What are the Prospects for a Philadelphia LNG Export Terminal?
In June, seemingly out of nowhere, a plan to build an LNG export facility on the banks of the Delaware River south of Philadelphia made big headlines in Philly (see Philadelphia LNG Export Project Still Very Much Alive & Advancing). Penn LNG, headed by Franc James, a native of Philadelphia, has “quietly lined up support to build a $6.4 billion liquefied natural gas export terminal near Philly.” While acknowledging such a project will face stiff opposition, James said he is planning to pre-file with Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) by the end of this year and reach a final investment decision (FID) by 2024. The experts at RBN Energy take a close look at Penn LNG to evaluate just how likely (or not) the project (or any LNG project in the northeast) will get built.
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Last year the State of Rhode Island, a small Communist stronghold in the United States, voted to phase out the use of all fossil energy by everyone in the state by 2050–the so-called Act on Climate. It’s more like the Shoot Yourself in the Head Act. Of course, passing a law and then trying to accomplish what the law stipulates are two completely different things, as the Commies in Rhode Island are discovering. They are beginning to flail about looking for solutions to how they can force their citizens to dump fossil energy without completely destroying the state’s economy. (Spoiler alert: They won’t find such a solution.)
INTERNATIONAL: Deutsche Bank cutting emissions from loans to oil and gas; Even green zealots fear the cold more than the evils of natural gas; Putin’s energy war and America’s obligation to remain a reliable supplier; Potential of peak shale puts oil market on edge; Germany leaves its natural gas in the ground.
According to law firm Houston Harbaugh, P.C., deducting fuel costs from landowner royalties continues to be an ongoing and widespread practice. Some leases allow the use of a portion of the raw gas recovered at a well to “fuel” well-pad operations (processing of the gas). Not only are landowners denied a royalty on the fuel gas volume, they also have that same “cost” deducted from their production royalty! According to Houston Harbaugh, this practice of deducting fuel costs must be closely monitored by all landowners.
Republicans in the Pennsylvania Senate have, since April 2021, refused to appoint new members to the five-member Public Utility Commission (PUC) in response to Democrat Gov. Tom Wolf’s unilateral push to force the state to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) carbon tax scheme (see 
Excuse our rather blunt headline that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is about to get an anal exam, but that’s about the best way we can describe what is coming to this completely out-of-control federal agency. According to an article appearing on the left-leaning E&E News (owned by POLITICO), if Republicans regain control of the House and the Senate, what awaits the EPA is, “Senior political appointees facing multiple, hourslong hearings. Piles of letters demanding documents from every corner of the agency. And perhaps even subpoenas for text messages.” It’s not pleasant, but somebody needs to muck about in the sewer that is called Joe Biden’s EPA, and bring it to account for its shady actions.
Following his sellout of the country by voting for Joe Biden’s so-called Inflation Reduction Act (a new name for the Build Back Better/New Green Deal), U.S. Senator Joe Manchin’s popularity in his home of West Virginia state has sunk into the sewer. A majority of voters are not happy with the job Manchin is doing, and if the election for Manchin were held today, he would lose to any Republican running against him. Joe Manchin’s political career is over–deservedly so.
Permits issued for new shale wells last week got a bit better from their pathetically low numbers. From Oct. 10-16 there were eight new permits issued in Pennsylvania, and four each issued in Ohio and West Virginia. All of the PA permits were issued in northeastern PA, with four going to BKV Operating (i.e. Banpu) in Wyoming County, two to Chesapeake in Bradford County, and two to Beech Resources in Lycoming County. Encino Energy scored all four permits for Ohio, all of them in Harrison County. In WV, Tug Hill (soon to be EQT) received three permits, and Southwestern Energy received one permit, all four in Marshall County.
In September, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that the state senators who represent Pennsylvania landowners living in the Delaware River Basin, primarily in Wayne and Pike counties in the northeastern corner of Pennsylvania, don’t have “standing” to sue the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) to overturn its ban on fracking (see 
Yesterday the Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association (PIOGA) held its annual Marcellus to Market conference at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows in Washington, PA. The event explored efforts to promote manufacturing in Pennsylvania, natural gas as a transportation fuel, the future of the long-rumored Appalachian Storage Hub, and the latest regarding pipelines and other means of delivering natural gas to market. A key focus for the event and topic for a panel discussion in the morning was workforce recruiting, development, and retention. MDN friend Charlie Schliebs, Chairman of the Energy Innovation Center Institute and Managing Director of Stone Pier Capital Advisors, moderated this lively panel.
In early August, a coalition of 19 state attorneys general fired a warning shot across the bow of BlackRock (largest investment firm with $10 trillion in assets under management), telling the company its pressure on investors to divest from fossil energy companies based on so-called ESG (environmental, social, governance) criteria may, in fact, be illegal (see 
We pointed out last week that the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), the agency charged with overseeing the safety of some 3.3 million miles of pipelines across the country, is currently leaderless (see