Lycoming County

Accidents | Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Companies | Exxon Mobil | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | XTO

Shakedown Complete: XTO Pays PA AG $400K to Make Case Go Away
August 5, 2016August 16, 2016

Just prior to going on trial for committing felonies while in office, Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane (Democrat) needed something, ANYTHING, to distract the press from focusing on her own crimes. Since she took office in January 2013, Kane has targeted the Marcellus industry. One of the first high profile cases she manufactured (out of nothing) was to accuse XTO Energy of committing a crime in an accidental spill of a few thousand gallons of frack wastewater–an accident in Lycoming County, PA that happened years before she took office and didn’t have any long-term effects (see PA AG Abuses Her Authority, Files Criminal Charges Against XTO). The case Kane has tried to manufacture against XTO, launched in her first year in office, is finally over. Instead of dragging it out further, XTO decided to pay Kane $400,000 to make it all go away (called a shakedown in the organized crime world). Kane is settling with XTO using a “rehabilitation” program normally used for drunk drivers without a prior record–that’s how desperate she is to get this case settled and turn the focus away from herself for a few days. “Coincidentally” Kane’s own felony trial begins on Monday. It’ll be a sweet day to watch her frog marched out in leg irons when she’s convicted…
Read More “Shakedown Complete: XTO Pays PA AG $400K to Make Case Go Away”
Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | SWEPI

Court Forces SWEPI to Pay PA Landowners $4.1M in Lease Dispute
July 19, 2016July 21, 2016

The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania has sided with landowners in a dispute with Shell’s shale drilling arm, called SWEPI (Shell Western Exploration Production Inc.). SWEPI signed a lease with two landowners who own a collective 1,036 acres in Lycoming County. SWEPI promised a $4,000 per acre signing bonus, but a few months after signing SWEPI decided they didn’t want the acreage after all and tried to cancel the lease and the bonus payment. The judge ordered SWEPI to pay $2,072,000 to each of the two landowner families…
Read More “Court Forces SWEPI to Pay PA Landowners $4.1M in Lease Dispute”
Bradford County | Electrical Generation | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lycoming County | Panda Power Funds | Pennsylvania

Panda Power’s 2 PA Marcellus-Fired Electric Plants Complete!
June 22, 2016June 21, 2016

In August 2013, Moxie Energy of Vienna, VA sold the permits/rights to build a new Marcellus gas-powered electric generating plant in Bradford County, PA to Panda Power Funds of Dallas, TX (see Moxie Liberty Sells PA Electric Plant Project to Panda Power). The project was renamed from Moxie Liberty to Panda Liberty. A few months later, in December 2013, Moxie sold a second Marcellus-gas fired electric plant project to Panda, this one slated to be built in Lycoming County, PA (see Panda Power Buys Rights for 2nd Marcellus-Fueled Electric Plant). That project was renamed from Moxie Patriot to Panda Patriot. Panda contracted with Gemma Power Systems (Connecticut) to build both 829-megawatt plants. We have some terrific news to share: Gemma reports completing both facilities and has turned them over to Panda to begin operation!…
Read More “Panda Power’s 2 PA Marcellus-Fired Electric Plants Complete!”
Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Regulation

PA DEP Drops $8.9M Fine Against Range Res. re Methane Migration
May 23, 2016May 23, 2016

In June 2015 then-Secretary of the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), John Quigley, slapped Range Resources with an $8.9 million fine–the largest such fine ever levied by the DEP (see PA DEP Slaps Range with Record $8.9M Fine for Methane Migration). Range’s enviro “crime?” Methane migration from a well in Lycoming County, PA. The DEP says the Range well, drilled in 2011, leaked methane since at least 2013 via an improperly cemented well casing, and the methane “contaminated the groundwater-fed wells of private water supplies, and a nearby stream.” Range and the landowner where the well is drilled say methane was in groundwater supplies long before Range drilled the well. Range fought the action tooth and nail, appealing the determination and fine to the PA Environmental Hearing Board (see PA DEP’s $8.9M Methane Migration Fine Appealed by Range Resources). Although the DEP is being hush hush, in early May the DEP dropped the fine and the case against Range…
Read More “PA DEP Drops $8.9M Fine Against Range Res. re Methane Migration”
Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania

