Pittsburgh Suburb Moves to Regulate Seismic Testing by H&H
One of the first steps before a company decides to drill for shale gas (or oil), is to conduct a seismic survey–bouncing sound waves through the rock layers a mile or more down–to “see” what the geology looks like. It helps drillers target locations with the best possibility of success, which is a good thing for everyone (no unnecessary “misses” when drilling a well). One of objectives of the original Act 13 law passed in PA in 2012 was to provide uniform zoning ordinances for the oil and gas industry, so drillers don’t have to work with a crazy quilt patchwork of zoning requirements in every new town in which they drill. That failed when seven selfish towns filed a lawsuit that ultimately went to the PA Supreme Court, where the towns won the right to pass their own zoning regulations for oil and gas drilling (see PA Supreme Court Rules Against State/Drillers in Act 13 Case). So now drillers have to face different standards/restrictions/rules in every town where they drill. Thank you seven selfish towns! Huntley and Huntley is one of those drillers. In May MDN told you that H&H is conducting seismic surveys in Westmoreland County (see Huntley & Huntley Targets New Drilling in Westmoreland County, PA). H&H now wants to conduct seismic surveys in neighboring Allegheny County, in the Borough of Oakmont (suburb close to Pittsburgh, northeast side of the city). Because of H&H’s interest, Oakmont has (surprise!) proposed a new seismic survey ordinance. We have a copy of the 9-page ordinance below. Oakmont will hold a special meeting on July 3rd to discuss it…
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In May 2015 the Obama rogue Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) along with the Obama U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) released a finalized rule clarifying what “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) means vis a vis what can be regulated under the federal Clean Water Act (see 
Pro Oil & Gas Services (formerly Pro Oilfield Services) is an oilfield services company (OFS) providing wireline, pumping services, flowback, frac stacks, wireline lubricators and pressure control, surface drilling and more. The company is headquartered in Houston, TX operating in a number of shale plays, including the Marcellus/Utica. We were unaware of the company until spotting a press release that announces the company has been “recapitalized” by Intervale Capital, a private equity (PE) firm that invests money in companies, adding them to its “portfolio.” The terms of the recapitalization were not disclosed. What all of this high finance language means is this: Pro Oil & Gas was just bought out by Intervale Capital. We expect all of the personnel to remain the same, including the founder/CEO. But make no mistake, Intervale now pulls the strings. It’s their money at risk, and they are now calling the shots…
A new study from ICF International (commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute) reveals some truly mind-blowing numbers. The natural gas supply chain–those companies involved in providing goods and services to the industry–generated $550 billion in economic activity in 2015. More than half a trillion dollars! That’s almost 3% of the country’s GDP. From a single industry. Staggering. Equally staggering: Because we are finding and extracting natgas here at home, American consumers will have saved more than $100 billion on the cost of natural gas by 2040. That’s a private (non-governmental) $100 billion invested in our economy over the next 25 years. The 268-page study, titled “Benefits and Opportunities of Natural Gas Use, Transportation, and Production” (full copy below) projects total employment related to the natgas industry will reach 5.9 million people by 2040. Can you even begin to wrap you brain around this?! The report contains information and data for how natgas benefits EACH of the 50 states. This is a professional study by a professional firm, not just rah rah unsupported pablum like you get from radical environmentalists. These are real numbers you can believe. Frankly, the numbers tell one of the most incredible stories of the 21st century…
Last week Stanford University held their annual Silicon Valley Energy Summit debate. Mark Zoback, head of Stanford’s Natural Gas Initiative (after teaching geophysics at Stanford for 30 years) said of course fracking is safe, and beneficial. On the other side of the debate was a loopy anti-fracker from the abominable Sierra Club. Zoback verbally spanked her–obliterating her arguments against fracking. The question before the debaters: Do U.S. benefits of fracking gas and oil outweigh environmental costs? Arguing for fracking were Zoback and Dane Boysen, the former director of research operations at the Gas Technology Institute. Arguing against fracking were Lena Moffitt of the Sierra Club and Briana Mordick of the equally horrible National Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Below is a summary of the debate, along with a full video of the hour-long debate…
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Utopia (pipeline) one step closer to reality; public hearing for Trumbull Energy Center; pipeline security training; community college students get a thrill from visit by Shell CEO; PA severance tax a jobs killer; MVP will help build a better WV; fracking rarely linked to earthquakes; Trump energy plan will make America the new Saudi Arabia; Perry unnerves gas drillers with grid study; FERC commissioner leaving Friday; LNG fuels nearly 50% of Japan’s powergen; and more!
