The results of a new “push poll” aimed at brainwashing people (as opposed to an honest poll reflecting people’s actual opinions) have just been released claiming most Pennsylvania voters think a $2.36 billion tax they will pay over the next 10 years after joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is just lovely.
Read More “Fraudulent Poll Claims 72% PA Residents Support High Carbon Tax”
Antis continue their public relations push to try and block a northeastern PA LNG liquefaction plant in Wyalusing, PA planned by New Fortress Energy (NFE), by claiming the LNG that will be shipped from the plant to the Philadelphia area, via trucks and rail, will be rolling “bombs on wheels.” However, an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer debunks those lies.
Read More “Claims of PA LNG by Truck & Rail as “Bombs on Wheels” Disproven”
Joe Biden held a drive-in “town hall” with a couple hundred of his closest friends attending last night in Scranton, PA. CNN, which hosted the town hall, covered up what Biden actually said about his intention to ban fracking. Why are we not surprised? What Biden said was that he would not ban fracking “right now,” leaving the open question of when (not if) he intends to ban it.
Read More “Biden Goes to Scranton, Says He Won’t Ban Fracking “Right Now””
As we told you on Monday, the Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board (EQB), a powerful committee operating under the larger umbrella of the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), held a hearing and cast a vote yesterday on whether or not PA should join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a tax on carbon for power generators (see Exclusive: PA EQB Board Member Speaks Out Against RGGI Carbon Tax). As we predicted on Monday, EQB, which is packed with political appointees by PA Gov. Tom Wolf, voted in favor of their boss’s plan. It would have been career suicide to vote against it.
Read More “EQB Votes to Approve Gov. Wolf’s $2.4B Carbon Tax on PA Residents”
For the third week in a row, both Pennsylvania and West Virginia issued permits to drill new shale wells last week, and Ohio did not. What’s up with Ohio? PA issued 13 new permits for wells on five well pads. WV issued 2 new permits on two different pads. PA’s new permits skewed toward the southwestern part of the state with 11 of the 13 permits issued (two in Bradford County in the northeast). The WV permits were both issued in Marshall County, located in the northern panhandle of the state.
Read More “Weekly Shale Drilling Permits for PA, OH, WV: Sep 7-11”
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has just published its 2019 Oil and Gas Annual Report. This is the fourth year in a row the DEP has published the report in an interactive, electronic (i.e.online) format ONLY. What does the 2019 report show? While permits issued and number of new wells drilled have both gone down (again), gas production has gone up (again)–to a new record high.
Read More “PA DEP 2019 Annual O&G Report: Permits Down, Production Record High”
On Tuesday, Sept. 15 the Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board (EQB), one of over two dozen boards and committees and commissions part of the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), will hold a hearing and cast a key vote on Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposal to force the state to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). The EQB is one of four rulemaking authorities within the DEP–perhaps the most powerful DEP committee, with the power to create new binding regulations affecting every citizen in the state. Although tomorrow’s vote won’t be the final vote enacting Wolf’s plan, it is an important vote, a key vote, and will significantly advance the process of joining RGGI. One EQB member, Mark Caskey, is sounding the alarm on RGGI, pledging to vote against it. MDN interviewed Mark last week. Below is a summary of our talk.
Read More “Exclusive: PA EQB Board Member Speaks Out Against RGGI Carbon Tax”
Sounding downright nasty and mean, the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Pat McDonnell has ordered Sunoco Logistics Partners (Energy Transfer) to reroute part of the Mariner East 2X pipeline around Marsh Creek Lake State Park, following a spill of nontoxic drilling mud that ended up in Marsh Creek Lake in Chester County. McDonnell uses combative and incendiary words like Sunoco “blatantly disregarded the citizens” of Chester County, has been “careless” and is guilty of “unlawful actions.” In a rather uppity tone, McDonnell says he will “not stand for more of the same” and he is “demanding a proper cleanup” of the site. Sunoco has been working diligently to clean up the spill since it happened.
