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    “Keep it in the Ground” Policies Would be a Disaster – New Study

    Let’s play “What if?” What if we followed the advice of the kooks who tell us to “keep it in the ground”–by which they mean we should immediately stop all extraction of fossil fuels–oil, gas, coal, etc. We’re told by the enviro left that renewables are here and ready now to take over the job of providing all of our energy needs. So what would REALLY happen if we stopped using all fossil fuels? The American Petroleum Institute commissioned a study of just that scenario. They released the study two days. Titled “The Impacts of Restricting Fossil Fuel Energy Production” (full copy below), the report reads like apocalyptic book of Revelation in the Bible. What would happen if there were no new private, state, or federal oil and natural gas leases; a complete ban on hydraulic fracturing; no new coal mines or expansion of existing mines; and no new energy infrastructure including pipelines? The U.S. economy would lose 5.9 million jobs. Our gross domestic product (GDP) would lose $11.8 trillion. Your household’s annual energy bill would jump by $4,552, per year! Crude oil prices would jump $40 per barrel, back to the bad old days of $100/barrel prices. (As an aside, because renewables really can’t take over the role of fossil fuels, we would become completely dependent on enemy countries in the Middle East for our oil.) Natural gas would jump from $3/Mcf to $21/Mcf. And your electric bill will go up by 56%. And that’s just for starters…
    Read More ““Keep it in the Ground” Policies Would be a Disaster – New Study”

  • Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Apr 7, 2017

    The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Why PA energy industry has not time to waste; cracker generating excitement in Beaver County; small ND town looks to create virtual natgas pipeline; ExxonKnew campaign tries to pedal more fake news; Cheniere will take all the gas it can get; why did frack sand stocks tumble in March; LNG suppliers propose flat rate pricing; and more!
    Read More “Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Apr 7, 2017”

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    Help Wanted: 15,000 Workers Needed for Rover Pipeline, STAT!

    [4/7/17 UPDATE: Since publishing this post, MDN has been flooded with calls and emails asking, “Where do I apply for a Rover job?” After reaching out to Rover numerous times, what we have learned is that Rover is using contractors, and union labor. There is no HR office at Rover to accept job applications. Job seekers must either find a job with a local contractor already working with Rover, or by heading down to the local union hall to see if they can help. MDN plans to publish another article next week with more details and strategies on finding a Rover Pipeline job. Stay tuned.]

    Some really big news coming from the Utica Upstream conference held Wednesday at Walsh University (in North Canton, OH). As we previously reported, Rover Pipeline got permission from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to begin construction on March 3rd (see FERC Green Lights Rover Pipeline Construction). And construction began, immediately. A local TV station recently did a flyover of one area where construction is happening, and the video is an awesome sight (see Video of Rover Pipeline’s Massive & Complex Construction in OH). Operating all of those bulldozers and backhoes, driving trucks, shoveling dirt, moving material from Point A to Point B–takes people. A LOT of people. So far Rover has hired 4,500 workers–but they need 15,000! And they need them NOW, as soon as possible, stat. What happens if they don’t get enough workers? They won’t make their deadline of completing the first phase of the Rover project by July 1st. What stands in the way of hiring another 10,000+ workers? In a word, drugs. Rover can’t find enough warm bodies who can pass a drug test, which is a sad commentary on society today…
    Read More “Help Wanted: 15,000 Workers Needed for Rover Pipeline, STAT!”

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    WV Force Pooling Lite Goes Down in Flames – Lawmakers Blame Pot

    We find this news somewhat surprising. The West Virginia Oil & Natural Gas Association (WVONGA) has been pushing hard to get legislation passed in WV’s short legislative session on an issue we call “forced pooling lite”–WV Senate Bill 576 which addresses the issues of co-tenancy and joint development (see Analysis of New WV Bill SB 576 re Co-Tenancy & Joint Development). WVONGA pulled out all the stops. They organized a bus-in rally at the Capital where nearly 1,000 people showed up to support the legislation (see WVONGA Delivers ~1,000 at Rally to Support Co-Tenancy, Joint Dev.). It most certainly had an impact. The legislation passed the Senate last week and headed to the House (see WV’s “Forced Pooling Lite” Bill Passes Senate, Heads to House). We thought there was no way in Hades this bill would not pass and pass quickly. But then it hit a brick wall. Or should we say, it hit a “pot” wall. Word has leaked out that there isn’t enough time left in the current session to consider the bill because the House has spent so much time “dealing with the cannabis legislation.” That is, talking about pot smoking in the Mountain State. For medical purposes, of course (wink, wink, nod, nod). There’s been so much talk about pot smoking, forced pooling lite got lost in the fog. Could it still pass, at a later date?…
    Read More “WV Force Pooling Lite Goes Down in Flames – Lawmakers Blame Pot”

