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    Hess COO Sells $540K of Company Stock

    From time to time we tell you about so-called “insider selling” or “insider buying”–by which we mean someone in top management or on the board of directors is buying or selling stock in the company for which they work. We’ve just had another instance. In September, first a Hess board member John H. Mullin III purchased $381,430 worth of company stock (see Hess Board Member Buys 7K Shares, Now Owns $3.2M in Hess Stock), then Hess CEO John Hess bought a whopping $7.5 million worth of company stock (see Hess CEO John Hess Buys 144K Shares of Co. Stock for $7.5M). Now we get word that Hess COO Greg Hill has just sold $540,180 worth of stock…
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    Radical Bishop Finds Religion in Protesting Algonquin Pipeline

    It grieves us when we see someone misuse religion as an excuse to promote–or oppose–a purely political ideology. Such is the case with a retired Episcopal bishop from Westchester County, NY who claims a higher power blesses his opposition to expanding a natural gas pipeline that will bring carbon-lowering, clean burning natural gas to millions of people in the northeast. The bishop is really nothing more than just another 60s hippie radical trading on the good name of the church. Bishop George Packard, previously arrested for being an Occupy Wall Street anti-capitalist protester, was recently arrested for illegally blocking access to a construction site where Spectra Energy workers are working on the Algonquin Incremental Market (AIM) project to expand capacity of the Algonquin Gas Transmission natural gas pipeline to flow more Marcellus/Utica gas to northeast markets. Apparently Bishop Packard feels that God would have him block cheap, clean burning gas, lowering the bills for millions of people and making their lives here on earth a little better. What explains this apparent defection from loving God to loving political ideology instead?…
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    The Incredibly (Stupid) Hulk Praises Cuomo for Port Ambrose Veto

    Last Friday MDN told you that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo had once again bowed to political pressure from his lunatic left and vetoed a proposed off-shore LNG import facility called Port Ambrose (see NY Gov. Cuomo Vetoes Port Ambrose LNG Import Terminal). Not having much to do between Avengers movies, Mark Ruffalo (who plays Bruce Banner/Incredible Hulk) occupies his time by making the rounds at small anti-fracking protest rallies where adoring fans as vapid as he is engage in sickening hero worship–believing a professional liar (i.e. actor) actually knows something about fracking and should be believed. Hearing of Cuomo’s veto of the Port Ambrose project–a project that would have imported non-fracked gas from Trinidad, potentially displacing fracked Marcellus gas–Ruffalo issued the following statement from his Americans Against Fracking organization praising Cuomo…
    Read More “The Incredibly (Stupid) Hulk Praises Cuomo for Port Ambrose Veto”

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    Here Comes Another “National Day of Action” Against Fracking

    Get ready. Here it comes! Throngs of anti-drillers rising up to show their opposition to clean-burning natural gas. Break out the tie dye psychedelic shirts and hippie beads. It’s time to protest, maaan. Dig it! It’s like, whoa, tomorrow is “Freedom From Toxic Fracking Waste and Earthquakes: A National Day of Action.” Here’s our prediction: There will be two or three protest locations with about dozen people each–most of them hippie has-beens. Nobody outside of Democrat media will even notice the so-called protests. Below is the call to protest, naming the nutter groups behind it (the usual suspects)…
    Read More “Here Comes Another “National Day of Action” Against Fracking”

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    Hydropower Not “Green Enough” for Wacko Environmentalists

    Apparently wacko environmentalists don’t oppose just fossil fuels (including natural gas) because fossil fuels will “suppress” the growth of so-called renewables. Sometimes wacko environmentalists oppose their own precious renewable sources of energy. Self-loathing? Perhaps. Get this: Some enviros in New England are opposing hydropower that comes from Canada into New England because it comes via high-power transmission lines that don’t look pretty, and because (yes) it may mean other “favored” forms of so-called renewables, like ugly wind farms and unreliable solar, won’t develop as quickly. Hydro will stunt their growth. It’s silly and it’s sad–kind of like parents who favor one child over another. We bring you the story below for two reasons: (1) To point out the irrational, unreasoning and childish behavior of these so-called green supporters, and (2) to illustrate the folly of choosing which forms of energy people should/should not have the right to use. These wacko environmentalists think they’re smarter than you and know which forms of energy you should allow in your life…
    Read More “Hydropower Not “Green Enough” for Wacko Environmentalists”

  • Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Nov 16, 2015

    The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Magnum Hunter considers bankruptcy; NRDC gang & fight against Exxon; Wolf’s “half a loaf” budget; Williamsport housing shortage from gas boom; Chesapeake drills a Rogersville test well; natgas bends carbon emissions curve; worst winter natgas prices since 2012; and more!
    Read More “Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Nov 16, 2015”

