Former PA DEP Secretary Attacks O&G Industry He Oversaw Last Year
We renew our call for a full investigation into Patrick McDonnell and his tenure as Secretary of the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP). McDonnell led the DEP from May 2016 until he left the department in July 2022. He oversaw the regulation of the shale energy industry in the state, among other duties. What is obvious now is that the entire time he helmed the DEP, McDonnell was a radical anti-fossil fueler. After leaving the DEP, he became the head of the ultra-radical anti-fossil fuel group PennFuture (see Former PA DEP Sec. Pat McDonnell New CEO of Anti-Shale Group). McDonnell’s new role raises all sorts of questions about whether he was compromised and used (abused) his position to restrict shale drilling in the state.
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This post is kind of “in the weeds” with respect to reducing methane emissions from drilling, pipelines, and transportation. But we ask that you stick with us. As we have covered for more than a year, there are three main certification standards now in use by Marcellus/Utica (and other shale play) producers that want to prove the gas they produce is responsible, with low methane emissions. The three are: (1) Project Canary’s TrustWell Certification, (2) Equitable Origin’s EO100, and (3) The MiQ Standard (see 
The Biden EPA plans to allow private citizens to police oil wells and pipelines for methane leaks. Most of the time, that means Big Green groups will do the “policing.” And here’s how it will work: A radicalized group like the Sierra Club or Earthworks or NRDC or some other odious bad actor will set up equipment near oil and gas well sites or pipeline operations to report suspected “super emitter” leaks of at least 100 kilograms per hour. Once reported (likely a false report), the company involved would be required to perform a root-cause analysis within five days and take corrective actions within 10 days. All based on an accusation by an anti-fossil fueler. Methane snitches.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Natural gas remains today’s energy solution; NATIONAL: Freeport activity, cold snap give boost to natural gas futures; INTERNATIONAL: Oil supplies a bigger issue than demand for 2024; Oil and gas industry earned $4 trillion last year, says IEA chief; European LNG at 18-month low on Freeport reopening.
Yesterday we reported the surprising news that a load of LNG had left the Freeport facility, even though the facility has not been fully blessed to restart operations (see 
Evolution Well Services, headquartered in Houston with a regional office in Pittsburgh, specializes in “electric” fracking–using natural gas from the well pad (instead of diesel fuel) to power turbines to create electricity that drives fracking pumps. In September 2020, three former Evolution employees who worked at remote sites in the Marcellus/Utica filed a lawsuit against the company claiming Evolution failed to pay them for their commute to and from job sites. The lawsuit was turned into a class action in February of last year (see 
It hasn’t been a problem-free startup for the mighty Shell ethane cracker plant in Monaca (Beaver County), PA, now called the Shell Polymers Monaca facility. We’ve noted some of the more prominent issues as we’ve spotted them in the news. Things like the plant exceeding allowed air emissions (see 
Anti-drillers, with the assistance of biased “news” publications like the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, continually make false accusations against the shale industry in the southwestern Pennsylvania area, alleging that fracking is the cause of rare forms of cancer in children (see 
As we previously reported, West Virginia Senate Bill (SB) 188 is aimed at making WV more competitive with its neighbors–Pennsylvania and Ohio–with respect to siting more gas-fired power plants in the state. The only problem is that the coal industry isn’t thrilled with some of the language in the bill (see 
