PA Gov Wolf: PAers Will Build the Cracker, Unless They’re Stoned
Although he still wants to tax the Marcellus Shale industry out of his state, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (with the dubious title of “most liberal governor in the U.S.,” see PA Gov Tom “Severance Tax” Wolf: America’s Most Liberal Governor) couldn’t resist jumping on the bandwagon to take some credit for what his predecessor, Gov. Tom Corbett, actually accomplished: luring Shell to build a multi-billion dollar ethane cracker facility in the state (see PA Gov Wolf Attempts to Take Credit for Shell Cracker Decision). Since the Shell cracker is already a done deal and will create oodles of jobs, Wolf is now conveniently “for” the project. He made a visit to Beaver County, PA last week, where the cracker plant will get built, for a roundtable discussion with local leaders. Wolf told them local leaders he wants to ensure it’s Pennsylvanians who fill the ~6,000 construction jobs required to build the plant. His only concern? PA residents may be too stoned to pass a drug test…
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In June Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf was forced to accept half a loaf–he agreed to reject new drilling regulations for the conventional drilling industry in the state, if lawmakers would allow his administration’s rework of shale drilling regulations to take effect (see 
On Friday MDN reported Southwestern Energy’s second quarter 2016 update, with indications that things are turning around for the company and that they intend to re-start their drilling program in the Marcellus (see 
MDN told you in May that Halcon Resources, a Utica Shale driller that “guessed wrong” by leasing 140,000 Utica Shale acres in the northern part of the play (in Ohio) and currently doesn’t drill on any of that acreage, was preparing to file for bankruptcy (see 
You’ve heard of “whitewashing” before. How about “title washing?” No, we hadn’t either. But this funny sounding practice has a great deal to do with mineral rights in Pennsylvania, with possible implications for landowners and drillers. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued a 5-0 ruling last week that upholds the practice of title washing in the Keystone State. What in the world is it, and how does it affect landowners and drillers? In the case of Herder Spring Hunting Club v. Keller there had been a tax sale in 1935 for a property in Centre County, PA where the mineral rights had previously been separated. Prior to 1948 if mineral rights that had been separated were not properly recorded (it was incumbent on the owner of the subsurface rights to ensure the sale was recorded at the assessor’s office), and the surface land was later sold, both the mineral rights (subsurface) and the surface land became part of the sale. That, in essence, was title washing. After 1948 a law prevented this from happening, so such cases only apply to land sold before 1948. The legal beagles at Babst Calland have a good overview of what the practice of title washing is, and how the Court’s decision affects Pennsylvanians. We also have a copy of the decision embedded below…
One of the important new markets that Marcellus and Utica Shale drillers have been salivating over is Canada. Indeed, flows of natural gas, via pipelines, have increased to Canada over the past several years (see 
On June 29 a group of 26 “religious” (we use that term very loosely) radicals were arrested for stopping work on a 5-mile pipeline near Boston. We reported on one of the organizers of the crime, Tim DeChristopher (see 
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Shale gas food for thought for skeptics; NE PA E&P pain is powergen’s gain; EQT’s production levels; FirstEnergy closing coal plants in OH; Talen Energy laying off 131 nuke workers; 2 LNG export plants OK’d in Gulf Coast; wackos rally in Richmond over pipeline; Schlumberger cut 16K jobs in 1H16; ConocoPhillips laying off 1K more; and more!
In May MDN brought you the news that a researcher at West Virginia University believes an natural gas liquids (NGL) storage hub is what the Marcellus/Utica region really needs (see 
A Bloomberg article takes a look at the ongoing and unnecessary delays companies face in building new pipelines–particularly in the Marcellus/Utica region. The Eastern Shore Natural Gas (ESNG) company, serving the Delmarva Peninsula (includes most of Delaware and portions of Maryland and Virginia), filed an application to build a measly 7 miles on Nov. 21, 2014. The $29.8 million pipeline project, called the White Oak Mainline Expansion Project, will “ease bottlenecks in transporting gas from the Marcellus shale formation” from Pennsylvania into Delaware. Why the horrific delays? Mostly because of opposition from insane anti-fossil fuelers who flood the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) with comments, protest meetings, launch lawsuits and in general attempt to slow or stop FERC authorizations. ESNG’s projects aren’t the only ones stretching out to years before authorization is granted…
Earlier this week MDN brought you the second quarter update from Halliburton, the world’s second largest oilfield services company (see 
On July 13, 2016, Congress passed legislation to allow limited drone use by the energy industry as part of the reauthorization bill for the Federal Aviation Administration (see 
In early 2015, MDN brought you the news that Shell was making a play to buy BG Group for $69.7 billion (see 
Yet another report from our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration, points out the overwhelming use of fossil fuels as the primary energy source in the U.S. This most recent report highlights the changing mix used in our country to power our homes, vehicles and everything else that uses energy. The EIA reports that energy coming from nuclear plants stayed even in 2015. So-called renewable energy sources–which include solar, wind and hydro–increased by 1% in 2015. Coal took a nose dive and decreased 12% in 2015, thanks for Obama’s war on coal. Petroleum and its derivatives (oil, gasoline, etc.) increased by 2% in 2015. Natural gas? Consumption of natural gas increased 3% in 2015–the top mover among all energy sources…