PA’s Largest NatGas-Fired Elec Plant Near Scranton Nears Startup
It’s been a long road, but we’re finally close to startup for the first phase of what will be Pennsylvania’s largest gas-fired electric generating plant near Scranton, PA. The Invenergy plant, dubbed the Lackawanna Energy Center (located in the community of Jessup), will produce 1,480 megawatts of electricity when it’s fully built and running. Construction crews are hard at work in frigid temperatures, working to complete the first of three combined-cycle generator units. The work is 80% done on the first unit and on track to be completed by February. The plant is certainly having an impact on locals–both good and bad. On the bad side, we previously reported that antis in the Jessup community exacted their revenge on local political leaders for approving the plant by removing them from office (see Scranton Antis Get Political Revenge for Gas-Fired Power Plant). Hey, it’s a hard knock life. On the positive side, when MDN editor Jim Willis was visiting family in the area over the Christmas holiday, he heard family members talking about the “huge” plant going up. And they’re happy about it! As we reported in early December, a pipeline to feed the plant is now almost done (see UGI Pipeline to Feed Scranton NatGas-Fired Power Plant “On Track”). However, there is a cloud on the horizon that may delay a February start. The antis that threw out previous town board members take their seats today. Invenegy needs a final town approval to hook up to the town’s sewer system to handle some 56,600 gallons of “wastewater” (heated water) per day. Look for the antis to make trouble and try to delay the approval. Here’s an update on PA’s biggest gas-fired electric plant, coming online (hopefully) soon…
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Baby it’s cold outside! This was predictable (and indeed, MDN did predict it). With the arrival of an extended cold period, because of a lack of natural gas pipeline capacity in New England, recent spot prices for natgas near Boston have spiked to more than $35 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf). It gives New England the dubious distinction of paying the highest average price for natural gas in the entire WORLD. The price for the same gas about 250 miles away in the Marcellus? Between $1-$2/Mcf. And yet the dunderheads in New England, like U.S. Sen. Elizabeth “Pocahontas” Warren, continue to block new pipelines in the region. “Stupid is as stupid does,” as Forrest Gump said. We hope our friends in New England enjoy paying through the nose and every other orifice they possess over the next few weeks, until the arctic blast subsides…
Events related (or of interest) to the Marcellus and Utica Shale, primarily pro-drilling events.
We have a really big “best of the rest” today – stories that caught MDN’s eye over the break that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: New regional director for PA DEP’s southwest office; Ohio energy industry watching effects of federal tax change on the Utica; new year, new development in Clinton County, PA; pipeline work in Lebanon County resumes following drilling mud spill; Marathon Pipe takes next step to reverse pipeline from Illinois to Louisiana; FERC advances Driftwood LNG project; US midstream companies to prosper in 2018; India to beat China in LPG demand; and more!
PTT Global Chemical, based in Thailand, continues to delay a final investment decision (FID) regarding their much-ballyhooed ethane cracker project in Belmont County, OH. In April 2015, PTT announced they are interested in building a ~$5 billion ethane cracker plant complex in Belmont County, OH (see 
Yesterday a Pennsylvania federal judge denied a group of 600+ Marcellus Shale landowners’ request to form a class action in arbitrating a royalty case against Chesapeake Energy. Although the judge’s decision is a disappointment for landowners, his decision should come as a surprise. In April, the same judge, U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann for the Middle District of PA, telegraphed that the landowners, under the law (and under the leases they signed) did not have a right to form a class action (see 
Ultra Petroleum, based in Houston, TX, is an independent exploration and production (E&P) company mainly focused on drilling in the Green River Basin of Wyoming. Ultra also drills for oil in the Uinta Basin/Three Rivers area in Utah. In addition, Ultra maintains a “non-operated” (someone else does the drilling) position in the Pennsylvania Marcellus shale with leases on 72,000 net acres–no small amount. As recently as May of this year Ultra CEO Michael Watford signaled that the Marcellus acreage is not a drain on their budget, so they would just hold on to it and see what happens (see 
Dominion’s $5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) project recently asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for permission to begin clearing trees along the path of the pipeline in all three states where the pipeline will run: West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina. FERC approved the project in October (see 
In July, West Goshen Township, in the Philadelphia suburb of Chester County, won a temporary victory in their efforts to stop Sunoco Logistics’ Mariner East 2 (ME2) NGL pipeline in their community (see 
In 2015 MDN told you about an Allegany County, NY attorney who had filed a lawsuit against the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) over their infamous frack ban. It was the first such lawsuit to be filed against the DEC since the frack ban was officially declared (see 