Bank Wipes Out Marcellus Welder’s Bank Accounts “Without Warning”
May 9, 2016May 9, 2016

Be careful who you bank with. That’s the lesson from welding/fabricating company NuWeld Inc., headquartered in Williamsport, PA, NuWeld does a lot of business with the oil and gas industry, and lately that industry has been in decline in the Keystone State. The decline led to NuWeld’s bank, BB&T, getting skittish. BB&T, according to NuWeld, cleaned out their bank accounts. Took all of the money in them–and without money, NuWeld had to lay off all 150 employees. Apparently the money was the bank’s to take–but the reason they took it (cold feet instead of unpaid bills), is what grates. And the way they took it, without any warning, really grates. Here’s the story of “be careful who you bank with”…
Read More “Bank Wipes Out Marcellus Welder’s Bank Accounts “Without Warning””
Electrical Generation | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lycoming County | Northumberland County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Snyder County | UGI Energy Services | Union County

UGI Sunbury Pipeline Gets FERC Approval, Built by November?
May 2, 2016May 2, 2016

UGI Marcellus assets map – click for larger version

Contrary to the lies spread by anti-pipeline groups like THE Delaware Riverkeeper, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is no rubber stamp for the oil and gas industry. In December 2014 Pennsylvania utility company UGI pre-filed an application to build a new 35-mile pipeline to feed a natgas-powered electric generating plant in Snyder County, PA (see UGI Pre-Files with FERC for New Marcellus Pipeline in Central PA and UGI Building 35-Mile Pipeline for Panda Power Electric Plant). The project was estimated to cost $150 million–money that goes into the local economy. It took long enough, but last week the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) finally approved the project. The 20-inch Sunbury Pipeline will start in Lycoming County and travel through Montour, Union, and Northumberland counties, cross the Susquehanna River and ending up at Hummel Station Plant in Shamokin Dam in Synder County…
Read More “UGI Sunbury Pipeline Gets FERC Approval, Built by November?”
Energy Services | Halliburton | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania

Ouch: Halliburton Axed ~200 Jobs in Lycoming County Last Friday
April 27, 2016April 27, 2016

Just a few years ago Halliburton, the second largest oilfield services company in the world, employed 600 people in its operation center located in Lycoming County, PA. Today? There are 40 working there. Some 200 of Halliburton’s Lycoming employees were laid off last Friday. Lycoming County is relatively rural with the city of Williamsport as its county seat. Losing 560 jobs, 200 of them in one go, is a huge blow to the area. We grieve with those who have lost their jobs–and with their families who depended on those jobs…
Read More “Ouch: Halliburton Axed ~200 Jobs in Lycoming County Last Friday”
Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Regulation

PA DEP’s $8.9M Methane Migration Fine Appealed by Range Resources
April 4, 2016April 4, 2016

Last June the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) sent Range Resource a notice they planned to fine the company a whopping $8.9 million for methane migration into water wells and a nearby stream in Lycoming County, PA (see PA DEP Slaps Range with Record $8.9M Fine for Methane Migration). The DEP said the Range well, drilled in 2011, had been leaking methane since at least 2013 (improperly cemented well casing) and the methane had “contaminated the groundwater-fed wells of private water supplies, and a nearby stream.” But the DEP never actually sent a bill for the fine to Range. Why? Because Range immediately appealed the DEP’s initial notice to the PA Environmental Hearing Board. It now appears the appeal process will drag on at least until the dog days of summer–in July…
Read More “PA DEP’s $8.9M Methane Migration Fine Appealed by Range Resources”
Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Washington County

Range Resources Lays off 55, including 33 in PA
February 3, 2016February 3, 2016

Yesterday Range Resources, the fourth largest driller in the Marcellus, announced the company is laying off 55 people companywide, with 31 of those positions located in Washington County, PA. Another 20 positions will be eliminated in Range’s home office located in Fort Worth, TX. Two of the jobs disappearing will be in Williamsport, PA, and the final two in Oklahoma. Range CEO Ray Walker used the same identical language he’s used twice before (lazy PR department?) in saying, “Low commodity prices have created a harsh reality that everyone in our industry is facing.” Indeed. The oil and gas industry is facing the toughest market it’s had in 30 years…
Read More “Range Resources Lays off 55, including 33 in PA”
Anadarko | Energy Companies | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania

