EPA Fines Crestwood’s NY Facility $312K for Paperwork Violations
The rogue and out-of-control federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues its bullying ways when it comes to the oil and gas industry. Just coming to light (for us) is an action last week by the EPA to fine Crestwood Midstream’s Finger Lakes LPG Storage subsidiary $312,000–for not filing the right paperwork for their facility in upstate New York. Note that the fines are NOT for leaking methane or propane, NOT for endangering the public, NOT for actually doing ANY kind of environmental harm. The fines are for not filing the proper paperwork. The EPA is behaving like the mob running a protection money racket. Crestwood has to pay the EPA $154,000 in fines, and then pay $158,000 for new equipment for three local fire departments located near the facility. The antis are already using this paperwork violation as yet another reason to bleat and blat about Crestwood’s proposed underground propane storage facility along the shores of Seneca Lake. The paperwork violation is for a Crestwood/Finger Lakes LPG Storage facility in the next county–nowhere near Seneca Lake where the proposed propane facility is located. Makes no difference. Antis say it’s yet more evidence that Crestwood can’t be trusted to safely operate the propane storage facility…
Read More “EPA Fines Crestwood’s NY Facility $312K for Paperwork Violations”
Bradford County, PA landowners and their titular leader, county commissioner Doug McLinko, are keeping up the pressure on PA’s legislators to pass House Bill (HB) 1391 to guarantee landowners receive 12.5% royalties. Earlier this week we noted the county had released a powerful new video to support their cause (see 
Schlumberger, the world’s biggest oilfield services company, issued their third quarter update yesterday. It was a mixed bag, with some good news and some not-so-good news. Like Halliburton, their chief rival, Schlumberger turned a profit in 3Q16 (see 
Southwestern Energy issued its third quarter 2016 update yesterday. The good news is that the company continued to drill in 3Q16 in the Marcellus, and was able to lower their losses. Southwestern is still in the red, losing $735 million in 3Q16. But that’s down from losing $1.8 billion in 3Q15–so they cut their losses by more than half. Still, you can’t be in the red forever. The average price Southwestern received for natural gas in 3Q16 was $1.73 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf), down from the $2.21/Mcf they averaged in 3Q15. In northeast PA Southwestern drilled 18 new wells in 3Q16, completing 9 of them. However, production in NEPA was down, from 93 billion cubic feet (Bcf) in 3Q15 to 84 Bcf in 3Q16. In Southwestern’s southwest PA/WV area they drilled 4 new wells and completed 8 wells. Production in that region stayed even at 37 Bcf/d. The company said they expect to exit 2016 with 85 drilled but uncompleted wells (DUCs). Here’s the update issued yesterday…
Kinder Morgan, the largest midstream company in the U.S., posted their third quarter 2016 update on Wednesday. The company reports its first financial loss of the year, swinging from making $186 million in 3Q15 to losing $227 million in 3Q16. A lot of that was a paper loss–a writedown on the value of the Midcontinent Express Pipeline, and from expenses incurred from the sale of their part-ownership in the Southern Natural Gas system. As they usually do, Kinder offered updates for their major pipeline projects. The one that caught our eye is news that Kinder plans to begin construction in December of the Broad Run Expansion Project increasing capacity along the Tennessee Gas Pipeline from West Virginia to Mississippi and Louisiana, allowing Antero Resources to ship more Marcellus/Utica gas to the southeast. Here’s the Kinder update…
Some more disappointing news for Williams’ Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline project, a $3 billion, 198-mile project running through 10 Pennsylvania counties to connect Marcellus Shale natural gas from PA with the Williams’ Transco pipeline in southern Lancaster County. One week ago MDN brought you the news that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) announced it is actively reviewing two alternative routes for the Central Penn Line (an important part of the Sunrise project), accepting public comments on the two alternative routes until Nov. 14 (see 
In January of this year, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) launched five investigations into four pipelines, three of which operate in the northeast, to determine whether or not those pipelines have been “substantially” overcharging their customers with the excuse of “we have to recover our costs” (see 
The rogue and out-of-control federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues its drive to illegally control oil and gas drilling in this country. Their latest transgression: the EPA has just issued new ozone “guidelines” for oil and natural gas systems, to supposedly reduce smog-forming emissions in large population centers. The new guidelines are not, the EPA says, required regulations (yet), but only “recommendations for state and local air agencies to consider as they determine what emissions limits to apply to covered sources in their jurisdictions.” We all know today’s “recommendations” are tomorrow’s “regulations.” That’s how it works with overbearing statists. The thing is, the EPA has issued these so-called guidelines BEFORE their own research is all done. They’ve jumped the gun once again…