Ridgetop Energy Services, headquartered in Canonsburg, PA, was started in early 2016 by Ridgetop Capital Partners. Ridgetop Capital is an energy and real estate investment firm. Since 2007, Ridgetop Capital has purchased 30,000 acres in the PA, WV and OH, and has invested $130 million in the region (often partnering with big drillers like EQT, Antero, Chesapeake, Range Resources and others). In addition to investing in acreage, Ridgetop also wanted in on some of the drilling action, so the company formed Ridgetop Energy Services in 2016 to buy up service companies that work in the shale space. In June, Ridgetop Energy bought Keystone Wireline (see 
A group of six radical Democrats who oppose the Mariner East 2 pipeline through southeast Pennsylvania met yesterday with Democrat Gov. Tom Wolf to gripe and moan–and to ask Wolf to illegally shut down construction of the pipeline (a pipeline which is now 91% done). Wolf politely listened–and then did nothing. Which is good. The radicals hold out hope that Wolf will change his mind and use his executive authority under Title 35 (dealing with health and safety) as an excuse to shut down all ME2 construction. Good luck with that. A statement issued later in the day by a Wolf spokesman seems to indicate the governor is punting any decisions about shutting down construction over to the Public Utility Commission. Yesterday the PUC vote to allow already-shut-down ME2 construction in one SE PA town to resume (see today’s story, PA PUC Votes to Let ME2 Pipeline Restart Construction in West Goshen). All of which says to us that Wolf won’t do a thing to stop completion of ME2, which angers the radicals all the more…
Yesterday the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) held its first public meeting with Kevin McIntyre as its new chairman. Delivering on a promise McIntyre made during his Senate confirmation hearing, the new chairman announced that FERC will conduct a top-to-bottom review of its 1999 policy statement that governs how the commission conducts reviews of pipeline projects. The news lit up the swamp (inside the Beltway of Washington, D.C.), with Big Green groups becoming positively giddy at the thought that FERC may “get serious” about considering the hoax of man-made global warming in its decisions on whether or not to authorize new pipelines. At this point, the review and what it may result in, is all speculation. The statement released by FERC following yesterday’s meeting (see it below) says, in essence, “stay tuned” and offers no details about this top-to-bottom review. The greenies are speculating, so why can’t we? We speculate that following this review, FERC will figure out a way to cut down on the frivolous lawsuits filed by Big Green groups that delay pipeline projects for years. And we speculate that FERC will figure out how to handle rogue states, like New York, who refuse to obey federal law. What if that’s the end result of this review? Don’t forget, four of the five members sitting on the Commission are Trump appointees–and three of those four are Republicans. You really think this commission is going to introduce man-made global warming flummery as part of the criteria they use in evaluating a new pipeline project? If you think that, we want some of what you’re smoking…
We wish you a Merry Christmas..and a Happy New Year! This is rare. MDN will take off (i.e. no new stories posted) between Christmas and New Year’s Day in observance of the holiday season. Don’t worry, we’ll still keep an eye on the news and if anything earth-shattering happens, we’ll post about it. However, our intent is to take a break from writing for an entire week–it won’t be easy! We will see you again on Tuesday, January 2nd.
The Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) has just issued production numbers for the third quarter of 2017. The good news is that production is up for both natural gas AND oil. Utica natgas production saw a huge percentage increase–up 27.51% over the same period last year. 2Q17 Utica natgas production increased 16% over the previous year, and 1Q17 production increased 13% over the previous year. Although the trend has been up this year, 3Q17’s jump is really big (nearly double) compared to previous quarters. The even better news is that until 3Q17, Ohio oil production was trending down quarter after quarter–but in 3Q17 the trend reversed. Utica oil production was up slightly, close to 3%, over the same period last year. The ODNR report lists 1,796 horizontal wells, of which 1,760 reported production of some amount. The average natgas well produced 261,681 million cubic feet (Mcf) during 3Q17, and the average oil well produced 2,367 barrels of oil. But as we all know, each well is unique. Below we give you an MDN exclusive, showing the top 25 natgas wells and top 25 oil wells. In 3Q17, the top 3 natgas wells were drilled and operated by Ascent Resources. Rounding out the top 5 were two wells drilled by Rice Energy (now owned by EQT). All top 5 producing natgas wells in 3Q17 are located in Belmont County. What about oil wells? The top 2 producing oil wells were drilled by Ascent Resources. Coming in at #3 was a well drilled by Eclipse Resources, followed by #4 drilled by Chesapeake Energy. Rounding out the top 5 producing oil wells was a well drilled by Ascent Resources. Four of the five top producing oil wells are located in Guernsey County, with one in Harrison County. You might say, with some justification, that Ascent Resources (formerly called American Energy Partners, Aubrey McClendon’s startup following Chesapeake Energy), dominated the top producing wells for 3Q17, for both natgas and oil…