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    PA DEP Sec Quigley’s Own Committee Appointees Turn Against Him

    Looks like the PennFuture Secretary of the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection, John Quigley, didn’t get exactly what he wanted with new appointments to the new Conventional Oil and Gas Advisory Committee (COGAC). You may recall that Quigley, in an unprecedented move, fired all of the members of the Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board (TAB) and in its place created a new TAB and a second, new group–COGAC (see Why did PA DEP Acting Sec Quigley Mass Fire Gas Advisory Board?). We speculated he was packing both boards with yes men and women–but it turns out the members of COGAC aren’t saluting the chief. The purpose in having two boards is to represent the different interests of shale drillers (TAB) and traditional, much smaller “mom and pop” conventional drillers (COGAC). New drilling regulations are about to be imposed on both conventional and unconventional (shale) drillers. Conventional drillers have said, for years, that many of the rules applied to shale drillers should not apply to them because it is a vastly different extraction process. The voting members of the new COGAC have weighed in and told Quigley, in a letter, that they will not support the rules he intends to release in late August. In fact, they outright oppose those rules as applied to conventional drillers. Quigley has said, as he typically does, “screw you” in so many words…
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    Brookings LNG Report: An Assessment of U.S. Natural Gas Exports

    The nonpartisan Washington, DC-based think tank the Brookings Institution recently released the fourth in a series of briefings by the Energy Security and Climate Initiative at Brookings on developments in the natural gas market. This latest research report (or “brief”), titled “An Assessment of U.S. Natural Gas Exports” (full copy below), provides an overview of regulations in the U.S. that control LNG exports, along with an assessment of how competitive the U.S. is compared with other suppliers emerging worldwide. Interestingly, the Brookings report points out a little known fact: “Although U.S. natural gas export regulation may be cumbersome and the trajectory expensive, to date not a single project has been rejected”…
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    Obama Stabs Natural Gas Electric Plants in Clean Power Plan

    backstabberYesterday our glorious Dear Leader, Barack Hussein Obama, made his final push for total (clean) dictatorial power. And since Republicans in Congress have lost their courage and their way, he’s likely to achieve it. Yesterday the Obama administration unveiled its Communist Clean Power Plan, a plan that illegally violates just about every Constitutional freedom we have left in this country. You see, our Dear Leader believes in the fairy tale of man-made global warming–even though it doesn’t exist. And he’s using that belief to not only screw the coal industry, he’s also using it to screw the shale energy industry too. Surprised? We aren’t. We’ve told you for years that Obama’s actions speak much louder than his words when it comes to shale energy–of his lack of support for shale energy. Now his words are matching his actions. Obama abandoned his words of support for natural gas in unveiling his so-called Clean Power Plan that will result in not only coal powered electric generating plants closing in large numbers–but will also put natural gas fired plants on the endangered list too. Lord Obama now touts so-called renewable energy only. No more talk about using natural gas as a bridge fuel. That’s verboten. Instead of letting the free market choose which power source it wants for energy, Lord Obama has made the decision for us. Sieg heil, Obama!…
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    Antis Use Their Own Children as Cheap Props at FERC Hearing in NH

    A picture truly is worth a thousand words, as the old saying goes. So let’s show you a picture and see what you think (view it below). It is a picture of young children tricked out in “Stop the Pipeline” yellow shirts and red Stop the Pipeline hats–sitting on the floor playing with toys at a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) hearing in southern New Hampshire last week. Two hearings were held to gather public comments on Kinder Morgan’s Northeast Energy Direct natural gas pipeline. As they usually do, anti-fossil fuelers turned the hearings into freak shows–using (we’d call it abusing) children as props. We ask: Who would do something like that to their own children? Why would you brazenly use your own child as a cheap prop in a sleazy attempt to gain attention and sympathy for a political viewpoint? How low can you go?…
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    Noble Energy to Idle Remaining Marcellus Rig Next Month

    zeroNoble Energy, a driller with a massive joint venture with CONSOL Energy on 663,350 acres of Marcellus and Utica Shale leases in the northeast, has confirmed they are “cutting back” the number of rigs they operate in the Marcellus Shale due to “the current environment.” What “cutting back” means is that they will go from operating a single rig to operating no rigs beginning in the middle of the third quarter (which means next month). Two other Marcellus rigs operated by CONSOL Energy will go off line by the fourth quarter…
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    Hess Says Harrison County, OH “Truly the Sweet Spot” of the Utica

