Pennsylvania

Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

Important Expose on John Quigley, Nominee to Head PA DEP
January 22, 2015January 22, 2015
MDN friend Tom Shepstone, who writes the excellent Natural Gas Now blog site, has just posted a must-read article on John Quigley, PA Gov. Tom Wolf’s choice to lead the Dept. of Environmental Protection. Tom does some real investigative journalism–something you won’t read in the Harrisburg Patriot-News, the Philadelphia Inquirer, or Democrat Party satellite publications like StateImpact Pennsylvania. You certainly won’t read anything detailed about Quigley in the Scranton Times-Tribune! Real investigative journalism has gone out of vogue in those publications. But not with Tom. Rather than copy his excellent work here, we’ll ask you to click on the link below and take time to educate yourself on the “real” John Quigley.
- Natural Gas Now/Tom Shepstone (Jan 21, 2015) – Will the Real John Quigley Please Stand Up?
Butler County | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Rex Energy

Rex Energy: Production Up 66% in 2014, New Drilling Area in 2015
January 21, 2015January 21, 2015

Rex Energy, the little energy company that could (and does) successfully drill in the Marcellus and Utica Shale, announced in December that they would reduce their drilling budget in the Marcellus by 44% in 2015 (see Rex Energy Reduces 2015 Marcellus/Utica Drilling Budget by 44%). Yesterday the company released an operational update for 2014 that shows production was up 66% in 2014 over 2013 numbers. Fourth quarter production numbers were up 15% over third quarter. In addition, Rex has begun drilling a series of Marcellus wells in a new area of Butler County, what they call the Moraine East Area. They plan to drill drill 10 to 16 wells in the Moraine East Area and complete 4 to 10 wells in 2015. Here’s the rundown from Rex for what happened in 2014, and what they intend to do in 2015…
Read More “Rex Energy: Production Up 66% in 2014, New Drilling Area in 2015”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Dauphin County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Anti-Fracking Protesters Spoil PA Governor Inauguration Ceremony
January 21, 2015January 21, 2015

Yesterday, Democrat anti-drilling protesters spoiled the inauguration of one of their own–Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (Democrat, wants to tax the shale drilling industry into oblivion). There were “more than 100” very loud demonstrators outside of the inauguration according to the AP, which in partisan liberal math translates into “several hundred” protesters for PBS’s StateImpact Pennsylvania. Eight of these ill-behaved children adults were were so loud and obnoxious Pennsylvania State Police arrested and removed them. Two of them stood up during the inauguration speech hollering “ban fracking now” and were removed by State Police. The “ban fracking now” chant could be heard throughout the inauguration–spoiling the ceremony for everyone. According to those who organized this shameful performance, they were emboldened by New York’s recent ban–hoping if they can make enough noise and throw enough temper tantrums, they’ll get PA to ban it too. (Hey, it worked for them when they were children, why wouldn’t it work now?)…
Read More “Anti-Fracking Protesters Spoil PA Governor Inauguration Ceremony”
Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Gov Earl Ray Tomblin Praises Marcellus Shale During Speech
January 21, 2015January 21, 2015

At Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s inauguration yesterday, Wolf didn’t even mention the word “Marcellus” and said nothing of shale drilling in the state beyond a vague statement about the state being “blessed with an abundance of natural resources” which includes “gas.” Compare Wolf’s total lack of acknowledgement of the Marcellus and the key role it plays in Pennsylvania with the West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s State of the State speech last week, a speech in which he positively gushes about the Marcellus, by name. Tomblin even treats two representatives from Southwestern Energy present in the audience as exalted guests, asking them to stand for applause (Southwestern has just invested $5 billion in WV). The kicker: both governors are Democrats. In part, here’s what Tomblin said last week in his annual speech to the state:
Read More “WV Gov Earl Ray Tomblin Praises Marcellus Shale During Speech”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

In His Own Words: Quigley’s Positions on Fracking, NY Ban, Etc.
January 20, 2015January 20, 2015

MDN has done some more digging on Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s choice to run the all-important (for Marcellus Shale drilling) Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), John Quigley. As it turns out, we didn’t have to dig very far. Quigley himself writes a blog site called “John Quigley’s A Green Thing blog.” The name about says it all. We went looking through his previous statements and found more that concerns us about his impending stewardship of the greatest economic miracle to hit PA in more than 100 years. One of the things Quigley repeatedly lobbies for is a rapid transition from water-based fracking to waterless fracking, something that isn’t remotely possible in the next 10 years…
Read More “In His Own Words: Quigley’s Positions on Fracking, NY Ban, Etc.”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | PennEast Pipeline | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA

PennEast Pipeline Listens to Landowner Concerns, Modifies Route
January 20, 2015January 20, 2015

