Statewide PA

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    Anti-Drillers Pressure Philly City Council to Dump Energy Hub Plan

    A group of 33 anti-progress organizations, headed up by the odious and misnamed Food & Water Watch, have (fantastically) sent a letter to members of the Philadelphia City Council to tell City Council they should forget about making Philly an East Coast “energy hub.” The blithering idiots refuse to acknowledge the reason they’re alive and able to send such a letter is due to the beneficence of fossil fuels. They are only able to organize and protest fossil fuels–because of the existence of fossil fuels. The good news is that City Council is so corrupt they won’t notice or care anyway…
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    Center for Sustainable Shale Dev Gets Grant to Keep Going

    A spot of good news for the Center for Sustainable Shale Development (CSSD). The CSSD has struggled to obtain funding after Mamma Teresa Heinz Kerry, the William Penn Foundation and the quacks at PennFuture all pulled their funding for the group (see PAI Says 3rd Enviro Group – PennFuture – Abandoned CSSD). The Richard King Mellon Foundation threw the CSSD a lifeline by donating (see CSSD Thrown a Lifeline from Richard King Mellon Foundation). Now comes word that the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation has renewed their support with another one-year grant…
    Read More “Center for Sustainable Shale Dev Gets Grant to Keep Going”

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    Confirmed: PA Natgas Production Decreased from Jan to Feb 2015

    confirmedAs MDN told you last week, natural gas production in Pennsylvania went DOWN from January to February 2015 (see Exclusive: PA Feb Natgas Production Numbers Show Decrease from Jan). We now have the percentage by which it decreased: 9%. As we said last week, EQT and a few other laggards didn’t file their numbers on time. Those numbers are now in and we have the final summary below showing production for both January and February, and the percentage difference–both by county and by driller. Mainstream and industry publications we’ve read say February natgas production in PA was either flat or slightly up from January. That simply is not the case. We’ve run the numbers–twice. We’ve pulled the raw data from the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection–twice. We’ve checked and rechecked and, as we predicted last week, “we expect production to have decreased somewhere around 8-10% overall.” We nailed it, if we might immodestly say so ourselves. So why does everyone else say production rose slightly?…
    Read More “Confirmed: PA Natgas Production Decreased from Jan to Feb 2015”

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    PA Drilling Permits Drop 30% Jan-Mar – How Low Will it Go?

    How Low can You GoHow low will it go? Data from the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) shows a significant drop in the number of Marcellus Shale drilling permits issued for the first quarter of 2015. In fact, the number of permits issued dropped 30% in 1Q15–to the lowest number of permits issued in the past five years. Here’s a look at the numbers…
    Read More “PA Drilling Permits Drop 30% Jan-Mar – How Low Will it Go?”

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    PA DEP Releases 2013 Air Pollution from Drilling Report

    Each year the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) collects air emissions data for the natural gas industry as required by PA’s Air Pollution Control Act. Yesterday the DEP issued a comprehensive report for calendar year 2013. It’s no surprise that several categories of air pollutants increased–the more wells you drill, the more activity, the more air pollution. What *is* surprising is that two categories of air pollution decreased: carbon monoxide (CO) and methane (CH4). You also need to throw this into the mix: The way the information is collected and reported changed in 2013. The DEP began requiring data from compressor stations supporting coalbed methane wells. That is, they grew the pie–the data is sort of apples and oranges. And still the CO and CH4 numbers went down! Below is the DEP summary of the numbers, broken out by type of air pollution…
    Read More “PA DEP Releases 2013 Air Pollution from Drilling Report”

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    ExxonMobil Donates $47M to Higher Ed, Including Marcellus Region

