Statewide PA

Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Time to Revoke Tax Exempt Status of Anti-Drilling Non-Profits
December 16, 2015December 16, 2015

MDN friend and ace blogger Tom Shepstone, writing on his always-excellent Natural Gas Now website, makes a strong case for the IRS to investigate and revoke the tax exempt status of the anti-drilling non-profit “charity” Clean Air Council (based in Philadelphia). The Clean Air Council is nothing more than a front group that uses money from the Heinz Endowments and William Penn Foundation in a shell game to keep their anti-drilling activities at arm’s length. Plausible deniability. We would add one more organization to the list for investigation and revocation of tax exempt status: THE Delaware Riverkeeper, which is also funded in part by Heinz and William Penn. Here’s a re-posting of Tom’s excellent article…
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Economic Impact | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Poly(ethylene) Wants a Cracker: OH Study Predicts Ethane Tsunami
December 14, 2015December 14, 2015

A researcher and “Executive in Residence” from Cleveland State University, Andrew Thomas, writes about a new study produced by the University “to better understand the ramifications of huge quantities of natural gas and liquid ethane being produced in Ohio.” Unfortunately we were unable to track down a copy of the full study and its results, but we do have the summary as contributed by Thomas in writing for Crain’s Cleveland Business. And wow, what insights we gain! Thomas says the study he worked on concludes that even in this down market, Ohio’s production of natural gas liquids (NGLs), specifically ethane, is on a rocket ride to the moon. He says, “Ohio’s about to see an ethane tsunami.” He also says if all four ethane crackers that have been floated as possibilities for the region get built, that would only sop up one-third of the ethane supply projected to be produced in the Marcellus/Utica. Here’s the high-level but very exciting and insightful news coming from this study…
Read More “Poly(ethylene) Wants a Cracker: OH Study Predicts Ethane Tsunami”
Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Gov. Ed Rendell & Tom Wolf Support Philly Energy Hub Plan
December 14, 2015December 14, 2015

Looks like former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and current Gov. Tom Wolf won’t be getting Christmas cards from rabidly anti-fossil fuel organizations like THE Delaware Riverkeeper (Maya van Rossum), the Philly Clean Air Council, the odious Food & Water Watch and others. Why? Because Rendell has just outted himself and Wolf as supporters of the Philadelphia Energy Hub concept. MDN has covered the push by Philly over the past few years to position itself as an “energy hub” which means a couple of things. It means a push to bring oil and gas produced in Pennsylvania (and Ohio, and even in the North Dakota Bakken) to Philly for processing in Philly’s refineries and then shipped domestically and exported internationally. It also means a push to build new petrochemical plants in the Philly area to take advantage of NGLs (natural gas liquids)–turning them into plastics and other products that use hydrocarbons as their feedstock. Such petrochemical plants would attract thousands of new jobs and potentially create billions in economic impact. It is a big, bold and ingenious plan. Smart people are for it. Dumb people, well you know (see Anti-Drillers Pressure Philly City Council to Dump Energy Hub Plan and Gang of 20 Anti-Fossil Fuel Groups Attack Philly Energy Hub Plan). In a guest editorial in the Philadelphia Inquirer, former Gov. Rendell (also known as Fast Eddie) gives his full-throated support for an energy hub in Philly. He also indicates Wolf is on board with it too…
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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Supply Chain

Here’s How Drilling Slowdown Affects the Marcellus Supply Chain
December 14, 2015December 14, 2015

Yes, the slowdown in drilling IS having effect–everywhere, including the Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale. Supply chain companies–those companies not directly involved with drilling but supply goods and services to other companies that are directly involved–are feeling the effects. From hotels and restaurants to a men’s clothing store, the slowdown is having an effect. But it’s not all bad news…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA Big Green Groups Fully Unmasked – Want to Ban All Fossil Fuels
December 14, 2015December 14, 2015

Just when you thought the nutty anti-drillers couldn’t get any nuttier–they have. An op-ed running in a major Pennsylvania newspaper, the York Dispatch, penned by the heads of two radical green organizations (PennFuture and Conservation Voters of PA) calls for Pennsylvania “to move with deliberate speed to a zero-carbon economy that relies on clean energy and energy efficiency to power our future.” This is certifiable insanity–like bring out the straitjackets time. The letter writers believe that it’s time to dump the use of all fossil fuels as energy sources. The problem is, there are a whole lotta stupid people who will read it and agree–people who are totally ignorant of how the world works–in particular how energy works and how fossil fuels have led to the best conditions mankind has ever experienced on Planet Earth. By the way, three top lieutenants in the PA Gov. Tom Wolf administration are from PennFuture–so that gives you an idea of why his administration is crashing and burning…
Read More “PA Big Green Groups Fully Unmasked – Want to Ban All Fossil Fuels”
Bradford County | Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Williams

