Statewide PA

Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Luzerne County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide PA | Transco | Williams

Dela. Riverkeeper Halts Transco Pipeline Upgrade with Lawsuit
March 16, 2015March 16, 2015

Someone needs to sue THE Delaware Riverkeeper (Maya van Rossum) the way that organization is suing legitimate and legal companies to block legitimate and legal activity in the Marcellus Shale. Delaware Riverkeeper apparently has endless bags of money, made available to them by the Park Foundation, Heinz Endowments and other anti-drilling “non-profit” groups, to file endless frivolous lawsuits. The latest is particularly insidious. Williams has just received approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to build a few loops–extra lengths of pipeline immediately next to existing pipeline–for the Transco Pipeline in northeast PA and in NJ (see FERC Approves Williams Leidy Southeast Project in PA/NJ). Part of the requirement by FERC is that Williams cannot cut down trees between April and October–a full seven months–to avoid “harming” the endangered Indiana bat that may (or may not) roost in those trees…
Read More “Dela. Riverkeeper Halts Transco Pipeline Upgrade with Lawsuit”
Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Chesapeake’s PA Royalty Settlement Affects Some, Not All Landowners
March 16, 2015March 16, 2015

In December 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). However, not all PA landowners leased with Chesapeake are happy about it. Two other, separate lawsuits against Chesapeake are proceeding and, according to attorneys, the settlement will not affect these separate lawsuits which are proceeding, unless the leases have a “market enhancement” clause…
Read More “Chesapeake’s PA Royalty Settlement Affects Some, Not All Landowners”
Crime | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA’s Anti-Drilling Attorney General Kane Can’t Keep a Press Secretary
March 16, 2015March 16, 2015

Rats fleeing a sinking ship? (Oops…Did we just say that with our out-loud voice??) It seems PA’s anti-drilling and law-breaking Attorney General Kathleen Kane can’t keep a press secretary. Kane, you may recall, is using Lanny Davis, lawyer for Bill “BJ in the Oval Office” Clinton who lied under oath (called perjury, a crime) to defend her. Davis was able to help Clinton keep his job as president, largely by smearing the special prosecutor in the case, Ken Starr. Kane figures Davis may be able to help her keep her job as PA’s AG, even though a grand jury found her to have broken the law and violated the oath of her office (see PA Grand Jury Finds Anti-Drilling AG Kathleen Kane Lied Under Oath). It’s interesting to watch the people around Kane, like those that have to face the press every day and lie for her. They just keep leaving. The latest one was there only two months…
Read More “PA’s Anti-Drilling Attorney General Kane Can’t Keep a Press Secretary”
Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Minuteman Environmental Services | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | XTO

PA Grand Jury Finds Anti-Drilling AG Kathleen Kane Lied Under Oath
March 13, 2015March 13, 2015

Kathleen Kane, the anti-drilling Attorney General of Pennsylvania–lied under oath–according to a PA grand jury. That’s called perjury and it’s a crime. She should be removed from office immediately but she’s fighting the charge using Lanny Davis–the same lawyer who kept Bill Clinton in office after he lied under oath. She’s hoping lightening will strike twice and Davis will be able to restore her damaged-beyond-repair credibility as the state’s top law enforcement officer, even though she herself has committed high crimes against the state. Why do we care? Because she’s lied in at least two other cases that affect the Marcellus Shale industry: XTO Energy (see PA AG Abuses Her Authority, Files Criminal Charges Against XTO) and Minuteman Environmental Services (see Minuteman Sues AG Kane’s Office for $20M + Punitive Damages). She’s vicious and relentless when it comes to smearing the Marcellus industry and she needs to go because of her own crimes…
Read More “PA Grand Jury Finds Anti-Drilling AG Kathleen Kane Lied Under Oath”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA Gov Wolf: Forget Burning Natgas, Make PVC Pipe Instead
March 12, 2015March 12, 2015

