• |

    US Exports More NatGas than Imports in Nov; First Time in 60 Yrs!

    first time everThe import/export picture for natural gas into and out of the U.S. has, in recent decades, been mostly imports and not exports. With the rapid scale-up in shale drilling, the supply picture here at home radically changed. For years we’ve exported natgas to Canada and Mexico, but we’ve also imported a lot of gas from Canada (via pipeline). In the end, we’ve always imported natgas on balance–both by pipeline and by LNG carrier ships. But that all changed with the construction and operation of Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass LNG export facility in southern Louisiana. Platts is reporting that for the first time in 60 years the U.S. will export more natural gas than it imports during the month of November. It happened for a few days in September, but in November the balance of trade has finally tipped and we are once again a net exporter of natural gas. How cool is that?! A big part of the reason why is the Marcellus/Utica…
    Read More “US Exports More NatGas than Imports in Nov; First Time in 60 Yrs!”

  • | |

    How to Land a Job in the Marcellus/Utica: Education & Training

    jobs.jpgLooking to land a job in the Marcellus/Utica industry? One of the best ways to do it is to go back to school. If you’re lucky enough to get into Pennsylvania College of Technology (an affiliate of Penn State), and if you graduate from one of their programs with a degree, you stand a 96% chance of landing a job. Other programs include ShaleNET, a service that helps train you and then helps find you a job in the industry. Not every job requires a two or four year degree. Often a certificate will suffice. Here’s more info on going back to “school” and what kind of education you need to land a job in the shale industry…
    Read More “How to Land a Job in the Marcellus/Utica: Education & Training”

  • | | | | | | |

    Small Biz Looks to Plug in to Shell Ethane Cracker in SWPA

    supply chainSome of the first businesses that will profit from the mighty Shell ethane cracker being built in Beaver County, PA will be small, local businesses. Restaurants, banquet halls, hotels, drug stores, real estate…the list goes on. But even small businesses that want a piece of the Shell cracker plant action don’t automatically have smooth sailing. Trying to get Shell to promote a business to its workers is hard work. Businesses report talking to Shell and being told that the company won’t help them by promoting them to cracker plant workers (a bit un-neighborly if you ask us). But that’s the life of an entrepreneur. You encounter brick wall after brick wall and you find a way to go through it, or over it, or around it, or under it. That’s what several small businesses in Beaver County are doing with Shell…
    Read More “Small Biz Looks to Plug in to Shell Ethane Cracker in SWPA”

  • | | |

    PA Marcellus Jobs Saw Big Cuts from 2015 to 2016

    cutting jobsThe Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry recently released employment numbers for the first quarter of 2016 for the Keystone State. Those numbers show that employment in PA’s oil and gas industry, which includes the Marcellus, dropped some 10,000 jobs from 1Q15 to 1Q16. That’s about one-third of the o&g workforce. Ouch. Still, PA employs twice as many people in o&g right now than they did when the Marcellus boom got underway in 2008. Here’s the lowdown on the latest PA employment numbers…
    Read More “PA Marcellus Jobs Saw Big Cuts from 2015 to 2016”

  • | | | |

    Tioga County, PA: Marcellus Boom Followed by Not-So-Boom

    tioga-county-pa
    Tioga County, PA

    The oil and gas industry has always gone through cycles–times when the industry expands like crazy, and times when it contracts. The cyclical nature of oil & gas is often characterized by fossil fuel detractors as “boom and bust.” We’ve heard the boom and bust argument for years, previously tackling the issue all the way back in 2012 (see Anti-Drilling Objection: Shale Drilling Causes Boom & Bust). We think it’s time to rename this phenomenon to something more reflective of what it really is: boom and not-so-boom. Many industries, indeed we would argue ALL industries, go through such cycles. The example we gave back in 2012 was to recount the history of the Binghamton, NY area, with our loss of IBM (founded in Endicott), and the loss of Endicott-Johnson Shoes (founded in Johnson City)–two huge employers in the region that eventually left. At least with shale the work returns after a time. IBM and EJ are long gone and never coming back. We’ll take the “boom and bust” of the shale industry over faithless manufacturers any day of the week! Here’s a close-up look at the boom, followed by the not-so-boom, in Tioga County, PA shale country…
    Read More “Tioga County, PA: Marcellus Boom Followed by Not-So-Boom”