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    Eclipse Resources Touts Big ROI on Long Horizontal Shale Wells

    Pardon me, but may I ask, How long is your lateral? We don’t mean to ask such a personal question, but in this case, size matters. You see, the longer the lateral, the more return on investment (ROI) you get–according to top officials from Eclipse Resources. Eclipse Resources, a Marcellus/Utica pure play driller headquartered in State College, PA that drills mostly in Ohio, fielded top officials at two different events this week to talk about the company’s drilling program–and their impressively long laterals. MDN editor Jim Willis heard Eclipse CEO Benjamin W. Hulburt at the Oil & Gas Investment Symposia (OGIS) in New York on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Eclipse’s vice president of drilling, Oleg Tolmachev, appeared at the Utica Upstream conference at Walsh University in North Canton. They both hit on a theme that struck a chord with us–namely, that by drilling longer lateral Utica wells, the company is drastically lowering the cost per foot of drilling–and by doing so, they raise the ROI, making their shale wells more profitable than their competitors’…
    Read More “Eclipse Resources Touts Big ROI on Long Horizontal Shale Wells”

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    More Details on Marcellus Power Plant Coming to Greene County, PA

    In March MDN brought you the news that APV Renaissance Partners (a subsidiary of American Power Ventures) will submit a permit to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) “within the next month” for a combined-cycle power plant at the old Hatfield’s Ferry site in Greene County, PA–to be powered with Marcellus Shale gas (see Marcellus Gas-Fired Power Plant Coming to Greene County, PA). That story generated a LOT of interest. At a meeting yesterday, APV officially unveiled their plans for the old Hatfield’s Ferry site. Also, coordinated to hit at the same time, FirstEnergy issued a press release outlining the deal, updating us on the fate of the rest of the site (APV will only use a small portion of the old coal-fired site). In what seems to be another bit of coordinated timing, the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection recently visited the old coal plant site and issued violations of environmental codes that exist at the site. (Somebody always has to rain on the parade.) Below is updated information on the exciting news that a new 1,000-megawatt combined cycle Marcellus gas facility, “one of the cleanest burning plants in the world,” will get built on 33 acres at the former coal plant site in Greene County…
    Read More “More Details on Marcellus Power Plant Coming to Greene County, PA”

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    5 Big & Small Marcellus-Powered Electric Plants Coming in SWPA

    It’s hard to keep track of all the Marcellus and Utica Shale-fired electric plants being planned, built and going online. We recently highlighted a list of 11 such projects getting built in Ohio (see List of 11 Utica Shale Electric Plants Coming Soon to Ohio). We’ve covered many projects in Pennsylvania, and in other states like Michigan, Indiana, and West Virginia (see our list of powergen stories here). We spotted an article on the Pittsburgh Business Times website that focuses on a company we’ve written about before: IMG Midstream. They zig when everyone else zags. Most gas-fired power generation projects are big–700, 800, 900 megawatts or more. In fact, we highlight a project announced for Greene County in a companion story today that will be 1,000 megawatts (see More Details on Marcellus Power Plant Coming to Greene County, PA). At some point we’ll tackle a roundup of all the projects in PA, but for now, let’s take a look at five powergen projects in southwestern PA that are either under construction, or are permitted and soon will be under construction. They range in size from 20 megawatts (tiny!) to 950 megawatts (big!)…
    Read More “5 Big & Small Marcellus-Powered Electric Plants Coming in SWPA”

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    Japanese Co Buys 1/3 of Marcellus-Powered Electric Plant in SEPA

    Birdsboro Power Plant concept drawing

    Speaking of Pennsylvania Marcellus gas-fired projects, here’s an update on a power plant we first told you about last October, coming to the Philadelphia area (see New NatGas-Fired Electric Plant Coming Near Philadelphia). In 2015, EmberClear filed an application to build a new 488-megawatt natural gas-fired electric plant in Birdsboro (Berks County). The new plant is called Birdsboro Power and requires various approvals before it can be built. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is involved. PJM Interconnection is involved. And the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection is involved. All three have issued various permits and edicts in connection with the project. EmberClear plans to begin construction in 2018, with an in-service date of June 2019. As often happens with these projects, which cost big bucks to build, the Birdsboro plant has just taken on a major investor/joint owner, from Japan. Sojitz Corporation has just purchased one-third of the project for an undisclosed sum. Below is a bit more about Sojitz, and the latest details about the Birdsboro project…
    Read More “Japanese Co Buys 1/3 of Marcellus-Powered Electric Plant in SEPA”