A question and answer session with PA Gov. Tom Wolf at the Harrisburg Patriot-News reveals a lot about his attitude and thinking with regard to the Marcellus Shale industry. Hinting at his previous statement that if the industry doesn’t agree to his tax he’ll ban them (see PA Gov Wolf Turns Bully, Threatens Ban on Drilling Absent New Tax), Wolf, in answering a question about the drilling industry and how it conducts itself said the industry will “do this [Marcellus drilling] right or we can’t do it at all.” He failed to define what he means by doing it right. Wolf also said that while he’s in favor of extracting Marcellus Shale gas, he (fantastically) thinks it’s a waste to burn it! Instead, HE wants to use it to make things, like artificial wood for decks and PVC for pipes. He’s more interested in solar and wind than he is natural gas (must be John Hanger’s influence). What a mess this man’s thinking is on one of PA’s most important natural resources. He’s going to screw it up if he continues on this dangerously naive course…
Read More “PA Gov Wolf: Forget Burning Natgas, Make PVC Pipe Instead”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

PIOGA Leads the Charge to Defeat Wolf’s Severance Tax
March 12, 2015March 12, 2015

Louis D. D’Amico, President & Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association (PIOGA), is leading the effort to defeat PA Gov. Tom Wolf’s Marcellus-killing, 7.5% severance tax. While virtually everyone else looked away in embarrassment and otherwise ignored Wolf’s threat that you either take this tax like a man or you’ll get banned “like New York,” Lou D’Amico is not looking away and not pretending Wolf never said it. Wolf did say it and he meant it–and he must be stopped. Below is an excellent column Lou recently wrote in which he parses the governor’s comments and offers the industry’s response–setting the record straight. By the way, Lou will be the Guest of Honor at this year’s Oil & Gas Awards event in Pittsburgh on March 25…
Read More “PIOGA Leads the Charge to Defeat Wolf’s Severance Tax”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA DEP Sec Quigley Fumbles Questions at House Budget Hearing
March 12, 2015March 12, 2015

Yesterday PennFutureDEP Acting Sec. John Quigley appeared before the PA House budget hearing to answer questions about Gov. Tom Wolf’s budget proposals for the Dept. of Environmental Protection (i.e. cheerlead and support the highest tax increase on drillers in the state’s history). Quigley was asked why he had fired the members of the DEP’s Oil & Gas Technical Advisory Board (OGTAB)–something no incoming governor has done in a generation, Republican or Democrat (see Why did PA DEP Acting Sec Quigley Mass Fired Gas Advisory Board?). Quigley apparently fumbled around with the question and answered it later, after the meeting, saying the law required splitting the board in two and, “We needed some new blood on the advisory board.” He was asked, during the hearing, who the new members would be on the newly constituted OGTAB. Quigley said he “couldn’t remember” and he later told reporters the board is appointed by the governor and that he “doesn’t do clerical work.” Apparently nominating and appointing a board with people who ultimately guide and control the very policies his department must enforce isn’t important enough for Quigley to bother with. Arrogant or out of touch, take your pick. Later that same day, after some underling got chewed out for Quigley’s poor performance, a press release was issued with the names of the OGTAB members…
Read More “PA DEP Sec Quigley Fumbles Questions at House Budget Hearing”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA DEP Sec Quigley Wants Pipeliners/Towns to Meet Up
March 12, 2015March 12, 2015

PA’s PennFutureDEP Acting Sec. John Quigley wants to get the big pipeline companies and the townships through which the pipelines will go to meet at the local Starbucks and “start a conversation.” Which latte do you like? Er no, not that kind of conversation. Quigley acknowledges he doesn’t have a thing to do with interstate pipelines–they’re approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Other agencies (federal and state) oversee the pipelines once they are built. But Quigley thinks if he can get both sides–pipeliners and towns–together and try to at least get a dialogue going, perhaps something good will come from it. Not a bad idea as ideas go. One recommendation: don’t tell the nutters which Starbucks you’re meeting at…
Read More “PA DEP Sec Quigley Wants Pipeliners/Towns to Meet Up”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Wastewater

New Draft Drilling Regulations in PA: Wastewater Impoundments Out
March 10, 2015March 10, 2015

