Cecil Twp Hellbent to Ban New Shale Drilling via 2,500-Ft Setback
The Board of Supervisors for Cecil Township in Washington County, PA, caved to pressure from radical leftists and, by a vote of 3-2, instructed the town’s solicitor to prepare a new zoning ordinance that increases setbacks from “protected structures” from 500 feet to 2,500 feet (a half a mile!), and add a setback of 5,000 feet from schools and hospitals (almost a full mile!). It is a ban on new shale drilling in the township, plain and simple. In May, the supervisors favored a setback of 1,500 feet, which is still too far and onerous, but not an outright ban like 2,500 feet (see Cecil Twp Board Considers Revising Drilling Setbacks to 1,500 Feet). Something happened to tip three of the supervisors into open hostility against the Marcellus industry. We wonder what it was. Read More “Cecil Twp Hellbent to Ban New Shale Drilling via 2,500-Ft Setback”
Dominion Energy plans to build four small “peaker” electric generating plants in Chesterfield County, VA, near Richmond (see 
The liberal judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued a string of rulings this year that have greatly damaged the country’s LNG export industry. Those rulings, if left unchallenged, put future LNG growth in this country in doubt. So says energy expert David Blackmon, writing for the Forbes magazine website. The D.C. Circuit has been coloring WAY outside the lines by using White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) criteria for what should be included in environmental reviews conducted under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
The price of natural gas is the foundation for our entire industry. If the price is too low, as it is right now, drilling falls off (see today’s lead story about Coterra doing NO new drilling in the Marcellus). If there’s no (or little) new drilling, everything else suffers. Landowners’ royalty checks shrivel, oilfield services companies don’t have work and lay personnel, pipelines are used less, and new pipelines don’t get built. It all comes down to price. So, we closely monitor the price and where it’s heading. Is there a way, short of hauling out the dusty crystal ball, of knowing where the price is heading in future months, even in future years? Sort of. It’s called the forward market. 
The federal government is spending BILLIONS of dollars on a huge gamble: hydrogen energy. This raises an important question: Will low-carbon-intensity (LCI) hydrogen make economic sense or not? In November 2021, the Department of Energy (DOE) asked the National Petroleum Council (NPC) to take a deep dive into that very topic. The NPC is appointed by the Secretary of Energy and privately funded, with 200-plus members combining diverse experiences across industries and consumers, including the oil and gas industry. The NPC recently issued its 800+ page final report, Harnessing Hydrogen: A Key Element of the U.S. Energy Future. Today, we look at one aspect of the larger question about hydrogen — how can hydrogen be transported and stored (and does it make economic sense to transport and store it)?
NATIONAL: Presidential debate: let’s talk energy; US natgas prices fall 5% as hurricane threatens LNG and power demand; Harris buries her ‘clean energy’ agenda while Trump goes big on fossil fuels; Talking points on Kamala Harris’s fracking reversal; UTulsa tests optimal mix of hydrogen and natural gas; 2024 American Energy Scorecard for the House of Representatives. 
A very big story is unfolding in the Marcellus/Utica, and nobody else is talking about it. There is a major reshuffling of rigs in the M-U, with Pennsylvania losing active rigs and West Virginia picking them up. Two weeks ago, PA dropped from 21 to 18 active rigs, the lowest count it has had in 2 1/2 years (see 
In 2019, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) began formulating new regulations for intrastate pipelines transporting gasoline, petroleum, crude oil, and natural gas liquids like ethane. In July 2021, the PUC finally published a draft of new regulations (see 
Iroquois Gas Transmission’s Enhancement by Compression (ExC) project would increase horsepower at three compression stations — two in New York and one in Connecticut — by an extra 125 MMcf/d, to flow more Marcellus/Utica gas into New York City and New England. The two NY compressors include one in Dover and one in Athens. The CT compressor is located in Brookfield. The left, via the odious Food & Water Watch, has made a concerted effort to block the two NY compressor station upgrades (see 
Oh yeah, Kamala “The Cackler” Harris is all in favor of fracking and natural gas and even oil. Right? Then why the heck did her campaign just hire Camila Thorndike, a self-styled “climate hype girl for democracy” who worked for two years at Rewiring America, the organization pushing a nationwide ban on natural gas stoves, as the campaign’s point person on climate outreach? These are the questions mainstream media should be asking, but mainstream media has become the de facto PR agency for the Democrat Party. You are being lied to every day about Harris and her true intentions. 
For the week of Aug. 26 – Sept. 1, a total of 32 permits were issued to drill new shale wells in Marcellus/Utica, nearly matching the previous week’s 34. It’s nice to see the numbers returning to higher levels. The Keystone State (PA) had 18 new permits. PA’s top recipient was EQT (and its subsidiary Rice Drilling), with ten permits in Greene County. Seneca Resources was second, with five new permits issued in Lycoming County. Olympus Energy received three permits in Westmoreland County. 