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    Anti Rover Pipe Leader Admits True Motive: Fossil Fuel Hatred

    Isn’t it refreshing when those who oppose something, like fracking, or pipelines, are just honest about their true “heart of hearts” motivation? We’ve made the case for years that charlatans like Josh Fox (of Gasland infamy) attempt to manipulate public opinion through the use of lies–like “fracking pollutes water” and “pipelines explode.” They attempt to smear fundamentally safe practices like fracking through the use of innuendo, supposition and lies. What is their true motivation? They oppose fossil fuels. They believe, in a rather kindergartenish way, that solar and wind and so-called renewable energy sources are superior–and if you don’t want to pay the high price of those sources, well, they want to FORCE you to accept it. But we’re not Stalinist Russia–yet. They can’t just enforce their will on the public. So they have to convince enough of the public to believe their lies that politicians will follow suit and pass laws to strip away more of our freedoms (see Maryland Gov. Hogan Pulls the Trigger, Commits Fracking Suicide for the latest example). So when someone comes along, like Lea Harper from the FreshWater Accountability Project, and admits openly and without reservation that she (our words) hates fossil fuels, what she calls “extreme energy extraction,” well, we find it refreshing. We don’t have to dance around all of the side issues and lies normally pedaled by the opposition–we can then talk about the the real issue, which is the superiority and goodness of fossil fuels vs. alternatives…
    Read More “Anti Rover Pipe Leader Admits True Motive: Fossil Fuel Hatred”

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    Time to Chop 23% of Dead Weight at EPA – “Shock” and “Dread”

    The ax is about to swing at the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). While we don’t wish ill on anyone, and especially we don’t like to see people out of a job, this is one time when it’s necessary and LONG overdue. The EPA is populated with many career employees who lean far to the left–and it’s about time they were gone. An internal EPA memo has turned up (full copy below) that outlines plans to downside the agency from 15,000 employees to around 11,500–about a 23% reduction. The bold move has many career Democrats at the agency in “shock” and in “dread” over the prospect of losing their jobs. But in typical fashion, these Dems are not just going to wilt away. Their union plans to fight to keep the jobs and to keep the leftist Obama environmental agenda alive in the Trump Administration. Good luck with that. Remember what happened to the air traffic controllers’ union in the Reagan Administration?…
    Read More “Time to Chop 23% of Dead Weight at EPA – “Shock” and “Dread””

  • Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Thu, Apr 6, 2017

    The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Energy analysts call Maryland frack ban “symbolic”; are Atlantic Sunrise opponents just bullies; Vermont Supreme Court considering gas pipeline case; Trump’s failure to appoint FERC posts is hurting key pipeline projects; US energy consumption went up in 2016, even as coal generation went down; Qatar makes bold move to reassert grip on natgas market; Total opens 1st natgas fueling station in France–where they’ve banned fracking; China now top buyer of US crude; and more!
    Read More “Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Thu, Apr 6, 2017”

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    Maryland Gov. Hogan Pulls the Trigger, Commits Fracking Suicide

    Metaphorically speaking–Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s finger was on the trigger of a loaded pistol, pointed at the head of the once-great State of Maryland. And now, Hogan pulled the trigger, assassinating any hope of new jobs, new wealth for some of the state’s poorest people (farmers and landowners in western Maryland), and new tax revenue for local communities. BANG. Done. Killed. Death. Thanks Larry, you da man. We previously reported that the Maryland House had loaded the chamber, and then the Senate had cocked the gun and put it in Hogan’s hand (see Gun Loaded & Cocked, Maryland About to Commit Fracking Suicide). On Tuesday, Hogan pulled the trigger. In the midst of the ebullient reporting on Maryland’s action by so-called mainstream media, we continue to ask the question, who got a payoff here (see Antis Deliriously Happy with Maryland Frack Ban, Who Paid Who?). Is anybody investigating Hogan to see if his bank account just got really fat? Or if Hogan was promised something in return for his sell-out of fracking (he ran for governor as a supporter of fracking). We sincerely wonder where the payoff is, because if you dig deep enough, it will be there…
    Read More “Maryland Gov. Hogan Pulls the Trigger, Commits Fracking Suicide”