Anadarko 2015: Loses $6.7B, Marcellus Drilling Almost Dried Up
February 3, 2016February 3, 2016

Anadarko Petroleum is a huge oil and gas company with drilling operations scattered all over the world–both onshore and offshore. One of those operations, teeny tiny for Anadarko, is in the Marcellus Shale in Lycoming County, PA. Some of their leases are for land in the Loyalsock State Forest where antis are attempting to stop Anadarko from drilling (see Antis Ask PA Gov Wolf to Stop New Drilling in Loyalsock Forest). Don’t worry, Anadarko can take a hint. What was once a very active drilling program in PA for Anadarko just a few years ago–with 30, 40, even 60 permits being issued for wells in any given four month period–has dried up to virtually nothing. For the last four months of 2015 Anadarko received 4 permits to drill in PA, according to the latest data from the Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook. On Monday Anadarko released their fourth quarter and full year 2015 results. The company posted a $1.25 billion loss for 4Q15 alone. The company lost $6.7 billion for the full year. Yikes! Grab the tourniquets before the company bleeds out! Anadarko announced spending for 2016 will be slashed 50% over 2015 spending levels…
Read More “Anadarko 2015: Loses $6.7B, Marcellus Drilling Almost Dried Up”
Accidents | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | XTO

XTO Sues DOJ for Documents Needed in PA Trial over 2010 Spill
January 19, 2016January 19, 2016

Last Thursday XTO Energy sued the U.S. Department of Justice to obtain documents that XTO says may help clear its good name in the vicious (we’d say illegal) criminal lawsuit against it over an accidental spill that happened in Lycoming County, PA in 2010. The DOJ investigated and found XTO did not act criminally and the case was settled. Then, more than three years later, PA’s new Attorney General, Kathleen Kane (now under criminal indictment herself and about to be removed from office) decided she would charge XTO with crimes against the environment–for an accident (see PA AG Abuses Her Authority, Files Criminal Charges Against XTO). Since the feds had already investigated and found no wrongdoing, XTO would like their documents to use in defending themselves in a lawsuit that’s about to begin (see XTO Criminal Trial for Accident Spill in PA Delayed Until 2016). But the feds are dragging their feet and making fishy excuses, like they don’t have enough secretaries to find and copy all of the documents requested. XTO has had to sue the DOJ to force them to go find the documents…
Read More “XTO Sues DOJ for Documents Needed in PA Trial over 2010 Spill”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Inflection Energy | Litigation | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania

Inflection Energy Defeats Delaware Riverkeeper in Lycoming Co.
December 8, 2015December 8, 2015

It doesn’t happen often enough, which is why we make a big deal of it when it does: An energy company (in this case Inflection Energy) completely, utterly, and humiliatingly defeated THE Delaware Riverkeeper in an important court case in Lycoming County, PA. Less than a month ago we brought you the news that a Lycoming County judge had told an anti-driller, backed by Delaware Riverkeeper and Riverkeeper attorney Jordan Yeager, that the case they had filed to prevent Inflection Energy from drilling a legally permitted well was frivolous. The judge said he would allow the case to go forward, but only if the anti (and Riverkeeper) put up big bucks as collateral for the eventuality that they would likely lose (see PA Judge to Antis Seeking Drilling Delay: Put Up $5.69M or Shut Up). Turns out making these sleazeballs put their money where their mouth is, is good medicine. Riverkeeper and its “client” (the local anti-driller) have bowed out. The case is now closed and can’t be re-opened–and it sets a precedent for similar cases. In other words, the good guys won this time!…
Read More “Inflection Energy Defeats Delaware Riverkeeper in Lycoming Co.”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Inflection Energy | Litigation | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania

PA Judge to Antis Seeking Drilling Delay: Put Up $5.69M or Shut Up
November 17, 2015November 17, 2015

