NATIONAL: Sherwin-Williams launches erosion-resistant coating system for O&G; The EPA’s emissions rule will strangle AI in the crib; Should energy deniers be engaged or ignored?; INTERNATIONAL: Oil falls despite biggest us stockpile drop in five weeks; COP29 host set to propose levy on fossil fuels to fund climate action.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Fri, May 31, 2024”
Yet another out-of-state protester temporarily blocked workers’ access to one of the few Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) construction sites remaining in Montgomery County, VA, yesterday morning. She was swiftly removed and arrested. According to Virginia State Police, 25-year-old Elsa Schlensker of Cleveland, Ohio, was taken into custody “without incident” and transported to the Montgomery County Jail, where she was charged with obstructing the free passage of another.
Read More “Ohio Protester Arrested for Blocking Access to MVP Site in Va.”
Here’s a sad story that, as far as we can tell, is not directly connected to the Marcellus/Utica. However, it’s a cautionary tale related to the oil and gas industry in Appalachia. Mark Edward Holbrook and his son Marshall Holbrook, both from Kentucky, worked in a family-owned company called Puissant Industries. The company sources natural gas by “drilling wells” and “acquiring gas rights.” We assume, given the small nature of the company, that these are conventional (vertical-only) wells and rights. When the price of gas dropped in 2015/2016, the company and the Holbrooks hit hard times. So, the two compensated by manipulating meters on the gathering pipelines that flowed their gas, making it look as though they were selling more gas than they did. In a word, it was theft — getting paid for something they didn’t provide.
Read More “Kentucky Father & Son Going to Jail for Inflating Gas Sales”
The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has extended three temporary air permits for the Shell ethane cracker plant in Monaca, PA, which would have expired at the end of April. The extended permits will suffice until Shell files for and receives what is called a federal Title V Operating Permit for air emissions from the cracker plant. In March, we told you that the DEP had told Shell to file for a Title V permit no later than June 21 of this year or risk being shut down (see Shell PA Cracker Must File for Full Title V Air Permit, or Else). Shell has indicated it will have its Title V application filed on time.
Read More “Shell Cracker Air Quality Permits from PA DEP Temporarily Extended”
Earlier this month, MDN brought you the great news that New Fortress Energy’s (NFE) proposed Wyalusing LNG export plant (in Bradford County, PA) and a docking facility in Gibbstown (in New Jersey, along the Delaware River) to load ships with PA-produced LNG, are not dead yet (see Northeast PA LNG Plant Lives! NFE Tells FERC Still Wants to Build). So if they aren’t dead, if NFE is still interested in building and has already spent $150 million on site preparation, what’s keeping the project stalled? We’ve just come across an article that does an excellent job of crystalizing where we are and why the project has not yet moved forward — and perhaps why it will not get built.
Read More “The Key Issue that May Decide Whether Wyalusing LNG Gets Built”
For more than a decade, MDN has brought you stories about shale development on and under land controlled by the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD), an agency formed in 1933 to help control flooding and promote water conservation in the Muskingum River watershed area of Ohio, an area that covers 8,000 square miles (see our Muskingum Watershed stories here). Over the years, MWCD has leased tens of thousands of acres for Utica Shale drilling and cut deals to sell water to drillers for fracking. It has been one of the biggest success stories in the Buckeye State in the last decade, generating more than $1 billion in economic stimulus (see Muskingum Watershed Generated $1B in Econ Impact from Utica Drilling). Yet anti-fossil fuelers are *still* trying to shut down this success story!
Read More “Anti-Shale Group to Hold Presser Outside Muskingum Watershed Mtg”
Last December, WATT Fuel Cell Corp. signed a seven-year extension of its lease to keep its headquarters in Westmoreland County, PA (see NatGas-Powered WATT Fuel Cells HQ Staying in Westmoreland County). WATT Fuel Cell manufactures Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (“SOFC”) stacks and systems that operate on common, readily available fuels such as natural gas and propane. Instead of burning and combusting natural gas (or propane), those fuel sources are subjected to an electrochemical process that produces electricity (see this MDN post for a description of the process: SWPA NatGas Fuel Cell Backed by EQT Wins Product Certification). WATT is expanding, adding another 20,000 square feet to its manufacturing and office space at the Westmoreland facility.
