Statewide PA

Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | PennEast Pipeline | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide PA

PennEast Tells DRBC Not So Fast, FERC has Final Say on Pipeline
November 20, 2014November 20, 2014

An interesting battle is shaping up over just who has what say with respect to the PennEast Pipeline and their plan to build a $1 billion, 108-mile pipeline from Luzerne County, PA to Mercer County, NJ–part of it through the Delaware River Basin area. Yesterday MDN told you that the Delaware River Basin Commission has notified PennEast that the pipeline is “subject to DRBC jurisdiction and must obtain a docket before it can proceed” (see DRBC Tells PennEast They Need DRBC (Not Just FERC) Approval). The DRBC seems to be saying if they don’t approve it, the pipeline won’t get built. But yesterday officials with PennEast pushed back and said, point blank, that while they welcome the DRBC’s review, the DRBC is not the agency that will approve whether or not the pipeline gets built…
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Economic Impact | Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | NGLs | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Statewide PA | Sunoco Logistics

Permit Filing Reveals NGL Mix Expected from Mariner East Pipelines
November 20, 2014November 20, 2014

Earlier this month MDN told you that Sunoco Logistics has decided to move forward–if they get regulatory approval–with building the Mariner East 2 natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline which will stretch from eastern Ohio all the way to the Philadelphia area (see Sunoco Logistics Will Build $2.5B Mariner East 2 Pipeline). The pipeline and associated upgrades will cost Sunoco $2.5 billion. Some of the “associated upgrades” will be to the Marcus Hook refinery near Philly. A Reuters investigation, released yesterday, unearthed new details about Sunoco’s plans for the Marcus Hook refinery. Reuters got a hold of permit applications Sunoco filed with the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) in September which discloses the capacities and types of storage tanks Sunoco plans to build to hold all those incoming NGLs, which tells us what they expect to receive via the Mariner East I & II pipelines once both are operational…
Read More “Permit Filing Reveals NGL Mix Expected from Mariner East Pipelines”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | PennEast Pipeline | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide PA

DRBC Tells PennEast They Need DRBC (Not Just FERC) Approval
November 19, 2014November 19, 2014

Looks like all those phone calls and emails and letters and complaining by THE Delaware Riverkeeper, Maya van Rossum, about the PennEast Pipeline that will carry cheap, abundant, clean-burning Marcellus Shale gas from northeast PA to NJ, have had their intended effect. The Delaware River Basin Commission, under the new leadership of Steve Tambini, has notified PennEast that they will need to get the DRBC kiss of approval before they can build the pipeline through the Delaware River Basin area. Let’s hope it’s not the (typical) DRBC kiss of death…
Read More “DRBC Tells PennEast They Need DRBC (Not Just FERC) Approval”
Industrywide Issues | McKean County | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA Severance Tax Will End Worthy Projects in Drilling Communities
November 19, 2014November 19, 2014

The McKean County, PA Board of Commissioners have just approved spending $42,750 to convert space over the Goodwill store in Kane, PA into four one-bedroom apartments to be used to house “transition age youth”–poor kids with no place to live. The money comes from a housing fund established by (yep) the Marcellus Shale impact fee. If PA’s Republican legislature caves and adopts newly-elected Gov. Tom Wolf’s nutball idea of a 5% severance tax, the impact fee will be gone and projects like this will disappear along with it. Which is why communities impacted by Marcellus drilling are universally opposed to changing from an impact fee to a severance tax–because they will get shafted. Right now, 60% of the fee stays local, for projects like this one. With a severance tax, all money goes to Harrisburg and slips through the fingers of greedy politicians–into the back pocket of teacher’s unions, mostly…
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Dominion Energy | Education | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide VA | Statewide WV | Virginia | West Virginia

Dominion Awards $1M in Grants to Colleges in Marcellus/Utica
November 19, 2014November 19, 2014

Each year Dominion, a major midstream and utility company with operations throughout the northeast, donates money in education grants via their Dominion Foundation to schools ranging from pre-K through college in the states where Dominion does business: Ohio, Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Dominion, you may recall, is the company building the East Coast’s first LNG export facility, investing $3.4-$3.8 billion (see Dominion Breaks Ground on Cove Point, MD LNG Export Facility). They also want to build the 550-mile, $5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline from WV to NC (see Dominion Asks FERC to Start Environmental Review of SE Pipeline). The company pumps a lot of money back into local communities where they operate with their investments. They also pump a good bit back via charitable contributions, including $1 million for colleges in the Marcellus/Utica region in 2014…
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Carrizo Oil & Gas | Energy Companies | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Utica Shale