The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has been working on revisions to oil and gas regulations, something called Chapter 78, since 2011. In 2012 the new Act 13 drilling law required the DEP to update Chapter 78 to reflect the new reality of shale drilling. Over the past three years, the DEP held nine public hearings and received some 24,000 public comments on the proposed changes (see PA DEP Extends Roadshow for Public Comment on New Drilling Rules). The new rules were supposed to be over and done with long before now, but got derailed by last year’s election cycle. New governor, new secretary of the DEP, and guess what? The proposed rules have changed yet again. There’s a new due date too: the final rules won’t be ready until early 2016. Yesterday the DEP released yet another revision to the rules (we’ve lost track how many times the rules have been revised and changed). Drillers under Democrat Gov. Tom Wolf and his PennFutureDEP Sec. John Quigley want to increase the red tape drillers must navigate. Among the changes in this latest draft (full copy below) are…
Read More “New Draft Drilling Regulations in PA: Wastewater Impoundments Out”
Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Intl Rig Counts in Free Fall, What About Marcellus/Utica Counts?
March 9, 2015March 9, 2015

Rig counts are a closely watched measure as an indicator of future drilling and therefore future production. Over the past several years, rig counts have become a much less accurate method for predicting future production simply because so many wells have been drilled–in the Marcellus and now Utica–that connecting those wells to production will take years to complete. So if the number of rigs actively drilling goes down, it doesn’t correlate to a drop in production–not anymore. But rig counts are still important–the number of rigs actively drilling–because it’s an indicator of economic impact. When rigs are drilling, all sorts of goods and services and jobs are needed–which makes everybody happy. Baker Hughes, in the process of being gobbled up by Halliburton, has been for years the go-to source for rig counts. They issue counts on a weekly basis. MDN keeps track of rig counts in our 3x/year Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook. We decided it’s time to revisit rig counts–both globally and in the Marcellus/Utica–to see what the latest hullabaloo is all about. Are the counts going down in the northeast–and if so, where? The answer may surprise you…
Read More “Intl Rig Counts in Free Fall, What About Marcellus/Utica Counts?”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide PA | Sunoco Logistics

Sunoco Reconciles Differences with Municipalities re Mariner East
March 9, 2015March 9, 2015

Hats off to Sunoco Logistics. In order to complete the conversion of a decades-old pipeline already in the ground, the Mariner East 1 pipeline, into flowing natural gas liquids (propane and ethane) across the state to the Marcus Hook refinery near Philadelphia, the company needs to build or upgrade 31 pump and valve stations along the existing pipeline. A legal battle ensued with resistance from many of the local municipalities, largely ginned up by scare stories from the usual sources like the Clean Air Council, THE Delaware Riverkeeper, Mountain Watershed Association and their sycophantic buddies in mainstream media outlets like PBS’ StateImpact Pennsylvania. Sunoco felt it had no option but to try and get the pipeline declared a public utility and by extension, use eminent domain to avoid local zoning ordinances. There have been plenty of legal twists and turns along the way (see our list of stories here). Sunoco has worked out their differences with 22 of the 31 townships and they are now hammering out deals with the rest. So they’ve withdrawn their application with the state Public Utility Commission (PUC) to be exempted from local zoning ordinances–no eminent domain. Anti-drillers are feverishly trying to spin this as a loss for Sunoco Logistics–that the company has “backed down” and is beaten. What it is, is a major victory for Sunoco–the pipeline will be completed (very soon) and NGLs will flow all the way to Marcus Hook…
Read More “Sunoco Reconciles Differences with Municipalities re Mariner East”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

Jenga! PA Gov Wolf’s Budget Built on Severance Tax Will Crash
March 9, 2015March 9, 2015

