane Cracker 95% Complete, Online in “Matter of Months””