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    Cuomo Tries to Finish Killing NY NatGas with New Methane Rules

    It’s so enormously frustrating to live in The Empire State–New York. Which is where MDN is produced. Our illustrious governor, Andrew Cuomo, has drunken deeply from the man-made global warming Kool Aid fountain. Cuomo, a radically left Democrat, may or may not actually believe in man-made global warming. Makes no difference. He, like other lib Dems, find it a useful tool to control the population. If you can control what people use for energy (and what how they pay for health care), you control their lives, period. Cuomo has made a decision to align himself with global warming nutters who oppose all fossil fuels because supposedly said fossil fuels, when burned, release carbon dioxide into the air. CO2 becomes “trapped” in the atmosphere and takes a long time to dissipate, creating (as the disproved theory goes) a “greenhouse effect,” trapping heat and (eventually) catastrophically warming Mom Earth. The problem, that we’ve pointed out countless times, is that empirical data–where people use instruments to monitor “average” temperatures–proves the earth has been cooling for the past 20 years. That little fact never makes it into mainstream media because it destroys the mythology that’s developed around this POLITICAL issue. Global warming is not, as the left pushes, about science. It is about politics. But we digress. Yesterday Gov. Cuomo released burdensome new methane emissions regulations that will further hamstring New York’s wilting conventional (not shale) oil and natural gas drillers. It seems Andy simply wants to extinguish the rest of the industry in our beloved home state…
    Read More “Cuomo Tries to Finish Killing NY NatGas with New Methane Rules”

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    Getting to Know Rob Powelson, Our Next/New FERC Commissioner

    As MDN alerted you on May 10, President Trump has nominated two highly qualified individuals to serve on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission–Neil Chatterjee and Rob Powelson (see Trump Nominates 2 New FERC Commissioners – Powelson & Chatterjee). Rob is a member of the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (PUC), and currently the president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC). Big Green is amping up its opposition to Rob Powelson. In March, Powelson had the temerity to tell the truth. During a speech he compared wacko pipeline protesters who were camping out at FERC members’ homes–threatening the commissioners–to Islamic jihadists (see Powelson Under Fire for Calling Enviro Jihadists, “Jihadists”). The enviro jihadists jumped on that, demanding Powelson be dropped from consideration for a FERC post. We’re happy to see Trump metaphorically stick his finger in their eye. We spotted an article that goes into a bit more depth on Powelson’s background and qualifications to hold this very important position. Let’s get to know Rob Powelson just a little bit better… Read More “Getting to Know Rob Powelson, Our Next/New FERC Commissioner”

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    Cherif Souki’s Tellurian LNG IPO Flames Out, Withdrawn Day Later

    As we pointed out last December, evil corporate raider Carl Icahn (invests in companies so he can fire a bunch of people, boost the stock and pocket the profit) had fired Cheniere Energy CEO Charif Souki (see Evil Corporate Raider Carl Icahn Claims Another CEO Scalp). Souki didn’t let it slow him down. He started a new LNG export company–Tellurian Inc.–to compete with his old company (see Revenge: Fired Cheniere CEO Starts Competing LNG Company). We kind of had (past tense) a soft spot for Souki, getting tossed from the company he started. But then we read comments he made about Donald Trump a few weeks before the election last November. Souki thought (like many) that Trump had no chance of winning, but if by some miracle Trump did win, Souki said he would “reconsider my nationality.” He was born in Egypt but is an American citizen now. After Trump’s victory, Souki seems to have forgotten about his threat to leave the country and change his citizenship. Can anybody say “two-faced”? Tellurian has a subsidiary called Driftwood LNG that we track. Even though Driftwood (when built) will be located along the Gulf Coast, it’s quite likely some–even a lot–of Marcellus/Utica gas will feed it. Hence our interest. So we’re always conflicted when it comes to news about Tellurian. Should we cheer or should we mourn when something negative happens to the company. This time we’ll cheer. On Wednesday, Tellurian announced it would float 10 million shares of new stock in an initial public offering (IPO). A day later, the company withdrew the offering due to “adverse market conditions.” That is, due to lack of interest…
    Read More “Cherif Souki’s Tellurian LNG IPO Flames Out, Withdrawn Day Later”

  • Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, May 19, 2017

    The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Dominion’s Cove Point LNG project now 89% done; Pilgrim Pipeline foes try to get law passed against it; WNF lease sales generate $1.75M for OH communities–so far; FirstEnergy nuke hearings in OH House suspended; Philly refineries hit hard times, again; court suspends litigation over EPA methane rule; Halliburton says company hiking prices “significantly”; after $500B and four decades, Energy Dept. doesn’t have much to show; and more! Read More “Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, May 19, 2017”

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    Lease Offer in Harrison County, WV: $1500/Acre + 14% Royalties