PennEast Pipeline, a pipeline that will run from Luzerne County in northeast Pennsylvania to the Trenton, NJ area, recently announced they’ve changed the route for the pipeline in a few spots, especially near the end where it will connect. The changes mean there will be an extra two miles of pipeline added and the last 20 or so miles of the pipeline’s route will be affected. Why has the route changed? Because of feedback and input from landowners, agencies and public officials. PennEast has been holding a series of open houses to elicit feedback. The purpose of PennEast’s open houses and the scoping hearings run by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is to hear people’s concerns, and to work with them. That’s what PennEast is doing. Rather than the unreasonable and childish “No, not in my backyard” response from groups like Delaware Riverkeeper and the Sierra Club, the people at PennEast behave like adults. They listen. They educate. They may argue. But in the end they listen and sometimes, they change course to accommodate concerns…
Read More “PennEast Pipeline Listens to Landowner Concerns, Modifies Route”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Crime | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lancaster County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Williams

Indians on the Anti-Pipeline War Path – Part 2
January 20, 2015January 20, 2015

Last week MDN told you about Indian Chief Carlos Whitewolf from the Northern Arawak Tribal Nation of Pennsylvania (see Indians on the War Path Against Pipeline in Lancaster County, PA). Chief Whitewolf’s tribe doesn’t have any land in Lancaster County, PA. And there are no surviving members of the Conestoga tribe that once did have land in Lancaster County. But that hasn’t stopped Chief Whitewolf from carrying out his stated threat. The good chief warned that he would “make noise, protest and rally, block bulldozers” to prevent the Williams Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline from taversing the “sacred land” of the now-dead Conestogas. What we didn’t realize is that he’d already done so, getting himself arrested on Jan. 5…
Read More “Indians on the Anti-Pipeline War Path – Part 2”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Luzerne County | Pennsylvania

NEPA Anti Group Wins Lawsuit, Dropped from Terrorist Watch List
January 19, 2015January 19, 2015

In 2010, activities of the anti-drilling group Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition, Inc. (GDAC) of Luzerne County, PA (Wilkes-Barre area) caught the attention of the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response (ITRR) Foundation, a company contracted by Pennsylvania’s Department of Homeland Security to monitor potential threats in the Keystone State. The ITRR Foundation put GDAC’s name on a list of organizations to keep an eye on–a so-called “terrorist watch list”–which lists potential threats against “critical infrastructure” in the state. The list with GDAC’s name was circulated to law enforcement agencies and to the drilling industry as well. When word of their inclusion on the list leaked, GDAC huffed and puffed and sued. Lo these 4+ years later, it appears they’ve won that lawsuit and the right to be permanently kept off the list…
Read More “NEPA Anti Group Wins Lawsuit, Dropped from Terrorist Watch List”
Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Regulation | Statewide PA | Washington County

Strange: DEP Fines Range Resouces $1.75M for Water Withdrawals
January 19, 2015January 19, 2015

A strange announcement from the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) on Friday says that Range Resources has agreed to pay $1.75 million to the state for failure to keep track of water withdrawals made by the company (takes a lot of water to frack, much of which comes from creeks and rivers), and for exceeding the amount of water withdrawn according to the plan they have on file with the DEP. What’s strange about the announcement is that a) you can’t find it on the DEP website itself, b) Range was making withdrawals and not recording/tracking the withdrawals from 2009 to 2014–five years–but apparently the DEP didn’t notice or didn’t care, and c) $950,000 of the $1.75 million “fine” (more than half) will go to fix up and operate the Hamilton Abandoned Mine Treatment System in Findlay Township, Allegheny County…
Read More “Strange: DEP Fines Range Resouces $1.75M for Water Withdrawals”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

Quigley Says Opportunity to Get Marcellus Drilling “Right” in PA
January 19, 2015January 19, 2015

Pennsylvania Gov.-Elect Tom Wolf’s intended appointment of John Quigley to become the next Secretary of the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) continues to trouble us. We’ve heard from MDN subscribers, people we respect, who say that Quigley is a good bloke, lay off on being critical of his appointment. However, we continue to rely on our eyes and ears and what we see and hear bothers us. Quigley once worked for an avowedly anti-drilling organization–PennFuture. That was enough to concern us. But now we have have his own comments to rely on. Last week he answered, on the record, questions from the Harrisburg Patriot-News. Specifically he indicates that so far PA has not “gotten it right” when it comes to Marcellus Shale drilling, and he looks forward to helping the Keystone State get it right. He doesn’t say what, exactly, has been gotten “wrong” with drilling, which is what troubles us…
Read More “Quigley Says Opportunity to Get Marcellus Drilling “Right” in PA”
CNG/LNG | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Can Risk-Averse Phila. Gas Works Successfully Expand LNG Plant?
January 19, 2015January 19, 2015

Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) was up for sale, a winsome suitor was found (UIL Holdings from Connecticut) and the deal to sell the nation’s largest publicly-owned gas utility was obliterated by a corrupt City Council. We won’t recount the history (see our stories here). With the $1.86 billion deal now dead, PGW is moving on and trying to act and behave like a private sector company–except it’s not a private sector company. Last week they announced a 12-day “open season” to gauge interest in expanding their liquefied natural gas plant, a plant that would be fed by Marcellus Shale gas (see Phila. Gas Works Launches 12-Day Open Season to Expand LNG). However, LNG is not regulated like the delivery of natural gas, PGW’s main “business.” That is, there’s risk involved–and the people who bear the risk for PGW, being a municipal-owned utility–are the ratepayers, not the investors/owners, which would be the case if PGW were a private sector company. Are Philly residents willing to risk higher rates if PGW bungles the LNG expansion?…
Read More “Can Risk-Averse Phila. Gas Works Successfully Expand LNG Plant?”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

