Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) is trying to slip through yet another unnecessary change to regulations–this time regs that will create big new hoops to jump through and higher fees to pay for Marcellus gas-fired electric plants.
Read More “PA DEP Proposes New Overstrict Regs on Gas-Fired Power Plants”
Last week MDN brought you the news of another Pennsylvania Pipeline Investment Program (PIPE) grant being issued–this one in Luzerne County, near Wilkes-Barre (see New PIPE Grant to Fund Gas for Homes, Biz Near Scranton Airport). We jumped the gun. That Luzerne PIPE grant, for $1.5 million, was part of six such new grants issued by PA to fund pipeline projects in five counties.
Read More “PA Awards $3.3M in PIPE Grants to Extend NatGas Serv in 6 Locales”
The crash in the drilling rig count continued last week for the ninth straight week, although the decline slowed for a third week in a row. U.S. oil and gas rigs for land-based operations fell another 29 last week, to a total of 369 active rigs. Most of the decrease comes from oil-focused rigs. However, we’ve noticed a disturbing trend in the Marcellus rig count.
Read More “US Land Rig Count Falls to 369 – Marcellus Loses Another 2 Rigs”
For the past two weeks, MDN has brought you a new shale drilling permits issued report on Wednesdays. We fully intended to do so again today–except the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) website is down with no estimates for when it will be back online. We have PA and WV numbers, but are holding the report back until we can get OH numbers too. In lieu of the report today, we have an article we spotted comparing PA’s permits issued in April of this year compared to last year–noting new permits have decreased by 46% year over year.
Read More “Pennsylvania New Shale Permits Down 46% Y/Y in April”
It becomes more obvious every day that the rank and file (even the leaders) of trade unions are breaking with their Democrat Party bosses over issues like insane taxes on natural gas. The divide is particularly acute in blue states like Pennsylvania, which voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and likely will again in 2020 because the Dems keep shooting themselves in the head with stupid taxes and regulations that kill jobs. The PA AFL-CIO issued a statement yesterday thanking the PA Air Quality Technical Advisory Committee, part of the Dept. of Environmental Protection, for listening to the union’s concerns about Gov. Wolf’s proposed carbon tax at a recent hearing.
Read More “PA Trade Unions Break with Democrats Over Power Plant Carbon Tax”
The crash in the drilling rig count continued last week, although the decline slowed for a second week in a row. U.S. oil and gas rigs for land-based operations fell another 34 last week, to a total of 398 active rigs. The Permian continued to lead rig count declines. All major shale oil plays have now seen at least a 50% drop in rigs over the same period last year. It’s been a breathtaking fall.
Read More “National Rig Count Continues Collapse Below 400; Marc. Loses 1”
We previously told you about Gov. Wolf’s executive order (EO) to force Pennsylvania to join with northeastern states in the so-called Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a regional alliance to slap a carbon tax on coal and natural gas-fired electric plants in order to force them out of business (see Gov. Wolf Goes Bonkers: EO Destroying Gas-Fired Elec, Carbon Tax). Eighteen PA State Senators sent a letter to Wolf on April 21 asking him to withdraw his EO (see 18 PA Republican Senators Ask Gov. Wolf to Cancel Carbon Tax Plan). On Tuesday a group of 58 House members, including 10 Democrats, sent a similar letter to Wolf requesting the same thing.
Read More “58 PA House Members – Repubs & Dems – Ask Wolf to Stop Carbon Tax”
A major announcement yesterday from both Shell and National Fuel Gas Company (NFG) says Shell has cut a deal to sell all of its remaining Appalachian assets, which includes 450,000 acres and some 350 producing M-U shale wells along with pipeline assets, to NFG for $541 million. The deal is expected to close by the end of July.
Read More “Fire Sale: Shell Sells All Remaining PA M-U Assets for $541M”
Not unsurprisingly, the U.S. rig count (for both oil and gas, although mainly oil) continues to plummet week after week. The latest numbers show rigs taken out of active duty (laid down) decreased another 59 over the past week. That’s better than the 76 laid down the week before (see Carnage Continues: Rig Count Down Another 76, Marcellus Down 2), but still not great. Hundreds of rigs have been laid down over the past month–most of them in the oil patch. But not all. Last week the Marcellus lost four rigs after losing one the week before.
