Pennsylvania

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    MDN Guide to the PA DEP 2016 Annual Oil & Gas Report

    The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) yesterday published its 2016 Oil and Gas Annual Report. This year the DEP has published the report in an interactive, electronic (i.e.online) format ONLY, with a stated purpose “to improve public access to well information.” This is the first time the report has been published electronically. While it’s interesting to have the report issued online only, it’s not as useful as a PDF or printed document, in our humble opinion. DEP Acting Secretary Pat McDonnell said, “Pennsylvania is the second-largest producer of natural gas in the country and one of the most transparent states in making oil and gas data publicly accessible. Making the Annual Report completely digital is just the next step in our continued effort to share as much information as possible.” We’ll give the DEP an “A” for effort, but a “C” for execution. What does the report show? The number of unconventional (shale) well drilling permits issued in 2016 decreased 59% since 2014. The total number of conventional well drilling permits issued in 2016 decreased 87% since 2014. It is a dramatic drop. There were 1,321 unconventional well drilling permits issued in 2016, and 158 conventional well drilling permits issued in 2016. Even though the number of permits to drill new wells dropped from 2015 to 2016, the number of well inspections hit an all-time high in 2016–some 35,556 inspections. The boys and girls at the DEP have been busy beavers. Below we have the DEP announcement about the new report and its format, along with select charts & information–so you don’t have to wade through the (somewhat confusing) report yourself. We call it the MDN Guide to PA’s 2016 Oil and Gas Annual Report…
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    Digital H2O Comes to the Marcellus/Utica

    Digital H2O is a “digital oilfield water management solutions company.” What the heck does that mean? Water is not only the key ingredient in life, it’s also the key ingredient in the shale industry. It takes a lot of water to drill and frack a shale well. Locating sources for that water, getting it shipped to and then from a well pad, and disposing of it, is a logistical challenge. Digital H2O helps helps drillers source water, transport it, and dispose of it–at a cheaper cost than they otherwise could have. Digital H2O accomplishes this magic with a sophisticated computer software program–populated with all sorts of information (i.e. data). Until now, Digital H2O has concentrated its service on the Permian and Bakken shale regions in Texas, North Dakota, and New Mexico. The company has now turned its attention to the Pennsylvania Marcellus and now offers it service in our neck of the woods… Read More “Digital H2O Comes to the Marcellus/Utica”

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    Tiresome: Philly RINO Rep Gene DiGirolamo Intros Severance Tax Again

    Rep. Gene DiGirolamo

    Pennsylvania State Rep. Gene DiGirolamo, a Republican-in-Name-Only (RINO) from the Philadelphia area, has been trying to punish the Marcellus industry in the state since 2011 when he first introduced legislation to impose a Marcellus-killing severance tax. And pretty much every year since then he has re-introduced a severance tax bill. Sometimes it’s for 3.2%. Other times 4.9% (see our DiGirolamo stories here). It appears he just plucks a number out the air and goes with it. DiGirolamo is back with yet another such plan. He has just introduced House Bill (HB) 1401, which would slap a 3.2% severance tax on all shale gas production. The socialist CLEAR Coalition–which advocates theft of other people’s money to fund their favorite “public” causes–held a rally to support the thefty HB 1401. RINO DiGirolamo showed up, the only “Republican” to do so. All of the other officials present were liberal Democrats. What does that tell you about this bill and its sponsor?… Read More “Tiresome: Philly RINO Rep Gene DiGirolamo Intros Severance Tax Again”

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    Thai Company Banpu Invests in Another 34 Marcellus Wells in NEPA

