Atlantic Sunrise Files 13 Eminent Domain Cases in 4 Counties
There’s always a few holdouts, no matter how hard you try to be reasonable. We’re talking about landowners who refuse to negotiate in good faith with pipeline companies. Earlier this month amidst a flurry of activity, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) handed Williams a final final final approval for its Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline project–a $3 billion, 198-mile pipeline running through 10 Pennsylvania counties to connect Marcellus Shale natural gas from PA with the Williams’ Transco pipeline in southern Lancaster County (see Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline Gets Final Approval by FERC). There have been a committed small number of protesters against the project (what’s new?), including some of the landowners along the pipeline route. Although Williams has been attempting to negotiate with them for the past two years, some (very few) landowners have refused. So now Williams, via its Transco subsidiary, has sued 13 landowners in Columbia, Lebanon, Northumberland and Schuylkill counties using eminent domain. Meanwhile, the only thread antis are left hanging by is a lawsuit against a single landowner who they say illegally signed with Williams…
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BREAKING NEWS, BREAKING NEWS: Anadarko well pad site leaks wastewater and kills 165 salamanders. Funeral services are being arranged. This would almost be funny, if it wasn’t real. No, not funeral services for salamanders (although it’s not beyond believable in this day and age). In 2014 Anadarko drilled a shale well in Lycoming County, PA. In February 2015, a storage tank at the well pad–used to temporarily store produced water coming from the well (wastewater storage happens at ALL shale well sites)–either experienced a leaky valve, or was overfilled, depending on whom you ask. About 1,000 gallons of produced water leaked out of the tank and subsequently out of containment and into a drainage ditch (i.e. “unnamed tributary”) and found its way into a local creek, killing 165 (or 169, depending on the source) salamanders. And now (no lie), the Environmental Crimes Unit of the PA Attorney General’s office is hauling Anadarko and their contractor into court, charging them with environmental crimes. A PA Fish and Boat Commission biologist estimates the dead salamanders were worth $6,156–or ~$37 each. Careful where you step! If you step on a salamander in PA and accidentally kill it, the state will charge you $37 and somebody from the AG’s office will pay you a visit. It can get expensive walking along a creek in PA….
Earlier this week Superior Energy, a Houston, TX-based oilfield services company specializing in completions and fracking with operations in the Pennsylvania Marcellus, issued its 2016 update. In addition, yesterday Superior’s muckety-mucks hopped on a conference call with analysts to discuss 2016 (and fourth quarter) results. Of particular note and interest to MDN is that Superior said in the later half of 2016 they transitioned away from fracking wells in Pennsylvania, moving the equipment and expanding their fracking operations in the Permian Shale instead. It’s possible Superior still has, and will continue to maintain, some operations in the Marcellus (although they shut down a facility in PA). But the new operating strategy for Superior is, judging by both the update and the conference call, quite clear: the Marcellus is out and the Permian is in…
We’ve known for the past couple of years that Sunoco Logistics Partners, owner and builder of the Mariner pipeline projects, wanted to build not one, but two Mariner East 2 pipelines–ME2 and ME2X. We wrote about their hope to build two pipelines back in June 2015 (see 
In addition to the great news that Sunoco Logistics Partners is building not one but two pipelines as part of the Mariner East 2 project (see today’s companion story, Sunoco LP Building 2 Pipelines for Mariner East 2 Project), we don’t want to overlook the other good work being done by Sunoco. The big news about two ME2 pipelines came as part of a Sunoco LP’s fourth quarter and full year 2016 update. The company reports making a $705 million profit in 2016, nearly doubling from the $393 million they made in 2015. Life is good in the midstream. They also report establishing a $1 billion line of credit in December, to help with cash flow during this year’s construction of ME2 and other projects. Below is the 4Q16 & full year 2016 update, along with the latest PowerPoint slide deck…
About 150 individuals masquerading as “organizations” have sent a letter to the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) requesting the DEC add an extra couple of months to a comment period for National Fuel Gas Company’s Northern Access 2016 pipeline project. A few weeks ago the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved the long-delayed project (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 position in the Pennsylvania Marcellus shale with leases on 184,000 gross (91,000 net) acres–no small amount. They aren’t currently drilling on their Marcellus acreage, but if prices change, they likely would. At the end of April Ultra filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (see 
