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PA PUC Levies Another $2M in Penalties/Fines on ET Revolution Pipe
Double or nothing? More like double “or else.” In July we told you that Energy Transfer’s (ET) Revolution Pipeline in southwestern Pennsylvania was fined an additional $1 million by the PA Public Utility Commission (PUC) on top of previous fines totaling over $30 million because of an explosion (an accident) when the pipeline first went into service (see PA PUC Fines Revolution Pipe Another $1M on Top of $30M). The PUC has changed its mind and added another $975,000 to the total, just because…
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Anti-drilling zealots have hounded the Mariner East (ME) pipeline project from its beginning, attempting to block the completion of the third and final pipeline (ME2X), due to be done by the end of this year. One of the ways the zealots have attacked is via repeated charges brought to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC), the agency that oversees and regulates the intrastate ME system. In addition to unloading on Energy Transfer’s (ET) Revolution Pipeline system yesterday (see today’s lead story), the PUC also issued an order yesterday with some 14 actions (we call them todos) that ET must complete with regard to finishing construction of the ME system. Some of the todos deal with the ongoing operation of the ME system.
Yesterday MDN told you that the Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board (EQB), a division of the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), has accepted the petitions of rabid anti-drilling zealots aimed at boosting bonds to drill new conventional and unconventional (shale) wells (see 
WT Data Mining and Science Corp. wants to set up a bitcoin mining operation at a compressed natural gas (CNG) facility owned by Geopetro in Darlington Township (Beaver County), PA. WT Data Mining proposes to build an electric generator at the CNG site and use natural gas to generate massive amounts of electricity required to power the company’s computers that mine bitcoin. Some of the neighbors are concerned about noise.
The Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board (EQB) is a division of the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP). The EQB is one of the most powerful governmental agencies in the state, consisting of 20 members with the power to create new regulations. Some 11 of the EQB members are appointed by the governor, Tom Wolf in this case. The EQB yesterday voted 16-3 in favor of considering a petition to boost required bonds to drill new conventional wells by 1,500%, and bonds to drill new shale wells by 830%. The new bonds were proposed by virulent anti-fossil fuel groups with the aim to make it too costly to drill new wells. Wolf’s EQB-stacked board is cooperating with the antis.
Four weeks ago the total number of permits issued in the Marcellus/Utica was 22. Three weeks ago it fell to 9. Two weeks ago the numbers picked up somewhat, with 16 new permits. Last week? There was a combined 20 new shale permits. However, the usual order of things with Pennsylvania dominating the new permit numbers was turned upside down. Last week PA only had 2 new permits (can’t remember the number being that low for months, if ever). OH issued a whopping 11 new permits, and WV issued 7 new permits.
In October the owner of the Glen Riddle Station Apartment complex in Delaware County, PA convinced a county judge to order the release of emails between officials in Middletown Township and Energy Transfer, owner of the Mariner East pipeline system (see 
Anti-fossil fuelers at Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services and the FracTracker Alliance are asking Pennsylvania residents to report the road spreading of oil and gas wastewater. Bear in mind such spreading is legal (if it’s conventional oil and gas wastewater). Also bear in mind other sources of water are sometimes spread on dirt roads in PA, so there’s no practical way to tell if the water you see being spread came from a conventional well or a nearby creek. In essence, these anti groups want to turn PA residents into rats and snitches in hopes of…what? Proving that a legal activity is taking place?
You know it’s the end of the world when (in this case) the far-left editors of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, who universally hate shale drilling, support shale drilling under public parks in Allegheny County (Greater Pittsburgh). Last week MDN told you that anti-drilling zealots in Allegheny County were making yet another play, as they did eight years ago, to get County Council to pass a permanent ban on fracking under (not on) county parks (see 
Epsilon Energy concentrates most of its effort on the Marcellus in Susquehanna County, PA. Epsilon doesn’t typically do its own drilling. The company joint venture partners with (gives money to) other companies, like Chesapeake Energy, and the other company typically does the drilling. Epsilon issued its third quarter update on Wednesday. The company’s Marcellus net gas production was 2.6 Bcf (billion cubic feet) in total for 3Q21, compared to 3.0 Bcf of net gas production in 3Q20 (a 13% decrease). However, revenues were $13.1 million in 3Q21, compared to $5.8 million in 3Q20 (more than doubled). In addition to the 3Q numbers, we have an update on Epsilon’s lawsuit against its partner Chesapeake Energy.
We’ve seen the name a few times over the years, but Abarta Energy (aka Abarta Oil & Gas Co.) has not appeared on our radar often. The privately-owned company is based in Pittsburgh and owns (did own) assets, including wells and pipeline systems, in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky. On Sunday Abarta filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, reporting liabilities of $25.4 million and assets of $4.2 million. Abarta says it wants to liquidate/sell all of its remaining oil and gas assets.
What do you think of this one? The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) is launching a “favorites” list for Marcellus drilling and pipeline companies. You can earn yourself onto the list to get special treatment if you go to the extraordinary (and very expensive) lengths to do things the DEP wants you to do–things *not* required under current law, like “plugging abandoned oil wells, powering equipment with renewable energy, improving water quality in historically polluted streams and planting trees to offset greenhouse gas emissions.” Your reward for landing on the attaboy list? Your application for building a well pad or pipeline corridor will move to the top of the stack for review, leapfrogging those in line for a standard review. In other words, you’ll get the treatment the law guarantees (14 days for an erosion permit review) instead of the months and months of delays (in violation of the law) you get now. What a deal.