Statewide PA

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    PA PUC Commissioner Rob Powelson Elected as President of NARUC

    robert-powelson
    Robert Powelson

    Rob Powelson is a member of the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (PUC). At one point, under then-Gov. Tom Corbett, Powelson was the PUC Chairman (see PA’s PUC Pro-Drilling Chairman Powelson Leads Mid-Atlantic Group). After Democrat Tom Wolf was elected as governor, he replaced Powelson with Gladys Brown as Chairwoman (see Anti-Drillers Cheer PA Gov Wolf’s New Appointment to Head PUC). However, Powelson remains on the PUC as a member. He’s one of the good guys–someone who supports shale energy. At a recent natural gas conference in Washington, DC, Powelson had some sharp words of criticism for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on the topic of pipelines (see PA Regulator Criticizes NY Gov. Cuomo for Pipeline Obstructionism). Powelson said, in so many words, that Cuomo’s screwing around with pipeline delays (like the Constitution) threatens the reliability of the electrical grid in the entire northeast and New England. He even poked fun at Cuomo, saying it takes Andy two hours to watch 60 Minutes–a cut on Cuomo for his “overly cautious” approach to pipeline approvals. Good news. Rob’s stature and reputation have just increased, yet again. He has been elected as the next president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC). He will serve a one-year term. It is not a full-time gig–he remains a commissioner with the PA PUC. Our point: It’s great having a Marcellus booster as the head of this prestigious national organization…
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    Study: Do PA Towns Spend Impact Fee Revenue on Stated Purpose?

    spendOne of the lasting, positive legacies of Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, predecessor to the current disaster of a governor, Tom Wolf, is signing into law Act 13, which updated PA’s laws for Marcellus Shale drilling. Among the provisions of Act 13 is something called an impact fee–far better and more fair than a so-called severance tax. As we wrote at the time, the impact fee is really 60% fee and 40% tax. Most of the revenue raised, 60% of it, stays local in the communities impacted (hence the name) by drilling. Those communities have higher expenses for first responders, water and sewer, and other government expenses, due to an increase in drilling activity. But in order to get the deal done in Harrisburg, Corbett and the Republicans had to agree to grease the palms of bureaucrats with 40% of the revenue raised from the fee, to be spread around to various agencies (see PA’s New Tax on Drilling (er Sorry, Impact Fee)). Whatever. At least 60% of the money stays local. The question is, are the local towns and communities receiving their portion of the money using it for what it was intended? A pair of University of Pittsburgh at Bradford professors received a grant to study that very question. The resulting report, “Analysis of Act 13 Spending by Pennsylvania Municipalities and Counties” (full copy of 68-page report below) was published in July. What did it find?…
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    PA Gov Wolf Kills Plan for PES Refinery Expansion in Philadelphia

    canceledPhiladelphia Energy Solutions (PES) has been on a mission to expand their operation at the Southport Marine site in Philadelphia by leasing an additional 200 acres to build a terminal for shale oil imports and exports. Believe it or not, a plan to lease the extra space has been going on for more than two years (see Marcellus Caught in Crossfire of Philly Port Leasing Controversy). That’s how long it takes to grease all of the corrupt Democrat hands in Philly to get anything done. Those corrupt hands have now been greased–by none other than Gov. Tom Wolf–and PES is now out in the cold, with their plan canceled by a $300 million bribe, er a, “investment” by Gov. Wolf and the good citizens of PA. Wolf’s plan is to turn that 200 acres into a big parking lot to park incoming cars arriving by container ships from Japan. Uh, Mr. Wolf, what happens when those cars start to be manufactured right here at home under President Trump? Oops, nobody thought to ask that question…
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    Small Biz Looks to Plug in to Shell Ethane Cracker in SWPA

    supply chainSome of the first businesses that will profit from the mighty Shell ethane cracker being built in Beaver County, PA will be small, local businesses. Restaurants, banquet halls, hotels, drug stores, real estate…the list goes on. But even small businesses that want a piece of the Shell cracker plant action don’t automatically have smooth sailing. Trying to get Shell to promote a business to its workers is hard work. Businesses report talking to Shell and being told that the company won’t help them by promoting them to cracker plant workers (a bit un-neighborly if you ask us). But that’s the life of an entrepreneur. You encounter brick wall after brick wall and you find a way to go through it, or over it, or around it, or under it. That’s what several small businesses in Beaver County are doing with Shell…
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    PA Marcellus Jobs Saw Big Cuts from 2015 to 2016

