Statewide PA

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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…
    Read More “Support to Regulate Unregulated Gathering Lines in PA Grows”

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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!…
    Read More “88% of Gas Used by Philly Customers Comes from PA Marcellus”

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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…
    Read More “New Research Helps Locate Abandoned O&G Wells in PA”

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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…
    Read More “PA Gov Wolf Basks in Predecessor’s Accomplishment at Cracker Site”

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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…
    Read More “Fired DEP Sec. Quigley Blames Sunoco for Mariner East 2 Delays”

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    Supply Chain Co MMR Expanding in SWPA, Eye on Cracker Boom

    mmrHey, it’s great when the oil and gas industry is booming (figuratively)–when the drill bits are chewing away at rock and dirt and when fracking is blasting rocks apart. Love it! But it really sucks when the drill bits go quiet–especially for companies in the supply chain, those who sell goods and services to the industry. Obviously it helps to be diversified–to sell your goods and services to customers outside the o&g industry. That’s the approach taken by the prescient MMR Constructors Inc. MMR services a number of industries, but they LOVE the oil and gas industry–upstream, midstream and downstream. MMR, based in Baton Rouge, LA, is building a sizable new office in Lawrence, PA. They sell to the Marcellus/Utica industry. MMR is “hoping” Marcellus/Utica activity picks up again. But what they really have their eye on is the coming manufacturing boom that will follow Shell’s ethane cracker plant, once it is up and running…
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    Paid Protesters Turn up in Philly (Again) to Slam Oil Terminal Plan

    philly-regional-port-authority
    Philly Regional Port Auhtority – Click for larger version

    Less than two dozen PAID global warming protesters from the odious Food & Water Watch and Philly Thrive groups convened yesterday in Philadelphia to (once again) rail against a plan by Philadelphia Energy Solutions to expand their operation at the Southport Marine site in Philadelphia by leasing an additional 200 acres. 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. As things have gotten closer to a signed lease, paid law-breaking protesters have shown up at the facility, periodically, as they did in July (see Group of Protesting/Ignorant Kids Briefly Block Philly Refinery). A teeny tiny group of paid protesters showed up again yesterday and the propagandists at StateImpact Pennsylvania (paid to trash oil and gas) were there to slavishly regurgitate the wackos’ rantings against fossil fuels…
    Read More “Paid Protesters Turn up in Philly (Again) to Slam Oil Terminal Plan”

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    Who Won in Tuesday’s Election in PA, OH, WV? Shale Energy Won!

    energy-voterYou know how Democrats in Pennsylvania vilified and viciously attacked pro-energy Republicans over the past two years, especially with regard to a severance tax. PA Gov. Tom Wolf has been one of the worst. The media in PA has stood behind Wolf and his calls to enact a Marcellus-killing, so-called severance tax, on top of the existing impact fee + corporate income tax which amounts to a rate higher than a severance tax in states like Texas. We were told, repeatedly, that Republicans blocking Wolf’s desire for a new tax (to pay back teachers’ unions) would be political death for the Republicans. The Republicans, most of whom have held firm and resisted such severance tax lunacy, have been called every name in the book and told “at the next election, you’re gone.” Guess what? After Tuesday’s elections, Republicans in PA now hold the LARGEST MAJORITIES in both the House and Senate than they have held IN DECADES! The voters in PA have spoken, and anti-fossil fuel numskulls have been drummed out of power. And not just in PA…
    Read More “Who Won in Tuesday’s Election in PA, OH, WV? Shale Energy Won!”

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    FERC Delays PennEast Pipeline Final Review – Again

    delayedBack in April the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) told PennEast they would extend the amount of time they are taking until December of this year, rather than this past August, to complete their Environmental Review (see PennEast Spins FERC Delay as a Good Thing – Optimism or Denial?). PennEast is a $1 billion, 118-mile, primarily 36-inch pipeline that will get built from Dallas (Luzerne County), PA to Transco’s pipeline interconnection near Pennington (Mercer County), NJ. PennEast tried to spin the news as a positive. We took it as mildly bad news. On Tuesday FERC once again told PennEast they are moving the goal posts–delaying the final Environmental Review from December to next February. Once again, we don’t think this is good news. The longer final approval (and construction) are delayed, the more likely anti-fossil fuel zealots will new ways to try and kill the project, which is their aim…
    Read More “FERC Delays PennEast Pipeline Final Review – Again”