    It’s not often we read about lease offers these days. We’re sure they happen regularly, but the only ones you read about are offers made to lease publicly owned land. Such offers for public land are a useful gauge for private landowners. So when we noticed a story about an offer made by Arsenal Resources to the North Central West Virginia Airport (Bridgeport), our eyes and ears perked up. The opening offer is for 188.5 acres (out of 500 acres) with a $1,500 per acre signing bonus and 14% royalty on anything produced. The Benedum Airport Authority, charged with managing the airport and property, told the Authority’s attorney to counter offer–they want 15% royalties… Read More “Lease Offer in Harrison County, WV: $1500/Acre + 14% Royalties”

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    MDN Guide to the PA DEP 2016 Annual Oil & Gas Report

    The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) yesterday published its 2016 Oil and Gas Annual Report. This year the DEP has published the report in an interactive, electronic (i.e.online) format ONLY, with a stated purpose “to improve public access to well information.” This is the first time the report has been published electronically. While it’s interesting to have the report issued online only, it’s not as useful as a PDF or printed document, in our humble opinion. DEP Acting Secretary Pat McDonnell said, “Pennsylvania is the second-largest producer of natural gas in the country and one of the most transparent states in making oil and gas data publicly accessible. Making the Annual Report completely digital is just the next step in our continued effort to share as much information as possible.” We’ll give the DEP an “A” for effort, but a “C” for execution. What does the report show? The number of unconventional (shale) well drilling permits issued in 2016 decreased 59% since 2014. The total number of conventional well drilling permits issued in 2016 decreased 87% since 2014. It is a dramatic drop. There were 1,321 unconventional well drilling permits issued in 2016, and 158 conventional well drilling permits issued in 2016. Even though the number of permits to drill new wells dropped from 2015 to 2016, the number of well inspections hit an all-time high in 2016–some 35,556 inspections. The boys and girls at the DEP have been busy beavers. Below we have the DEP announcement about the new report and its format, along with select charts & information–so you don’t have to wade through the (somewhat confusing) report yourself. We call it the MDN Guide to PA’s 2016 Oil and Gas Annual Report…
    Read More “MDN Guide to the PA DEP 2016 Annual Oil & Gas Report”

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    Ultra Petroleum 1Q17 – Holding on to 72K Marcellus Acres, for Now

    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. One year ago, in April 2016, Ultra filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (see Ultra Petroleum (with 184K Marcellus Acres) Files for Bankruptcy). A year later, Ultra announced it has emerged from bankruptcy, raising nearly $3 billion to pay back creditors and floating 195 million shares of new stock (see Ultra Petroleum Does Bankruptcy Right, Exits with Higher Value). The company is worth more today than when it entered bankruptcy. Talk about engineering a turnaround! Ultra shows other E&Ps how to do a bankruptcy “right.” A few weeks back Ultra issued its first quarter 2017 update. While the official update itself doesn’t mention Ultra’s Marcellus acreage, the earnings call did. We learn more about Ultra’s attitude and future plans for their Marcellus holdings from comments made by Ultra CEO Michael Watford. We also get more details about the company’s Marcellus holdings from the accompanying slide deck used during the earnings call…
    Read More “Ultra Petroleum 1Q17 – Holding on to 72K Marcellus Acres, for Now”

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    Digital H2O Comes to the Marcellus/Utica

    Digital H2O is a “digital oilfield water management solutions company.” What the heck does that mean? Water is not only the key ingredient in life, it’s also the key ingredient in the shale industry. It takes a lot of water to drill and frack a shale well. Locating sources for that water, getting it shipped to and then from a well pad, and disposing of it, is a logistical challenge. Digital H2O helps helps drillers source water, transport it, and dispose of it–at a cheaper cost than they otherwise could have. Digital H2O accomplishes this magic with a sophisticated computer software program–populated with all sorts of information (i.e. data). Until now, Digital H2O has concentrated its service on the Permian and Bakken shale regions in Texas, North Dakota, and New Mexico. The company has now turned its attention to the Pennsylvania Marcellus and now offers it service in our neck of the woods… Read More “Digital H2O Comes to the Marcellus/Utica”

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    Dela. Riverkeeper Asks Senate to Delay FERC Nomination Hearings

