Now-Dead Parkersburg Cracker Site Finally Records Deed Transfer
Braskem, the largest petrochemical company in Latin America (headquartered in Brazil), and its parent company Odebrecht were, at one time, hot-to-trot to build a multi-billion dollar ethane cracker near Parkersburg, WV. Back in 2015, Braskem purchased the 374-acre site that was formerly the SABIC/GE property from Appalachian Shale Cracker Enterprise for $10.9 million. Then things went on hold when Odebrecht got mired in a scandal in Brazil (see Odebrecht Pushes the Pause Button on WV Ethane Cracker). In 2016, it appeared the project might be rekindled (see A Pulse! WV Ethane Cracker Project Comes Back from the Dead). But by 2019, it was clear Braskem had given up on the cracker plant project and was shopping the site it had purchased (see Braskem Gives Up on WV Cracker – Parkersburg Site for Sale).
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Two weeks ago, the U.S. rotary rig count rose nine after rising by one the week before that (see 
In August, the Executive Director of the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) approved 34 water-use permits for individual shale gas well drilling pads in Bradford, Lycoming, Sullivan, Susquehanna, and Tioga counties. We’re just learning of the action via an official notice published in the Sept. 23 edition of the Pennsylvania Bulletin. The approvals, which are NOT subject to public review according to SRBC regulations, are general water permits. Each site will be required to receive a specific water withdrawal approval at a later date.
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: EV battery factory in Kansas powered by coal energy; NATIONAL: Roundhill Investments launches LNG ETF; Ponds release more greenhouse gas than they store; Goldman Sachs predicts $100 oil as renewable transition falters; Shale tycoon Hamm wants end of ‘roller coaster’ US energy plans; Clean ammonia projects proliferate; INTERNATIONAL: EU opens third round of matchmaking for potential gas deals; Sacrifices needed at the altar of the green gods.
Last week, the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners announced it had cut two different deals with Pennsylvania General Energy (PGE). Both deals involve land swaps with the prospect of new shale drilling by PGE on the way in both Lycoming County and Sullivan County. The Game Commission’s remit is “to protect, propagate, manage and preserve the game or wildlife of Pennsylvania.” Money from shale drilling helps the Game Commission accomplish its objectives. Both deals with PGE will provide the Game Commission with a 16% royalty for any natural gas produced.
The highly functional and responsible Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), unlike its completely dysfunctional and irresponsible cousin, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), continues to support the shale energy industry by approving water withdrawals for responsible and safe shale drilling. Last week, the SRBC approved 22 new water withdrawal requests within the basin, eight of which are for water used in drilling and fracking shale wells in Pennsylvania. The Marcellus/Utica shale drillers receiving a green light from SRBC included BKV (Banpu), Coterra Energy, EQT, Inflection Energy, Repsol (2 requests), Seneca Resources, and S.T.L. Resources.
Investors in shale oil and gas companies suffered for years with little or no returns for the money they invested. Five of eight large Marcellus/Utica drillers saw their share prices decrease by an astonishing 85% or more from 2008 to 2019 (see 
Earlier this year, Sempra Infrastructure, a subsidiary of Sempra, announced it had reached a positive final investment decision (FID) for the development, construction, and operation of the Port Arthur LNG Phase 1 project in Jefferson County, Texas (see 
Less than a year ago, the Northeast experienced a major winter storm at Christmastime (Winter Storm Elliott). Do you remember it? On Dec. 23, temps in places like the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania hit 60 degrees! Within 12 hours, the bottom dropped out, with temps plunging into the single digits—a more than 50-degree change. Dec. 24’s high temp in the Lehigh Valley (Allentown) was 13 degrees. The massive temperature change caused problems with power generation by natural gas plants, some of which went offline due to freeze-ups in the pipelines that feed them. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) issued a final report yesterday on Winter Storm Elliott, complete with recommendations for sweeping new regulations to prevent future blackouts from storms like Elliott.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) is urging the EPA to delay implementation of parts of its proposed methane regulations (of oil and gas companies) because of equipment supply constraints. In a new study just released, oil and gas companies identified supply chain delays and challenges in buying the methane reduction equipment they would need to comply with EPA’s draft regulation on the timeline EPA proposed. The study finds current backorder times for methane reduction equipment components range from six months to more than two years. Implementing the proposed methane rule is expected to increase current backorder times by six months or more. Once again, the government is the problem, not the solution.
New shale permits issued for Sep 11 – 17 in the Marcellus/Utica rebounded. There were 22 new permits issued last week, up from 14 issued two weeks ago. But the increase came from an unlikely source. Last week’s permit tally included 9 new permits in Pennsylvania, 1 new permit in Ohio, and 12 new permits in West Virginia. WV is typically on the low end of permits, not the high end. The top permittee for the week was Antero Resources, which received 6 permits in WV. EQT was a close second with 5 permits in WV.
Feedgas flows from the Marcellus/Utica to the Cove Point LNG export facility located on the shore of Maryland fell to zero yesterday. It was the start of the facility’s annual maintenance outage. The question is, how long will Cove Point be out of commission for liquefying and exporting LNG? There are conflicting reports. Last year, the facility was closed from Oct. 1-27 — nearly a month! In most years, the closure lasts around three weeks (