Read More “NatGas-Powered WATT Fuel Cells Expands in Westmoreland County”
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Casey pushes for changes to proposed hydrogen production tax credit; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: US regulator seeks new emissions data from Venture Global LNG; NATIONAL: Hess wins shareholder vote for merger with Chevron; Securing our nation means securing our LNG future; INTERNATIONAL: Dryad says attacks on commercial vessels in Red Sea drop.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Thu, May 30, 2024”
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally-owned electric utility corporation in the U.S. TVA’s service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia. TVA is the sixth-largest power supplier and the largest public utility company in the country. Last May, TVA announced that it would convert the Kingston Fossil Plant (coal-fired plant) in East Tennessee to a natural gas-fired plant capable of generating 1,500 megawatts of electricity (see TVA Proposes NatGas Power Plant, 122-Mile Pipeline for East Tenn.). The project also includes contracting with Enbridge to build a new 122-mile pipeline. Good news for the pipeline portion of the project…
Read More “FERC Draft EIS for East Tennessee Pipe Project Gets Green Light”
More than 50 “groups” colluding with ringleader Ohio River Valley Institute (ORVI) sent a letter to the Department of Energy (DOE) calling for the suspension of the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2), falsely claiming an “extreme lack of transparency” and lack of “meaningful community engagement” during project negotiations. Translation: The ORVI and its band of fossil fuel bigots are mad because they don’t know exactly where to go to protest each element of the ARCH2 project. They want to bully local municipalities and politicians to block hosting any element of the multi-million-dollar project. How rude of the DOE not to make it easy for the ORVI.
Read More “Anti-Fossil Fuel Groups Try New Effort to Cancel ARCH2 Hydrogen Hub”
The price of natural gas is, in one sense, complex, with lots of variables depending on where the gas is bought and sold. On the other hand, it can be boiled down to a simple-to-understand formula: Supply and demand. Of course, it is the factors that go into supply and demand that make it so tricky to nail down and predict! Weather and LNG exports are big factors on the demand side. Production and storage are big factors on the supply side. A number of Marcellus/Utica drillers have scaled back on production. In the month of May, according to analysts with S&P, storage levels are “below average” due to more gas being used to keep houses air-conditioned (natgas is used to generate power, leaving less to be stored for next winter).
Read More “Analysts Predict Less NatGas Storage on the Way for End of May”
In January, President Biden announced he would “pause” any approvals for new LNG export plants (currently 17 requests in the pipeline) for at least one year while his people fart around pretending to figure out how to measure global warming as a new consideration for whether or not to approve projects (see White House Makes it Official – Biden Declares War on LNG Exports). It was a purely political move aimed at currying favor with the radical left, which seems to have worked. The Dept. of Energy’s chief ditz, Jennifer Granholm, says new criteria for how to evaluate (and reject) LNG export applications will be ready by the end of this year. Her buddies at the National Resources Defense Council (a radicalized left-wing environmental group) are lending Granholm a hand by supplying their own list of new criteria the DOE should use.
Read More “NRDC Offers Recommendations to DOE for LNG Evaluations”
LNG (liquefied natural gas) that is exported from the U.S. to Asia takes one of three routes to get there. One route is via the Panama Canal, crossing into the Pacific Ocean and on from there. Another is via the Atlantic Ocean to the Suez Canal and from there via the Red Sea, which connects to the Indian Ocean. The third way is sailing through the Atlantic Ocean and around the Cape of Good Hope off the southern tip of Africa. In the past, both the Panama Canal and the Suez Canal were the preferred routes, shaving weeks from the journey. However, given recent events, the dynamic has completely changed. Now, the preferred route is the longest route — around the Cape of Good Hope.
Read More “Panama & Suez Canals Fall Out of Favor for LNG Exports to Asia”
In 2020, Congress mandated a report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to assess the U.S. Coast Guard’s ability, methods, and role in conducting the certificate of compliance (COC) program for the foreign-flag tanker ships known as liquefied gas carriers (LGCs) and to consider the need for statutory reforms. The National Academies released its report yesterday with recommendations for how the Coast Guard can and should update its LNG carrier certification program.
Read More “NAS Report Recommends Updates to Coast Guard Certs for LNG Carriers”
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: 2 people missing after building explosion in Youngstown, Ohio; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Iowa tornadoes destroy wind turbines; Sheboygan power generating station to convert to natgas in 2028; Aethon Energy to acquire Tellurian integrated upstream assets; NATIONAL: ConocoPhillips in advanced talks to buy Marathon Oil; DOE announces $1.2M to accelerate CO2 removal industry; Ted Cruz introduces bill to scrap Biden ‘natural gas tax’; Big Oil faces mounting legal challenges from climate-obsessed groups; Supreme Court appeal shines light on left’s climate lawsuit machine.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Wed, May 29, 2024”
Nearly a year ago, MDN brought you the news that the federal EPA had issued a permit to G2 STEM LLC based in Fairfax, Virginia, to build a Class IID oil and gas wastewater underground injection well in Young Township, Jefferson County, PA (see Punxsutawney Phil Getting a New Neighbor – Shale Injection Well). You may know the area by its nearby boro, Punxsutawney, along with its most famous resident, Punxsutawney Phil. We have great news! The Pennsylvania State Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has issued a permit for the project, allowing it to move forward.
Read More “Punxsutawney Phil’s New Neighbor – Shale Wastewater Injection Well”