    Maya van Rossum – THE Delaware Riverkeeper

    President Trump, who will not be impeached, regardless of what press whores on fake news outlets like CNN say, recently nominated two extremely qualified people to be Federal Energy Regulatory commissioners (see Trump Nominates 2 New FERC Commissioners – Powelson & Chatterjee). As we pointed out in a story yesterday, liberal Democrats have been hounding Trump for months to nominate new commissioners–so they could begin grandstanding against them (see Now We Know: Lib Dems Wanted FERC Nominees for Grandstanding). Washington is sick. Radical environmentalists have NOT wanted any new nominees, because they want FERC neutered and unable to vote on new pipeline projects. One of the worst of the worst in the campaign to keep FERC in a quorumless state is THE Delaware Riverkeeper–Maya van Rossum. Riverkeeper is a front organization for the William Penn Foundation–created to shield William Penn from losing its nonprofit status for engaging in outright political activities like its opposition to fracking and fossil fuels (see Dela. Riverkeeper Protects Wm. Penn Foundation’s Tax Exemption). Maya continues to do her masters’ bidding. In a letter to the U.S. Senate dated May 15, van Rossum, pretending to represent “national organizations,” asks the Senate to slow down and even block Trump’s two FERC nominees…
    Read More “Dela. Riverkeeper Asks Senate to Delay FERC Nomination Hearings”

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    Tiresome: Philly RINO Rep Gene DiGirolamo Intros Severance Tax Again

    Rep. Gene DiGirolamo

    Pennsylvania State Rep. Gene DiGirolamo, a Republican-in-Name-Only (RINO) from the Philadelphia area, has been trying to punish the Marcellus industry in the state since 2011 when he first introduced legislation to impose a Marcellus-killing severance tax. And pretty much every year since then he has re-introduced a severance tax bill. Sometimes it’s for 3.2%. Other times 4.9% (see our DiGirolamo stories here). It appears he just plucks a number out the air and goes with it. DiGirolamo is back with yet another such plan. He has just introduced House Bill (HB) 1401, which would slap a 3.2% severance tax on all shale gas production. The socialist CLEAR Coalition–which advocates theft of other people’s money to fund their favorite “public” causes–held a rally to support the thefty HB 1401. RINO DiGirolamo showed up, the only “Republican” to do so. All of the other officials present were liberal Democrats. What does that tell you about this bill and its sponsor?… Read More “Tiresome: Philly RINO Rep Gene DiGirolamo Intros Severance Tax Again”

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    New Study: 1 Million New Jobs Coming in Gas/Oil Thru 2035

    A couple of weeks ago the American Petroleum Institute (API) released a new study that shows private investment in U.S. natural gas and oil infrastructure could (and likely will) create over 1 million new U.S. jobs. That is an incredible number! The study also shows that private investment may exceed $1.3 trillion for new oil and natural gas infrastructure. Wow! Over the past five years, U.S. oil and gas infrastructure development proceeded at a rapid pace. Many have wondered whether the trend can continue. API wondered too, so they contracted the experts at ICF to undertake a study that investigates the amount of oil and gas infrastructure development possible in the U.S. through 2035. The result is the report, “U.S. Oil and Gas Infrastructure Investment Through 2035” (full copy below). The report focuses on the amount of infrastructure needed for two different scenarios, a Base Case and a High Case, each of which are plausible scenarios for future market conditions. While the Base Case represents a most likely scenario, the High Case is included to assess infrastructure development in a more robust environment that is fostered by a larger hydrocarbon resource base and more rapid advancements in technology. The study looks at capital expenditures associated with, and the resulting economic consequences of, oil and gas infrastructure development… Read More “New Study: 1 Million New Jobs Coming in Gas/Oil Thru 2035”

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    Google Needs to Crack Down on Fake Fractivist News

    Back in June 2015, MDN told you about an edgy new pro-fracking website called FrackFeed.com–designed along the lines of BuzzFeed, a news and entertainment site aimed at Millennials (see FrackFeed Site Uses Pop Culture to Spread Truth about Fracking). FrackFeed, like BuzzFeed, contains short, “pithy” articles–but in FrackFeed’s case the articles respond to and expose the lies peddled by anti-drillers, using humor. The format is meant to be easily “consumed” on a smart phone and shared with others. Of course the “cool, hipster” anti-drilling nutters are flustered that pro-drillers are turning one of their own tools against them–exposing them for the humorless mind-numbed robots they are. We love it when someone figures out how to get under their skin! The FrackFeed hipsters have done it again. On May 8, FrackFeed sent an open letter to the mighty Google, asking Google to monitor and demote fake fracktivist news. Love it! Facebook and Google have recently initiated campaigns to label so-called fake news (a VERY disturbing trend that private companies are now arbiters of what is considered authentic and what is considered fake, but that’s a topic for another post). In the well-footnoted and researched letter, FrackFeed points out some of the whopping lies about fracking told by organizations like the Sierra Club. FrackFeed totally refutes the Sierra Club’s false claims and encourages Google to demote their trash talk in search results. We’re not holding our breath… Read More “Google Needs to Crack Down on Fake Fractivist News”

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    Why does Big Oil Continue to Support Horrible Paris CO2 Treaty?

