Analyst Says Check Your History, Constitution Pipe Won’t Get Built
An analyst with a Washington, D.C. policy and research firm believes that Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s recent action in denying Williams stream crossing permits for the Constitution Pipeline means that project is dead. He cites another pipeline project from a decade ago–the Islander East project–that faced a similar situation. In the end, Islander East didn’t get built. He believes the same fate is in store for the Constitution. We sincerely hope he’s wrong and that FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) will “grow a pair” and not let Gov. Cuomo bully them. At its heart this is a battle over the trampling of federal authority. We find it curious that Obama and his sycophants throughout the government are hellbent on expanding federal authority over every aspect of our lives–from health care, to what we eat, to what forms of power we can use. And yet these same people stand by and are silent when a federal agency like FERC is emasculated by a state like NY. Of course it should be the opposite. This is one time when the federal government Constitutionally has the authority to act, and that authority has been illegally co-opted by a state. FERC needs to force the issue in court to overrule NY’s abuse of power. The analyst, however, doesn’t see it that way…
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According to new numbers just released by our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), fracked wells (most of them shale wells) now produce two-thirds of the natural gas produced in the United States. And the U.S. produces the most natural gas of any country on Mom Earth. Even so, Crazy Bernie and Hillary have both pledged to shut it all down (yes, we believe them, they would do it). Here’s the EIA’s story of how the miracle of hydraulic fracturing has taken over in the U.S.–a miracle we can continue if we don’t elect radicals to high office…
A group of radical/leftist environmental groups have just launched their latest “sue and settle” case against the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). For a description of the despicable practice of sue and settle, where our own government colludes with these groups in a faux lawsuit which “forces” an agency to do what it wanted to do but couldn’t otherwise under existing laws, see this MDN story: 
Hey, it’s tough out there in the oil and gas patch. Something like 200,000+ workers in the industry have been laid off in the past year and a half. Now, somebody wants to do something about it. 
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: PA energy advisor moves from gov to PUC; PA lawmakers attempt to stop new o&g drilling regs; energy infrastructure in New England badly needs an update; new underground storage rules coming from the feds; is fracking as dirty as coal?; what the failed Halliburton/BH deal means for the oil service industry; skeptics mock White House “support” for natgas; and more!
There was an explosion and fire in Spectra Energy’s Texas Eastern Transmission’s (TETCO) “Delmont Line 27” pipeline last Friday (see 
The muckety-mucks from Shell held their quarterly earnings phone call with analysts yesterday–and there is what we consider big news to report coming from that call. In response to a question from an analyst, Shell’s Chief Financial Officer, Simon Henry, commented there are four major “chemicals” projects currently under consideration by Shell. He also said a decision on the PA cracker plant project planned in Beaver County will likely be the first decision to be made because of “the timing of certain commitments that are already in place.” He added these glowing words about the PA cracker: “It’s an excellent project…[that] provides quite some portfolio resilience relative to the rest of the opportunities.” He later said “It’s a very strong and robust project.” If the price of oil were higher than the current $40, pulling the trigger on the PA cracker would be “a very easy decision.” When you read his comments, it’s hard to miss the enthusiasm at the highest echelons inside Shell…
It’s only been one year since Thailand-based PTT Global Chemical announced they are interested in building a $5 billion ethane cracker plant complex in Belmont County, OH (see 
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. April was no different. Patterson reports operating an average of 56 rigs in April, versus 64 in March–a big 12.5% drop and a new low. Once again we ask, how low can it go? Below is our running Patterson-UTI rig count chart that shows the sad story…
In March MDN reported that Canadian midstream giant TransCanada wants a bigger piece of the Marcellus/Utica midstream (i.e. pipeline) pie and has decided to buy Columbia Pipeline Group for $10 billion (see 
Rice Energy, one of the newest and brightest drillers in the Marcellus/Utica, released their first quarter 2016 update yesterday. The company reports production averaged 675 million cubic feet equivalent per day (Mmcfe/d) during 1Q16, a 53% increase over 1Q15 (and up 8% from 4Q15). On the financial side the company lost $21 million during 1Q16, versus making $152,000 in 1Q15. Pretty mild compared to most. During 1Q16 Rice drilled 11 new Marcellus wells and 8 new Utica wells. Good to see someone is still drilling! Here’s the update, along with a great PowerPoint slide deck…
Eclipse Resources released their first quarter 2016 update yesterday. Although Eclipse, a Marcellus/Utica pure play driller headquartered in State College, PA (but drilling mostly in Ohio), has curtailed or shut-in some of it’s production given low prices for gas, they still posted an impressive 26% increase in production in 1Q16 over 1Q15. While we’ve heard of Prince and his “Purple Rain,” we hadn’t heard of Eclipse’s “Purple Hayes”–which is a Utica well with an underground lateral reaching out 18,500 feet–3.5 miles! During 1Q16 Eclipse drilled their Purple Hayes well in under 18 days. Amazing! Even more amazing–the well was completed with 124 frac stages. It is believed to be the longest onshore later well ever drilled. Kudos to Eclipse! On the downside, the company lost $41 million in 1Q16…