Pittsylvania County Decides to Obey Fed Law re Mountain Valley Pipe
Once upon a time it was a given that local officials (state, county, township) would obey federal laws. It’s what responsible adults do. You obey the law, even if you don’t agree with or like the law. If you don’t like the law, you work to get it changed. Ignoring the laws you don’t like is a prescription for anarchy and the end of civilized rule (a descent into tyranny). When local officials, like those in Pittsylvania County, VA willingly, enthusiastically obey the law these days (as it relates to federally-approved pipelines), it’s the exception rather than the rule. It’s noteworthy. Such is the post-Obama world we now live in. Don’t like a law? Ignore it. Break it. Subvert it. But not in Pittsylvania. Tuesday night the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors discussed the legal “wrangling” over easements and eminent domain for Mountain Valley Pipeline, a $3.5 billion, 303-mile pipeline that will run from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County. The Board was in agreement: this pipeline is a GOOD thing, and easements for it in Pittsylvania are bound and governed by federal law–not local or state laws. Residents and their representatives on the county board are not free to violate those laws. What breath of fresh Virginia mountain air!…
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A brand new wireline oilfield service company called Reach Wireline has attracted an investment from private equity company Hastings Equity Partners. Reach Wireline, which is headquartered in Fort Worth, TX, either already has, or soon plans to have, operations in the DJ, Permian and Marcellus Shale plays, according to the company’s website. A wireline is a cable used to lower or retrieve equipment or measurement devices into a well for the purposes of well intervention, reservoir evaluation, and pipe recovery. Reach’s claim to fame is that it offers “leading edge greaseless cable.” The press release does not say how much money Reach received. Hastings Equity Partners focuses on investing in lower middle market energy services and equipment companies in the U.S. Hastings formed their “Hastings Equity Fund III” in 2014 with $172 million of commitments. Since that time Hastings has invested in a number of companies. Reach is the latest…
Constant frivolous lawsuits against legal, legitimate businesses performing a valuable service for society is having a corrosive effect on our legal system. That’s the thought that hit MDN as we read, yet again, about lawsuits and actions against pipelines in Virginia and West Virginia. In Virginia, radicals from the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League are pressuring the state Attorney General to get involved to try and stop Dominion’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline–a $5 billion, 594-mile natural gas pipeline that will stretch from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina. In West Virginia, the Sierra Club and several other far-out-on-the-left fringe groups are suing the state Dept. of Environmental Protection for having the audacity to evaluate and then approve the Mountain Valley Pipeline project there. Mountain Valley is a $3.5 billion, 303-mile pipeline that will run from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County. This ongoing barrage of lawsuits and actions are meant to delay these projects–to give antis more time to whip up opposition and to figure out how to legally (or illegally) stop them. Yes, antis often engage in illegal activities when they disagree with a lawful activity, like building a pipeline. All of these legal machinations tie up our courts and, in our opinion, corrode our legal institutions, causing irreparable harm to pipeline companies. It’s time to fight back and hold these groups (and individuals) accountable. Make them PAY (money) for their strategy of delay. Only when we hold people accountable for their actions will this mess stop…
Energy Transfer Partners (part of Energy Transfer Equity) is the company that built the Dakota Access Pipeline (now flowing, thankfully). They are also the pipeline company building both the Rover Pipeline in Ohio and Michigan, and the Mariner East 2 natural gas liquids pipeline from eastern Ohio across Pennsylvania to the Philadelphia area. Big company, big projects. ETP recently sold off 32% of the Rover project to Blackstone for $1.57 billion (see 
Nuverra Environmental Solutions (formerly Heckmann) is one of the largest companies in the United States that handles transportation and disposal of shale drilling wastewater and leftover rock and dirt from drilling. The company has major operations in the Marcellus/Utica region. In January 2016, the company, going through tough economic times, was de-listed from the New York Stock Exchange (see 
In 2012, Sunoco inked a deal with The Carlyle Group to form a joint venture to keep Philadelphia’s historic refinery operating (see 
Necessity is the mother of invention. Over the past year or so we’ve chronicled the dramatic increase in the amount of sand used in fracking. Recently we told you that Chesapeake Energy drilled what we believe to be the highest-producing Marcellus well (so far), with an initial production of 61 million cubic feet per day of gas (see 
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Is Range Resources takeover bait?; Talen Energy relocates HQ; Rice Energy accused of not paying overtime; Shell cracker lauded by national leaders; demand for energy lawyers picks up in Pittsburgh; natgas industry comes to the rescue in WV flood; shale will beat OPEC because drillers can now profit at $40; Sierra Club sues Energy Dept over grid study; automation the key to future of o&g; manufacturers oppose Trump’s push for LNG exports; and more!
