WV Sen. Capito Joins Joe Manchin in Pushing to Complete MVP ASAP
West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat, has (for months) forcefully pushed the issue of completing the 94% completed Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project, a 303-mile pipeline from WV into Virginia. Manchin recently let all five Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) commissioners know of his displeasure that this project, along with other pipeline projects, is delayed (see U.S. Sen. Manchin Rips FERC Commissioners Over Climate Policies). Manchin also told FERC Chairman Richard “Dick” Glick to “do his damn job” with respect to approving natural gas pipelines like MVP (see Joe Manchin Tells (Off) Dick Glick: “Do Your Damn Job!” re Pipes). WV’s other U.S. Senator, Shelley Moore Capito (a Republican), is finally getting into the act too.
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In July 2020 Dominion Energy announced it was canceling the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP)–a 600-mile Marcellus/Utica pipeline project from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina (see 
Two weeks ago MDN brought you the news that New Fortress Energy has withdrawn a request to extend a previously-issued permit required to build an onshore LNG liquefaction plant in Wyalusing (Bradford County), PA (see 
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Russia-Ukraine war puts spotlight on 3 natural gas explorers; NATIONAL: Private oil company values are readying for take off while publics remain on runway; Supply chain woes, inflation crimp U.S. producers’ growth potential.
On Monday MDN brought you big news from Bloomberg that Gulfport Energy is in talks with Ascent Resources to merge (see 
The Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) is highly respected by all of PA state government. IFO’s mission is to review state budgetary policy and render expert, nonpartisan opinion. The IFO, at the request of the Republicans in the state legislature, recently reviewed Gov. Wolf’s Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) modeling, presenting its findings to a joint hearing of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and the Community Economic and Recreational Development Committee on Tuesday. The IFO report finds that the money PA will spend on emissions credits at RGGI auctions will result in most PA electric rates quadrupling. You read that right–get ready to pay 4X for electricity if RGGI goes into effect and you live in the Keystone State.
On Wednesday, Pennsylvania House Bill (HB) 637, which would block the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) authority to limit carbon dioxide emissions (thereby blocking PA’s entrance into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI) passed by a vote of 126 to 72. Some 10 Democrats crossed the aisle to vote in favor of the bill. HB 637 now goes to the PA Senate for a vote. What then?
Two northeastern Pennsylvania State Senators, Gene Yaw and Lisa Baker, along with members of the PA Senate Republican Caucus (27 Senators in all, filed a lawsuit in January 2021 against the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) over its illegal ban on fracking (see PA 
In early March, our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), released its “Annual Energy Outlook 2022” report (see 
In what appears to be an adoption of talking points from left-wing Democrats like Sen. Elizabeth “Pocahontas” Warren, the normally-balanced Wall Street Journal is blaming LNG exports for higher natural gas prices here at home. The article attempts to make the case that a gradually increasing amount of LNG exports has led to high electric prices in the U.S. The article is flawed in many ways.
Below is the list of events we are aware of that will be of interest to those with an interest in the Marcellus/Utica shale region for 2022. Some events are in the region (PA, OH, WV). Some are not (TX, OK, CO). Some are virtual/online, but most have returned to in-person. All of them are of potential interest to the MDN audience.
PTT Global Chemical has reimbursed JobsOhio, the state’s private economic development office, $20 million for failing to make a final investment decision (FID) to build a multi-billion-dollar ethane cracker plant project in Belmont County, OH. JobsOhio paid Bechtel Corp. $20 million in 2019 to complete site engineering and site preparation for the project, with a promise from PTT that it would soon make an FID and move forward with construction. That never happened, so PTT is paying up because it didn’t live up to its end of the bargain. Interestingly, PTT maintains it is “committed to building the multi-billion dollar project.” Right.