    Something has befuddled us for a long time. Why would Big Oil companies–like ExxonMobil, Shell and BP–actually support the international climate agreement that caps carbon dioxide emissions from the fuels they extract? In December 2015, then-President Barack Hussein Obama signed the Paris Agreement (otherwise known as COP21) that forfeits the national sovereignty of the United States in the name of so-called man-made global warming (see Paris Climate Treaty Signed by Obama NOT Binding on U.S.). Obama and nearly every country of the world signed the climate agreement/treaty committing the nations of the world to lower carbon dioxide emissions. You know, CO2–the stuff you exhale with every breath you take. Yeah, that stuff is supposedly warming up ole Mom Earth, catastrophically. Except it’s not. There is no empirical data that shows the earth is heating up–only doctored computer models. Satellite data shows the opposite–the average temp of Mom Earth is not heating up and hasn’t been for 20 years. Look it up. But facts aren’t what the Paris agreement was about. We can tell you what the agreement is about in two simple points: (1) transferring massive amounts of hard-earned wealth away from America to other countries, via a carbon tax; (2) banning the use of all fossil energy. On the campaign trail Donald Trump expressed the desire to opt out of the agreement (an agreement never ratified by the Senate, meaning it’s not binding). But now he’s equivocating. One reason is his Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, former CEO of Exxon and supporter of the agreement. Again we ask, why in the world would Tillerson and others actually support this disastrous treaty?…
    Read More “Why does Big Oil Continue to Support Horrible Paris CO2 Treaty?”

  • Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Thu, May 18, 2017

    The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Dead-end NY can’t create any jobs Upstate following frack ban; big air quality improvements coming to OH, thx to fracking; oil production in Utica shows modest increase; Air Products may shut down Luzerne County LNG manufacturing plant; Bob Huggins to highlight Shale Crescent USA event; WV nixes enviro group’s appeal of Mountain Valley pipe permit; Virginia gov targets power plant emissions; change at the top of Halliburton; former FERC attorneys say it’s time to drop NAVs; US shale oil will grow, even at $40/barrel; Trinidad production drops 8% in March; and more! Read More “Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Thu, May 18, 2017”

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    Mountaineer NGL Storage Facility in OH Under Construction

    We spotted a story that makes reference to an ethane storage facility currently under construction in Monroe County, OH. That got our attention. The story said that Energy Storage Ventures has plans to begin storing ethane in the underground facility by the end of 2018. Who’s Energy Storage Ventures? We went looking and discovered it’s another name for the Mountaineer NGL Storage project that we’ve been covering. In April 2016, Mountaineer NGL Storage (aka Energy Storage Ventures) announced an open season for a new underground NGL storage facility in Monroe County, Ohio, near Clarington, along the Ohio River (see New Company Announces Open Season for NGL Storage in Ohio Utica). The open season was a success, and in October 2016, Mountaineer completed a test well in the salt formation (see Mountaineer NGL Storage Test in OH a Success, Construction in 2017). But the last word we had on the project, in April of this year, said that construction had not yet begun due to problems with red tape (see Mountaineer NGL Storage in Monroe County, OH Caught in Red Tape). Yet this new story says, “contractors continue working to build the caverns required for storing up to 168 million gallons of ethane and other natural gas liquids more than one mile underground.” Which we take to mean there is active work going on at the site. That, for us, is new news–that the Mountaineer NGL Storage facility is *currently* under construction…
    Read More “Mountaineer NGL Storage Facility in OH Under Construction”

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    Thai Company Banpu Invests in Another 34 Marcellus Wells in NEPA

    One year ago, Banpu Pcl, Thailand’s largest coal producer, invested $112 million to purchase Range Resources’ Marcellus non-operated JV operations in Bradford County, PA (see Thai Company Buys Out Range Resources’ JV in NEPA for $112M). The “Chaffee Corners Joint Exploration Agreement” gave Banpu an ownership share in 62 producing wells and another 14 wells waiting on completion, and a share in 170+ more drilling locations. Talisman is the operator of the wells and the company that does the drilling (Banpu is just an investor). Banpu liked it so much, they did it again in January of this year (see Thai Company Banpu Makes 2nd Investment in Northeast Marcellus). The January deal gave Banpu a 10.24% stake in 10,000 acres of Marcellus leases, once again in northeastern PA, for $63 million. Chief Oil & Gas is the driller on the acreage in the second deal. Then in March, Banpu signed an agreement to invest $16 million into a venture with Tug Hill Marcellus (see Thai Company Banpu Invests Another $16M in PA Marcellus Wells). It seems that Banpu can’t get enough of the Marcellus in northeastern PA. The company just announced a fourth deal to invest in more NEPA acreage and wells. How many wells? What county is the new deal located in? And which driller is the operator of that acreage? We give you the details you won’t find elsewhere…
    Read More “Thai Company Banpu Invests in Another 34 Marcellus Wells in NEPA”