It’s not often these days we come across a story that mentions a new lease signed, and the amount of money paid as a signing bonus. Such is the case in Ohio County, WV. The Wheeling Park High School has just signed a lease with Southwestern Energy for $3,500 per acre for 66 acres–giving the school district $231,000 of newly found revenue, thanks to the Marcellus/Utica industry. No drilling equipment will be placed on or near school property. When the drilling eventually happens UNDER the school, and the wells begin to flow, Wheeling Park High School will then get more revenue–18% royalties on all gas produced…
According to the Wall Street Journal, private equity firm Blackstone Group has invested $7 billion in U.S. natural gas. The way the Journal puts it, Blackstone is “betting” $7 billion, implying it’s a risky roll of the dice. A seriously big chunk of that investment was the recent announcement that Blackstone has bought part ownership of Rover Pipeline for $1.57 billion (see 
Huntley & Huntley has plans to drill shale wells in Upper Burrell Township (Westmoreland County), PA. As MDN reported in June, a landowner in Upper Burrell filed an appeal against Upper Burrell’s zoning ordinance that allows drilling in rural, agricultural districts (see 
It was only two days ago MDN told you that a Marcellus gas-fired electric plant planned for Lawrence County, PA appears to be active and moving forward once again (see 
In January MDN told you that Italian company Pietro Fiorentini had signed paperwork to buy land to build a $9 million factory in Weirton, WV (see 
Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) is not taking a ludicrous, outrageous lawsuit by anti-pipeline residents from West Virginia and Virginia lying down. They are fighting mad as recent court filings show. MVP is a $3.5 billion, 301-mile pipeline that will run from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA. A lawsuit was filed in federal court at the end of July to block the MVP project (see 
In May 2012 a water truck driver delivering water to an Anadarko Marcellus Shale well pad in Clinton County, PA missed a turnoff for the road he was supposed to take, at 2:30 am in the morning. A couple of miles later he crashed and tragically died because the road he was on was not marked well and not conducive to the truck he was driving. There was a sign warning the driver not to go beyond a certain point. The driver had previously–that night–already delivered to the well pad and successfully turned onto the road he was supposed to take. Why did he miss it the second time? His widow maintains that even though he worked for a subcontractor, Anadarko was the company in charge and should have had a light illuminating the “No Anadarko Traffic Beyond This Point” sign. So she sued Anadarko, and the subcontractor, for wrongful death. Lower courts threw out the lawsuit but a federal appeals court reinstated a civil suit against Anadarko (see 
Pipeline companies face enormous governmental roadblocks when it comes to building new pipelines. “Red tape” doesn’t begin to describe the hassles they face in going from government agency to government agency in order to build an interstate pipeline. Yesterday, with the stroke of a pen, President Trump helped correct that situation. Trump signed a new executive order that will speed up approvals of permits for highways, bridges, pipelines and other major building efforts by shortening the time for environmental reviews. Trump’s executive order (full copy below) revokes an idiotic Obama executive order aimed at reducing exposure to flooding, sea level rise and other consequences of mythical climate change. Obama intentionally screwed things up and created long delays. Trump is fixing it. The American Petroleum Institute and business groups applauded the new EO and said it will directly translate into more jobs…