Pennsylvania 220 - Marcellus Drilling News

Chester County DA: Using Off-Duty Police as ME2 Security a Crime

January 23, 2019January 23, 2019

Here’s how the District Attorney in Chester County, Pennsylvania–Tom Hogan–spends his days: Attempting to turn off-duty policeman working as security guards for the Mariner East pipeline projects into criminals. Is this guy sick or what?
Read More “Chester County DA: Using Off-Duty Police as ME2 Security a Crime”

Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA DEP Official Says Oil & Gas Program Losing $800K per Month

January 23, 2019January 25, 2019

Yesterday the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Deputy Secretary for Oil and Gas Management, Scott Perry, told DEP’s Citizens Advisory Council his program is losing $800,000 a month, which he desperately, desperately hopes will be fixed soon by slapping a 250% hike in permit fees on Marcellus drillers.
Read More “PA DEP Official Says Oil & Gas Program Losing $800K per Month”

New Mariner East 1 Sinkhole Appears, PA PUC Shuts Down Pipeline

January 22, 2019January 22, 2019

New ME1 sinkhole in Chester County (credit: WPVI-TV Channel 6)

On Sunday a new sinkhole appeared in the backyard of a home in West Whiteland Township (Chester County), PA exposing a small portion of Energy Transfer’s Mariner East 1 (ME1) NGL pipeline.
Read More “New Mariner East 1 Sinkhole Appears, PA PUC Shuts Down Pipeline”

SWPA Revolution Pipe Still Closed After Explosion; ET, DEP Argue

January 22, 2019January 22, 2019

Revolution Pipeline explosion – Sept. 2018

On Sept. 10, Energy Transfer’s 24-inch gathering pipeline in Beaver County, PA, called the Revolution Pipeline, caught fire and exploded during testing (see Revolution Pipeline Near Pittsburgh Explodes – Home & Barn Destroyed).
Read More “SWPA Revolution Pipe Still Closed After Explosion; ET, DEP Argue”

Franklin Park Tries to Block Fracking After Rejecting $1M+ Proposal

January 22, 2019January 22, 2019

It appears the “leaders” of Franklin Park Borough in Allegheny County aren’t satisfied enough that they’ve rejected a free $1 million from PennEnergy Resources to drill under a town park (see Franklin Park Turns Down $1M+ to Drill Under Linbrook Park). Nope. Now they essentially want to ban fracking in the borough by passing an onerous new zoning ordinance.
Read More “Franklin Park Tries to Block Fracking After Rejecting $1M+ Proposal”

CNX Resources | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Westmoreland County

CNX Files to Drill 4 Utica Wells on Pad w/Existing Marcellus Wells

January 18, 2019January 18, 2019

Drillers like CNX Resources (formerly CONSOL Energy) file to drill new shale wells on a pretty regular basis, no big deal. So why would we highlight CNX’s recent filing to drill four Utica wells in Westmoreland County, PA?
Read More “CNX Files to Drill 4 Utica Wells on Pad w/Existing Marcellus Wells”

PA PUC Affirms Decision to Reject ME 1&2 Pipe Shutdown Request

January 18, 2019January 18, 2019

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) yesterday upheld an administrative law judge’s December decision against an “emergency” request by pipeline opponents to shut down both Mariner East 1 and 2 by claiming they are unsafe and need to be stopped. Can we FINALLY put this to rest and move on? ME1 and ME2 are both now online. There’s no going back.
Read More “PA PUC Affirms Decision to Reject ME 1&2 Pipe Shutdown Request”

Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

RINO PA Sen. Tomlinson Introducing 5% Severance Tax Bill

January 18, 2019January 20, 2019

We expect liberal Democrats like the far-left PA Gov. Tom Wolf to keep harping on a Marcellus-killing severance tax on natgas production in PA, even though the state already taxes production via an impact fee (i.e. tax). That’s what lib Dems do! They take money from economic producers and give it away to economic parasites who vote them into office–like teachers’ unions. But we don’t expect Republicans to sponsor such dumb initiatives.
Read More “RINO PA Sen. Tomlinson Introducing 5% Severance Tax Bill”

