More Progress at Shell’s PA Ethane Cracker Plant Site
All signs continue to point to a “go” decision for Shell’s planned ethane cracker plant facility in Monaca (Beaver County), PA. Shell has now spent over half a billion dollars out of a projected $2-$3 billion (25%) on the project already (see Shell has Spent “Half a Billion Dollars” on PA Cracker Already!). Last month a local mall owner said that Shell has leased part of the mall’s parking lot for big bucks (see More Evidence that the Shell Ethane Cracker Plant in PA is a Go). And just last week Shell’s CFO said the PA cracker project is “an excellent project” and they expect to make a decision soon (see Shell Says PA Cracker Decision Coming < 12 Months – Looking Good). We can throw a few more positive signs into the mix. A bridge Shell was building over top a local highway to give trucks easy access to the site is now complete. Shell has committed $69 million to build a new water treatment plant for the local town. And they are now building a new dock facility which, according to Shell, will be “critical” to building the new plant…
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Last night representatives from Spectra Energy held a town hall meeting at the Congruity Presbyterian Church in Westmoreland County, PA to discuss the explosion of Spectra’s Texas Eastern Transmission’s (TETCO) “Delmont Line 27” which exploded in Westmoreland County, PA on April 29 (see 
An MDN reader recently alerted us to a little-known fact: JKLM Energy has successfully drilled and is flowing gas from Potter County, PA’s first Utica Shale well. JKLM is owned by Terry Pegula, the guy who sold most of his Marcellus assets and used the money to buy the Buffalo Bills (see 
Pittsburgh, PA has two major newspapers–the Post-Gazette and the Tribune-Review. We’re talking general interest newspapers. There’s also the Pittsburgh Business Times, a great paper but niche and focused on business only. Of the two general interest newspapers, the Post-Gazette is obviously owned and operated by liberal Democrats. They tilt somewhere left of Vlad Putin on the editorial page. The Tribune-Review, however, is a balanced paper and not beholden to the Democrat machine in PA the way their rival is. There’s no better way to illustrate that then the Post-Gazette’s love and adoration of current Dem Gov. Tom Wolf and his proposed punitive taxes the Marcellus Shale industry. The Post-Gazette LOVES Wolf’s idea for a severance tax and berates the gas industry for not “doing its part.” The Tribune-Review, on the other hand, takes a more balanced approach. In a recent editorial, the Tribune-Review points out Wolf’s latest severance tax proposal, if passed, would be the highest in the nation. They also point out Wolf’s income tax increase and minimum wage proposal would decimate the state economically…
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”…
The muckety-mucks from Shell held their quarterly earnings phone call with analysts yesterday–and there is what we consider big news to report coming from that call. In response to a question from an analyst, Shell’s Chief Financial Officer, Simon Henry, commented there are four major “chemicals” projects currently under consideration by Shell. He also said a decision on the PA cracker plant project planned in Beaver County will likely be the first decision to be made because of “the timing of certain commitments that are already in place.” He added these glowing words about the PA cracker: “It’s an excellent project…[that] provides quite some portfolio resilience relative to the rest of the opportunities.” He later said “It’s a very strong and robust project.” If the price of oil were higher than the current $40, pulling the trigger on the PA cracker would be “a very easy decision.” When you read his comments, it’s hard to miss the enthusiasm at the highest echelons inside Shell…
Something noteworthy has happened in western Pennsylvania and (so far) local media has chosen not to cover it. So MDN is happy to break the following story about South Fayette Township in Allegheny County (near Pittsburgh). South Fayette is one of seven PA towns that sued the state after the Act 13 law was enacted in 2012 (see