Carrizo Scales Back in Marcellus, Keeps Drilling in Utica
November 18, 2014November 18, 2014

What a difference three months can make. In second quarter 2014 Carrizo Oil & Gas drilled 9 Marcellus wells and purchased more Utica acreage (see Carrizo 2Q14: Drills 9 Marcellus Wells, Buys More Utica Acreage). In third quarter 2014, Carrizo didn’t drill or complete any Marcellus wells, they began work to complete their second-ever Utica well and now have plans to drill only 5 more Utica wells in 4Q13. The problem seems to be lack of infrastructure (pipelines) to carry any production from their wells to market, as well as stubbornly low prices for natural gas in the northeast–leading to voluntary “curtailment” on the part of Carrizo (they shut the wells off for a period of time). Carrizo is re-focusing their efforts on the more oily Eagle Ford and Niobrara Shale plays…
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Centre County | Clearfield County | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Susquehanna County | Westmoreland County | WPX Energy

Scranton Newspaper Discovers WPX is Leaving PA–9 Months Later
November 18, 2014November 18, 2014

Better nine months late than never, we suppose. Back in February, MDN told you that WPX Energy is leaving the Marcellus (see WPX Energy Abandoning the Marcellus? Sure Looks That Way). We got clarification from WPX spokesperson Susan Oliver that although they would not drill any new wells, they will continue to operate at least some of the 100+ wells already drilled (see WPX Gives MDN an Update on Their 2014 Marcellus Plans). Over a month ago we told you that WPX is actively shopping their remaining undrilled acreage (see WPX Marcellus Assets Being Shopped in “Controlled Auction”). The Scranton Times-Tribune finally woke up (nine months later) and, shazam! They discovered that WPX is (can you believe it?) leaving PA…
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Centre County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Shell | Statewide PA | Taxation

New PA Senate Leader Says Severance Tax Could Kill Cracker Plant
November 17, 2014November 17, 2014

It’s looking better and better that Pennsylvania Republicans will not cave to pressure to enact a Marcellus-killing severance tax proposed by Democrat Governor-elect Tom Wolf. Last week Republicans booted RINO Dominic Pileggi (Philly area) from his leadership post and replaced him with Sen. Jake Corman from Centre County as the new majority leader. Corman says if a severance tax is enacted, it may well kill the prospects for Shell’s ethane cracker plant and Corman wants to ensure that plant gets built…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | PennEast Pipeline | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA State Law Prevents PennEast Pipeline from Paying Property Tax
November 17, 2014November 17, 2014

If you live in New Jersey and you live in a county or township where the PennEast Pipeline will be built, you’re in for a treat: You get a shot of extra revenue every year for the town/county budget in the form of real estate taxes (often referred to as property taxes). PennEast figures Hunterdon County, NJ will see something like $1 million per year in tax revenue from the pipeline. But just over the border in Pennsylvania it’s a different story. In PA natural gas pipelines are not considered “real estate” but instead equipment, and therefore pipelines are not taxed…
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Energy Services | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | UIL Holdings

PDN: City Council Ruined the Promise of Energy Hub in Philly
November 17, 2014November 17, 2014

Can Philadelphia ever be THE energy of hub of the northeast? According to an editorial in the Philadelphia Daily News, City Council has ruined that possibility by scuttling the deal to sell Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) to UIL Holdings (see Phila. City Council’s 6-Hour Hearing on PGW Sale, UIL Appearance). According to the editorial writers, City Council is focusing on retaining 1,600 (and shrinking) public sector union jobs at PGW instead of allowing the sale of PGW which potentially could lead to Philly becoming THE northeast energy hub employing 10 times that number of energy jobs…
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Blair County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

Altoona Politicos Say 5% Severance Tax a Marcellus “Killer”
November 14, 2014November 14, 2014

State Sen. John H. Eichelberger Jr., a Republican from Blair County (Altoona area) in Pennsylvania, had some tough words for incoming Democrat Gov. Tom Wolf: Forget about a 5% severance tax on the Marcellus industry. Eichelberger figures such a tax, while sounding “small” actually represents the snatch and grab of 50% of the profit companies now make in the state–and if you take away half of the profits they earn, most of them will stop drilling and leave. Hello! Anybody home at Democrat HQ? Anybody home at REPUBLICAN HQ? Are you listening?? Eichelberger is exactly right…
Read More “Altoona Politicos Say 5% Severance Tax a Marcellus “Killer””
Energy Services | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | UIL Holdings