PA Atty General Sues Chesapeake Energy, Williams for Royalty Fraud
December 10, 2015December 10, 2015

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane, who has been indicted on numerous felony charges and likely to be forced from office any day now, filed a lawsuit yesterday against Chesapeake Energy in Bradford County Court over the issue of shorting landowners out of royalties. What every story we’ve seen (thus far) misses is this: The lawsuit also names Williams as participating in the scheme to defraud landowners out of royalty payments. So this is not just a Chesapeake story, it’s a Williams story too. Landowner groups are “hailing” the decision, jumping up and down with glee. Let us throw a little cold water on your face. Note to landowners and the groups that represent them: When you (metaphorically) crawl into bed with Kathleen Kane, you’re crawling into bed with a rattlesnake. Sooner or later she’s going to turn on you too. Mark it down. It’s in her nature. With that disclaimer in place, we’ll break down the news for you, and show you a copy of the lawsuit Kane’s office filed yesterday…
Read More “PA Atty General Sues Chesapeake Energy, Williams for Royalty Fraud”
Air Quality | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

Federal EPA’s New Ozone Standard: Air Not Cleaner, PA Jobs Killer
December 10, 2015December 10, 2015

In the name of protecting us, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues rogue actions in regulating the oil and gas industry–against the express dictates of the U.S. Constitution. The latest violation from the EPA is a new regulation lowering ozone levels. As David Williams from the Taxpayers Protection Alliance and a Pennsylvania native explains below, the “simple” act of lowering the ozone standard from 75 parts per BILLION to 70 ppb won’t do much at all to actually clean the air, but will directly result is lost jobs in Pennsylvania…
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Bradford County | Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Packed Meeting in Towanda Discusses Chesapeake Royalty Settlement
December 9, 2015December 9, 2015

Last week MDN told you about a very important class action lawsuit that is about to be settled against Chesapeake Energy. It’s called the “Demchak” case and it involves thousands of Pennsylvania landowners who are currently, or even formerly, signed with Chesapeake (see Decision-time for Landowners in Demchak/Chesapeake Royalty Case). Landowners are automatically part of the settlement unless they opt out by December 17. A big confab was held last Wednesday (Dec. 2) at the Towanda (Bradford County), PA High School. It was a packed house with ~650 landowners attending. MDN had our very own reporter, Johnny Williams, on the scene. He files the following report, with important information for landowners…
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Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

5th Annual Shale Gas Innovation Contest Now Accepting Applications
December 9, 2015December 9, 2015

Once again the Ben Franklin Shale Gas Innovation and Commercialization Center (SGICC) is back with their annual Shale Gas Innovation Contest. This is the fifth annual contest and four winners will split an $80,000 prize purse. It’s time to enter the contest! Any idea OR already commercialized product/service related to the shale energy space is eligible. ANY. Examples include: well pad EH&S products/services, novel materials or chemicals (to enhance performance, prevent corrosion, or improve product yield), remote site monitoring technologies, natural gas or NGL conversion technologies, and water management or remediation technologies. Why not enter your product or service? Details below…
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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA Senator Predicts Chesapeake Energy Goes Bankrupt Within a Year
December 8, 2015December 8, 2015

The failed Governor of Pennsylvania, Tom Wolf, “100 percent guarantees” an oil and gas severance tax will be part of next year’s state budget. That’s the claim made by Wolf’s inept Policy Secretary, John Hanger, last Friday. What hubris. Wolf and Hanger can’t even get THIS YEAR’S budget done! Nearly six months late!! And already they’re trying to grab money for next year. Democrats have a heroin-like addiction to OPM–Other People’s Money. (Coincidentally, when John Hanger ran for governor himself, he ran on a platform of legalizing marijuana, see Pass One Last Joint for John Hanger.) The problem (for Wolf and Hanger) is this: the shale industry in PA is in retrograde. It’s receding, not expanding. Drilled wells are either not being hooked up in the first place, or they’re being turned off, called being shut-in. When that happens, less gas flows–less gas to tax. Another lesson Dems never learn: You ALWAYS get less of what you tax, not more. It’s simple economics. A Republican State Senator from York, PA (Wolf’s home town) wrote Wolf a little love letter to school him in the economic realities of his bogus claim that “next year” he’ll get a severance tax. State Sen. Scott Wagner predicts, among other things, that Chesapeake Energy, PA’s largest natural gas producer, will file for bankruptcy within a year…
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Bradford County | Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Decision-time for Landowners in Demchak/Chesapeake Royalty Case
December 1, 2015December 1, 2015

