Boston LNG Import Terminal Continues to Demagogue Pipelines
One of the opponents of new pipelines to New England has been LNG importers in the region–specifically GDF Suez importing gas at the Everett, MA LNG import terminal, near Boston (see New England Importer Received 59% of All LNG Ship Imports 1H15). LNG imports are one of the primary sources of natgas for New England. The antis holler and scream, “Forget the pipelines. If you must use gas, use LNG. There’s more than enough LNG to supply New England.” In a macro sense that may be true–the world is awash in LNG. But arranging shipments and sources for it takes months, even years. Right now most of the LNG GDF Suez imports comes from Trinidad. The problem with that is, Trinidad’s natgas is drying up and the country is falling behind and not meeting their LNG commitments (see Is New England Heading for Huge NatGas Price Spike this Winter?). It’s not a stretch to imagine that even an average New England winter, coupled with fewer imports from Trinidad, means trouble ahead for New England. We spotted yet another story by mainstream media, this time Bloomberg, quoting the self-serving GDF Suez repeating the same, old hackneyed lies: “It doesn’t make sense to build a pipeline to satisfy demand for 30 to 40 days a year.” Horse manure…
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In November 2015 MDN brought you a list of 36 North America drillers that had, as of that time, declared bankruptcy (see 
We can not be more crystal clear on this: a vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote to end the use of fossil fuels, and a vote to plunge our great nation into economic depression. Over the weekend the Democrat Party hashed out its official party platform–the tenants by which the party, if it should be so lucky as to hold on to power, will live by for the coming four years. The Dems are composed of radical idiots of all stripes, but some are more radical than others. The official platform calls for a tax on carbon (the stuff you breathe out with every breath) to tackle so-called (and non-existent) “climate change.” The platform also calls for a “phase down” of drilling on public lands. What the platform does not call for, however, is a total ban on all fracking. And that lack of a total ban in the official platform has set off some of the craziest of the crazies in the party. A group of them, spurred on by the odious and misnamed Food and Watch Watch, are making the rounds in Philadelphia. Near the convention center are several dozen donkey statutes, placed there in honor of the upcoming Dem convention in two weeks. So what are the FWW crazies doing? Placing piles of papier-mâché poop under the business end of the donkeys and spray painting “No ban on fracking, the Dem platform is crap.” Hilarious! We’re finally seeing the Dem party crack up and self-implode, thanks to anti-frackers…
Last week MDN reported that a previously trumpeted so-called research study of air quality near fracking sites in Ohio had been retracted (see 
In July 2012 MDN told you about a one-year study of air quality in and around Chartiers Township in Washington County, PA being conducted by the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (see 
We’ve previously reported on a number of LNG (liquefied natural gas) export projects planned for the eastern shore of Canada. There are four to five such projects, depending on how you count them. However, one of those projects–Bear Head LNG in Nova Scotia–seems to have the most momentum. Such projects needs loads of permits and approvals before the first shovel ever hits the dirt. It seems like Bear Head has most of its ducks in row, ready to begin. Importantly, both the U.S. (because the gas will come from the U.S.) and Canadian regulators have signed off on the project. But there are, as we are learning, still more permits and approvals needed. Bear Head just scored another important approval. The government of Nova Scotia has just granted Bear Head its approval of their Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Management Plan. Silly, we know. Adults with brains have to pretend that leaking CO2 or methane into the atmosphere is somehow endangering Mother Earth. But these are the games that people play in order to get business done. The Bear Head LNG project is important for the Marcellus/Utica because our gas will feed it via the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline, making it an important new market for northeast natgas…
Each month MDN reports on the rig count for oilfield services company Patterson-UTI Energy. Why? Because Patterson-UTI has major operations in the Marcellus/Utica and we use their rig count as a proxy for predicting the pickup or slowdown of drilling in the northeast. Last week we reported the exciting news that Patterson’s rig count had, after more than a year, reversed and went up (see 
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Nobody wins if northeast pipelines don’t get built; PA Gov Wolf to veto tweaked drilling rules; more on Shell’s PA cracker plant; PA’s conventional drilling industry regulation in disarray; US gas glut disappearing; future of shale production hinges on high tech; shale hits bottom in 1H16, what’s next; Bloomberg analyst predicts the end of the fossil fuel industry (yawn); Obama science advisor says keep-it-in-the-ground movement “unrealistic”; OPEC output nears 8-year high; and more!
PA’s very liberal Governor, Tom Wolf, has been obstinate in demanding onerous new drilling rules for the conventional, as well as unconventional (shale) drilling industry since he took office. Reworked drilling rules were done and ready to go under previous Governor, Tom Corbett. Then Corbett lost to Wolf, and Wolf demanded to change common sense rules everyone had already agreed to (see 
MDN has previously told you about the temper tantrum by radical environmentalists and the idiot kids they foment to try and get universities to divest from owning stock in fossil fuel companies. The very liberal Cornell University didn’t fall for it (see 
What happens to the regulatory environment for the energy industry, in particular oil and gas, should Donald Trump win the presidency? What if (perish the thought) Hillary Clinton wins? What can we expect under each administration? That was the theme for comments by Tom Sansonetti, partner with the Holland and Hart law firm, at the recent Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) 86th Midyear Meeting, held in Colorado Springs two weeks ago. The IPAA knows a number of people could not make the meeting and wants to disseminate Sansonetti’s comments, so they sent along a copy of his “what if?” analysis. We found it interesting and think you will too…
Is this the future of engines for large gas-hauling ships? Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co. announced two weeks ago they have completed the world’s very first ethane-operated two-stroke diesel engine. The engine is one of three the company is building to power three LEG (liquefied ethylene gas) tanker ships for Hartmann Schiffahrt of Germany and Ocean Yield of Norway. The ships are being built in China. Why ethane as fuel? For one thing, it’s cheaper than heavy fuel oil (HFO), the traditional fuel source for ship engines. Plus it burns a whole lot cleaner–something increasingly important with new emissions regulations coming along. But the obvious reason is that a tanker full of ethane can always tap into that ethane as fuel for the ship, should the need arise. The Marcellus/Utica produces ethane in abundance and ethane exports now regularly take place via ship from the Marcus Hook refinery near Philadelphia. Might we one day see an ethane-powered ship hauling ethane leaving Marcus Hook for Norway? Maybe, since some of the Marcus Hook exports to date have gone to Norway (see 
The electric power and natural gas sectors are increasingly joined at the hip, as we observed in January (see