Other Stories of Interest: Mon, Aug 21, 2023
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Congressman tours gas sites, meets with employees in Sayre; Gas and oil operators talk innovation at annual summer meeting; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Energy Transfer seeks new LNG export license after extension denied; NATIONAL: Electric vehicles run on natural gas; INTERNATIONAL: A progressive’s case for getting rid of ‘ESG’; Is oil and gas in a jobseeker or jobgiver market right now?; European natgas prices jump as Australia LNG workers poised to strike.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Mon, Aug 21, 2023”
We should have known there was a price to pay, a “pound of flesh” to be exacted, when we read the announcement that the Bidenistas of the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) had approved EQT’s deal to buy Tug Hill’s West Virginia assets. Two days ago, EQT issued a press release to announce the deal had been blessed by the FTC and would happen within the next seven days (see 
Yesterday we told you about a new $2 billion hydrogen project coming to West Virginia (see 
We’ll say aloud what no one else appears ready or willing to say: The long-ballyhooed PTT ethane cracker plant project in Belmont County, Ohio, announced eight years ago, is dead. That’s our humble opinion. We periodically look for signs of life in the project, and it has been a flat line for YEARS. Nothing. A local news article from earlier this week asked, “What is the future of the Belmont County Ethane Cracker plant project?” Local county leaders are still “very optimistic” it will get built. We say it’s time to face reality.
On August 17, the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) posted an Interim Final Environmental Justice Policy to guide DEP’s permit application reviews and outreach efforts in environmental justice areas throughout the Commonwealth. New Environmental Justice (or EJ) policies are a euphemism for regulations that prohibit drilling and pipelines built in neighborhoods of color or economic hardship zones because, says the left, those people can’t fight them. It is a uniquely dystopian and prejudiced view of the world. We call it “all shale drilling is racist” regulations. Completely repugnant. The DEP will publish their new anti-shale regs in the Pennsylvania Bulletin on September 16 and immediately implement them on the same day. Meaning the DEP will begin to slow or deny new permits for wells and pipelines as of that date–based on violating made-up EJ standards. We hope the Marcellus industry sues the DEP to stop it.
Earlier this week, University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) researchers released three studies commissioned by the State Dept. of Health supposedly investigating whether or not there is a connection between shale drilling and childhood diseases, including cancer (see 
Last week S&P Global Ratings, the largest and most important of the Big Three credit-rating agencies, which include Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings, announced it is ditching its system of numerically ranking corporate borrowers on their ESG risk (see 
New shale permits issued for Aug 7 – 13 in the Marcellus/Utica crashed for a second week in a row. There were 10 new permits issued last week, down 14 issued the previous week (half of the 29 issued three weeks ago). Last week’s permit tally included 10 new permits in Pennsylvania, no new permits in Ohio, and no new permits in West Virginia (third week in a row for WV). The top permittee for the week was Chesapeake Energy, receiving 6 permits–4 in Bradford County and 2 in Susquehanna County.
In 2018, Pennsylvania’s then-Attorney General, Josh Shapiro, assembled a grand jury to “investigate” Marcellus drillers. He lied to them for over two years and eventually got them to indict a number of Marcellus companies on trumped-up charges. The so-called grand jury issued a report (which was actually authored by Shapiro and his minions) in June 2020 (see 
Last September, EQT Corporation announced it was buying privately-owned Tug Hill Operating’s West Virginia shale assets for $5.2 billion (see 
The ARCH2 (Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub) project, the West Virginia-led effort to attract government funding for one of 6-10 regional hydrogen hubs, has just landed its second major commitment–even though ARCH2 hasn’t officially been selected for government funding. Yesterday Fidelis New Energy announced it has selected Mason County, WV, for a $2 billion “net-zero” hydrogen production facility and low carbon microgrid, which it has dubbed The Mountaineer GigaSystem. The Fidelis plan includes building data centers powered by net-zero hydrogen. Mountaineer will use FidelisH2 technology that produces hydrogen with zero lifecycle carbon emissions from a combination of Marcellus/Utica gas, renewable energy, and CCUS (carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration).
Last Saturday, a house exploded in Plum, PA, causing two neighboring houses to burn to the ground. Plum is located in Allegheny County near Pittsburgh. Five people died in the blast and fires. However, a sixth person died yesterday from his injuries. We grieve with the families and friends of those who died or were injured. The incident is under investigation. Initial reports said the house that exploded had been “having hot water tank issues” (the hot water tank used natural gas). However, the house is part of a development built on abandoned mine land surrounded by shallow oil and gas wells, some of which have been abandoned. Two wells still producing gas are about 1000 feet from the home. So to be thorough, the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has launched its own investigation to see if nearby wells (active or inactive) or the pipelines that connect them could have contributed to the tragedy.
Three weeks ago, MDN told you about the small community of Douglas, Massachusetts, that had outsmarted Big Green by getting Eversource to build a one-mile pipeline extension into Douglas to feed a mammoth new warehouse project (see 
A group of 28 House Democrats asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to deny a request from the developers of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) to extend the project 75 miles into North Carolina, called MVP Southgate, arguing in a letter this week that Southgate’s construction would pose serious climate and environmental risks to affected states. Typical. Why do so many Democrats irrationally hate fossil energy?