How to Keep PA Livestock Safe During Pipeline Construction
MDN spotted an announcement that says PennAg and Sunoco Logistics (building the Mariner East 2 pipeline project) have collaborated to produce a “biosecurity education module.” What the heck is that?! It’s fancy language for “here’s how you keep farm animals safe when building a pipeline.” Building a pipeline is no easy thing. It starts with surveyors entering a property to map out a route–traipsing around the land, sticking markers in the ground. Eventually bulldozers, backhoes and truckloads of pipe show up. Then welders show up to stitch it together. Then it gets covered up, and later landscapers come along to replant, reseed, and re-whatever to restore the land to its former glory. With all of those people and equipment entering and exiting a property–particularly a farm–there’s an increased chance they will track something, or perhaps do something, that ends up being harmful to the livestock living on that land. So-called “biosecurity” is the name given to keeping the living things safe and free from harm from the people building (in this case) a pipeline. Sunoco has teamed up with PennAg Industries, a PA non-profit that promotes agriculture in the Keystone State, to make sure nothing bad happens when their workers show up at the farm. They’re creating an online course and making it available to anyone and everyone…
Read More “How to Keep PA Livestock Safe During Pipeline Construction”
Last Friday the U.S. Energy Information Administration, our favorite government agency, released its Natural Gas Annual 2015 report. Weighing in at 212 pages (yikes!), this report is full of data. It is a datamonger’s dream come true. Right off the bat the report shows record U.S. natural gas production levels for the fifth consecutive year, and record consumption levels for the sixth consecutive year. Natgas is growing in the U.S. and it’s growing big-time. Another interesting factoid from the report: For the first time since 2007 natural gas imports *increased* year over year. That’s interesting! The report has a number of fascinating charts and graphs. We list a few of them below, along with a full copy of the report…
Three months ago MDN told you that Rex Energy’s bankers had reaffirmed the company’s “borrowing base” as being worth $190 million (see 
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Northeast shale the backbone of production growth; WVU economist says “nothing wrong with natural gas”; FERC invites comments on Driftwood LNG export project; shale oil firms hedging like crazy with higher prices re OPEC; why does Food & Water Watch hate women and poor people?; natgas is more than just a “bridge fuel”; and more!
Last Friday the Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association (PIOGA) filed a letter with the PA Joint House Senate Committee on Documents asking them to NOT publish the Dept. of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) final Chapter 78a Marcellus Drilling regulations, citing last week’s PA Supreme Court ruling on Act 13 as the basis. As MDN previously reported, the DEP plans to publish the final regulations in this week’s Oct. 8 Pennsylvania Bulletin (see 
Last week MDN brought you the news that DTE Energy, a BIG utility and midstream company based in Detroit, MI, is buying 100% of M3 Midstream’s Appalachia Gathering System (AGS), located in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and 40% of M3’s Stonewall Gas Gathering (SGG), located in West Virginia (see 
Last week Cabot Oil & Gas CEO Dan Dinges issued a company-wide memo to observe a very important milestone in the life of the company–the 10th anniversary of the start of drilling at the company’s very first Marcellus Shale well in Susquehanna County, PA. With a quick stroll down memory lane to recount other major milestones reached over the past 18 months, Dinges then makes this powerhouse prediction: In the “next couple of years” when new pipelines (like the Constitution) finally go online, Cabot plans to hit 4 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of Marcellus Shale production–per day! Going from memory, that would vault Cabot to the position of #1 Marcellus gas producer, ahead of the current #1, Chesapeake Energy. Put into context, the U.S. produces around 71-72 Bcf/d right now. If Cabot begins producing 4 Bcf/d, that represents 5.5% of the entire production of natural gas in our country–from a single driller in a single county in northeastern PA. Behold the miracle of the Marcellus! MDN adds our own hearty congratulations to our friends at Cabot (Buddy, George, Bill and Brittany)…
In 2014 David Hughes from the so-called Post Carbon Institute made one of the stupidest remarks he’s ever made when he said, “I think the Marcellus is getting pretty close to the peak in [total] production…I wouldn’t be surprised to see a peak in the Marcellus this year, maybe next year at the latest.” Dumb. Marcellus (and Utica) production has done nothing but go up since that time. Oh, the last few months the EIA has reported that Marcellus production is declining–a little bit. But that’s because of a lack of new drilling due to low low prices, a situation that is right now turning around. You can expect Marcellus production to pick up again very soon. The fact is, there is decades (perhaps centuries) of Marcellus/Utica Shale gas supplies waiting to be tapped–with no let-up in sight. Forbes contributor Jude Clemente, one of our favorite Forbes writers, goes on a riff to talk about the huge amount of gas available in the northeast, and its key role in U.S. production…
Over the years MDN has watched various threatened and endangered species get listed, which impacts drillers and midstreamers. Most notably in the northeast has been the northern long-eared bat (see 
Weather is a major driver in the natural gas markets and primary cause for ups and downs in the price of natural gas. The hotter or colder it is, the more natgas is used for cooling (in the summer) or heating (in the winter). Some of the best weather forecasters in the business can be found making predictions for the energy markets–specifically in the natgas market. One of the country’s top weather outfits is AccuWeather. The forecasters at AccuWeather have just released their long-range forecast for the winter months in the U.S. Their forecast shows much colder and snowier conditions in the northeast than we experienced last year. If their prediction comes true, it means gas prices in our region may move higher (watch out pipeline deficient New England, your gas AND electric rates will skyrocket again), and it means drillers will face challenges with drilling through the winter months. Here’s what AccuWeather says (and shows, via maps) about the coming 3-4 months across the country…
Events related to drilling in the Marcellus and Utica Shale, primarily pro-drilling.
What if a couple of really smart analysts who work next to each other, guys who challenge each other every day, analysts who study and focus on natural gas production, were to pull the curtain back and reveal to the world what kinds of discussion and repartee they engage in? In particular, disclose their discussions and debate about the Marcellus/Utica? For those of us who eat/sleep/breath shale energy in the northeast, that would be wicked cool. And that’s just what MDN editor Jim Willis was treated to at S&P Global Platts’ Benposium East event in New York this past Wednesday. Luke Jackson, senior energy analyst with Platts Analytics, and Jeff Moore, also a senior energy analyst with Platts Analytics (the Bentek Products division) both live and work in Denver, CO. Their session at Benposium was titled, “Opposing Views–Northeast Production: Boom or Bust?” The two decided it would spice up what is normally a pretty dry conference presentation by standing on the stage and conducting a classic Oxford-style debate, where a motion is offered and one person argues “for” the motion, the other “against.” The motion they put forward was this: “Will Northeast production remain the sole engine of US natural gas production growth in the next 1-3 years, offsetting declines from the rest of the US and allowing overall US production to push higher?” In other words, can the Marcellus/Utica keep expanding production fast enough that it offsets declining production in other plays, or will those other plays need to increase their output too–to meet growing US demand? Luke argued for the motion and Jeff against. What was the conclusion? Keep reading! The boys used a dynamite PowerPoint slide deck. We asked for and got a copy of it and share it with you below. You need to take time to review the slides–they are awesome! Loaded with details. Below we also have some of our notes–quips and tidbits of information that caught our attention as the boys debated…