Is the long, sordid affair over Chesapeake Energy screwing Pennsylvania landowners out of royalties finally near an end? Chesapeake and some landowners, part of the “Demchak” class action lawsuit–certainly want you to think so. A year ago MDN told you about a settlement between “several thousand” Pennsylvania landowners and Chesapeake over the royalty issue–Chessy deducting post-production payments by pipeline companies in what some call a scam that leaves landowners signed with Chesapeake receiving royalty checks that are pennies on the dollar compared to what they should receive. The new settlement for those “several thousand” would be 2/3 of $11 million, after the lawyers get their 1/3 cut (see Chesapeake & PA Landowners Settle Royalty Lawsuit…Again). Many PA landowners who are leased with Chesapeake now face a decision–and doing nothing is not an option. The lawyers and the court are about to close the door on what is called the Demchak class action lawsuit. PA landowners with a “market enhancement clause” in their lease should have already received a form letter announcing that unless they opt out of the settlement, they will be included. Below we have an excellent outline of what your options are according to the PA National Association of Royalty Owners (NARO), along with the opinion of one Bradford County landowner who is less than thrilled with the Demchak settlement…
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Crime | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA Senate Committee Votes to Recommend AG Kane’s Removal
December 1, 2015December 1, 2015

Last Wednesday, the Pennsylvania State Senate committee investigating PA Attorney General Kathleen Kane recommended to the full Senate that she be removed from office. Now. Before any more damage is done to the office of the AG. We’ve long covered the scandal that is about to bring down Kathleen Kane (see our Kane stories here). The scandal bringing her down has nothing to do with the Marcellus Shale, other than it will rid us of a liberal Democrat who illegally targets the drilling industry. No–she has herself to thank when she finally walks (or is dragged) through the exit door. She is a mean, vindictive person who sought to discredit a political enemy by leaking privileged grand jury testimony to a reporter (a felony), and then lying under oath about it (which is perjury, another felony). In fact she’s been indicted on a number of crimes. Last week the PA Senate said “enough is enough, it’s time for her to go.” And what did Kane do? Once again, like a broken record, she said a bunch of dirty old men who work for the state and who swapped porn using their state email accounts are out to get her because she discovered their dirty little secret…
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Lease & Royalty Payments | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA Game Commission Keeps on Leasing, Not Subject to Wolf’s Ban
November 30, 2015November 30, 2015

In a companion story today, MDN brings you news that anti-drillers are taking a case to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that could potentially require the state to consider “environmental rights” when considering whether or not to allow drilling on state-owned land. That is, a requirement that drilling be banned on state-owned land. One state agency that owns state land–the Pennsylvania Game Commission–continues to lease land for drilling even though there is currently an executive order by Gov. Tom Wolf that prohibits drilling in state-owned parks and forests. The Game Commission is outside of the executive branch and therefore autonomous and continues to lease land. Here’s an update on who drills the most on and under Game Commission land, and the latest leases (signing bonus and royalties) the Game Commission most recently negotiated…
Read More “PA Game Commission Keeps on Leasing, Not Subject to Wolf’s Ban”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA Supreme Court to Hear Case on Banning Drilling on State Lands
November 30, 2015November 30, 2015

Pennsylvania’s Democrat Supreme Court will take up the issue of whether or not private property rights still exist in the Keystone State. That’s the clear legal issue before the court over whether or not the State of Pennsylvania can continue to allow oil and gas drilling on state lands and use the revenues it receives as part of the general fund. Lower courts have all ruled that yes, the state can legally lease its own property, and allow drilling under public land for which it doesn’t, in some cases, own the mineral rights. But radical environmentalists are attempting to abuse the state’s highest court–now packed with liberal Democrats–to achieve what they can’t achieve by any other means. They’re hoping the high court will find a new cockamamie “right” to protect the environment that trumps public and even private property rights in the process. That is, they’re hoping the Supremes will rule that the state MUST ban drilling on state-owned land, in order to protect Mother Earth…
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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

State Official Calls Shale Impact “Profound” on PA Agriculture
November 30, 2015November 30, 2015

Recently the Pennsylvania Agriculture Department Executive Deputy Secretary, Michael Smith, addressed the Natural Gas Task Force for the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP) in Hershey. He had some interesting things to say about shale development in the state. Among them: Shale’s impact on agriculture in the state will be “profound” and “transformative.” Did he mean that in a good way, or a bad way? Yes…
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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Supply Chain

Success Story: Welder Starts Pre-Fab Company in PA Shale Country
November 30, 2015November 30, 2015

MDN has previously marveled and talked about the amount of money welders can command in the shale industry–upward of $1,000 per day (VERY long, 12-hour days). It’s hard work out in the elements–not for the faint of heart. Today there are fewer welding jobs simply because there’s less drilling going on and therefore less wells that need pipelines connected to them. However, this is a story about a welder who didn’t just settle for welding pipelines and equipment at drill pads. This is the story of a welder who have the guts to start his own pre-fab business in the heart of Pennsylvania shale country–and hit it big. Make no mistake, this is not like hitting the lottery. Starting and running a business is HARD work. But if you have what it takes, it can pay off in spades, as it has for our latest Hero of the Marcellus, welder Bill Emick…
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