  • | | | |

    Fluor & Clean Energy Partner to Build 2 OH NatGas Electric Plants

    fluorIn June, Massachusetts-based Clean Energy Future broke ground on their $800 million, 940-megawatt Utica gas-fired electric plant in Lordstown (Trumbull County), OH (see Lordstown Energy Center Breaks Ground on $890M Electric Plant). Construction is going well and the plant will go online in 2018. Back in February of this year, MDN reported that the owner of the Lordstown Energy Center project, Clean Energy Future, was considering building a second plant at the same site (see Lordstown, OH May Get Second Utica Gas-Powered Electric Plant). Looks like the rumors were right! Last week Fluor Corporation, a global engineering, procurement, fabrication, construction and maintenance company that designs, builds and maintains big facilities like electric power plants, announced a deal with Clean Energy Future to build a new natgas-fired electric plant in Lordstown, as well as a second plant in Oregon (Lucas County), OH. The new Lordstown project is being called the Trumbull Energy Center and is due to be built and online in 2020. This is terrific news for the Utica/Marcellus industry. The Trumbull project will be another 940-megawatt plant, same as the Lordstown project under construction now, and the Oregon project will be a 955-megawatt project. Together these two new plants have the potential to use something like 185 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas per year–a staggering number…
    Read More “Fluor & Clean Energy Partner to Build 2 OH NatGas Electric Plants”

  • | | | |

    FERC Quizzes Atlantic Coast Pipe About “Tribal Communications”

    war-drumsAre those war drums we hear beating? Perhaps! If you are involved in the oil and gas industry in just about any capacity, it’s hard to miss the story of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) and the paid criminal protesters who are trying to stop it (see Dakota Access Pipeline Protesters Turn Violent; Coming Here Next?). Supposedly the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is opposed to DAPL because it will cross ancient burial grounds. While we don’t know if that’s true or not, we do know one fact not reported in mainstream media: the pipeline does not cross one inch of tribal lands. The project is almost done being built, with a small section remaining. Tensions are escalating as Big Green groups are paying “protesters” to trespass on private and public land in an effort to stop construction. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in charge of authorizing the project as it crosses public land in the area, has badly bungled their role (see Army Corps of Engineers Turns Political in Dakota Access Fight). The lessons of DAPL and the Army Corps’ bungling are not lost on other government agencies, like the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Dominion’s $5 billion, 594-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP)–a natural gas pipeline that will stretch from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina–is now coming under scrutiny by FERC for any impacts it may have on Indian (whoops, “Native American”) land it may cross. FERC has put out a call for a copy of all “tribal communications” the ACP project has had, no doubt in an effort to avoid another DAPL situation here…
    Read More “FERC Quizzes Atlantic Coast Pipe About “Tribal Communications””

  • | | |

    Marcellus/Utica Gas to Help Power Holland, MI Electric Plant

    holland-miIt’s a smallish project in Michigan, but it’s important for the Marcellus/Utica nonetheless. Construction is almost complete on a $240 million, 145-megawatt natural gas-fired electric plant in Holland, MI. The plant will go online in February 2017. At least some of the natural gas that will supply the plant will come from the Marcellus/Utica, according to an official. When the plant goes online, it will provide around two-thirds of the electricity used in Holland. From one small power plant. Don’t you just love clean-burning, home-grown energy?…
    Read More “Marcellus/Utica Gas to Help Power Holland, MI Electric Plant”

  • | | | | |

    Michigan Chemistry Council Fully Supports Rover Pipeline

    ET Rover Pipeline map
    Click for larger version

    So often we only hear about those who oppose safe pipelines (because it flows “fossil fuels”)–and not from those who support pipelines. There is one industry that knows the importance of new pipelines. Indeed, their livelihood depends on those pipelines. That industry? Chemicals. Natural gas in its various hydrocarbon forms (methane, ethane, butane, propane, pentane, isobutane) is used to make just about everything you touch throughout the day. From shoes to clothes to packaging to tires to shingles to carpets to paint…without fossil fuels there would be no modern-day life. We would be living in the Stone Ages, dying early deaths and never traveling more than a few miles from where we live. Those in the chemical manufacturing industry understand and support the vital role of pipelines in delivering the raw material they use to create our modern way of life. The Michigan Chemistry Council recently contributed the following editorial in support the Rover pipeline project–a $3.7 billion, 711-mile Marcellus/Utica natural gas pipeline that will run from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and eventually into Canada…
    Read More “Michigan Chemistry Council Fully Supports Rover Pipeline”

  • Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Nov 28, 2016

    best of the restThe “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Upstate NY towns oppose mammoth wind turbines (for good reason); big TX oil find won’t hurt OH Utica shale; Bowling Green, OH to vote on NEXUS offer; OH drilling picking up–slowly; JKLM ramps up drilling in Potter County, PA; FERC denies Sierra Club rehearing request; Dakota Access Pipeline “protester” gets serious injured; Trump to roll back some onerous o&g regulations; fracking blazed the trail for renewables; China getting second LNG shipment from US; and more!
    Read More “Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Nov 28, 2016”