    cutting jobsThe Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry recently released employment numbers for the first quarter of 2016 for the Keystone State. Those numbers show that employment in PA’s oil and gas industry, which includes the Marcellus, dropped some 10,000 jobs from 1Q15 to 1Q16. That’s about one-third of the o&g workforce. Ouch. Still, PA employs twice as many people in o&g right now than they did when the Marcellus boom got underway in 2008. Here’s the lowdown on the latest PA employment numbers…
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    PA DEP Plans to Hassle Marcellus Industry with New Methane Rules

    high-cost-low-benefitIn May of this year, the federal Environmental Protection Agency issued more shale-killing regulations. The EPA issued 600 pages of new regulations that require drillers to install expensive new equipment to locate so-called fugitive methane that may or may not be leaking from wells, pipelines, etc. (see EPA Does it Again: Tries to Destroy O&G with New Methane Rule). If the industry finds such microscopic amounts of methane, they need to capture it. All in the name of preventing non-existent man-made global warming. Not long after, 15 states sued the EPA to block the new rule (see 15 States File Lawsuits to Block EPA O&G Methane Rule). Some Congressman are not happy either (see Congressmen Blast EPA Over New Methane Regulations). Even though the court case and a new incoming administration that has pledged to drain the EPA swamp casts doubt as to whether the new methane rule will ever go into effect, Pennsylvania (under Democrat Tom Wolf) is pushing forward with plans to comply with the disastrous EPA methane rule. Wolf’s Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) will soon unveil new permit requirements for Marcellus drillers that are sure to raise the cost of drilling and consequently cut down on drilling in the state, just at the time the state needs more drilling. The next election for PA governor can’t come quick enough…
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    Philly Approves New Power Plant as Antis Throw Temper Tantrum

    crybabyTurns out anti-fossil fuel protesters, behaving like the petulant children they are, couldn’t stop the adults in the room last night in Philadelphia. You may recall we told you yesterday that wackos from a fringe-left group called 350 Philadelphia threatened to “swarm” a meeting of SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority) where a vote was scheduled on a plan to build a Marcellus gas-powered electric plant that would provide electricity to SEPTA’s northern Regional Rail lines (see Antis Plan to Shut Down Philly Transit Meeting re NatGas Powergen). The plan would mean lower carbon and other pollution, but because the fuel for the electric plant is Marcellus Shale gas, the wackos objected. It’s (gasp) a “fossil fuel.” Last night about 50 crazies showed up and began shouting like spoiled rotten children, to try and drown out the vote. But the vote was taken, and the plan to build the power plant was approved–unanimously…
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    Still Time to Enter the 2017 Northeast Oil & Gas Awards

    Oil & Gas AwardsEach year MDN partners with the Oil & Gas Awards to promote their Northeast Awards–a way for companies in the industry that operate with distinction to get recognized by their peers. In March 2017 the Northeast Oil & Gas Awards will celebrate their 5th year. Over the past five years there have been thousands of entries and hundreds of finalists and winners. While the O&G Awards boys keep their ears to the ground to discover stellar performers, they want to know who YOU think are the best companies in the region. We are now 4 weeks out until the submission deadline for the 2017 Northeast Oil & Gas Awards (Dec. 14). Here’s how you can nominate your, or someone else’s, company for this year’s awards…
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    Antis Plan to Shut Down Philly Transit Meeting re NatGas Powergen

    enviro naziIn true environmental Nazi fashion, a group of profoundly stupid people have pledged to “swarm” and shut down a SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority) meeting where a vote will be taken to build a Marcellus gas-powered electric plant that would provide electricity to SEPTA’s northern Regional Rail lines–a win/win for all Pennsylvanians. The reason the enviro Nazis want to shut down the meeting is to stop the vote because the clean-burning plant would burn a “fossil fuel” and these poor, lost souls grew up watching Captain Planet cartoons and believe burning natgas will toast Mom Earth. That is, they were brainwashed children who grew up to be maladjusted adults…
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    Support to Regulate Unregulated Gathering Lines in PA Grows