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    NY Gov. Cuomo Vetoes Port Ambrose LNG Import Terminal

    vetoA rather abrupt end for an issue that was just getting started. Liberty Natural Gas filed a plan back in 2010, prior to the Marcellus Shale revolution, to construct an off-shore LNG import (not export) facility off the coast of New York and New Jersey–in the ocean. A floating LNG facility called the Port Ambrose project. A pipeline would run from the off-shore terminal to Jones Beach, NY and from there would connect to a Transco pipeline lateral. The U.S. Coast Guard recently gave their blessing to the project (see Coast Guard Approves Port Ambrose LNG Import Terminal Near NYC/NJ). Liberty has tried to sell the project to New York and New Jersey anti-drilling nutters by saying the gas would come from Trinidad and wouldn’t be that nasty, fracked gas loaded with radon (see Liberty Says “Non-Fracked” Trinidad Gas Better than Marcellus Gas). Needless to say that was a whopping error on Liberty’s part–to smear the entire drilling industry in a vain attempt to garner favor with Kool Aid drinking global warmers, just to make a buck. Liberty’s “it’s not fracked gas” rationale didn’t stop the antis–they were just beginning to organize with protests and rallies–their version of a tailgate party at an NFL game. And now New York Gov. Cuomo has gone and ruined it for them. Cuomo, with the stroke of a pen, has vetoed the project. It’s dead. Done. Finished. Won’t happen…
    Read More “NY Gov. Cuomo Vetoes Port Ambrose LNG Import Terminal”

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    Exceptionalism: Why the Marcellus Stands Alone Among Shale Plays

    In a recent analysis of the shale oil and natural gas industry in the U.S., Reuters analyst John Kemp says that there are big differences in shale oil and shale gas when it comes to price. He posits that oil output will be “less resilient” than gas when it comes to maintaining profitability with lower prices. Kemp offers the following comments and rationale for why and how the Marcellus (and Utica) has changed the natural gas industry–what he called “Marcellus Exceptionalism”…
    Read More “Exceptionalism: Why the Marcellus Stands Alone Among Shale Plays”

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    Sunoco LP Fined $59K for Fixing Pipe Running Thru 7 Swamps

    Talk about damned if you do, damned if you don’t… Sunoco Logistics Partners needed to do maintenance (i.e. fix things) along the Mariner East 1 pipeline–an 80 year-old petroleum pipeline repurposed to flow natural gas liquids (NGLs). Some of the places where they need to fix it, the pipeline runs underground beneath a number of swamps–smelly, stagnant water where mosquitoes with West Nile virus breed. Today swamps are called “wetlands.” Go figure. Because Sunoco didn’t get a “Mother May I?” permit from the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) before fixing the pipeline in seven swamps, the DEP has fined the company $59,000. No doubt if Sunoco had waited for permits issued in triplicate and didn’t fix the pipeline, something would have spilled and there would have been an even bigger fine (and lawsuit) for that! A real no-win situation…
    Read More “Sunoco LP Fined $59K for Fixing Pipe Running Thru 7 Swamps”

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    What Did Eclipse Resources Qtly Call Reveal re Potential Sale?

    Yesterday Eclipse Resources, an exploration and production company focused solely on the Marcellus and Utica Shale region, held their third quarter analyst conference call to discuss third quarter 2015 performance. We’ve already brought you the official press release/update for Eclipse’s 3Q15 results (see Eclipse Resources 3Q15: Production Up 163%, Net Loss $81M). What we were interested in, as we scoured the transcript of the conference call, was whether or not anyone brought up the rumor that Eclipse is currently shopping the company (see Marcellus/Utica Driller Eclipse Resources Looking for a Buyer). Morgan Stanley is said to be the investment bank shopping Eclipse for sale. There were no analysts from MS on the call, but there were analysts from MS competitors, like arch rival Goldman Sachs. Did any of those analysts ask a question about the rumor the company is looking to sell?…
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    Wolf Says You’ll Love the Budget Deal; Repubs Say, What Deal?

    Yet another mass delusion campaign has begun to convince Pennsylvanians that what just happened didn’t happen. And what just happened? Newly-elected neophyte Gov. Tom Wolf didn’t get anything important he wanted in the budget deal that’s quickly taking form–except for getting the second highest sales tax rate in the country. That he got, and he’s trying to spin that as a big positive. What is Wolf, and a sycophantic, servile mainstream media, saying? “He hung tough. He didn’t get everything, but by gaw he got a lot of it and it’s all good for the state. Yeah he didn’t get a Marcellus severance tax, but pay no attention to the man behind the curtain! Wolf got all this other great stuff for the teachers’ unions to pay them back for supporting him and everybody loves Wolf. You’re gonna love it–just you wait and see.” That about sums up the tone and style of “reporting” on the deal. Meanwhile, some rather honest Republicans from the Altoona area are saying, (1) the budget deal is most certainly not done yet, (2) schools are a never-ending sinkhole for money–they want more money in good times and bad, and (3) if the state had implemented a severance tax, it would have finished off the Marcellus industry where drilling is now at a minimum even without the extra tax. Wow, what a breath of fresh air to hear politicians who tell the truth…
    Read More “Wolf Says You’ll Love the Budget Deal; Repubs Say, What Deal?”