    One year ago, Banpu Pcl, Thailand’s largest coal producer, invested $112 million to purchase Range Resources’ Marcellus non-operated JV operations in Bradford County, PA (see Thai Company Buys Out Range Resources’ JV in NEPA for $112M). The “Chaffee Corners Joint Exploration Agreement” gave Banpu an ownership share in 62 producing wells and another 14 wells waiting on completion, and a share in 170+ more drilling locations. Talisman is the operator of the wells and the company that does the drilling (Banpu is just an investor). Banpu liked it so much, they did it again in January of this year (see Thai Company Banpu Makes 2nd Investment in Northeast Marcellus). The January deal gave Banpu a 10.24% stake in 10,000 acres of Marcellus leases, once again in northeastern PA, for $63 million. Chief Oil & Gas is the driller on the acreage in the second deal. Then in March, Banpu signed an agreement to invest $16 million into a venture with Tug Hill Marcellus (see Thai Company Banpu Invests Another $16M in PA Marcellus Wells). It seems that Banpu can’t get enough of the Marcellus in northeastern PA. The company just announced a fourth deal to invest in more NEPA acreage and wells. How many wells? What county is the new deal located in? And which driller is the operator of that acreage? We give you the details you won’t find elsewhere…
    Read More “Thai Company Banpu Invests in Another 34 Marcellus Wells in NEPA”

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    DEP Grants Air Permit for 2nd Gas-Fired Elec Plant Near Scranton

    The largest (so far) Marcellus Shale-gas fired electric plant in Pennsylvania is currently under construction in Lackawanna County, PA (near Scranton). The Lackawanna Energy Center, being built in Jessup by Invenergy, will produce 1,480 megawatts of electricity. However, there is a second, smaller Marcellus-fired electric plant also in the works. Last October, MDN brought you the news that Archbald Energy Partners, a collaboration between Canada-based EmberClear Corp. and New Jersey-based DCO Energy, wants to build a plant in Archbald, PA (again, near Scranton) that will produce 485 megawatts of electricity (see 2nd NatGas Electric Plant Proposed for Lackawanna County, PA). The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced yesterday they have issued an air quality permit for the Archbald project. This is an important step in the process of building the plant. Although more permits will be needed, we’d say the major hurdles have now been crossed. Below is the DEP announcement, a copy of the full air quality permit issued (68 pages), and responses to comments from members of the community who complained about the project…
    Read More “DEP Grants Air Permit for 2nd Gas-Fired Elec Plant Near Scranton”

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    DEP Appeals $4.5M Wastewater Leak Fine Against EQT to Supremes

    There’s a reason hospitals and court rooms are frequently the settings for soap operas on TV–there’s always so much drama surrounding medicine and the law–the latter of which is our focus today. In January MDN reported what seemed like the final chapter in a long, drawn-out case between Marcellus driller EQT and the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP). In October 2014, the DEP fined EQT a whopping $4.53 million for a leaky wastewater impoundment in Tioga County, PA (see PA DEP Levies Biggest Fine Ever, $4.5M Against EQT). While EQT did not say there wasn’t a problem with leaks at the site, they did say the way the DEP calculated the fine is unreasonable and arbitrary. In fact, EQT says the DEP levied the fine and took EQT to court because a few weeks prior EQT had sued the DEP over a different matter–that is, sour grapes. EQT appealed the fine and the case all the way to the PA Supreme Court. In December 2015, the high court handed EQT a “procedural victory” by saying EQT has a point about the manner in which the DEP is calculating the fine (see PA Supreme Court Gives EQT “Procedural Victory” in $4.5M Fine Case). The Supreme Court sent the case back to a lower court, PA Commonwealth Court, for follow up work, and in January 2017, a three-judge panel ruled that the method the DEP currently uses to assess fines–by how many days pollution lingers, instead of by how many days the initial release of pollution lasted–is not legal nor common sense (see EQT Wins Court Case Against PA DEP re $4.5M Wastewater Leak Fine). The judges said such a method in fining, “would result in potentially limitless continuing violations.” Under the old way of calculating fines, the DEP was considering upping the fine on EQT to an insane $157 million. Calculating it under the new way will mean a fine of around $120,000. We thought with that ruling it was all done and dusted. Not so. The soap opera continued when the DEP appealed the Commonwealth Court panel’s ruling back up to the PA Supreme Court where the Supremes will consider it all over again. When you read the “friend of the court” brief just filed by those supporting the DEP in their case, it’s a Who’s Who of Big Green organizations and virulent anti-drillers–which tells you all you need to know about which side is in the right in the case of EQT v DEP… Read More “DEP Appeals $4.5M Wastewater Leak Fine Against EQT to Supremes”