  • | | | |

    Corp Raider Pressures Marathon to Split Itself into 3 Companies

    1017_1Not even a year go–in December of last year–one of the biggest and brightest stars in the midstream firmament for the Marcellus/Utica, MarkWest Energy, sold itself to Marathon Petroleum (see MarkWest Energy Investors/Unitholders Approve Merger with Marathon). We wondered at the wisdom of such a move, but who are we? What’s done is done. Ironically, an “activist investor” hedge fund (i.e. corporate raider) by the name of Elliott Management yesterday disclosed to the world that they have taken a 4% stake in Marathon. Corporate raiders target companies they can bully by buying enough shares to force those companies to fire people and sell assets. It “unlocks value for shareholders” you see–meaning it will boost the per share price of the raider’s stock so they can turn around and sell that stock and line their already-fat pockets. Disgusting. True to form, Elliott is targeting Marathon. They sent a letter to the Marathon board with the “suggestion” that the company split itself (after buying MarkWest less than a year ago) into three separate companies (retail, refining, midstream) in an effort to “unlock $14 – $19 billion for shareholders.” Unfortunately there are at least two other raiders lurking in the background with small stakes in Marathon who may join Elliott to pressure Marathon…
    Read More “Corp Raider Pressures Marathon to Split Itself into 3 Companies”

  • | | | |

    ETE Merging Sunoco Logistics and Energy Transfer Partners

    etes-organizational-structure
    Click for larger version

    Energy Transfer Equity (ETE) is a big and (on paper) complex company with a number of subsidiaries. Roughly speaking, ETE is the mother ship/parent, and under it are two subsidiaries–Regency Energy Partners and Energy Transfer Partners (ETP)–the company building the Dakota Access Pipeline. Under Energy Transfer Partners are other divisions and subsidiaries–notably Sunoco Logistics Partners, which is the builder of the Mariner pipeline projects. (Click on the org chart to view how the company is arranged.) Yesterday ETE announced that Sunoco LP is swallowing up ETP in a ~$20 billion, stock-swap deal. The confusing part is that although Sunoco LP is buying ETP, the new company will be called ETP and will be run by ETP’s current management…
    Read More “ETE Merging Sunoco Logistics and Energy Transfer Partners”

  • | | |

    PA DEP Plans to Hassle Marcellus Industry with New Methane Rules

    high-cost-low-benefitIn May of this year, the federal Environmental Protection Agency issued more shale-killing regulations. The EPA issued 600 pages of new regulations that require drillers to install expensive new equipment to locate so-called fugitive methane that may or may not be leaking from wells, pipelines, etc. (see EPA Does it Again: Tries to Destroy O&G with New Methane Rule). If the industry finds such microscopic amounts of methane, they need to capture it. All in the name of preventing non-existent man-made global warming. Not long after, 15 states sued the EPA to block the new rule (see 15 States File Lawsuits to Block EPA O&G Methane Rule). Some Congressman are not happy either (see Congressmen Blast EPA Over New Methane Regulations). Even though the court case and a new incoming administration that has pledged to drain the EPA swamp casts doubt as to whether the new methane rule will ever go into effect, Pennsylvania (under Democrat Tom Wolf) is pushing forward with plans to comply with the disastrous EPA methane rule. Wolf’s Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) will soon unveil new permit requirements for Marcellus drillers that are sure to raise the cost of drilling and consequently cut down on drilling in the state, just at the time the state needs more drilling. The next election for PA governor can’t come quick enough…
    Read More “PA DEP Plans to Hassle Marcellus Industry with New Methane Rules”

  • | | |

    4 Utica Shale Pipeline Projects with Another 6.8 Bcf/d Coming

    EIAIt’s always nice when our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration, says nice things about the Marcellus/Utica. Today the EIA, publishing in its Today in Energy online publication, highlights the Utica Shale and the very necessary pipeline projects that promise to bring more “takeaway” capacity from the ever-expanding Utica. EIA looks at four key pipeline projects: Rover, NEXUS, Leach Xpress and Rayne Xpress. If you add them all together, those four new projects (all due to be completed by end of 2018 or before), will add an additional 6.8 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of takeaway capacity out of the Utica…
    Read More “4 Utica Shale Pipeline Projects with Another 6.8 Bcf/d Coming”

  • | |

    TransCanada Raising Money Hand Over Fist to Pay for Columbia Pipe

    TransCanadaIn early November Canadian midstream giant TransCanada announced they were going on a fundraising bender to get money to pay for their recent $10 billion acquisition of Columbia Pipeline (see TransCanada Raising Big $ to Complete Buyout of Columbia Pipeline). At the time, TransCanada announced the company would float another $3.2 billion (Canadian) in new stock and sell off their electric power assets in New England (mostly hydropower) for $3.7 billion (U.S.). In just the past couple of weeks, the company has floated new common stock, raising $3.5 billion (Canadian), and preferred stock, raising an additional $1 billion (Canadian). Here’s the latest on how to raise money fast to buy a big pipeline company…
    Read More “TransCanada Raising Money Hand Over Fist to Pay for Columbia Pipe”