For years now the radical Park Park Foundation has been buying its research from a few select professors at a few select universities. One of the scientists for sale is Avner Vengosh, professor of geochemistry and water quality at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment (see 
Halliburton kicked off the third quarter earnings season yesterday with some stunning news: the company actually turned a profit during 3Q16! It wasn’t much of a profit–just $7 million. But that comes after losing $3.2 billion during 2Q16. Engineering a turnaround like that is nothing short of miraculous. North America represents 40% of Halliburton’s revenue–the company made $1.7 billion in 3Q16, a 9% increase over 2Q16. The rest of the world (international) represents 60% of Halliburton’s revenue, which was $2.2 billion in 3Q16 (up 6% over 2Q16). The company predicted 4Q16 revenues will be flat. But hey, after billion dollar loses, who cares? CEO Dave Lesar once again reiterated his view that “things are getting better” for the oil and gas industry. A $3.2 billion turnaround in one quarter is a whole lotta proof to back up his assertion. However, company officials also said Halliburton remains in a pricing “barroom brawl” with competitors, and the oil market in particular remains “very challenging.” Here’s the Halli update…
Just two months ago Rice Energy announced they are buying competitor Vantage Energy for $2.7 billion (see 
The Dakota Access Pipeline Project (DAPL) is a new approximately 1,172-mile, 30-inch diameter oil pipeline that will connect the expanding Bakken and Three Forks production areas in North Dakota to Patoka, Illinois. Although the pipeline has become the new Keystone XL complete with anti-fossil fuel lunatics protesting it, MDN has largely ignored it because it’s another battle in another geography and we’re fighting enough of our own battles. We try to cover news that directly affects the shale industry in the northeast. Except now the Dakota battle has become connected to our own battles here in the northeast. Let us explain…
A new group called Protect Our Pennsylvania launched on Tuesday at a rally in Harrisburg–at the State Capitol. The purpose of the group is to oppose and reign in the currently legal right of pipeline companies to use eminent domain to force landowners to accept a pipeline across their land. This is a tough issue for us. We have often stated this philosophy: I won’t tell you that you must allow drilling, or a pipeline, and you don’t tell me I can’t allow it. We think that’s a consistent and fair philosophy. But what do you do with a pipeline when only one or two people are blocking its route? We’ve always said, make it worth their while to allow (pay them). We’ve also said there may be times when eminent domain must (very reluctantly) be used. It is an ongoing “wisdom of Solomon” kind of issue for us, with no clear answer. So is this new group, Protect Our Pennsylvania, a group of landowners honestly concerned about their property rights? Alas, we don’t think so. Their leader, Eric Friedman, has ties to the radical Sierra Club, which means this is just one more organization pretending to be something it is not. It is, we are convinced, populated with anti-fossil fuelers and not just mom and pop landowners…
So often very small, loud-mouthed antis appear to be winning the battle that we sometimes forget about the silent majority. Case in point: In reading the typical mainstream media story about Dominion’s $5 billion, 594-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline–a natural gas pipeline that will stretch from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina–you would assume the project is reviled and opposed by “everyone” and doomed to failure. But reality if far different from the false picture painted by the media. A poll conducted recently by the Tarrance Group for the Virginia Chamber of Commerce of Virginia residents shows that by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, Virginians support the Atlantic Coast Pipeline project. That would be a “landslide victory” if it were an election…
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, like many liberal Democrats, loves to pick winners and losers. Recently Cuomo launched an “ambitious” new Clean Energy Standard in which he puts his bets on nuclear energy. That is, he’s willing to transfer billions of New Yorker’s hard-earned taxpayer dollars out of their pockets and into the pockets of nuclear power companies. Why? In order to prop them up, make them “competitive” with much cheaper natural gas-powered electric plants. That is, Cuomo cheats. He wants to stack the deck. And New York’s natgas power generators are not having it. They’ve sued the state, challenging the Clean Energy Standard that steals money out of our pockets in order to prop up nuclear companies, all using the excuse of “global warming”…