Ambridge Water Authority Changes Tune re Shell Ethane Pipeline

January 18, 2019January 18, 2019

Shell has calmed the troubled Ambridge waters–that is, the Ambridge Water Authority waters. Shell hit a snag with plans to build its Falcon Ethane Pipeline when the Ambridge Water Authority claimed construction of the pipeline under several streams feeding the Ambridge reservoir would endanger the drinking water for 30,000 people (see Ambridge Water Authority Strongly Opposes Shell Ethane Pipe Route).
Read More “Ambridge Water Authority Changes Tune re Shell Ethane Pipeline”

Allegheny County | Energy Companies | PennEnergy Resources | Pennsylvania

Franklin Park Turns Down $1M+ to Drill Under Linbrook Park

January 17, 2019January 17, 2019

The political “leaders” in Franklin Park (Allegheny County, near Pittsburgh) have decided to reject a proposal to drill a shale well under (not on) the 80-acre Linbrook Park. With a signing bonus of $283,500 plus 18% royalties, the Franklin Park Borough would have seen revenue of *at least* $1 million. Talk about stupid.
Read More “Franklin Park Turns Down $1M+ to Drill Under Linbrook Park”

Was PA Supreme Court Right to Tax Strippers? PIOGA Pushes Back

January 17, 2019March 8, 2019

Did the Pennsylvania Supreme Court err in its judgment declaring so-called “stripper wells” can be taxed under the 2012 Act 13 law, slapped with an impact fee assessment, if those wells produce more than 90 thousand cubic feet per day (Mcf/d) of gas in a single month (see PA Supreme Court Rules Strippers Not Exempt from Impact Fee)? We have a different take on the high court’s decision than others.
Read More “Was PA Supreme Court Right to Tax Strippers? PIOGA Pushes Back”

County DA’s ME2 Pipe Criminal Probe Evidence: Instagram Post

January 17, 2019January 17, 2019

Chester County DA Tom Hogan, conducting a sham criminal investigation of ME2 Pipeline

Since when did calling a woman on Instagram a “retard” and a “c–t” become a crime? Sure, the language is crude and offensive. But a crime?! A pipeline worker in the Philly area used that language responding (in exasperation) to an anti, and his comments appear to be all the evidence Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan has so far in his “criminal” probe of Mariner East 2 pipeline.
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Greene County (PA) | Lease & Royalty Payments | Pennsylvania

Peregrine Energy Buys Royalty Rights in Greene County, PA

January 16, 2019January 16, 2019

There are companies that will purchase landowners’ (rights owners) royalty payments–giving them a lump sum payment up front in return for signing over all future royalty payments to the company buying the rights. Peregrine Energy Partners is one such company and has just purchased an unspecified amount of royalty payments in Greene County, PA.
Read More “Peregrine Energy Buys Royalty Rights in Greene County, PA”

Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Lackawanna County | Pennsylvania

PA’s Largest NatGas-Fired Electric Plant Officially Online

January 16, 2019January 16, 2019

Lackawanna Energy Center (click for larger version)

Invenergy blasted out a press release yesterday to announce that their 1,480 megawatt, $1 billion Marcellus gas-fired electric plant, called the Lackawanna Energy Center (located near Scranton, PA) is now fully, 100%, online.
Read More “PA’s Largest NatGas-Fired Electric Plant Officially Online”

Delayed ME2 Pipeline Cost PA a $675M Plastics Plant + 1K Lost Jobs

January 16, 2019January 16, 2019

Braskem USA, headquartered in Philadelphia had a decision to make in 2016: Locate a new polypropylene plant in their own backyard, at the Marcus Hook refinery site on the outskirts of Philly–or locate it in Texas. They picked Texas because not enough NGLs (propane) were flowing to Marcus Hook due to delays (caused by Big Green lawsuits) in the Mariner East 2 pipeline.
Read More “Delayed ME2 Pipeline Cost PA a $675M Plastics Plant + 1K Lost Jobs”

Allegheny County | Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | PennEnergy Resources | Pennsylvania

Big Crowd Turns Out to Support/Oppose Drilling Under SWPA Park

January 15, 2019January 15, 2019

The mystery is now solved. Last week we incorrectly (based on a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review article) reported that FirstEnergy wants to drill a well under (not on) Linbrook Park, located in the Borough of Franklin Park in Allegheny County (see original story here). It’s not FirstEnergy but PennEnergy that wants to do the drilling.
Read More “Big Crowd Turns Out to Support/Oppose Drilling Under SWPA Park”