    ExxonMobil runs an incredibly generous program called the Educational Matching Gift Program under which they have just donated $47 million to ~900 colleges and universities across the United States. Here’s how it works: for every $1 ExxonMobil employees, retirees, directors and surviving spouses contribute to the Matching Gift Program, ExxonMobil matches it with $3. In Pennsylvania, the total pot donated to higher education was $3.8 million. In Ohio, it was $909,000. Virginia colleges are getting $1.3 million. New York State colleges and universities are getting a whopping $3.4 million–after New York State has screwed ExxonMobil royally (the company has lost millions of dollars in lease expirations when it couldn’t drill shale wells in the state because of Andrew Cuomo’s fracking ban). And yet, ExxonMobil gave money to the Empire State anyway, to some of the very schools who provide shelter and sponsor anti-drilling zealots. It shows the caliber of the people who run the company. One more: New Jersey, big users of oil and gas, but haters of pipelines and shale drilling, got $1.1 million…
    Read More “ExxonMobil Donates $47M to Higher Ed, Including Marcellus Region”

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    “Peaceful” Protesters Removed from LNG Export Hearing in Philly

    Another example of a “peaceful, non-violent” protest occurred yesterday in Philadelphia. City Councilman David Oh organized a meeting to discuss the feasibility of locating a facility inside city limits to liquefy and export natural gas. The city owns Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW), the largest municipal-owned utility in the country. PGW already has a small LNG facility in the city, but currently it’s set up to import LNG, not export it. Councilman Oh wanted to explore the possibility of converting the site to export LNG. You may recall the corrupt Philly City Council nixed a potential deal to sell PGW to UIL Holdings (see Philly City Council Kills the Phila. Gas Works $1.86B Deal). Since that time, City Council members like Oh have tried to save face and figure out how they might turn around the near-bankrupt PGW. One of the most promising ideas is to set up a small exporting operation. A meeting to discuss that idea was held on the campus of Drexel University. A meaningful portion of those attending were anti-drilling nutters who wouldn’t shut up and had to be escorted out by Drexel security personnel. Yep, just more of your “peaceful, non-violent” types out to make a point…
    Read More ““Peaceful” Protesters Removed from LNG Export Hearing in Philly”

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    Exclusive: PA Feb Natgas Production Numbers Show Decrease from Jan

    exclusiveKudos to the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection. On April 1 they published the very first monthly production numbers for oil and gas production in the state–for the month of January (see PA’s First Monthly O&G Production Report Goes Live). At the time, the DEP said going forward new production numbers would be released 45 days after the end of a calendar month, and that February’s numbers would be released by April 14. Those numbers were released–just before midnight on the 14th! They kept their word and are to be commended for it. MDN has analyzed the numbers from February, comparing them to January. Unfortunately several drillers have failed to file their monthly reports on time–most notable among them is EQT. Because EQT’s numbers are missing for February (one of the larger drillers in PA), it throws off any kind of meaningful analysis. However, we have enough of the picture from other major drillers who did file on time–drillers like Cabot Oil & Gas, Range Resources and Southwestern Energy–that we can tell you this: Production in PA from January to February went down by an appreciable amount. Currently, without EQT’s numbers in the mix, February production decreased 17% from January levels. Once missing numbers are added, we expect production to have decreased somewhere around 8-10% overall. Below we have a couple of charts with the natural gas production data rolled up, something you won’t find anywhere else!…
    Read More “Exclusive: PA Feb Natgas Production Numbers Show Decrease from Jan”

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    New Bill Aims to Keep Drilling/Pipelines Out of Dela. River Basin

    A new bill aimed at restricting shale drilling and pipelines in the Delaware River Basin has just been re-introduced by a pair of Delaware Democrats in Congress. It flies under the name of the Delaware River Basin Conservation Act. This is the fifth time the bill has been introduced (in 2013 it was HR 644, click here for the full text of the bill). The bill would vest the already out-of-control U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with power and money to “identify and implement conservation activities” in the Delaware River Basin. The tipoff that this is anti-drilling is that it’s being promoted by the William Penn Foundation as well as the Delaware River Basin Commission. DRBC board members say the bill doesn’t step on their toes at all. In fact, DRBC welcomes the bill because it will help with “defending environmental quality in ways that are outside of its [DRBC’s] operations.” In other words, it’s one more tool to ensure shale drilling never happens in the Delaware River Basin…
    Read More “New Bill Aims to Keep Drilling/Pipelines Out of Dela. River Basin”