    regulationLast month MDN wrote a post outlining an initiative to begin regulating small, low-pressure gathering pipelines–something not now done (see PIOGA Opposes Bill to Regulate Unregulated PA Gathering Pipelines). Media articles about this issue misstate and obfuscate, purposely, what is happening. Senate Bill (SB) 1235 would “enhance” the existing 811 law in PA. (811 is the number you call before you dig, to be sure there are no buried pipelines or electric lines or other underground structures.) One of the “enhancements” in SB 1235 is that it removes an exclusion for low-pressure natural gas gathering pipelines from being required to be part of the 811 system. Many owners of excluded lines voluntarily participate in the programs. The bill would also transfer regulatory enforcement power over the lines from the Department of Labor to the Public Utility Commission. The Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association (PIOGA) pushed back against the removal of the exclusion for conventional production lines and rural (“Class 1” under federal law) gathering lines. PIOGA is not against knowing where pipeline are buried and protecting PA citizens–they ARE against onerous new regulations on those pipelines, which would have happened under the proposed SB 1235. PIOGA instead pushed for another year to sort out the issue, instead of passing SB 1235 as/is and throwing the conventional oil and gas industry into regulatory chaos. PIOGA won (see PA Bill to Regulate Unregulated Gathering Pipelines Fails). However, the oil and gas industry is divided on the issue. Several industry reps participated in a pipeline safety hearing yesterday at the State Capitol in Harrisburg–and voiced their support for the provisions in the defeated SB 1235…
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    88% of Gas Used by Philly Customers Comes from PA Marcellus

    pecoPECO, formerly known as the Philadelphia Electric Company, is the largest combined electric/natural gas utility company in Pennsylvania. PECO serves 1.6 million electric customers and about a half million natural gas customers. In October 2015 the state Public Utility Commission approved a PECO plan to grow their natgas customer base by approving a plan that allows new natgas customers to spread the cost of hooking up to the gas line over 20 years (see PA Utility’s Plan to Deliver Marcellus Gas Approved by PUC). The really cool thing about PECO is that the company continues to use homegrown, abundant, cheap and clean-burning Marcellus Shale gas to sell to their customers. In 2014, 75% of the gas PECO sold to its customers came from the Marcellus. Last year, in 2015, that number shot up to 88%. Who knows what it will be this year!…
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    PA Acting DEP Sec. McDonnell Reaffirms Plan to Reduce Methane Leaks

    Patrick McDonnell Acting Secretary, DEP
    Patrick McDonnell Acting Secretary, DEP

    MDN noticed something of interest from the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), tucked at the bottom of a press release from the governor’s office about Google’s methane sniffing cars (see today’s companion story)–news that means shale drilling and pipeline infrastructure is about to get more expensive in the Keystone State. The press release was mostly about Google cars kitted out with special equipment that can help identify where methane is leaking from old pipes in cities like Pittsburgh. However, tucked in at the end of that press release was a repeat of an earlier press release announcing Wolf’s 4-point plan to reduce methane emissions. We first reported that plan back in February 2016, revealed by the former (now fired) DEP Secretary John Quigley (see More on Wolf/Quigley 4-Point Plan to Reduce Methane Emissions). Acting DEP Secretary Pat McDonnell reaffirmed the DEP’s 4-point plan as part of the Pittsburgh Google methane sniffing episode…
    Read More “PA Acting DEP Sec. McDonnell Reaffirms Plan to Reduce Methane Leaks”