Phila. City Council’s 6-Hour Hearing on PGW Sale, UIL Appearance
November 14, 2014November 14, 2014

More on the drama of the corrupt Philadelphia City Council’s scuttling of the sale of the municipal-owned Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) to Connecticut utility UIL Holdings. Yesterday City Council held hearings on alternatives to selling PGW and made a representative from UIL wait until the very end of six hours of hearings to give him 10 minutes to speak…
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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA

Bernstein: Marcellus Production Will Slow, Hit 25 Bcf/d in 2017
November 13, 2014November 13, 2014

A fascinating pair of research reports from Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. LLC as been analyzed and summarized in a top notch article by SNL Financial. Historically the Marcellus has been divided into northeast Pennsylvania and southwest PA, the SW including WV and a tiny bit of eastern OH. Also historically, the NE portion of the Marcellus has produced more dry gas (methane only) than the SW, which is richer in wet gas (or natural gas liquids). However, because of lack of pipelines in the NE, researchers say dry gas production throughout the Marcellus–particularly in the NE–will slow over the next few years. Another juicy tidbit from the report: Bernstein researchers predict natgas production from the Marcellus will hit 25 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) by end of 2017–just three years from now…
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CNG/LNG | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | UIL Holdings

LNG Facility the Crown Jewel in Scuttled PGW Sale
November 13, 2014November 13, 2014

We find it interesting now that the corrupt Philadelphia City Council has torpedoed the deal to sell the Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) to Connecticut utility company UIL Holding, the talk by council members has returned to the shiniest jewel in the PGW crown: their small LNG facility. You may recall that MDN previously warned of an ex-Enron employee, Boris Brevnov, who wanted to tank the sale to UIL so he could gain control of the LNG facility for himself (see Former Enron Exec Makes “Unethical” Play to Derail PGW Deal). With the deal now hosed, is Brevnov working in the background to get the LNG facility? We have no proof of that, but the thought has crossed our mind. The Philadelphia Inquirer has an article delving into the LNG facility and what may happen next in the ongoing saga of the PGW sale…
Read More “LNG Facility the Crown Jewel in Scuttled PGW Sale”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA Utility’s Innovate Plan to Deliver Marcellus Gas to Customers
November 12, 2014November 12, 2014

Although there’s a lot a cheap, abundant, and clean-burning natural gas being produced in Pennsylvania, there’s still a lot of customers who can’t burn it because of lack of pipelines through their neighborhoods. Natural gas prices currently are 61% less than fuel oil and 68% percent less than propane. But when it costs between $500,000 and $1 million a mile to install the pipelines to carry the gas–you need a lot of customers to sign up to make it work. Not everyone signs up at the beginning–some wait and see. So in places like the suburbs of Philadelphia where there’s a lot of people, it has still been a conundrum–a complex problem with no obvious solution. One of the utilities serving the Philly area, Peco, believes they have solved the problem. Peco has proposed a new formula to the Public Utility Commission (PUC) that will allow them to assume that 75% of their customers will sign up for gas over the next 20 years. The Peco plan will allow current customers to stretch the natgas hook-up fee across 20 years, radically changing the economics and lowering the hook-up price for customers–making it a no-brainer to make the change–now or in future years. Here’s the details of Peco’s plan…
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Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

How Will Wolf Appointment of McGinty Affect Marcellus Drilling?
November 11, 2014November 11, 2014

Get this: From 2003-2010 PA Democrat Gov. Ed Rendell ran Pennsylvania over an economic cliff during his administration by raising taxes and raising spending even more. The mess was so bad it took current Gov. Tom Corbett several years to fix it and put the state back on the road to economic sanity. It’s not hyperbole to say that Corbett saved Pennsylvania from bankruptcy. The thanks Corbett got for saving the state? He got fired. Democrat Tom Wolf came along promising the moon–and (using $10 million of his own money and another $10 million of Californian “environmentalist” Tom Steyer’s money) he won. Yesterday Wolf named a former head of the Dept. of Environment Protection (and Wolf’s former opponent in the Dem primary for governor) Katie McGinty to be his chief of staff. Oh, did we mention that both Wolf and McGinty were cabinet members in the Rendell administration? Nothing like getting the band back together so you can take the state right back over the same economic cliff again. Leaving aside the larger economic issues for PA, we wonder how McGinty’s appointment will affect Marcellus drilling in the state…
Read More “How Will Wolf Appointment of McGinty Affect Marcellus Drilling?”