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    Carbon Natural Gas Targets Chattanooga Shale in TN

    Carbon Natural Gas Company, an independent oil and gas exploration and production company, owns, operates and develops oil and gas properties in the Appalachian, Illinois and Ventura Basin areas of the U.S. Most of the wells they own and operate are conventional. However, the company is dipping its toe into unconventional shale as well. Yesterday Carbon issued a press release to announce they have formed a subsidiary called Carbon Appalachian Company, with backing from two unnamed institutional investors. The new venture has access to a whopping $100 million to get them going, with $20 million of that going to the purchase of “natural gas producing properties and related facilities” located in Tennessee. Currently the existing wells just purchased by Carbon in TN produce a measly 3.6 million cubic feet per day (Mcf/d) of mostly natural gas. You paid $20M for that?! Aaahh, there’s more to the story. The acreage that comes with the wells is located in the Chattanooga Shale–a shale layer much shallower than the Marcellus or Utica. Carbon plans to drill horizontal wells in the Chattanooga. Which got us to thinking: How active is the Chattanooga? Who else is drilling there? Is there shale drilling in TN? We found some answers…
    Read More “Carbon Natural Gas Targets Chattanooga Shale in TN”

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    FERC Delays Final EIS for Mountain Valley Pipeline by 3 Months

    The Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) is a $3.5 billion, 301-mile pipeline that will run from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA. The project, which filed an official application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in October 2015, is being built by EQT, NextEra Energy and several other partners. The project has faced stiff opposition from landowners in both West Virginia and Virginia. Although the project is not yet fully approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the project did get a favorable Draft Environmental Impact Statement from FERC last September (see FERC Gives WV to VA Mountain Valley Pipeline Provisional Thumbs Up). MVP had wanted a final Environmental Impact Statement by March 10th, but that didn’t happen. They’re still waiting, and now will wait until the end of June before they get their final EIS from FERC…
    Read More “FERC Delays Final EIS for Mountain Valley Pipeline by 3 Months”

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    PA House Passes “Sane” Budget Plan with NO Severance Tax

    On Monday Pennsylvania House Republicans released their version of a state budget, and yesterday (Tuesday) they voted to pass it. Ba-boom! The budget is noteworthy for many reasons. Of prime interest to MDN is that the budget does NOT include PA Gov. Tom Wolf’s insane 6.5% severance tax (see PA Gov Wolf’s 6.5% Severance Tax Proposal a Hot, Stinking Mess). As a matter of fact, after passing the bill yesterday, Republicans are quoted as saying the bill’s overall aim is to inject “sanity, predictability and affordability” into state spending. Wait. Did House Republicans just call Wolf and the Democrats “insane,” with respect to spending and taxing? We believe they did. PA House Majority Leader Dave Reed said he understands the final version will get changed, quite a bit: “We understand it’s a negotiation, a beginning, not an end.” Let’s hope the Republicans hold the line once again against an insane severance tax proposal from Gov. Wolf…
    Read More “PA House Passes “Sane” Budget Plan with NO Severance Tax”

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    NEPA Anti Newspaper Supports Eminent Domain for Pipelines

    Luuucy! You have some ‘splainin’ to do! Somebody at the Scranton Times-Tribune, a reliably anti-drilling rag in the heart of Marcellus country, will have some explaining to do about an editorial that just ran in the Times-Tribune’s sister publication the Wilkes-Barre Citizens’ Voice. We can’t remember the last time we read a positive editorial about the drilling industry in either the Times-Tribune or the Citizens’ Voice, but yesterday it happened. A editorial in the Citizens’ Voice deals with eminent domain being used for pipeline projects, including Atlantic Sunrise. You may recall we recently highlighted the news that Williams has (regrettably) had to file eminent domain cases against 27 holdout landowners in northeast PA (see Atlantic Sunrise Uses Eminent Domain in Northeast & Central PA). Spring-boarding from that news, the Citizens’ Voice editorial concludes that as distasteful as it is, there is precedence and the U.S. Constitution, allowing for it, and that eminent domain for pipelines actually accomplishes the “public good”…
    Read More “NEPA Anti Newspaper Supports Eminent Domain for Pipelines”