23 Pipeline Protesters Arrested for Blocking VA Governor Mansion
A group of hippies–young hippies to old hippies–got tired of just parading like horses rear-ends for three days in front of the governor’s mansion in Richmond, Virginia and decided they’d like to go to jail instead. The group of so-called protesters, people there at the bidding of the radical Chesapeake Climate Network, were there to protest against fossil fuels. Specifically they don’t want to see the Mountain Valley Pipeline built–a $3.5 billion, 301-mile pipeline that will run from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recently indicated the project is on the path to approval (see FERC Gives WV to VA Mountain Valley Pipeline Provisional Thumbs Up). The governor can’t do anything about the pipeline as it is regulated by the federal government, but you can’t teach spoiled rotten leftists about things like the rule of law. They want VA Gov. McAuliffe (a fellow Democrat) to somehow stop the pipeline. Oh, plus they wanted to get their picture in the newspaper. So the lined up like the childish babies they are to block the entrance to the governor’s mansion–and got themselves arrested…
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As we do every month, MDN tracks how many rigs oilfield services company Patterson-UTI Energy reports operating–as a proxy for when/if the drop in rig counts for the Marcellus/Utica will turn around. Patterson operates a number of rigs in the northeast, as well as other areas of the continental United States (and Canada). Month by month Paterson’s rig count has declined over the past year plus–until June (see 
Twice in the past week MDN has either heard (in person) or read the statement that “regulations aren’t killing coal, natural gas is.” One of those times MDN heard it at the Benposium East event held in New York City last Wednesday. The other instance was President Obama talking about natural gas at talk on the South Lawn of the White House (see 
More analysis continues to roll in on Rice Energy’s plan to buy Vantage Energy for $2.7 billion (see 
In June Dominion began building Virginia’s largest natural gas-fired electric plant in Greensville County (see 
Warren Resources, a small driller that drilled and brought online their first two Marcellus Shale wells last year, is based in Houston and operates in California, Colorado, Wyoming and Pennsylvania. In February MDN told you that Warren missed an important $7.5 million payment, the first ominous signal of what was to come (see 
Last winter was pretty unusual by everyone’s standards. It was much warmer and less snowy than normal in the northeast, and natural gas production/levels remained high over the course of the winter. It meant that the price of natural gas stayed in the basement during the time of year when it normally at least makes it to the first floor. What about this year? MDN recently reported that it’s going to be colder and snowier than average in the northeast this year (see 
Speakers at this weeks Energy Dialogues LLC’s North American Gas Forum in Washington, DC were up on their high horses lecturing the natural gas industry that if we only can get our heads out of our backsides and clamp down on fugitive methane emissions we might actually get to stay around a few more decades, providing fuel to power the world. That’s the gist of the comments we read by so-called environmental “leaders” who spoke at the event. (Arrogant snobs, if you ask us.) But the one thing that really caught our attention was the statement that it may be possible to capture and control carbon from burning natgas to the point that it becomes a “zero-emitter.” Bet you never thought you would see “natural gas” and “zero carbon emissions” in the same sentence, eh?…
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Monroe County, OH leads drilling permits in Sept; Utica rig count hits 22; WV tax collections still down from weak oil/gas price; Federal Reserve forcing investment banks out of the energy business; how long before ‘second wave’ of LNG export projects hits; what natgas prices are telling us; GE gets in the o&g drone business; and more!
Canadian energy company Enerplus Corp owns some 47,000 acres of Marcellus Shale leases in northeastern Pennsylvania representing 841 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of reserves. Most of that acreage, according to the company’s website, is currently “non-operated.” Enerplus does actively drill in the North Dakota Bakken Shale play. Enerplus has a problem: the company is about $530 million in the hole (in debt). The way out of that hole? Sell off their non-operated Marcellus acreage for ~$500 million (works out to be $10,638/acre). Reuters is reporting that three sources have confirmed Enerplus has put their Marcellus acreage up for sale–and the the “for sale” sign has caught the interest from investment firms here at home, and in Asia…
In October of last year, MDN shared the news that Duke Energy, the largest electric power holding company in the United States and a utility with 7.3 million customers in the southeast and Midwest, announced they are buying Piedmont Natural Gas (see 
The Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), charged with protecting and managing the water resources in the Susquehanna River Basin, continues to perform its duty with distinction–unlike the completely dysfunctional Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC). A fair share of Marcellus drilling happens within the SRBC’s jurisdiction in Pennsylvania. The SRBC has worked with the Marcellus industry, instead of against it (as the DRBC has done), to ensure drilling does not harm the Susquehanna River Basin water supply–a supply that eventually empties into the Chesapeake Bay. We credit the SRBC’s excellent performance to leadership (see 
Each year MDN partners with the Oil & Gas Awards to promote their Northeast Awards–a way for companies in the industry that operate with distinction to get recognized by their peers. In March 2017 the Northeast Oil & Gas Awards will celebrate their 5th year. Over the past five years there have been thousands of entries and hundreds of finalists and winners. While the O&G Awards boys keep their ears to the ground to discover stellar performers, they want to know who YOU think are the best companies in the region. Therefore, they have put together a very brief survey (takes less than two minutes). This is your chance to bring a worthy company to the attention of the O&G Awards–perhaps even your own company!
Duke University, as MDN has chronicled, has a long history of pumping out faux research that bashes fracking and fossil fuels, “research” that’s bought-and-paid-for by the Park Foundation, one of Duke’s major contributors (see