Two days ago MDN brought you Shell’s very first LNG Outlook report, which says demand for LNG around the globe will increase by a very brisk 4-5% per year from now until 2030 (see 
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) and their just-issued Annual Energy Outlook 2017, the United States will become a net exporter of natural gas beginning in 2018. A big reason for the change from being a net importer to net exporter is shale gas (of course). A further big reason why is almost solely due to one company: Cheniere Energy, and their Sabine Pass LNG export facility in southern Louisiana. However, joining Cheniere soon will be the Cove Point, Maryland LNG export facility, now nearing completion. When Cove Point gets rockin’ and rollin’ along with Cheniere, the U.S. will become a net exporter…
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: ODNR issues 11 permits in Utica; Belmont, Noble counties get most permits in OH in Jan; more funding for PA DEP requested; Dawood Engineering moves to bigger office; Elba Island LNG; Tallahassee City advanced frack ban ordinance; Cheniere Energy gets a new board member; solar jobs aren’t what they’re cracked up to be; Trump targets PHMSA overregulation; China’s LNG imports rocket up 40% in Jan; and more!
Naysayers and peak oil & gas theorists always ignore the 800 pound gorilla in the room when they make their pessimistic predictions that “any day now” oil and gas production from shale will decline into oblivion. The 800 pound gorilla? Shale drillers keep getting better at what they do. Technology is changing. Techniques change. And drillers get more out of the holes they drill today than they did last year, and the year before that, and the year before that. Across all American shale plays, wells in January 2017 produced an average of three times more gas and oil than they did in January 2014. Let us put that another way: Today’s wells are producing 300% more than wells drilled just three years ago! Here’s another startling fact: the shale play with the most improvement in production is the Utica. Wells in the Utica are producing, on average, 4.2 times (420%) more today than they did three years ago…
As politicians and analysts begin to dig into one of the centerpieces of Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposed 2017 budget–a 6.5% severance tax on Marcellus/Utica drilling–new details begin to emerge. Like this: Most lease contracts contain a provision that says any taxes paid, including severance taxes, are a post-production expense and deducted from landowner royalties. So if Wolf’s severance tax were to pass, the people paying it will be landowners. That’s $200 million or so coming out of farmers’ pockets. Wolf & co. knew that situation would not earn them any votes, so they include a provision in the budget disallowing severance taxes to be deducted from royalties. Overturning existing contracts is illegal and sure to be challenged in court, but if somehow that provision gets upheld and the tax passes, it’s easy to predict Marcellus drilling will mostly cease. Wolf’s proposed 6.5% severance tax would put the state at, or near the top of, all states in severance tax rates. Some of the biggest drillers in the state have recently leased acreage in other plays and have no problem with shutting down new drilling in the Marcellus, moving on to other plays where the economics make more sense. Let’s assume the tax passes and drillers sue to remove the clause about severance tax deductions not being allowed, and win. Landowners then fund the severance tax out of their pockets (the drillers are the “bad guys” and Wolf says “don’t look at me”). Now let’s assume the tax passes and drillers sue to remove the clause about severance tax deductions and lose. Drillers simply walk away from PA. Either way, the Wolf severance tax proposal is a hot, stinking mess…
This is one of those stories that illustrates so beautifully how liberals always operate: all talk, no action. Form a committee, say lots of things, bluster, argue, look like you’re addressing a really important issue–and then do nothing. In this case that’s a good thing! We’re talking about the pomp and circumstance surrounding then newly-minted Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and his so-called Pipeline Infrastructure Task Force. In May 2015, Wolf and his underling Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary John Quigley (who has since been fired) created a “Task Force on Pipeline Infrastructure Development” (see 
For some reason Duke University seems to have a fascination with the Marcellus Shale and seeks to denigrate it with fake research reports. Of course there’s big money in research grants, which is why Duke keeps issuing bogus studies. In fact, last year Duke was exposed for doctoring research data in a scheme to grab $200 million in grant money (see 
