Onerous New EPA Regs Would Prevent Brand New OH Gas-Fired Plant
Last Thursday, MDN brought you the news that U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (from West Virginia) and Congressman Troy Balderson (from Ohio) introduced a resolution to block the EPA’s latest attack against the natural gas industry (see 44 Senators, 138 House Mbrs Intro Resolution to Block EPA Power Reg). Using 1,020 pages of new regulations, which will go into effect this year, all coal-fired plants that are slated to remain operational in the long term and all new gas-fired power plants will be required to control (capture) 90% of their carbon emissions using expensive and unproven technology. Translation: New gas-fired plants won’t get built, and most, if not all, coal plants will shutter, with the result that electricity will, by necessity, be rationed (see WSJ Calls Biden EPA Power Plant Regs a Plan to “Ration Electricity”). Using the EPA’s new standards, a state-of-the-art gas-fired power plant built in Guernsey County that went operational one year ago would not meet the new standards.
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Well, the bottom dropped out of the rig count last week once again. The national combined oil and gas rig count dropped by six to 594, the lowest it has been since January 2022. The Marcellus/Utica did not go unscathed either, losing two rigs. Pennsylvania lost one rig and now operates 21 rigs. Ohio remained steady with ten active rigs. However, West Virginia lost another rig and now only has five active rigs. One year ago this week, WV operated 13 active rigs. Yuck.
We’ve been tracking the up down up down up down situation at Freeport LNG since it came online in 2019. Freeport was mostly offline this year following an episode of cold temps in January (see 
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Two weeks ago, 18 new permits were issued to drill in the Marcellus/Utica region. Last week, May 27 – June 2, the number increased dramatically by 72% to 31 new permits. Most of the new permits came from two drillers. Range Resources scored the most with 11 new permits spread over two pads in Washington County, PA. EQT received nine new permits for a single pad in Wetzel County, WV. Chesapeake Energy received five new permits, all in Bradford County, PA. In fact, the rest of the new permits were all in PA, which handed out 22 new permits last week — a huge increase over the typical numbers for PA over the past few months.
We have been tracking and reporting on the drama surrounding Austin Master Services (AMS), a radiological waste management solutions company in Martins Ferry (Belmont County), Ohio, located close to the Ohio River, since the Ohio Attorney General lodged charges against the company back in March (
Cecil Township in Washington County, PA, has seen a fair bit of Marcellus shale drilling over the years. The Board of Supervisors adopted a shale drilling ordinance back in 2011. They are considering an update. Unfortunately, the update they are considering is akin to jumping off a cliff. The town follows state guidelines that new shale wells must be drilled at least 500 feet from homes and 2,500 feet from schools and hospitals. The supervisors are seriously considering an amendment to raise the setback to 2,500 feet (half a mile!) from all structures. In other words, it would ban new drilling in 99% of the town.
The merger of EQT Corporation and Equitrans Midstream into a single company took one giant leap forward in May when the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Antitrust Act waiting period expired and the federal government (by not objecting) blessed the re-union (see 
Patience is a rare commodity these days. We live in a day and age of instant gratification. Our food is made and delivered in minutes. The latest gizmo we want can be on our doorstep the next day (or, in some cases, the same day) from Amazon and any number of other retailers. Entertainment and distractions are everywhere! Just lift your eyes from your own phone and observe everyone else around you staring at their phones. So perhaps it is no surprise that some people feel lied to because the mighty Shell ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, PA, hasn’t instantly delivered the promised thousands of extra jobs and dozens of relocated companies.
Last August, MDN told you about a new Cambridge University study published in the journal Science exposing the sale of carbon credits as a scam (see 
While oil-focused and large diversified drillers in the U.S. made healthy profits during the first quarter of this year (January through March), such was not the case for natural gas-focused drillers. RBN Energy tracks 43 exploration and production (E&P) companies that are publicly traded and reports of those 43 that the 16 oil-focused and 15 diversified E&Ps were solidly profitable in 1Q24, earning $20.65/boe (barrels of oil equivalent) and $18.49/boe, respectively. However, the 12 gas-focused E&Ps were “under siege,” posting a loss of $1.65/boe.
Last November, CNX Resources CEO Nick Deiuliis signed a voluntary deal with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro to expand drilling setbacks and several other regulatory steps not mandated for shale drillers under PA law (see 
We have been tracking and reporting on the drama surrounding Austin Master Services (AMS), a radiological waste management solutions company in Martins Ferry (Belmont County), Ohio, located close to the Ohio River (
Every now and again, the liberal Democrat editors of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette publish an unsigned editorial (from the editors) that surprises us. Yesterday was another such instance when Post-Gazette editors said Pennsylvania should leverage frack wastewater to extract lithium, which can be used to make electric vehicle batteries for Joementia’s EV fantasies. The editors cited a study recently published (in April) by the National Energy Technology Laboratory that says Marcellus wastewater in Pennsylvania alone has enough lithium to provide 40% of the country’s needs (see