Here’s a story we LOVE bringing you. A Pennsylvania county judge, Senior Judge Brendan J. Vanston (Lycoming County), has just told an anti-driller to put up or shut up. Inflection Energy had been legally permitted to begin drilling a well in Loyalsock Township in Lycoming County. As they so often do, an anti-driller objected, filing an appeal to stop the drilling in an attempt to delay it by (ab)using the courts. The judge said, in essence, “OK, if you want to play this game, you need to put up $5.69 million as a bond–money you will lose if you don’t prove your frivolous case.” We predict the case will quickly disappear and Inflection will begin drilling…
Read More “PA Judge to Antis Seeking Drilling Delay: Put Up $5.69M or Shut Up”
Anadarko | Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Crime | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania

Earth First Protesters Convicted, Fined for Blocking PA Drill Site
November 17, 2015November 17, 2015

A couple of radical “Earth First” protesters were fined $400 each last Friday in a Lycoming County, PA court, having been convicted of creating a hazardous situation by “crossing the line” according to the judge. The conviction stems from a case we reported to you last year when a group of nutters shut down an Anadarko drilling site in Lycoming County by chaining themselves to a 12-foot long, shrapnel-filled concrete pipe they had laid across a road (see Protesters Shut Down Anadarko Drill Site in Lycoming County, PA). First responders had to risk their own lives to cut them free, through concrete intentionally embedded with shrapnel (we wouldn’t have been as understanding or gentle as the first responders). Just to show you how big a splash a few committed ~~psychos~~ protesters can make, one of the two fined for $400 (and ordered to perform 50 hours of community service) in Lycoming County last week was also one of the ~~idiots~~ protesters who endangered fans at the Indianapolis Colts/Carolina Panthers NFL game by rappelling down from an upper deck to unfurl a big sign opposing the Cove Point LNG plant (see Cove Point Protesters Disrupt Monday Night Football Game on TV). Same dude–a serial lawbreaker…
Read More “Earth First Protesters Convicted, Fined for Blocking PA Drill Site”
Crime | Industrywide Issues | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania

Canadian Mounties Visit Marcellus to Learn About Greens Who Go Bad
November 10, 2015November 10, 2015

There is a segment of the radical environmental movement that resorts to violence. That is indisputable as we’ve seen it–in the Marcellus/Utica. To be fair, violence by antis doesn’t happen often. We would say most of the anti movement is non-violent (although a fair number do tend toward criminality with “non-violent” protests). But there are those among radical greens who cross the line and engage in acts of violence and terror, sometimes aimed at people who work in the industry (see FBI Investigates Death Threats Against PennEast Pipeline Workers and Domestic Eco-Terrorism: Worker Shot at Rural WV Oil Well Site). Anti-drillers in Canada (or anywhere in the world, for that matter) are no different than anti-drillers in the United States. Some of them turn violent. For that reason, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (the Mounties) visited Williamsport, PA in June 2014 to learn more about how their American cousins deal with greens who go bad. Apparently this story–that the Mounties came here to learn about dealing with green crazies–is just now coming to light…
Read More “Canadian Mounties Visit Marcellus to Learn About Greens Who Go Bad”
Accidents | Crime | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | XTO

XTO Criminal Trial for Accident Spill in PA Delayed Until 2016
October 23, 2015October 23, 2015

Not long after she took office, Pennsylvania’s Democrat Attorney General, Kathleen Kane, brought criminal charges against XTO Energy for an accidental spill in Lycoming County, PA that happened two years before she was in office (see PA AG Abuses Her Authority, Files Criminal Charges Against XTO). Kane herself will likely soon be forcibly removed from office because she lied under oath, a criminal offense called perjury, and has now lost her license to practice law (see End is Near: PA AG Kane’s Law License Suspended by Supreme Court). The last we heard anything about Kane’s sham case against XTO is that Democrat Lycoming County Judge Marc Lovecchio refused to dismiss the charges against XTO in April (see Democrat County Judge Rules PA AG’s Case Against XTO Can Proceed). We have a development to report. XTO has been trying to work out a deal with the AG’s office to make this asinine criminal charge go away. You can be sure it involves lots of money (a government shakedown of XTO). So XTO has filed a continuance request, pushing the trial off until 2016. The judge granted the request because XTO says “meaningful discussion$” have been held, which means a trial may be avoided altogether…
Read More “XTO Criminal Trial for Accident Spill in PA Delayed Until 2016”