Read More “Natl Rig Count Falls Another 59; Marcellus Loses 4 Rigs Last Wk”
Energy Transfer’s Revolution Pipeline runs through Bulter, Beaver, Allegheny, and Washington counties in southwest PA. The 24-inch gathering pipeline shifted and exploded in September 2018, just as it was entering service (see Revolution Pipeline Near Pittsburgh Explodes – Home & Barn Destroyed). What happened that led to a landslide and explosion of the pipeline? ET says historic, unprecedented rain caused the problem. The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) says ET took shortcuts and performed work without getting permission–work not up to code. The two sides squabbled until January of this year when the DEP levied a record-high $30.6 million fine (see ET Allowed to Fix/Restart Revolution Pipe…After Record $30M Fine).
Read More “ET & DEP Still Squabbling over Revolution Pipe, New Violations”
Great news! The Mariner East 2 pipeline project along with Shell’s mighty ethane cracker project will once again be able to restart their stopped construction. At least according to our reading of the law. As you may know the Pennsylvania Dept. of Community and Economic Development (DCED) has been “reviewing” waiver requests to allow all work to resume for both ME2 and the cracker project (see PA DCED First Grants Then Rescinds ME2 Pipe Construction Waivers and Shell Files for Waiver to Restart PA Cracker Work w/Fewer Workers).
Read More “Mariner East Pipe, Shell Cracker Can Restart Construction May 1”
Eighteen Pennsylvania State Senators sent a letter to Gov. Tom Wolf on April 21 asking Wolf to direct the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) to stop trying to ram through a new tax on carbon that will kill the state’s flourishing natural gas-fired electric generating plants.
Read More “18 PA Republican Senators Ask Gov. Wolf to Cancel Carbon Tax Plan”
A fairy tale is a made-up story. Fiction. Something not rooted in truth or science. That’s what the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently issued in a so-called report about how man-made global warming (euphemized to be “climate change”) is going to toast the Keystone State. Aside from the fact man-made global warming is non-existent, want to know how we know this report is a fairy tale? The DEP, with a straight face, says chicken farms will double by 2050…because the warmer climate will make PA more conducive to raising chickens and by then it will be too hot for chicken farms in southern states.
Read More “PA DEP Writes a Fairytale About Future Impacts of Global Warming”
The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) published a notice in Saturday’s Pennsylvania Bulletin that the agency is proposing changes to the Residual Waste General Permit WMGR123, which governs the processing, transfer and beneficial use of oil and gas liquid waste to develop or frack an oil and gas well. Some of the changes include defining certain terms, including “processing,” “transfer,” and “storage”; changing the application from a registration to a determination of applicability; revising sampling and analysis requirements; and revising the frequency of inspections.
Read More “PA DEP Revising Regs for Recycled Wastewater Use in Fracking”
A federal court in Pennsylvania has just verbally slapped down THE Delaware Riverkeeper–both the umbrella Riverkeeper organization and (by name) the person who claims to be THE riverkeeper of the Delaware, Maya van Rossum, for a transparent and pathetic attempt at blocking the Mariner East 2 pipeline project with yet another frivolous lawsuit. In the decision, the judge says the litigation tactics of the Riverkeeper organization “do nothing to protect the environment.” The judge also said to impose liability against ME2 in this case “would offend basic principles of fairness and effect an absurd result” and “violate due process.” Ouch.
Read More “Fed Court Strongly Rebukes Riverkeeper for Harassing ME2 Pipe”
Nearly five years ago Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf nominated Andrew Place who worked at EQT at the time to become one of five Commissioners at the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (see PA Gov Wolf Appoints EQT’s Andrew Place to Public Utility Commission). Place announced last week he is resigning. Indeed he is now gone (as of Sunday). Place has accepted a job out-of-state. He did important work at the PUC during his tenure and will, no doubt, be missed.
Read More “Andrew Place, Formerly of EQT, Resigns as PA PUC Commissioner”