FERC Approvals for New Interstate Pipelines Lowest Since 2016
In a post on EIA’s Today in Energy, the now-politicized EIA attempts to prop up the tattered reputation of the Biden administration with respect to natural gas using the headline, “FERC approves new natural gas pipeline projects to increase U.S. exports.” We excitedly read the post hoping to spot a project or two that had escaped our notice, something that would end up flowing more Marcellus/Utica molecules to other regions. It wasn’t until the very last sentence we discovered the truth that even EIA could not ignore: “In 2021, we estimate that the United States added 7.44 Bcf/d of new pipeline capacity, the lowest amount added to interstate transmission since 2016.” In other words, new pipeline additions haven’t been this low since the last days of the Lord Obama administration.
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You have to hand it to West Virginia Joe Manchin, he doesn’t much care what the snobby intelligentsia think about him. For whatever reason Manchin is attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. It’s an event where all the smarter-than-you-are people go to pronounce they’re smarter than you are. According to the WEF website, “The World Economic Forum brings together decision-makers from across society to work on projects and initiatives that make a real difference.” Errr, right. Most of the attendees are fossil fuel haters, so it was with interest we read Manchin’s comments at Davos in front of the haters, sticking up for fossil energy.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Pennsylvania gas is the key to world energy security; NATIONAL: USA fuelmakers shifting into higher gear; Inflation will be higher for longer and you won’t like what comes next; Biden administration says it has not ruled out export curbs to ease fuel prices; INTERNATIONAL: Saudi Arabia says it has done all it can for the oil market; Qatar willing to help UK but West must also take responsibility; Germany plans to keep coal-fired plants ready in case Russian gas is cut.
For the better part of a decade, MDN has brought you stories about shale development in the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD), an agency formed in 1933 to help control flooding and promote water conservation in the Muskingum River watershed area of Ohio, an area that covers 8,000 square miles. Over the years MWCD has leased thousands of acres for Utica Shale drilling and cut deals to sell water to drillers for fracking. It’s been a while since the last lease announcement. MWCD has just completed negotiations to lease more of its land for drilling. We have all the details.


We’ve tackled the issue of why there isn’t more oil and natural gas drilling happening in the Marcellus/Utica and beyond even with prices for both commodities through the proverbial roof. Not that many years ago prices were a fraction of what they are now and yet the drilling industry would not, could not stop drilling new wells, flooding the market with product and crashing prices. Now, it’s the reverse! It seems nothing will incentivize drillers to drill any new wells beyond enough to keep production steady. Why? An article in the Wall Street Journal seeks to answer the question, definitively.
The world’s so-called leaders will meet in Stockholm, Sweden, on June 2-3 to commemorate the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment and celebrate 50 years of failed global environmental action. It will be another attempt at establishing a Green World Order–subjugating all of humanity under the banner of “saving” us from global warming. It’s all a sham, of course. Stockholm+50, as it’s called, is the rise of the parasitic New Communism using the environmental movement as its host. Here’s something for the delegates at Stockholm+50 to consider and debate: How will the world react to half of its population, around 4 billion people, dying from starvation if fossil energy is outlawed?
In early 2013 the Pittsburgh International Airport and Allegheny County, PA signed a deal with CONSOL Energy (now CNX Resources) to lease 9,000 acres surrounding the airport for natural gas drilling (see
In March 2021, Eureka Resources announced plans to build a Marcellus Shale wastewater treatment facility in Dimock (Susquehanna County), Pennsylvania (see
Olympus Energy (formerly Huntley & Huntley) drills in the Greater Pittsburgh region, in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. Last year Olympus filed an application to build a new well pad in a rural part of Allegheny County, in West Deer Township. So-called “concerned citizens” got amped up to oppose the project. They succeeded when the Dionysus well pad was rejected by town supervisors (see
Efforts by brave states like Texas and West Virginia in fighting back against companies like BlackRock who demand divestment from any activity involving the extraction of fossil fuels is having an effect. The divestors are beginning to squeal like little piglets. In June 2021, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill into law that bans state investments in banks, investors, and other companies that have cut ties with the oil and gas industry (see 