    Last week Hess released their second quarter 2015 earnings and operations update. It didn’t really say too much at all about their drilling program in the Ohio Utica Shale. We did, however, get some color commentary from CEO John Hess on last week’s conference call with analysts. We learned from that call that Hess drilled, with joint venture partner CONSOL Energy, just 10 wells in 2Q15. They completed 15 wells (some previously drilled) and brought 9 wells online into production. Hess is dropping from 2 active rigs in the Ohio to just 1 rig for the balance of 2015 but even so, they expect to bring 25-30 new wells online for all of 2015. The interesting (kind of funny) thing to MDN was an off-the-cuff statement by Hess President & COO Greg Hill on the call. Hill said that Hess will continue to concentrate their Utica drilling in Harrison County, OH. Why? Not because that’s where most of their remaining Utica acreage is located–oh no. But because Harrison County is, according to Hill, “truly the sweet spot of the play” and “the wettest part of the play.” There you have it. Forget about Belmont, Monroe, Noble and Guernsey counties. Harrison is where it’s at…
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    Rogersville Shale Secrets Exposed – Appalachia’s “Next Big Thing”?

    The editors of the top-flight NGI Shale Daily publication have put together a free special report on the Rogersville Shale–and you can download it by providing only your name and email address. So far, the Rogersville Shale, a formation that’s part of the Rome Trough in the Appalachian Basin, has largely flown under the radar. A new special report from the editors of NGI’s Shale Daily exposes what some E&Ps had hoped to keep secret. A half dozen or more E&Ps are clandestinely attempting to learn more about the Rogersville Shale–and a land grab is on to lock up lease rights for thousands of acres before the word gets out. An E&P early pioneer in the Rogersville drilled a test well in October 2013 that was later permitted for full production. The company secured a one-year confidentially agreement before they are required to release a completions report. On or about August 20, the one-year time limit expires. What new information will be disclosed?…
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    New Underground Marcellus/Utica NatGas Storage Facility Proposed

    An open season–a time when customers can sign multi-year contracts with a pipeline company–begins today…but not for a pipeline. This open season connects to pipelines but is for storage of natural gas in the Marcellus/Utica region. Chestnut Ridge Storage, LLC is a proposed underground storage facility that will be built in the West Summit Field located under portions of Fayette County, PA and Monongalia and Preston counties in WV. The new facility will be able to store an initial 15 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas, and eventually 25 Bcf. The facility, if it gets approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), will not be fully operational for another three years–in 2Q18. The open season is “non-binding” meaning customers don’t yet have to sign on the dotted line. We don’t often talk about it, but a key part of the natural gas infrastructure that delivers gas to customers is storage. Not all gas can be used as soon as it’s extracted and flowed through a pipeline. There are a series of (mostly) underground storage facilities that act as a temporary rest stop along the journey to market. A very necessary and important rest stop. The interesting thing to MDN about this particular open season announcement, aside from the fact that it’s meant to store Marcellus and Utica Shale gas, is who is building it: eCORP International…
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    Antis “Shocked” One of Their Own Sent Death Threats to PennEast

    Last Friday MDN told you about an ongoing FBI investigation into death threats made by anti-drilling zealots against workers of the PennEast Pipeline (see FBI Investigates Death Threats Against PennEast Pipeline Workers). Multiple choice question: When one of their own tips over the edge into violence or proposed violence, anti-drillers (a) act shocked and surprised, (b) deny it’s true, implying it’s a made-up story by the pipeline company, or (c) both. If you guessed (c) you would be correct…
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    Shrill Opposition to Constitution Pipeline after Cabot Comment

    Flat-out, 100% lies is what best describes the claims being made by anti-pipeline groups like Stop the Pipeline in New York State in a letter sent to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, with respect to charges that the already-FERC-approved Constitution Pipeline would, if built, incite an environmental Holocaust in the state. These are the VERY SAME people who successfully pressured Cuomo into banning fracking in the state–so they’re hoping they can bully the pathetically weak Cuomo once again, this time to reject the Constitution Pipeline. The renewed and shrill campaign against the pipeline comes because last week Cabot Oil & Gas CEO Dan Dinges said he expects the NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to issue permits allowing the pipeline to cross streams and swamps (i.e. “wetlands”) any day now. The fact that this pipeline WILL get built is eating anti-drillers alive. They can’t stand it. So they whip up an email “letter” to Cuomo, and then get their sympathetic buddies at the Democrat Albany Times Union to run a story on their efforts, trying to manufacture the appearance that there is a groundswell of support against the pipeline–when there isn’t…
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    Philly Rags Continue to Blame Marcellus Drillers for Late PA Budget