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    ME2 Drilling Leaks 575 Gal of Bentonite Mud into Delco Creek

    Sand bags placed to contain a leak of bentonite clay into Chester Creek. Credit: Middletown Coalition for Community Safety

    When pipeline companies lay a pipeline–they dig a trench. But what happens when you come to a road, or a river, or a creek or another structure where you can’t just dig a trench? For those places, you drill horizontally underground–kind of like what shale drillers do. When drilling horizontally underground, the drill bit gets hot and needs to be cooled, so drilling “mud” is piped in to cool the bit as it chews away. Drilling mud for pipelines is, essentially, bentonite–a nontoxic clay. Bentonite is used to make shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste and kitty litter. You’ve probably already used a product today that contains bentonite. Sometimes when drilling, the bentonite mud leaks out–traveling along cracks in the rock. It’s called an “inadvertent return” in the business. We call it a leak. Fortunately, bentonite can leak all day long and it doesn’t pollute anything. However, if enough of it leaks into a river, stream, or wetland (i.e. swamp), it can smother aquatic life. Poor little critters can’t breathe. And that’s not good. Such leaks are what have slowed down progress on building the Rover Pipeline in Ohio–where one such incident leaked 2 million gallons of drilling mud (see Rover Pipeline Accident Spills ~2M Gal. Drilling Mud in OH Swamp). A leak of 575 gallons of drilling mud into a creek is hardly worth mentioning, but it recently happened when Sunoco Logistics was drilling horizontally under the Chester Creek in Delaware County (near Philadelphia) for the Mariner East 2 pipeline project. According to the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection, not a single fish was killed in the leak… Read More “ME2 Drilling Leaks 575 Gal of Bentonite Mud into Delco Creek”

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    Murrysville, PA Drilling Ordinance – Anatomy of a Compromise

    Westmoreland County, PA – click for larger version

    Pennsylvania State regulations require a “setback” of 500 feet from the bore hole of an oil or gas well when it’s drilled. That means there can be no habitable structures (house, school, barn, etc.) within 500 feet of where the hole gets drilled. Last fall in Murrysville Township (Westmoreland County), the town council proposed a 1,000 foot setback–doubling the state requirement. Such a setback would eliminate much of any future drilling planned in the town. Public hearings were held and the Marcellus industry let it be known a lawsuit will follow if the town persists in such a restrictive setback ordinance. After much toing and froing, Murrysville Town Council approved a new ordinance on May 3–with a 750 foot setback from the edge of the well pad (not from the bore hole). It’s still quite restrictive, but apparently acceptable to the industry. Only one town council member (out of seven) voted against the new ordinance–an anti-driller… Read More “Murrysville, PA Drilling Ordinance – Anatomy of a Compromise”

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    Time to Tear Down the DRBC’s Iron Curtain in Pennsylvania

    Wikipedia: “The Iron Curtain was the name for the boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. A term symbolizing the efforts by the Soviet Union to block itself and its satellite states from open contact with the West and non-Soviet-controlled areas. On the east side of the Iron Curtain were the countries that were connected to or influenced by the Soviet Union.” There is an “economic Iron Curtain” in Wayne County, PA–a curtain imposed by the Delaware River Basin Commission, or DRBC (equivalent to the Soviet Union in our metaphor). The DRBC refuses to allow shale well drilling and fracking in the Delaware River Basin, while next door in the Susquehanna River Basin such activity has been going great guns for years. As we previously reported, one brave landowner in Wayne County is fighting, in court, to rip down the DRBC Iron Curtain (see Wayne Co. Landowner Welcomes Decision in Dismissed DRBC Lawsuit). Here’s an update on efforts to defeat the Evil Empire… Read More “Time to Tear Down the DRBC’s Iron Curtain in Pennsylvania”

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    Huntingdon Family Lawsuit Against ME2 Pipeline Fails, Game Over