It was more than six months in the making, but finally the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection has granted Shell a permit that allows the facility to discharge wastewater and storm water into the Ohio River. Which may sound like Shell just got a permit to pollute the Ohio River–but that’s not what is happening. Shell is building their mighty $6 billion ethane cracker on a site formerly used as a zinc smelter. The old Horsehead Corp. plant held a permit that allowed the plant to discharge wastewater with some total dissolved solids (TDS) into the Ohio. When Shell bought the site, they also inherited the Horsehead permit for wastewater discharge. Shell filed a plan back in December with the PA DEP to modify that permit for the forthcoming cracker plant (see 
Is Kinder Morgan’s NED pipeline project getting reincarnated?! You may recall that over a year ago, in April 2016, anti-fossil fuel nuts in Massachusetts and other northeastern states were orgasmic that Kinder Morgan announced the company had suspended (not necessarily canceled) any further spending/time/effort on the Tennessee Gas Pipeline expansion from NY through MA, otherwise known as the Northeast Energy Direct (NED) project (see 
NG Advantage is building a new compressor station to tap into the Millennium Pipeline where it crosses the Chenango River near Port Dickinson, a suburb of Binghamton, in Broome County, NY (see 
Just when you thought you’ve seen how low some anti-pipeline fanatics will go, they surprise you and go even lower. Antis set up a fake graveyard with a half dozen authentic, 19th century tombstones, right next to a pipeline right of way for the Williams Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline in Lancaster County, PA. Williams is hypersensitive to ensure they don’t violate any “Native American” or other kinds of historic sites. So when they came across the fake graveyard, they thought it was real and proceeded as such, spending time and money to plan a route for construction that would protect the fake site. And antis, with full knowledge, lied to Williams’ people (not telling them is the same as lying in our book). And laughed their considerable derrieres off the entire time, wondering when those poor dunderheads at Williams would figure it out. Now Williams may have the last laugh, because what the antis did is fraud and prosecutable. So-called local Native Americans (i.e. Indians) were in on the “joke.” And now those Indian activists have the gall to say if Williams didn’t recognize something as fake, how will they recognize real Indian artifacts that need protecting? We ask a different question: Who will ever believe these so-called Native American activists again–when they are self-professed liars?…
In March 2016, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s (TGP) Connecticut Expansion project (see 
A week ago yesterday, EQT and Rice Energy announced some of the biggest news we’ve every reported: EQT is buying out and merging in Rice Energy, to create the largest natural gas producing company in the United States (see 
An Appeals Court decision issued Friday has (in our opinion) HUGE ramifications for New York State and the Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) that has been corrupted by political influence from Gov. Andrew Cuomo. It also has ramifications in other states with overactive environmental agencies too. It is hard for us to overstate how important we think this decision is. The NY DEC has been corrupted and politicized by one of the most corrupt governors New York has ever had: Andrew Cuomo. The Cuomo DEC has unilaterally decided not to issue 401 water crossing permits for several federally-authorized pipeline projects, including Williams’ Constitution Pipeline, NFG’s Northern Access Pipeline, and a teeny tiny 9-mile pipeline Millennium wants to build from their main pipeline to an under-construction natgas-fired electric plant in Orange County, NY, called the Valley Lateral Project. Millennium took the bull by the horns early on, when it was apparent the DEC was following the same pattern of delay and then deny, suing the DEC (see