Have you ever played Jenga? You know, the game where you stack blocks of wood in mini-skyscraper style and then each player must remove a block from a lower level and stack it on the top until somebody pulls a block out and the whole thing comes crashing down. That’s the comparison used to describe the state budget recently proposed by PA Gov. Tom Wolf in none other than the reliably liberal, Democrat-supporting, anti-drilling Allentown Morning Call. As the Morning Call points out, Wolf has built his Jenga (house of cards) budget on soaking drillers with a new severance tax. When that doesn’t happen, the whole budget comes tumbling down and no one will be to blame except Tom Wolf himself…
Read More “Jenga! PA Gov Wolf’s Budget Built on Severance Tax Will Crash”
Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Shale Gas News Radio – Mar 7, 2015 [Audio]
March 9, 2015March 9, 2015

Every Saturday the one-hour Shale Gas News show airs on Scranton, PA’s 94.3 FM “The Talker” radio station. The show is co-hosted by Kevin Lynn of Linde Corporation and Bill desRosiers from Cabot Oil & Gas. MDN brings you the latest program show notes and recordings for Shale Gas News each week (well worth your time to listen). Here’s the latest program, recorded on Saturday, Mar 7…
Read More “Shale Gas News Radio – Mar 7, 2015 [Audio]”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA Rep. Vitali Wants to Force Residents to Use LESS Natgas
March 6, 2015March 6, 2015

Some days you just shake your head. With all due respect to our many Democrat readers and friends–how can some Democrats be so utterly stupid? The latest example comes from Pennsylvania. State Rep. Greg Vitali (Democrat from the Philly area, why are we not surprised) wants to force natural gas utilities–the folks who sell you gas to burn in your furnace or use in your stoves for cooking–to sell you less natural gas. Why? Because of his personal views about so-called global warming. His justification (picked up and amplified by the dictationists at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) is that electric utilities are already being forced to do it–and hey, Dems like to spread the misery around, ya know?…
Read More “PA Rep. Vitali Wants to Force Residents to Use LESS Natgas”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

CBS Philly Manufactures False Story about Marcellus Freight Trains
March 5, 2015March 5, 2015

Is it a case of yellow journalism? Anti-drilling conspiracy? Or is it the case of an ignorant editor at a major Philadelphia news outlet? Take your pick. We’re referring to the headline and accompanying picture (see below) that are 100% false. The headline says, “Local Environmental Groups Warn of Accident Potential From Marcellus Shale Freight Trains” and shows a picture of a train derailment from three years ago that has nothing to do with shale oil. That’s called manufactured news folks. It’s also called a lie. And it appears boldly on the website of Philadelphia’s CBS News affiliate (channeling the lying Dan Rather are we?). The article refers to a new propaganda piece issued by Penn Environment and Frac Tracker Alliance–both strongly anti-drilling organizations. The “report” issued is a “boy who cried wolf” missive that warns PA residents of oil trains passing through the state, coming from the North Dakota Bakken Shale, with scary stories of exploding trains because of shale oil. And therein is the egregious lie–not only is the picture false (nothing to do with Bakken oil or oil of any kind), the headline is false–THERE ARE NO MARCELLUS OIL TRAINS. Any oil or condensate or natural gas liquids in the Marcellus region are transported by pipelines–not rail cars…
Read More “CBS Philly Manufactures False Story about Marcellus Freight Trains”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA Gov Wolf Increases DRBC Funding by 73% to 3/4 Million Bucks
March 5, 2015March 5, 2015

On Tuesday, PA Gov. Tom Wolf delivered the most expensive budget in PA history, a budget that plans to steal money from landowners and drillers and give it away to Big Education (see Post-Gazette: Wolf Budget with Severance Tax “a Miss…Utter Folly”). Not only does Tom Wolf want to “restore funding” for Big Education, he also, disappointingly, intends to restore funding for the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) so it can continue its anti-drilling ways. Wolf wants to lavish the DRBC with 3/4 of a million dollars, which is a 73% increase over last year’s funding under then-Gov. Tom Corbett. The problem with funding the DRBC is that PA taxpayers are footing most of the bill because other member states, including NY, NJ and the federal government, are short-changing the DRBC–not paying what they owe. Delaware is the lone member that pays what it’s supposed to (which is much less than PA). So PA taxpayers are in the unenviable position of propping up an organization that acts against their interests…
Read More “PA Gov Wolf Increases DRBC Funding by 73% to 3/4 Million Bucks”