    Once again the Philadelphia Inquirer and its Daily News subsidiary show why their circulation numbers (and profits) continue to plummet: Because they are nothing more than a Democrat house organ propaganda outlet. They don’t report news–they manufacture and repeat, endlessly, Dem lies. Note the latest “editorial” written by the same people who supposedly report the news in what has become a Democrat rag. The editorial, reproduced below, blames the budget stalemate in the Pennsylvania on Republicans because Republicans are supposedly in the back pocket of Marcellus big oil and gas companies. The self-righteous and pure as the wind-driven snow Democrats only want all remaining profits from Marcellus Shale drilling for the chil’ren (those evil, nasty, vile big oil and gas companies, anyway). Of course the editorial says NOTHING about Democrat lust and desire for OPM–other people’s money–to fund Big Education and to repay Tom Wolf’s election debt to teachers’ unions. Nope, not a word. And that’s why rags like the Philly Inquirer and crashing and burning…
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    Deerfield’s 2nd Bite at the Litigation Apple Against NED Pipeline

    Back in February MDN told you about a group of aging hippies, er, a, New Englanders from Deerfield, MA who decided to sue the federal government to block Kinder Morgan’s Northeast Energy Direct (NED) pipeline project from being built across their property (see Mass. Town Sues FERC to Stop Pipeline Claiming Gas is for Export). The Town of Deerfield is using the pro bono services of a lawyer that doesn’t live in Deerfield, Cristobal Bonifaz. Bonifaz filed the lawsuit in federal court. His argument is that “most of the gas” flowing through NED will be exported and not even used in New England, and taking private property via eminent domain to do so is illegal. His claim is false–but truth isn’t what always wins in court cases. These days it’s finding a liberal judge you can influence that wins in court. Bonifaz is back and he’s filed the same exact lawsuit a second time–with a different (small) group of people from Deerfield and surrounding areas…
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    StateImpact: PA Pipelines “Risky” & “Mystery” – Might Kill ‘Ya Too

    Yet another hit piece against the shale industry from the taxpayer-funded, left-leaning, anti-drilling PBS StateImpact Pennsylvania. This time it’s about pipelines. Reporter Susan Phillips says there’s so darned many of the stupid things under our feet, we don’t even know where they all are and “POOF!” they may explode at any minute if you look at ’em wrong. Case in point: A man operating a bulldozer whose company called One Call before digging, dug up a pipeline that wasn’t mapped and had evil, nasty natural gas running through it. It exploded and sent the man to the hospital with burns over 70% of his body. We’re not making light of the accident or this man’s plight (which is truly tragic). We are making light of the silly notion implied by Phillips in her wide-ranging hit piece that pipelines are “risky” and a “mystery” with the implication we shouldn’t build another single pipeline until we can get pipelines already in the ground fully mapped down the square centimeter. This is a new, coordinated attack on the industry from the usual suspects. Stop the pipelines and you stop the evil fossil fuel natural gas from getting to market…
    Read More “StateImpact: PA Pipelines “Risky” & “Mystery” – Might Kill ‘Ya Too”

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    PA Gov Tom “Severance Tax” Wolf: America’s Most Liberal Governor

    The non-partisan website InsideGov, a site built and maintained by technology company FindTheBest, used public statements, press releases, campaign platforms and voting records to score each state governor’s view on important issues. InsideGov then used the data they collected to assign values for the most conservative political philosophy, and the most liberal. No lie–the single most liberal state governor in the United States is not Andrew Cuomo–he’s #5 in the list of most liberal. Nope. The single most liberal governor in these United States is (trumpet fanfare): Tom Wolf, from Pennsylvania. Wolf is ahead of the whack-a-doos in New York, Vermont, Connecticut and even Minnesoooota. Yeah, the same Tom Wolf who wants to steal the profits from Marcellus drillers to give to teachers’ unions to pay them back for voting him into office. That Tom Wolf. Most liberal. And what do the libs at Philadelphia Magazine write? (This is hilarious.) They write that even though Wolf walks like a liberal duck, quacks like a liberal duck, swims like a liberal duck–he isn’t really all THAT liberal…
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