PA Fish & Boat Commission Fines PGE for Muddy Water in Loyalsock
Pennsylvania General Energy (PGE) is constructing a natural gas pipeline, a freshwater pipeline, and facilities to withdraw fresh water at a site along the Loyalsock Creek, north of Montoursville in Lycoming County, PA. The company’s work resulted in a sediment plume that appeared in Loyalsock Creek for several miles downstream of the construction site, caused by the failure of erosion and sediment controls following a heavy rainstorm. The state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued notices of violation (NOVs) on three separate occasions from September to November (see PA DEP Dings PGE 3rd Time for Causing Muddy Water in Loyalsock Creek). Yet it was the PA Fish & Boat Commission that just announced a settlement with PGE for creek pollution.
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In a recently issued report, Moody’s Investor Service predicts that while upstream oil and gas spending on capital expenses will come in lower than the levels seen between 2015 and 2019, spending in 2023 will be higher, by 10-15%, than it was last year. Upstream capital spending is set to reach $460 billion to $480 billion in 2023. As you might imagine, more than half of the increase is needed just to cover the cost of Bidenflation–not because there’s actually more drilling being done.
Earlier this week, we reported that the hard-left Bidenistas who control the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) are floating a trial balloon that they want to ban natural gas stoves, forcing you (if you have one) to replace it with an electric stove at a cost of around $1,400 (see 
New shale permits issued for Jan. 2-8 in the Marcellus/Utica included 14 new permits in Pennsylvania, 8 new permits in Ohio, and just 1 new permit in West Virginia. The top recipient of permits for last week was Apex Energy, grabbing 6 permits to drill on a single pad in Westmoreland County, PA. Right behind Apex was Coterra Energy with 5 permits to drill on a single pad in Susquehanna County, PA. Opposite sides of the state.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Utica Shale Academy seeking $2.4M to expand footprint; Observers hopeful about common ground between PA governor, legislature; Biden used Univ. of Pennsylvania to launder Chinese money, Shapiro ignored it; NATIONAL: It’s basically spring for the natural-gas market; Banning gas stoves gets Americans’ blood boiling; INTERNATIONAL: What will OPEC do in 2023?; Will oil hit $100 per barrel in 2023?
Yesterday, Chesapeake Energy, EQT, and Equitrans Midstream launched what the three companies call the Appalachian Methane Initiative (AMI), a coalition committed to further enhancing methane monitoring throughout the Appalachia Basin with an aim to reduce methane emissions throughout the region. Is this yet another certification scheme to prove methane leakage is low?
In May 2021, MDN told you that Louisville Gas and Electric Company (LG&E) had won Kentucky state approval to build a new 12-inch, 12-mile pipeline near Louisville to supply gas to homes and businesses that can’t connect to LG&E’s local natgas utility system because it is currently maxed out (see 
U.S. natural gas demand is on track to hit record lows in January if unseasonably warm weather sticks around, according to Rystad Energy. It’s just too darned warm! The warm weather reduces demand for natgas used in heating. Also, as you will read today, a Freeport LNG restart that uses 2 Bcf/d is also likely delayed further–maybe until the end of February. Given the warm weather and Freeport, demand is down, and because of lower demand, prices are crumbling.
The Upper Delaware Council (UDC) hosted a public presentation titled “Water Resource and Environmental Considerations with Shale Gas Development in the Appalachian Basin” last week at the Upper Delaware Council office in Narrowsburg, NY. The program was delivered virtually by Dr. David Yoxtheimer, Ph.D., P.G., assistant research professor and Extension associate with the Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research at Penn State University. Yoxtheimer did a great job of laying out the facts of Marcellus drilling–both the good and the not-so-good, with an eye on how to mitigate the risks.
Three different highly-placed sources have whispered to a Reuters reporter that the Freeport LNG export facility, which has been offline since last June, will continue to be offline until at least sometime in February. Are you surprised? We aren’t.
Gov. Kathy Hochul is proposing to make New York the first state in the U.S. to ban natural gas heating and appliances in new buildings as a way to fight mythical man-made global warming. During her state-of-the-state address on Tuesday, Hochul proposed to ban the use of fossil fuels for heating and appliances (stoves) in homes by 2025, and a ban for businesses and larger structures (like apartment buildings) by 2028. New York would also prohibit the sale of any new fossil-fuel heating systems starting in 2030. Yes, she has certifiably lost her mind.