    You may recall our story about the daughter of a Huntingdon County, PA landowner, radicalized by Big Green groups (as evidenced by her association with well known protesters previously arrested), who took to a tree on her mom’s property in order to illegally stop crews working on tree clearing for the Mariner East 2 pipeline (see PA Anti Literally Goes Up a Tree to Stop Mariner East 2 Pipeline). It ultimately didn’t matter, because Sunoco came back and cut down the few trees they need to cut anyway (see Sunoco Tricks Radicalized Protester – Returns and Cuts More Trees). In December, the up-a-tree girl and her mom, with lawyers and backing by Big Green money, launched a final “hail Mary” pass by appealing a case to the PA Commonwealth Court, asking the court to stop the ME2 project by claiming it doesn’t have the right to use eminent domain (see Desperate Antis Try One Last Legal Maneuver to Stop Mariner East 2). Like so many other “hail Mary” desperation passes, this one never found the arms of a receiver. Yesterday the court turned down the appeal… Read More “Huntingdon Family Lawsuit Against ME2 Pipeline Fails, Game Over”

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    2017 Shale Gas Innovation Contest Winners Share $60K in Prizes

    Envelope please! (No, this is not Warren Beatty, we have the correct envelope!) Each year the Ben Franklin Shale Gas Innovation & Commercialization Center (SGICC) runs a contest and awards a $20,000 prize to three companies ($60,000 purse) for the “best shale energy-oriented innovations, new product ideas, or service concepts that are either in the development stage or recently launched” in the Marcellus Shale. This year’s winners were recently announced: Frontier Natural Resources, Inc. won for commercializing the first small scale LNG facility in Pennsylvania, using natural gas from an adjacent gathering and compression facility. PetroMar Technologies, Inc. won for commercializing FracView™, a low-cost borehole imaging tool that takes high resolution pictures, even through drilling mud. And Sensor Networks, Inc. won for its product line of permanently installed battery powered ultrasonic sensors, providing remote, wireless data collection of critical pipe infrastructure wall thickness. Here’s the deets… Read More “2017 Shale Gas Innovation Contest Winners Share $60K in Prizes”

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    PA State Senator Introducing Law to Send Protesters Cleanup Bill

    Here’s a story we LOVE! As we previously reported, anti-fossil fuel “protesters” (i.e. paid thugs) in North Dakota, there to try and stop the Dakota Access Pipeline from being completed (which didn’t work), left a major mess behind when they finally moved on (see Dakota Access Pipeline Protesters Turn Violent; Coming Here Next?). The protesters, supposedly there to protect Mom Earth, left behind massive piles of garbage which, with the spring floods, threatened the local environment they were supposedly there to protect. State and local governments ended up paying millions of dollars to clean up the filth left behind to avoid an environmental catastrophe. As we’ve also reported, a number of times, anti-fossil fuel zealots from Lancaster County, PA are attempting to lure the same group of paid rabble-rousers to peaceful Lancaster County to reenact the same destruction–in a bid to stop the Williams Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline project (see PA Anti Hopes to Bring Standing Rock Disaster to Lancaster County). Earlier this month a local state senator from Lancaster, Scott Martin, convened a closed-door meeting to help local law enforcement and first responders prepare for the coming lawlessness of the protesters (see Lancaster Forum to Focus on Handling Anarchists in Pipeline Protest). Now Sen. Martin is set to introduce legislation that will give the bill for any cleanup of a large protest camp–to the protesters! That’s right, if they want to “assemble peaceably” and speak their minds–go right ahead. But if you create a massive dump like you created in North Dakota, this time you (the nutty protesters) are going to pay to clean it up. LOVE IT!… Read More “PA State Senator Introducing Law to Send Protesters Cleanup Bill”

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    Delmarva Pipeline Expansion Gets Positive FERC Enviro Review