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    PA Judge Temporarily Blocks Some DEP Chapter 78a Drilling Regs

    blockedOn Oct. 8, after five years in the making, Pennsylvania adopted new shale drilling regulations (see PA’s New Chapter 78a Drilling Regs Go into Effect Oct 8). Although the regs were ready at the end of the Gov. Tom Corbett Administration, Corbett fumbled the ball and the regs didn’t get adopted, which left them vulnerable to the incoming left-leaning Tom Wolf. Wolf’s people mangled the regulations under the Dept. of Environmental Protection Dictator/Secretary John Quigley, who got fired over unethical collusion with Big Green groups. Some of the good stuff remained, but onerous new elements were introduced. The Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC), which represents PA’s biggest shale drillers, filed an appeal in Commonwealth Court to block the most onerous aspects of the new regulations (see Marc. Shale Coalition Files Lawsuit to Block PA Chapter 78a Regs). When the court judge held a hearing on the matter, he was shocked the MSC didn’t call any witnesses (i.e. shale companies) adversely affected by the new regs (see Judge “Shocked” MSC Didn’t Present Witnesses @ Chapter 78a Hearing). However, that same judge yesterday decided the MSC has a case, at least with some of the new rules. So he has temporarily blocked some of the items the MSC objected to in its lawsuit, including rules governing freshwater impoundments…
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    Baker Hughes Oct US Rig Count Up by 35, M-U Count Up 4

    Baker Hughes logoWhile the worldwide Baker Hughes rig count slide back a bit in October, from 934 in September to 920 in October, the rig count in the U.S. once again, for the fourth month in a row, went up. The average U.S. rig count for October was 544, up 35 from the 509 counted in September. However, the rig count was down 247 from the 791 counted in October 2015–so we still have a long ways to go. The Marcellus/Utica rig count was up for the third month running. In October the M/U rig count went up by 4 with 3 additions in PA (now 25 rigs) and 1 in WV (now 10 rigs). OH stayed even running with an average of 14 rigs…
    Read More “Baker Hughes Oct US Rig Count Up by 35, M-U Count Up 4”

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    PA Senators File to Join Case Against DRBC Fracking Moratorium

    lawsuitIn May MDN told you about a group of brave landowners in Wayne County, PA who have had their property rights stolen by the Delaware River Basin Commission (see Wayne County, PA Landowner Sues DRBC Over Fracking Ban). They filed a lawsuit against the DRBC asking a judge to declare the DRBC does not have jurisdiction to prevent construction of a natural gas well. Several northeastern PA counties (unfortunately) are located in the Delaware River Basin and the DRBC has steadfastly refused to allow them to drill any shale wells, citing concerns that the Delaware River supplies fresh water to millions downstream–even though they can’t explain how that water might get contaminated. A few months later, the DRBC’s best friend and patron, THE Delaware Riverkeeper, sued to join the lawsuit to help defend the inept DRBC (see Delaware Riverkeeper “Intervenes” to Protect its Patsy – the DRBC). Last week three PA senators filed to join the lawsuit on behalf of the landowners that they represent. Predictably, THE Delaware Riverkeeper wants to prevent the senators from joining the lawsuit…
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    FirstEnergy Selling 4 NatGas-Fired Electric Plants in PA

    for-sale-sign.jpgThe energy industry in our country is complicated and takes a while to wrap your brain around just how it works. Especially the utility industry. Companies that produce and then distribute electricity (and natural gas) are in some cases regulated by the government–meaning what they charge is strictly controlled–and in some cases not regulated. Some local utilities produce the electricity, via a nuclear plant, or coal-fired generating plant, or natural gas-fired plant, as well as distribute that electricity to customers. Other utilities just distribute the electricity. And still others just produce the electricity. Sometimes producing electricity is regulated by the government (i.e. price controlled) and other times it is not. Is your head spinning yet? FirstEnergy, based in Akron, OH, is one of the nation’s largest investor-owned electric systems, serving customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and New York. FirstEnergy owns a variety of regulated and non-regulated power generation plants. Last Friday the company announced it will sell six power generating plants in PA, four of them natural gas-fired plants. The plants being sold are non-regulated. This is part of FirstEnergy’s strategy to become a 100% “regulated” utility in the next 18 months. Which plants are going on the auction block?…
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