Letter Proves NY AG, Others “Unlawfully” Ganged Up on ExxonMobil

Once again there is HUGE news that points to “unlawful” (i.e. illegal) actions on the part of New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman–and mainstream media is ignoring it. Previously the Energy & Environment Legal Institute (E&E Legal) released copies of communications between Schneiderman, Massachusetts AG Maura Healey and other lefty Dems to engage in an unethical secrecy pact in their campaign to shake down Exxon Mobil by claiming the company “knew” man-made global warming exists and that burning the nasty fossil fuels the company produces contributes to it (see Smoking Gun: AGs Signed Pact to Keep Exxon Documents Secret). Now E&E Legal has released communications that show Schneiderman et al “unlawfully” colluded by forming an “informal coalition…to stem climate change and expand the availability and usage of renewable energy”. That is, they sought to attack a private company, Exxon, for not admitting mankind is causing a catastrophic toasting of Mom Earth. The AGs decided Obama’s Paris agreement needed some help–and they would do so by agreeing, and keeping secret their agreement, to target private companies like Exxon who won’t roll over and play dead on the issue of global warming. AG Schneiderman and the other lefty AGs have been caught corrupting our system of justice by forming a gang to bully companies and individuals into silence. Will we now see any justice against Schneiderman and the other law breakers? We’re not holding our breath…
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The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Utica rigs up by one; ODNR issues land unitization orders; OH Supreme Court considers 1989 DMA; Chesapeake Energy exiting the Barnett Shale; shale companies weathering the slide in crude prices; pump more sand says E&Ps; propane exports and ship cancellations; Texas looks to undo New York judge’s ruling related to canceling midstream contracts; China’s shale gas will never catch America’s; and more!
Every now and again MDN editor Jim Willis emerges from his writing cave in Binghamton, NY to travel. Such is the case this week. Normally you (hopefully) wouldn’t know that Jim is on the road as he does his best to keep the news coming. Today, however, is different. There will be no new stories posted today. For the past two days Jim attended the excellent “
Methanol plants convert natural gas into methanol, used as a chemical feedstock (or raw material) to create other things, like gasoline, antifreeze and more. More commonly you may call it a gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant. Methanol plants have the capacity to create a big demand for natural gas and sop up some of the oversupply we have in the Marcellus/Utica. In May we told you about Primus Green Energy’s plan to build a 160 metric tons per day (MT/day) methanol plant for Tauber Oil somewhere in the Marcellus (see
Guess who’s back with a case now before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court? Yep, the odious nutters from Big Green Groups PennFuture, THE (arrogant) Delaware Riverkeeper, and the Peters Township gang. You may recall we reported last September of the humiliating defeat suffered by these groups in the “Gorsline” case (see 
Last week MDN reported on National Fuel Gas Company’s quarterly recently-filed quarterly report (see
It’s not often we miss something that happens in the Marcellus. No, we’re certainly not omniscient. But not much (we hope) escapes our eye when it comes to drillers, midstreamers and other participants in the Marcellus/Utica region. Here’s one that did! Unit Corporation is a Tulsa-based, publicly held energy company engaged through its subsidiaries in oil and gas exploration, production, contract drilling, and gas gathering and processing. Pretty much the whole upstream and midstream pie. In January 2016 Unit completed 49 miles of gathering pipelines in Centre County, PA. That’s the part we missed. Below are a few excerpts from their recent second quarter 2016 update talking about what they call their Snow Shoe Gathering system, along with a couple of screen shots from the most recent company PowerPoint presentation…
Crestwood Equity Partners (nee Crestwood Midstream) issued its second quarter 2016 update last week. In April Crestwood announced that New York City utility giant Consolidated Edison Inc. has formed a 50/50 joint venture to purchase ownership of pipelines and storage facilities in the PA and NY Marcellus region (see
Last week U.S. Silica, one of the largest frac sand providers in the U.S., issued their second quarter 2016 update last week. Frac sand providers are a good barometer for when/if drilling is coming back. You don’t order sand unless you’re drilling wells. The company lost $12 million in 2Q16 versus losing $10 million in 2Q15. However, $1.1 million of that was due to “restructuring costs.” What about revenue? Revenue was $117 million in 2Q16 versus $147.5 million in 2Q15. So we can sum up 2Q16 as “so-so.” Not terrible, not good. With luck, 3Q16 will look better (with drilling beginning to pick up). However, in a sign that U.S. Silica believes the market will come back, they also announced last week they are buying out Sandbox Enterprises, “a leading provider of innovative logistics solutions and technology for the transportation of proppant used in hydraulic fracturing in the oil and gas industry.” That’s a sure sign they think oil and gas is coming back…
Last month when Baker Hughes released their venerable rig count numbers, we cracked a smile that things are beginning to turn around with an increase in U.S. rig counts (see US Rig Count Up by 9 in June, Marcellus/Utica Holds Even at 36). This month we have a full-on smile. Baker Hughes released their July rig count numbers on Friday and the average number of rigs working in the U.S. was 449, up 32 from the 417 counted in June 2016. Cool! Was there also good cheer for the Marcellus/Utica? Er, well, maybe “no cheer” is the best way to put it. PA’s rig count went up by one in July, Ohio stayed the same, and West Virginia’s count went down by one. Once again in July we had a Marcellus/Utica rig count of 36, same as June and the same as May. Hey, at least it didn’t slide backward! That’s progress of a sort…
EXCO Resources, a Dallas, TX-based driller with drilling operations in Texas, North Louisiana and the Marcellus/Utica, has been inching toward bankruptcy. So far the company has stayed out of bankrutpcy and hopes they can continue to do so. Their strategy, as we reported in May, is to hire new board members and try to wiggle out of long-term pipeline contracts (see
In July MDN told you about exciting new publicly-financed research at West Virginia University that finds waste from Marcellus/Utica drilling (“frack waste”) is not radioactive or hazardous (see 