    Click for larger version

    In July 2016 MDN told you about a smallish, but important pipeline project in the Delmarva Peninsula area, which includes most of Delaware and portions of Maryland and Virginia. Eastern Shore Natural Gas’ 2017 System Expansion project will bring new sources of natgas from an interconnection Eastern Shore has with the mighty TETCo (Texas Eastern Company) pipeline near Philadelphia (see PA/MD/DE Pipeline Project Heats Up with Open House Mtgs This Week). Although Eastern Shore, a subsidiary of Chesapeake Utilities Corporation, ran a non-binding open season in 2015, and although they pre-filed for the expansion project in May 2016, they didn’t file a full, official application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) until January of this year (see Eastern Shore Files with FERC to Expand Delmarva Pipeline). The project includes 22.7 miles of new looping pipeline (laid next to existing pipeline) in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware; a 16.9-mile extension to a pipeline in Sussex County, DE; and upgrades to compressor and valve stations. Chesapeake Utilities, the parent company, calls the project the single largest such expansion in Eastern Shore’s history, a project that will bump up gas delivery volumes by 25%. Good news: FERC has just released the initial Environmental Assessment (EA). View the full 295-page document below. Interested parties now have until June 12 to comment on the EA, after which FERC will evaluate those comments and issue a final EA…
    Read More “Delmarva Pipeline Expansion Gets Positive FERC Enviro Review”

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    PA Roars Its Approval of Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline with Petition, Comments

    While Williams is battling New York State in court, and in Washington, to get its Constitution Pipeline approved, another Williams project in neighboring Pennsylvania is much closer to construction–the Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline project. Atlantic Sunrise is a $3 billion, 198-mile pipeline project running through 10 Pennsylvania counties to connect Marcellus Shale natural gas from northeastern PA with the Williams’ Transco pipeline in southern Lancaster County. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) gave its final seal of approval for the project in February (see Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline Gets Final Approval by FERC). But like NY, PA is holding up the project. The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has not, so far, granted necessary permits to allow construction to begin. Williams embarked on a public relations campaign to enlist support to pressure PA Gov. Tom Wolf and the DEP to grant the permits so construction can begin. The DEP is holding up this project and the 8,000 jobs it will create during construction. Yesterday, Williams delivered a petition to Gov. Wolf with the signatures of 3,000 people supporting the project. Will it be enough to get Wolf and the DEP off their collective rear ends to issue the permits?…
    Read More “PA Roars Its Approval of Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline with Petition, Comments”

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    Rex Energy 1Q17 Full Update – Swings to Black, Drilling Picks Up

    In April, Rex Energy, a driller focused mainly on the Marcellus/Utica (headquartered in State College, PA), issued an operational update (see Rex Energy 1Q17: Production Drops 8.5%). Earlier this week the company issued a full 1Q17 update. What does it show? Rex swung from losing $62 million in 1Q16 to making $2.1 million in 1Q17–quite a turnaround! This update also includes a fuller look at the drilling that did happen in 1Q17, and what the company plans for the balance of 2017. In Rex’s Legacy Butler Operated Area (Butler County, PA), the company has begun drilling 4 wells on a single pad and plans to have them completed and online in 3Q17. In Rex’s Moraine East Area (also Butler County) the company drilled 7 gross (3.3 net) wells and completed 4 gross (1.4 net) wells in 1Q17. In addition, Rex had 12 gross (5.5 net) wells awaiting completion at the end of 1Q17. In Rex’s Warrior North Area (Carroll County, OH), the company plans to drill 12 gross (10.2 net) wells by the end of 2017, with most of them not going online until 2018. Below is the full update, along with select portions of the earnings call where Rex’s CEO shares some interesting insights… Read More “Rex Energy 1Q17 Full Update – Swings to Black, Drilling Picks Up”

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    6 Middletown Antis Sue Sunoco LP to Stop Mariner East 2 Pipe

    As we reported last week, six anti-pipeline residents living near where the Mariner East 2 pipeline will pass asked the Middletown (Delaware County, PA) town council to reject the path of the pipeline near their property because it would, supposedly, pass closer than town code allows. At a meeting earlier in the week, town council told the residents they’re out of luck–the town will not pursue any action to block Mariner East 2. Period. The residents, amped up and agitated by Big Green groups, was rumored to be considering a lawsuit against the pipeline to force it to conform with Middletown’s ordinance. It’s no longer a rumor. The amped up antis, spurred on and using lawyers from said Big Green groups, filed a lawsuit in the Delaware Court of Common Pleas on Friday… Read More “6 Middletown Antis Sue Sunoco LP to Stop Mariner East 2 Pipe”