SRBC Approved 58 Shale Gas Well Pad Water Use Permits in March
The highly functional and responsible Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), unlike its completely dysfunctional and irresponsible cousin, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), continues to support the shale energy industry by approving water withdrawals and consumptive use for responsible and safe shale drilling. The SRBC published a notice in the April 19 Pennsylvania Bulletin that the Executive Director of the SRBC gave his approval to or renewed 58 general water use permits in March for individual shale gas well drilling pads in Blair, Bradford, Clearfield, Lycoming, Susquehanna, Tioga, and Wyoming counties in Pennsylvania. Read More “SRBC Approved 58 Shale Gas Well Pad Water Use Permits in March”

Compressor Station 165 in Pittsylvania County (in southern Virginia) is part of the Transco pipeline network, the nation’s largest-volume interstate natural gas pipeline system. CS 165 is also the endpoint of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which carries 2 Bcf/d of natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica Shale from Wetzel County, WV, to Pittsylvania County, VA. Williams, the owner of Transco, replaced an aging fleet of engines at CS 165 with new turbines that decreased emissions and took up far less space. Enbridge, another major midstream company, is replacing hundreds of flow meters with newer models, which deliver much better information to the company in real-time.
Data centers and the gas-fired power plants that will provide electricity to them are all the rage these days, particularly in Pennsylvania. After years of no new gas-fired power plants being announced in the Keystone State due to the attempt by PA’s governors to inflict a carbon tax on them, there has been a flurry of new announcements (see 
This is TOO funny! Donald Trump so rattles the fascist climate left, they’re now imagining things that haven’t and won’t happen. Someone on the environmental left spread a rumor last week that the Trump administration was about to issue an executive order revoking the tax-exempt status of so-called “green” groups, those that employ lawfare to attack the U.S. and its energy industry. You know, groups like the Sierra Club, 350.org, Food & Water Watch, National Resources Defense Council, Environmental Defense Fund, and others. They’re jumpy, like they’re on drugs. (Well, some of them probably are.) The rumor spread like wildfire among the guilt-ridden groups that Trump was coming for their tax-exempt status. And then the White House said nope, it’s all just a fantasy of the jumpy left.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Traitor Joe Manchin lands cushy board job with mining company; NATIONAL: Wall Street ends higher on hopes of trade war de-escalation; EPA continues to dismantle environmental justice office; Distillate and jet fuel contribute to record U.S. petroleum product exports in 2024; Biden’s signature Inflation Reduction Act must be repealed; The world needs People Day more than Earth Day; Shale slowdown? Halliburton sounds the alarm; Baker Hughes flags tariff impact on full-year core profit; Key court wins power American energy infrastructure; Weak oil prices, limited shale acreage to hit energy M&A in 2025, Enverus says; Natural gas price forecast – will $3.00 hold or lead to lower prices?; INTERNATIONAL: Energy security is national security, OEUK says; India cuts LNG imports as other fuels become more attractive; White House debates lifting sanctions on Russian energy assets, Nord Stream.
The rumor mill was right. In February, MDN brought you the juicy rumor that Olympus Energy, founded in 2012 as Huntley & Huntley Energy Exploration (a company that drills exclusively in the Pittsburgh suburbs), was being shopped for sale by its main financial backer (see
In January, MDN reported that the PJM Interconnection electrical grid operator, covering Pennsylvania (along with all or parts of 12 other states and the District of Columbia), had caved to the political demands of PA Gov. Josh Shapiro to artificially cap the prices of the next capacity auction scheduled for July 2025 (see
One week ago, MDN told you that an on-again, off-again plan to build a massive natural gas-fired power plant (that would use Marcellus gas) in Pittsylvania County, Va., had been pulled by the builder (see
Energy analysts say the front-month contract for NYMEX natural gas (for May) is “flirting with [the] $3.00 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) psychological level.” At one point during trading yesterday, the price tested an intraday low of $2.995. Yuck. Are we heading back below $3 again? Unfortunately, analysts are saying that although $3 is a strong psychological barrier, “technicals indicate further weakness ahead.” Sounds a bit ominous.
Reuters is reporting that the European Union (we call them ‘Euro weenies’) is looking at ways to make it easier for U.S. LNG exports to comply with its onerous new methane emissions regulations. The EU is earnestly trying to avoid a trade war with President Trump, according to sources speaking to Reuters. What’s happening is that Europe is trying to figure out how it can not block U.S. LNG based on its cockamamie new regulations and save face at the same time.
The research continues to roll in that deeply blue Democrat states that insist on forcing their citizens to convert to so-called green energy are driving them out of those states. Last week, we brought you an analysis of counties along the Pennsylvania/New York border, on either side (see 
The West Virginia Supreme Court was scheduled to hear two significant oil and gas royalty disputes during a morning session today. Both cases center on whether natural gas companies can deduct post-production costs from royalty payments and, if so, under what circumstances. The stakes are incredibly high for both landowners and drillers. The first case, Kaess v. BB Land LLC, we had not previously heard about. The second case, Romeo v. Antero Resources Corporation, we have heard about. We first reported on that case back in 2017 (see 