3 Mass. Kids Arrested for Blocking MVP Work in W.V.
Three radicalized children from Massachusetts–kids who irrationally hate fossil fuels–chained themselves to construction equipment in Monroe County, WV in an attempt to block work on the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). It’s the latest tactic by the left to overthrow our system of laws and justice in a misguided attempt to stop man-made global warming. The three, one boy and two girls (aged 24, 21 and 18) delayed construction for “a few hours” before police “cut them out” and arrested them. All three were charged with misdemeanors: for trespassing, obstructing justice, and resisting arrest. If convicted, they could spend up to two and a half years in jail. Notice the kids are part of an organized Big Green movement. All three are out-of-staters, sent there to make trouble. We wonder if the glamour will wear off after they sit in a cold, mountain jail cell for a few months? Our only conclusion as to why these kids would behave like this is miseducation. They’re ignorant–of history, the U.S. Constitution, and frankly, of the real world. Too much time with their noses stuck in a cell phone or watching cartoons. No training in rational thinking. Notice (below) how Big Green spins the episode, that the police “threatened violence” against the protesters. Which means the police told the spoiled rotten kids, “stop it now or we’ll (gently) cut you out and take you to police HQ.” That’s how radicals define police “violence.” Here’s the news of the latest Big Green offensive against MVP–an offensive that uses ignorant kids…
Read More “3 Mass. Kids Arrested for Blocking MVP Work in W.V.”
Mountain V Oil and Gas owns a Marcellus Shale well drilled in 2014 in Upshur County, WV that was a bust. You don’t often hear about Marcellus wells that don’t produce. Because their Marcellus well is a non-producer, Mountain V wants to convert it into a wastewater injection well. The neighbors are not happy about it. The WV Dept. of Environmental Protection held a public hearing last week about the proposal. Twelve local residents spoke at the hearing–every one of them against the project. No one spoke in favor. Is that really a surprise? The comments made at the hearing referred to the potential for earthquakes and pollution of the water table. Here’s what the good (but misinformed) residents of Upshur don’t understand about injection wells: (1) There are hundreds of thousands of them across the country, and have been for decades. (2) The wastewater (brine) going down the proposed injection well first came up from the same deep sources–we’re just putting it back where it came from. (3) If the well is properly cased, and rest assured these wells are heavily regulated and regularly checked, there is no way for the wastewater to seep back up to the surface. The water was down there for millennia and didn’t make its way to the surface, so why would it now? (4) Earthquakes can happen, but only when massive amounts of fluids are injected into an existing fault, or crack, in the rock layers. Earthquakes from injection wells, at least in the northeast, are as rare as hen’s teeth. Look, in all honesty, we wouldn’t be overly thrilled with an injection well locating near us either. However, if you’re going to object, as a first step you need to get your facts straight. Here’s more about last week’s hearing and the lack of facts (and wild statements) that circulated at that meeting…
The Utica Shale is starting to get more love. No, not in Ohio where the play is already well-loved, but in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Although it’s always been known that the Utica underlies the Marcellus and in fact covers a larger geography than the Marcellus, drillers have not targeted the Utica nearly as much outside of OH. Why? Because it’s nearly twice as deep as the Marcellus and costs more to tap it. The Marcellus is roughly a mile below the surface, and the Utica roughly two miles below. However, there is renewed interest in the Utica in PA and WV in 2018. Most of the Utica wells drilled in PA have, so far, been drilled by Hilcorp. JKLM is targeting the Utica in Potter County. SWEPI (Shell) has drilled a few Utica test wells, as has EQT, CNX and others. Most recently CNX and Seneca Resources mentioned targeting the Utica in their quarterly updates. Throw it all in the mix and what it spells is more Utica drilling on the way in what has, until now, been largely Marcellus country…
In February 2016 there was an accidental release of a hazardous chemical at the MarkWest Energy cryogenic processing plant in Mobley (Wetzel County), WV (see 