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    Boone Pickens Schools Obama on Keystone Decision, Energy “Plan”

    A little common sense from a man who has deep wells of common sense, T. Boone Pickens is a Texas oil man (pronounced “aall man” in a Texas accent) needs no introduction. In the pages of Forbes magazine, Boone Pickens takes President Obama to task for rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline–essentially calling him a non-leader and a coward. We have his column below, titled “President Obama, ‘No’ Is Not An Energy Plan.” The way we’ll introduce it is with a personal story that has nothing to do with nothing, except there’s a tie-in with Boone Pickens. When MDN editor Jim Willis was a (very) young man, he had the privilege and honor to first intern, and later be on staff in the Ronald Reagan White House. Jim was (perhaps still is) a hick from upstate New York. He always felt like Alice in Wonderland when arriving at work at the Old Executive Office Building (part of the White House complex) and seeing people walk by on the sidewalk that you see each night on the news. He could look out a window on the front lawn of the White House and watch the nightly news segments being taped! Very cool stuff for a young guy. Also very cool to see the President in person on rare occasions. The office in which Jim worked was Presidential Personnel–the employment agency for all of the thousands of positions appointed by the President throughout the federal government. In the office where Jim worked were three other people–all ladies. Two of them were the daughters of billionaires–Ross Perot’s daughter Nancy, and Boone Pickens’ daughter Liz…
    Read More “Boone Pickens Schools Obama on Keystone Decision, Energy “Plan””

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    Free Online Resource: “Oil 101” – Good Overview of O&G Industry

    EKT Interactive, an online training company, has previously published a free six-part series they call “Oil 101”–aimed at giving workers (and others) interested in the oil and gas industry a working knowledge of the industry. EKT will publish a new 10-part series in January. The curriculum is fast-paced and provides an overview of how things work, the special terminology for the industry (every industry has its own lingo), and an overall conceptual framework. How do all of these puzzle pieces fit together? Meanwhile, the six mini-courses they offer now that are part of Oil 101–which include sections on upstream, midstream and downstream–are available for free when you register on their website. We’ve done a quick scan and believe it’s a worthwhile resource–something you may want to check out (www.ektinteractive.com). Here’s the announcement about the free stuff they have now, and what they have planned for January…
    Read More “Free Online Resource: “Oil 101” – Good Overview of O&G Industry”

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    Poo Lagoon: Turning Piles of Pig Poo into Green Money

    Blue LagoonRemember the movie The Blue Lagoon from 1980? It starred Brooke Shields stranded on an island with somebody else (who remembers?, doesn’t matter). At that time it was every young man’s fantasy to grow up on a desert island with Brooke Shields! Since it’s Friday and we’re in a lighthearted mood, we thought we would bring you the story of the “poo lagoon”–as in pig poo. And no, we’re not making this up! Smithfield Foods, operator of nine humongous pig farms in northern Missouri (with 2 million pigs) stores all of the pig poo produced in 88 “poo lagoons” (their words, not ours) where it decomposes and throws methane into the atmosphere like nobody’s business. Methane escaping into the atmosphere drives global warmers into a near-catatonic state of worry that the methane escaping will cause Mother Earth to fry. So in an effort to lessen the angst of warmers, and to make a little coin on the side, Smithfield Foods is using a European technology to harness the methane coming from all of that crap to purify it (get rid of the bacon smell) and sell it…
    Read More “Poo Lagoon: Turning Piles of Pig Poo into Green Money”

  • Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Nov 13, 2015

    The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: power plant development in the Marcellus/Utica; northeast drillers slowing down after Q3; OH has 1,635 drilled Utica wells; AG Kane sued in federal court; EPA hearings in Pittsburgh bring out the crazies; Quigley’s pipeline pipe dreams; CA solar farm burns natgas; and more!
    Read More “Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Nov 13, 2015”

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    Dire Straits: Magnum Hunter Tells SEC Heading for Bankruptcy

    mhrHere’s one time when we wish we had been wrong. In October we warned you that Magnum Hunter Resources (MHR), a smaller but important driller in the Marcellus/Utica, was either heading for a sale or bankruptcy (see Magnum Hunter: Preparing to Sell, or Filing for Bankruptcy?). Looks like it’s the later. The company filed its required quarterly form 10-Q with the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this week (full copy of the 10-Q below). In the filing we get this statement: “As of September 30, 2015, the Company had $6.5 million in cash and a working capital deficit of $1,037.2 million, and the Company continues to incur significant losses from continuing operations.” Eeeks. They only have $6.5M in the bank to keep the lights on and make payroll, and they owe over $1 billion. Then we get this: “…these factors raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.” Near the end of the report, they spell it out in black and white: “We may seek the protection of the United States Bankruptcy Court (the “Bankruptcy Court”), which may harm our business and place equity holders at significant risk of losing all of their interests in the Company.” Translation: We’re going bankrupt. In addition, earlier this week the New York Stock Exchange made good on its previous threat and has begun the process of de-listing MHR’s stock–which caused a selloff of the stock. The stock price hit 15 cents per share, so the NYSE halted trading. Never rains but it pours…
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