PA Budget/Severance Tax Talks Resume Today – Without Gov. Wolf
Wow. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf is as stubborn about wanting to raise PA taxes as a jackass–his party’s mascot. Wolf’s latest proposed budget was voted down last week–with nine Democrats in the House voting against it (see PA Gov Wolf’s High Tax Budget Goes Down to Defeat – 9 Dems Against). Wolf’s proposed tax grab was described by Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Butler, as a thug trying to mug somebody, taking all of their money at gunpoint. The vote was a total humiliation of the in-over-his-head Wolf. Even fawning liberals are now turning on Wolf–describing him as stubborn (their words, not ours). Has the recent vote and criticism made Wolf more likely to now compromise with Republicans to craft a budget that doesn’t hit middle income workers quite so hard? Nope. Even though negotiators will be back at the table today to talk about the budget, yesterday Wolf went on a radio program to say he’s not “caving” on his insistence that high taxes be part of the budget. He’s gone completely bonkers–off his rocker. Perhaps they need to consider a straight jacket?…
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Last month MDN told you about the a group of politicians in Stokes County, North Caroline (Board of Commissioners) who voted to pass a three-year moratorium on shale drilling in the county (see 
A Bloomberg article published yesterday perfectly captures what MDN has been saying now for at least five years: the real opposition to fracking and pipelines is not because of health concerns or environmental damage or any of a dozen or more surface arguments. Those issues are all weapons used in a public relations war–used to confuse casual news consumers who don’t bother to read or listen to more than headlines. The real reason–the core reason–why people oppose fracking and pipelines and all the rest is because the disease of global warming belief has metastasized in their liberal brains, and they irrationally want to end the use of all fossil fuels. It’s in black and white, stated plainly, in the Bloomberg article. The article mentions the Marcellus and the Constitution pipeline. It also highlights the activities of serial protester and founder of FANG (Fighting Against Natural Gas), Nick Katkevich, someone we’ve reported on previously (see 
Stone Energy is one of the smaller drillers in the Marcellus/Utica, drilling 38 wells in the Marcellus and a single Utica test well in 2014. Early in 2015 Stone said they wouldn’t be drilling any new Marcellus/Utica wells beyond the first quarter (see 
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Cuomo paid state workers to fill seats at climate change event; fracking foes shift focus to pipelines; Pittsburgh energy law firm cuts 5 jobs; natural gas benefits New England; BP’s chief economist says world will never run out of oil; and more!
In April 2013 MDN reported on the tragic death of 56-year-old Bruce Phipps from Marietta, OH who was working at a Eureka Hunter “pig” (Pipeline Inspection Gauge) receiving station near near Wick (Tyler County), WV (see 
The last vestiges of the Aubrey McClendon era at Chesapeake have now been swept away. In June 2012, Aubrey was demoted from his position as chairman of the board of directors. Archie Dunham, the retired chairman of ConocoPhillips, was tapped to replace him and help the company navigate the transition from dumping McClendon (see 
Today Antero Resources became the first major Marcellus/Utica driller to issue their third quarter 2015 update. The company reports a 39% increase in production over the same quarter last year, and a 1% increase from 2Q15. They must have some sharp financial types at Antero because the average price they received for their natural gas was $3.99 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) in 3Q15, which is $1.22 higher than gas sold for in the NYMEX futures market. What that means is that they’re really good at hedging and using complicated financial instruments called derivatives in order to get a higher price for their gas than many others get. Good for them! However, not part of the update released today are Antero’s income statement and balance sheet–which will show the true financial condition of the company. They’re holding that back until the quarterly analyst phone call on Oct. 28. Here’s the operational report they filed today, with details about their Marcellus and Utica operations. We also spotted a new 10-year agreement to LNG to Chubu Electric via the Freeport (TX) LNG terminal…
Antero Resources’ chief administrative officer, Al Schopp, shared an update on Antero’s activity in WV at the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association’s annual meeting two weeks ago at Oglebay Resort. Schoop’s update was enlightening. Although Antero has cut back from running 15 drilling rigs in WV last year to only 6 this year (due to the low price of natural gas), they remain active and employ 2,000 people in the state–that’s LOCAL people. Since 2009 Antero has spent nearly $5 billion (!) in WV. Some of that money–$500 million–was spent to create a pipeline system to deliver water to drill pads so they don’t have to clog narrow mountain roads with thousands of truck trips. The company spends $20 million a year to employ safety consultants at every major Antero construction, drilling and fracking operation 24/7/365. How long does Antero plan to be a major presence in the Mountain State, and what’s ahead in the near-term? Read on…
It wasn’t just upstream/drilling companies that presented at the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association’s annual meeting two weeks ago at Oglebay Resort (see today’s story about Antero). Midstream (pipeline and processing plants) companies were also represented. Two of the biggest addressed the delegates: MarkWest Energy and Columbia Pipeline Group. A couple of items piqued our interest in comments made by each. MarkWest’s executive VP and chief commercial officer Greg Floerke teased that it’s not just pipelines that will transport natural gas liquids out of the Marcellus/Utica region–but also railroads. That’s the first time we’ve seen public comments by a MarkWest muckety muck mentioning an alliance with rail to move NGLs out of the northeast. Columbia Pipeline’s executive VP and chief commercial officer Stan Chapman offered an eye-popping statistic: Columbia will triple in size from now until 2018 because of the Marcellus/Utica. According to Chapman, their experience is not unique…
Peters Township, the most populous township in Washington County, PA, is one of the seven selfish towns that sued the state over the zoning provisions in the Act 13 law, eventually winning at the PA Supreme Court level (see 
Last week Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) filed their official, full application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) seeking approval for their Orion Project. The project will cost $143 million and construct 13 miles of “looping” pipeline in Pike and Wayne counties, Pennsylvania. The project will boost capacity on the TGP by another 135 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d), allowing TGP to pump more Marcellus Shale gas to Mid-Atlantic and New England states. If all goes according to plan, the TGP Orion upgrade will be complete and in-service by June 2018…
We continue to bring you news about what may seem to be esoteric and perhaps not relevant for most MDN readers–but we think it is important. Yesterday we told you about an increase in “short selling” of Gastar Exploration’s stock (see 
Last week MDN reported on a new junk science study that claims to have discovered the closer you live to fracking in Pennsylvania, the more likely your baby will be born prematurely (see