The radical Sierra Club is claiming a victory in temporarily stopping construction work of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) at four river crossings in West Virginia. On Tuesday the Sierra Club and a mishmash of other radicalized groups filed a motion asking the Fourth District U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to suspend a permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that allows MVP to construct the pipeline across streams and rivers in the Mountain State. The Clubbers’ tortured logic is this: When construction of the pipeline across a river, the stated standard is that construction can take no longer than 72 hours. MVP says it will need longer when constructing the pipeline across four rivers–Elk, Gauley, Greenbrier and Meadow. Therefore (say the Clubbers), MVP is in violation of the general permit issued by the Corps and that means ALL (not just those four rivers) construction should be stopped, immediately. The Fourth Circuit has not yet rendered a decision, however, the Corps itself said they had reviewed the standards and have (for now) rescinded the permit as it applies ONLY to those four rivers, NOT to any locations. So it’s a partial, and temporary, victory for the Clubbers…
West Virginia has a long, proud history as a coal producer. And according to West Virginia Coal Association President Bill Raney, some 95% of the electricity produced and used in the Mountain State comes from coal-fired plants. However, natural gas burns cleaner than coal, and frankly, natgas is now cheaper than coal. Yet WV still has not permitted or allowed a single new gas-fired plant to be constructed. Why not? The obvious answer is because Big Coal is pushing back and pushing back hard. Last September WV’s Secretary of Commerce, Woody Thrasher, admitted publicly that his beloved state is unfriendly to new natgas-fired electric plant projects (see 
On Friday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued Dominion Energy permission to begin construction of the actual pipeline for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) project–in West Virginia. ACP is a (now) $6.5 billion project, up from a projected $5 billion due to delays from regulatory agencies and frivolous lawsuits filed by Big Green groups, that will run from WV through Virginia and into North Carolina–almost to the border with South Carolina. Until now FERC had allowed prep work, like tree cutting. But now actual pipeline construction can begin, which is a momentous occasion, worthy of celebration!…
Despite all of the media attention on a handful of protesters who sit in the tops of trees or on top of a poll in order to block construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), the pipeline nonetheless continues to receive regular new permissions from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to construct the actual pipeline and (yes), even to cut trees past the March 31 deadline. The good news is that MVP is on track to be completely built and flowing Marcellus/Utica gas by the end of THIS YEAR! Despite the best efforts of radical protesters and multiple lawsuits by Big Green groups. Recent FERC permissions for MVP include: (1) allow MVP to cut trees in Jefferson National Forest past the March 31 deadline; (2) build parts of the pipeline in Roanoke and Franklin Counties, VA; (3) work 24/7 on building a compressor station in Wetzel County, WV; and (4) build pipeline in Jefferson National Forest, on both the VA and WV sides…
The vast majority of Rover Pipeline is done, and most of it is now up and running (see 
West Virginia Secretary of Commerce, Woody Thrasher, once again addressed the issue of an ongoing trade war with China at yesterday’s West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association (WVONGA) conference at Oglebay Park. Last November Thrasher signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese government, an agreement in which the Chinese pledged to spend $83.7 billion over the next 20 years in WV’s shale and petrochemical sectors (see 
Earlier this year the West Virginia legislature passed Senate Bill (SB) 360, which Gov. Jim Justice subsequently signed into law (see 
It appears Pennsylvania is not the only state in the Marcellus/Utica region facing pressure to kill the drilling industry with high severance taxes. West Virginia is now facing a fight of its own. WV already has the highest severance tax among the three M-U producing states. Ohio’s effective severance tax rate is 1.3%. Pennsylvania’s effective severance tax rate (called an impact fee, roughly the same thing), works out to be around 2.9%. WV’s severance tax is an already-high 5%–yet in WV (like PA) teacher’s unions are pressuring politicians to raise the severance tax. In WV they want a boost to a “modest” 7.5%. It would make WV the highest severance tax in the lower 48 if it went to 7.5%. WV is rattled following an extended teacher strike, looking to prevent a future strike. While we’ve not read of any specific new proposals (bills) to increase the severance tax, folks from the drilling industry are worried enough that a past president of IOGAWV penned the following editorial on the topic…