Let’s Slap 5% Tax on ALL PA Natural Resources, Not Just Shale Gas
January 19, 2015January 19, 2015

One of Pennsylvania’s top conservative (Republican) strategists and consultants, Charlie Gerow, offers up a sobering picture of the hard work ahead for liberal/leftist Gov.-Elect Tom Wolf when, on Wednesday, he assumes office and we drop the “-Elect” part in his title. Gerow points out that Wolf got elected by offering few specifics about his plans to raise taxes, except for a tax on the Marcellus Shale–he was crystal clear on that. When Wolf assumes office on Wednesday, all of his campaign prevaricating comes to an end and he will have to start offering real proposals for big problems. Gerow evaluates the prospects for a Wolf severance tax on Marcellus Shale gas this way:
Read More “Let’s Slap 5% Tax on ALL PA Natural Resources, Not Just Shale Gas”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Landfills | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA | Wastewater

PA DEP Completes Fracking Radiation Study, Concludes “Little Harm”
January 16, 2015January 16, 2015

We love it when we get to close a loop–especially this one. Exactly two years ago the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection, under then Secretary Mike Krancer, embarked on what would become a two-year, top to bottom, “thorough and rigorous” study of radiation in shale drilling (see PA DEP Announces New Study of Radiation in Shale Drilling). That is, they would use real science to figure out whether we will all, as the anti-drillers claim, begin to glow in the dark from exposure to radiation in wastewater, radiation in drill cuttings and radiation in “fracked gas” as they frequently prattle on about. The 200-page study is complete and we have a copy (below). What did the DEP conclude in their “peer reviewed” study? “There is little potential for harm to workers or the public from radiation exposure due to oil and gas development.” That is, the DEP says all of these wild-eyed claims of radiation poisoning are false…
Read More “PA DEP Completes Fracking Radiation Study, Concludes “Little Harm””
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lancaster County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Williams

Indians on the War Path Against Pipeline in Lancaster County, PA
January 16, 2015January 16, 2015

A “native American” (i.e. Indian) tribe in Lancaster County, PA doesn’t want the Williams Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline to traverse “sacred” land, and they’re willing to “make noise, protest and rally, block bulldozers” to stop it, according to Chief Carlos Whitewolf. The good Chief Whitewolf is from the Northern Arawak Tribal Nation of Pennsylvania, which arrived in PA in 1898, long after PA was already part of the United States of America. But it gets stranger. There is no Arawak land in Lancaster County. However, there is Conestoga land, belonging to a different tribe. But the Conestoga tribe was “wiped out,” so there are no Conestoga Indians in Lancaster County either. But the good Chief Whitewolf feels an obligation to stick up for them, even though they are no more…
Read More “Indians on the War Path Against Pipeline in Lancaster County, PA”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA Gov Wolf Defends Anti-Drilling Choices for DEP, DCNR
January 16, 2015January 16, 2015

Pennsylvania Gov.-Elect Tom Wolf is already playing defense about his pick of two people–John Quigley and Cindy Dunn, both of whom have worked for the anti-drilling PennFuture organization–to run the Dept. of Environmental Protection and the Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources, respectively (see Wolf Officially Announces Quigley to Head DEP, Dunn to Head DCNR). He’s also pretty thin-skinned about the valid observation that he seems to using a lot of Rendell retreads in his administration–both Quigley and Dunn, as well as others, worked for former Gov. Ed “Fast Eddie” Rendell. Seems that Wolf’s “outsider” facade is being ripped right off his face. Wolf’s team is composed of consummate Harrisburg insiders. Here’s what Wolf snipped to reporters yesterday when asked about it…
Read More “PA Gov Wolf Defends Anti-Drilling Choices for DEP, DCNR”
Allegheny County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Supply Chain

Pittsburgh Oilfield Services Co Expands with Local Investment
January 16, 2015January 16, 2015

Three Pittsburgh-area oilfield services companies–White’s Equipment Rental, Crossfire Production Services, and White’s Welding–are collectively owned by a single company, White’s Holdings. Owner Calvin White started White’s Welding first, in Oklahoma, and grew the enterprise from there, eventually expanding into the northeast. White’s move to the northeast was prescient. The Marcellus/Utica has supercharged his businesses in the region. It was time to grow, and is often the case, small businesses growing into medium-sized businesses need cash to do so. Enter another Pittsburgh-area company, F.N.B. Capital Partners (FNBCP), a private equity firm. FNBCP has just announced they’ve made an investment in White’s Holdings so the company can expand. That is, White has traded away some ownership (retaining majority ownership) in return for cash to expand the three businesses that serve the drilling industry in the northeast. Another jobs and economic miracle courtesy of fracking…
Read More “Pittsburgh Oilfield Services Co Expands with Local Investment”