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    New Research Helps Locate Abandoned O&G Wells in PA

    pnasIn March we highlighted the issue of abandoned oil and natural gas wells in Pennsylvania (see Who Pays for Abandoned O&G Wells in PA?). PA state officials estimate there are as many as 200,000 abandoned oil and gas wells in the state–the vast majority of them conventional wells drilled over 50 years ago. Most of them are not mapped or known. Some of them are hazards for shale drillers who stumble across them when drilling new wells. If you drill horizontally and clip an old/abandoned well, it becomes like an elevator pumping fluids and gas to the surface. Not good. Everyone is committed to finding and marking and capping these old wells–the question is, how do you pay for it? The shale industry says it’s not fair to put the economic burden solely on the shoulders of the Marcellus industry. A new study just published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) by researchers at Stanford and Princeton says the number of abandoned PA wells is actually much higher–as many as 700,000! The paper is titled “Identification and characterization of high methane-emitting abandoned oil and gas wells” (full copy below). The researchers are motivated by global warming flummery–desiring to locate abandoned wells which emit varying amounts of methane into the atmosphere. Whatever. The useful thing about this research is that they have discovered a way of sniffing out abandoned wells and determining which ones are emitting the highest levels of methane. Our interest is in the ability to locate, map and avoid drilling through old wells–we welcome this research…
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    PA Gov Wolf Basks in Predecessor’s Accomplishment at Cracker Site

    basking-in-the-glow
    Click for a larger version – credit: captainscratchy.com

    For a guy who wants to tax the Marcellus industry out of existence, PA Gov. Tom Wolf sure likes to bask in the glow of the industry’s success. Perhaps the crowning achievement of former PA Gov. Tom Corbett was the wooing and winning of Shell to build a multi-billion dollar ethane cracker near Pittsburgh. It’s hard to overstate just how big a deal the cracker plant is for the state–not only for PA, but also for nearby OH and WV. Shell’s ethane cracker will attract manufacturers to relocate nearby to take advantage of the cheap plastics that will come from the plant. While Shell will invest somewhere on the order of $6-$8 billion, with the coming build-out of manufacturing facilities in the region, it promises to turn into a $20 billion economic boost for the entire northeast. An amazing story! Right now Shell is busy at work clearing the site, which used to be a Horsehead zinc smelting operation. Gov. Wolf toured the site on Monday and was impressed, basking in the glow of what’s happening. Thing is, Wolf didn’t have a single thing to do with the plant coming to PA–other than not screwing up the deal before it was formally announced…
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    Without PA’s Energy Voters, It Would have been President Hillary

    what-could-have-been-photoWe shudder to think what would have been, if just a few more votes had gone the other way last Tuesday. Last week we authored an article in which we stated, “We don’t think it’s a stretch to say that energy voters in PA handed Trump the White House” (see Who Won in Tuesday’s Election in PA, OH, WV? Shale Energy Won!). Trump’s key campaign person in Pennsylvania, David Urban, said essentially the same thing in an interview with the Pittsburgh Business Times. Urban said that early on, the campaign ceded Philadelphia proper to Hillary, and instead concentrated on other areas of the state where they could amass enough voters to counter the Democrat stronghold in the City of Brotherly Love. The Trump PA strategy in a nutshell, according to Urban: “Make stops early and often. Focus on energy voters. Target areas outside of Philadelphia.” Without PA, Trump would not have won–at least we don’t think so (there are still votes being counted even today). So we say, yet again, THANK YOU to the pro-energy voters in PA who made a Trump victory possible. Here’s portions of the enlightening Urban interview…
    Read More “Without PA’s Energy Voters, It Would have been President Hillary”

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    Fired DEP Sec. Quigley Blames Sunoco for Mariner East 2 Delays

    John Quigley
    John Quigley

    Last week Sunoco Logistics Partners, builder of the Mariner pipelines, said that Mariner East 2–a $2.5 billion, 350-mile natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline that will run from eastern Ohio through the state of Pennsylvania to the Marcus Hook refinery near Philadelphia, carting ethane, butane and propane to the facility from both the Utica and Marcellus region–will be delayed nine months from the original plan due to permit delays (see Sunoco LP 3Q16: Mariner East 2 Delayed Due to Permits). Although officials didn’t go out of their way to blame the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) for the delays, the implication was there. And that got the former, fired Secretary of the DEP, John Quigley, all fired up. Quigley, talking through a Philly Inquirer stenographer, said (in so many words) it’s Sunoco’s own #$%@ fault. Quigley said Sunoco tried to get the project rubber stamped and did shoddy work in during the permit process–that they have no one to blame but themselves. Yeah, right…
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