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    PIOGA Turns Up the Heat on Wolf/Quigley Over TAB/Chapter 78

    turn up the heatThe Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association turned up the heat on newly-elected Gov. Tom Wolf and Acting Dept. of Environmental Protection Secretary John Quigley. In fact, the temperature is downright hot. The issue is Wolf and Quigley’s possibly illegal maneuver in firing the members of the previous DEP Oil & Gas Technical Advisory Committee (TAB) and appointing all new members, PLUS appointing so-called non-voting members who are largely from environmentalist organizations–there to gum up what until now has been a well-oiled machine. In a letter addressed to current TAB members (minus the extra non-voting members), with copies going to Wolf, Quigley and a host of others, PIOGA tells TAB they should reject Quigley’s last minute reworking of Chapter 78 and 78a rulemaking (i.e. new regulations, see PA DEP Gives Public 45 Days to Comment on O&G Rule Changes). According to PIOGA, Quigley has clearly overstepped his authority as granted by the legislature and although it’s uncomfortable politically, the new TAB members need to “do the right thing” (our words) and reject Quigley’s changes…
    Read More “PIOGA Turns Up the Heat on Wolf/Quigley Over TAB/Chapter 78”

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    Wolf Appoints Energy “Advisor”; Says Natgas Should Stay in PA

    Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf must have a fetish for staffers who can advise him on energy issues. Maybe he feels less-than-adequate following in the footsteps of Tom Corbett–someone who really understood the energy industry? Wolf has two former secretaries of the Dept. of Environment Protection (DEP) on his staff–Katie McGinty, his chief of staff, and John Hanger, his Secretary of Planning and Policy (i.e. Secretary of High Taxes). Wolf also appointed the former Secretary of the Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resouces, John Quigley, to become his current Secretary of the DEP. He had loads of experts on the environment and energy, but apparently they aren’t enough to advise him on what he should think about energy in the Keystone State. So Wolf has appointed someone to be his “top” energy advisor, who happens to be (surprise!) a lawyer…
    Read More “Wolf Appoints Energy “Advisor”; Says Natgas Should Stay in PA”

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    Dela. Riverkeeper Loses Yet Another Court Case – Wanted Raw Data

    Time to do a happy dance. THE Delaware Riverkeeper has lost yet another court case in their ongoing effort to make mischief with anything to do with fossil fuels. Maya van Rossum, head of the organization, uses fossil fuels every day of her life, but she hates them (a lotta angst and inner conflict, we imagine). She tried to stop Williams from clearing trees for a pipeline expansion until the clock ran out on April 1st in northeastern PA–you can’t cut from April through November because bats may roost in the trees. Of course where the tree cutting was happening is nowhere near the Delaware River Basin that the Riverkeeper organization is supposed to be minding with its non-profit status. Riverkeeper lost that court case, even though the case was filed in a liberal DC court (see Dela. Riverkeeper Loses Bid to Stop Transco Expansion in PA). Riverkeeper’s latest angle is to try and get the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection to turn over unanalyzed raw data the DEP has been collecting in a multi-year study on fracking and radiation levels. The DEP is still collecting the data, but Riverkeeper thought there might be some juicy bits they could exploit for fundraising headlines. So Riverkeeper sued under the open records law to get access. A Commonwealth Court panel of judges on Friday said “no”…
    Read More “Dela. Riverkeeper Loses Yet Another Court Case – Wanted Raw Data”

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    Dela. Riverkeeper to Hold Stalker Training to “Hound” Gov Wolf

    What happens when a pack of wacko anti-drillers stalks a governor and “hounds” him virtually to death on the fracking issue? If he’s a Democrat governor in New York, like Andrew Cuomo, he caves to the pressure just to get rid of the crazies from following him from event to event (see NY Gov Cuomo Comments on Fracking, Hounding by Protesters). And so we now have an unconstitutional ban on fracking in the Empire State. That lesson has not been lost on equally crazy anti-drillers in Pennsylvania. Get this: THE Delaware Riverkeeper is going to give lessons on how to stop fracking in the Keystone State by using the same tactic–stalking the governor at every event with anti-drilling messages, hoping to wear him down like the crazies in NY wore down Cuomo. They call it “Bird-Dog” training and starting this Saturday, you too can learn how to be a pompous, pushy %@#, just like THE Delaware Riverkeeper…
    Read More “Dela. Riverkeeper to Hold Stalker Training to “Hound” Gov Wolf”