Read More “PA DEP Orders Sunoco to Reroute ME2X Pipeline Around State Park”
Last Friday a federal judge in Pennsylvania rejected arguments from three Tioga County, PA landowners who claimed Marcellus driller Repsol did not have a right to install a gathering pipeline across their property. The landowners leased their property for oil and gas development and their property now flows gas, for which they’re paid royalties. Even so, the landowners claim Repsol does not have the right to build a pipeline because it flows gas from other properties not part of their unit. Like all lawsuits, this one is complicated, but instructive for landowners (and drillers) when it comes to pipelines and leases.
Read More “Tioga County, PA Leased Landowners Lose Case to Block Gathering Pipe”
Pin Oak Midstream, a subsidiary of Pin Oak Energy Partners, a relatively young Marcellus/Utica driller based in Akron, OH, has purchased most of the pipeline assets of Laurel Mountain Midstream for an undisclosed amount. The assets include 1,050 miles of natural gas-gathering pipelines and five compressor stations located in three Pennsylvania counties.
Read More “Pin Oak Buys Laurel Mountain Pipe System from Williams/Chevron”
Most political analysts believe this year’s presidential election may come down to one or two states–namely Pennsylvania and Ohio. If Biden can win in those two states, he stands a good chance of winning the election (an absolute nightmare!). But here’s what you don’t hear from mainstream media: the election may well turn on the issue of shale fracking. Counties in PA and OH, like Washington County in southwestern PA, are likely where the race will be won or lost. It’s not looking good for old ban-fracking Joe.
Read More “PA Shale Fracking Becomes Major Issue in Presidential Campaign”
Yesterday the full Pennsylvania Senate passed House Bill (HB) 2025, a bill already passed by the House previously. The bill now goes to Democrat leftist Gov. Tom Wolf, who says he will veto it. The bill restores democracy to the Commonwealth by giving the legislature–the very people elected to be the voice of PA citizens–a role in deciding whether or not PA should join the so-called Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI)–which is nothing more than an obscenely high tax on carbon meant to kill coal and natural gas-fired power plants in the state–a major customer of Marcellus gas.
Read More “PA Senate Passes Bill Giving Legislators Say in RGGI Carbon Tax”
S&P Global Market Intelligence has done some forensic analysis of permits issued to drill new shale wells in Pennsylvania during August 2020. They compared last month’s permit numbers with the numbers from a year ago and found that PA issued 77 new permits last month, down 24% from August 2019.
Read More “PA Shale Drilling Permits Down 24% in August, but EQT Roars Back”
The Republican-controlled Pennsylvania legislature continues its quest to stop Gov. Tom Wolf from illegally assuming powers he does not have to force the state into a carbon tax scheme called the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). Last Thursday the state Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee voted to report out two bills for a full Senate vote that will block Wolf’s Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) from joining RGGI without legislative approval.
Read More “PA Senate Advances Bills to Stop Wolf RGGI Carbon Tax”
In 2010 gigantic Japanese trading house Sumitomo Corp. bought a 30% stake (joint venture) in Rex Energy’s Marcellus drilling operation in Bulter County, PA for $150.7 million. Sumitomo wrote down much of the value for that purchase in 2015. In 2018 Rex went bankrupt and now PennEnergy Resources owns and operates the Butler assets (see Rex Energy Sells Itself to PennEnergy Resources for $600M). PennEnergy is getting a new JV partner. Yesterday Sumitomo announced the sale of their 30% share of the action.
Read More “Sumitomo Corp Sells JV Stake in Butler County, PA Marcellus”
A few weeks ago MDN told you about Peregrine Energy Partners buying royalty payment rights from landowners in Doddridge County, WV (see Peregrine Buys Royalty Rights from Doddridge County, WV Landowners). We have another purchase by Peregrine, this time in Monroe County, OH. Plus a similar company that buys royalty interests has made its second such acquisition in the M-U–in Washington County, PA.
Read More “Some Landowners Sell Royalty Payments to Third Parties in PA, OH”