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    NPR Admits Truth About PA Jobs in Marcellus Shale Industry

    Waaaiiiit just a minute. This isn’t supposed to happen! NPR telling the truth about shale jobs in Pennsylvania? Yep, it’s true–April Fool’s was a couple of weeks ago. No, it’s not the anti-drilling NPR “reporters” from Harrisburg and Philadelphia with StateImpact Pennsylvania who told the truth (wash your mouth out with soap!). It was a reporter with the national NPR organization. Jeff Brady has an article published on the Nevada Public Radio website which says, in essence, although the shale industry is seeing big layoffs, the jobs picture in Pennsylvania is still very positive. How positive? Some 98% of the kids graduating from one of PA’s training schools get jobs in the shale industry. Some of those jobs pay $70,000-$80,000 per year. There are currently (according to NPR) around 31,000 people employed directly in the shale industry in PA, with no signs of letting up. Tell us again how PA was such a disaster under Tom Corbett and how Marcellus jobs numbers “didn’t add up” (see Remarkable Change in PA Jobs Since Pro-Gas Corbett Lost Gov Race). After Corbett lost, it was OK for so-called mainstream media to start telling the truth about the jobs bounty in the PA Marcellus. It’s so obvious, you can’t deny it, and the reputation of mainstream sources like NPR was suffering because of their anti-drilling propaganda, so they had to (finally) admit it…
    Read More “NPR Admits Truth About PA Jobs in Marcellus Shale Industry”

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    CONSOL Energy Lays Off Workers in CNX Gas Division in WV/PA

    breaking-news.jpgUPDATE 4PM 4/10/15: A highly placed source tells MDN that the number of total layoffs in the gas division is 170, many of which happened today. The total number is just shy of 5% of CONSOL’s total workforce. Our thoughts and prayers go to those affected.

    It’s not often that MDN gets to break news–but from scouring available news sources, we believe this is one of those times. Yesterday a long-time MDN reader phoned MDN to report that CONSOL Energy has begun, and is in the process of, a large round of layoffs in its CNX Gas division. The layoffs include personnel cuts in the following CONSOL locations: In WV there have been cuts in the Jane Lew and Bluefield offices; and in PA, cuts have been made (or will be made) in the Waynesburg, Indiana, and Canonsburg offices. We must stress this is second-hand information. We believe our source, but we do not have confirmation of cuts in all of those locations. Our source told us he had once worked in the Jane Lew office when that operation was part of Dominion (prior to CONSOL taking it over) and that someone he once worked with in that office–a woman who’s worked in that office/operation for 28 years–was just given her pink slip. So our source has an inside track on the situation. However, it’s always best to get confirmation, so MDN contacted CONSOL via email to ask for confirmation (or denial) and this is what CONSOL said…
    Read More “CONSOL Energy Lays Off Workers in CNX Gas Division in WV/PA”

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    Wolf Chief of Staff McGinty Lies About PA Severance Tax/Impact Fee

    retreadKatie McGinty is one of the Ed Rendell retreads employed by current PA Gov. Tom Wolf. She’s one of two former DEP Secretaries (under Rendell) working for Wolf. In fact, she is Tom Wolf’s chief of staff–arguably the second-most powerful person in Harrisburg after the governor himself. We’ve previously chronicled her background and how she might influence Wolf on Marcellus drilling matters (see How Will Wolf Appointment of McGinty Affect Marcellus Drilling?). In commenting on Wolf’s proposed 15% (effective rate) severance tax with the editorial board of a Washington County newspaper, McGinty also shows her skill at bald-faced lying…
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