NATIONAL: The global gas crisis has made American LNG hot again; INTERNATIONAL: Joe Biden’s opposition to natgas pipelines emboldens Putin, jeopardizes Europe; Russia, China agree 30-year gas deal via new pipeline, to settle in euros.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Mon, Feb 7, 2022”
Even when we’re joking about the leftist clown judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (i.e. the 4th Circus), we’re right! A few weeks ago we told you about the candy darter, a small fishie on the threatened and endangered species list that lives in a few creeks under which 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) wants to drill. While the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) both agree the candy darter would not be harmed by a change in drilling methods for MVP, the clown judges of the 4th Circus disagree and think THEY know more than the experts at both FERC and USFWS. (Of course they think they know it all–they read Dr. Seuss books as their guidance on environmental issues! This is not a joke.) Yesterday the judges tossed yet another permit for MVP.
Read More “4th Circuit Throws Out Plan for Safer MVP Drilling re Candy Darter”
EQT, Equinor, Shell Polymers, U.S. Steel, and several other companies with either a base of operations or major interest in the Marcellus/Utica region, yesterday announced a new initiative to establish a carbon capture, utilization & storage (CCUS), as well as hydrogen production and utilization hub. A CCUS/H2 hub, if you will. While no specifics were announced, the aspiration seems to be establishing several facilities that capture, store or reuse carbon dioxide created during industrial activities, and figure out how to create more hydrogen (H2) and use it as a power source and (perhaps) as a raw input for manufactured products. Ultimately the aim of the group is to generate more business in the Appalachian region by committing to reduce CO2 emissions.
Read More “EQT, Shell, Others Launch CCUS/Hydrogen Hub Initiative for OH-PA-WV”
In November of 2020 MDN told you about a deal Talen Energy cut with the odious Sierra Club, signing a pledge to convert several coal-fired power plants to use natural gas in both Maryland and in Pennsylvania (see Talen Energy Dumping Coal, Converting Elec Plants to Gas in PA, MD). In return for converting the plants from coal to gas, the Clubbers promised to stop suing Talen (we’ll see how long that lasts!). Talen has made a little bit of progress with converting its Washingtonville (Montour County), PA plant.
Read More “Talen Energy Works on Converting Montour, PA Power from Coal to Gas”
University of Pennsylvania researchers recently published a study that looks at how using existing methods of removing carbon dioxide from natural gas-fired power plants can be made economical to operate for large power plant operations. Coincidentally we also spotted news about a pilot project to develop new technology to do the same thing. Our conclusion: Despite the insistence of left-wing radicals that all gas-fired power plants are irredeemable and should be closed, reasonable and rational people are looking for ways to solve the problem of CO2 emissions. It is a solvable “problem”…
Read More “UPenn: Carbon Capture for Gas-Fired Plants Can be Economical”
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 for the company, filed a lawsuit against the company claiming Evolution failed to pay them for their commute to and from job sites. This past Tuesday a federal judge in Pennsylvania granted conditional certification for the lawsuit to become a class action.
Read More “Class Action Certified Against Evolution Well for Commuter Wages”
Quebec, Canada is foolishly pushing forward with a total ban on all oil and gas drilling in the province. On Tuesday the province’s minister of energy and natural resources “tabled” Bill 21 which expropriates (seizes control of) all oil and gas wells and pulls back any previously issued permits to drill. Tabling in Canada means something different than it does here in the U.S.–it means to begin consideration. It’s the next step in finalizing a new law to ban oil and gas drilling in the province, including a ban on drilling in Quebec’s extensive Utica Shale.
Read More “Quebec Advances Bill to Seize and Block All O&G Work, Incl. Utica”
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) was established in 1977 as a replacement for the Federal Power Commission. The agency’s mandate was to determine whether wholesale electricity prices were unjust and unreasonable and, if so, to regulate pricing and order refunds for overcharges to ratepayers. Over the years FERC’s mission grew to include the licensing and regulation of hydropower projects; the approval and regulation of interstate oil and gas pipelines; and ensuring the reliability of the nation’s electric power grids. FERC was created as an *economic* agency, NOT an environmental agency. It’s time for FERC to return to its original charter and quit trying to use health and environmental impacts (non-economic factors) to steer decisions on projects.
Read More “FERC Should Stop “Shaming” NatGas, Return to Original Charter”
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: New England natural gas and electricity prices increase sharply; U.S. driller Presidio in advanced talks to buy Exxon shale gas wells; NATIONAL: Oil over $90 a barrel as winter weather threatens production; US weekly LNG exports down by 3 from last week; Oil frackers brace for end of the U.S. shale boom; BlackRock pushing firms towards energy transition; Biden administration blocks more investments in American energy security; Fossil fuel groups slam Biden Fed nominee for her ‘vendetta’ against US energy companies.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Fri, Feb 4, 2022”
Once again Pennsylvania’s Attorney General, Josh Shapiro, is turning accidents, including an accident that caused an explosion of the newly completed Revolution Pipeline in 2018, into crimes. Shapiro has an ongoing, open attack against the Marcellus industry. Yesterday his office announced Shapiro had hoodwinking a grand jury into indicting Energy Transfer, builder of Revolution Pipeline, with nine counts of “environmental crimes” based on the 2018 accident. Can you imagine what Shapiro would do to the Marcellus as governor? God forbid.
Read More “PA AG Attacks Marcellus Industry Again, Indicts ET w/9 Enviro Crimes”
Yesterday MDN told you about Pennsylvania, the state with perhaps the most abandoned and orphaned wells of any U.S. state (estimated at over 200,000 such wells, although the officially recognized number is 8,000+) has received some pocket change, $25 million, out of a promised $104 million, to begin the work of plugging some of those wells (see PA Receives First $25M (Out of $104M) to Plug Orphaned Wells). Now comes word that West Virginia, which has also received an initial $25 million for the same kind of work, will end up getting MORE money than PA for their orphan well work.
Read More “West Virginia Getting $142M (vs. PA’s $104M) to Plug Orphaned Wells”
We can’t resist a good railroad story. We’ve always loved them (we know, we’re weird). Here’s a good railroad story for you: Frack sand company Smart Sand, Inc., headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, has just opened for business and is shipping frack sand to a brand new transloading facility in Waynesburg (Greene County), Pennsylvania.
Read More “Smart Sand Opens New Rail Transload Terminal in Greene County, PA”
Equinor, Norway’s largest oil company (state-owned, used to be called Statoil before they became ashamed to have the word “oil” in their name) is partnering with Columbus, Ohio-based Battelle to conduct feasibility studies to examine the regional potential for carbon capture and storage (CCS) facilities in the Marcellus/Utica region. What is CCS and why is the Equinor/Battelle project potentially important?
Read More “Equinor Partners with Battelle to Explore CCS in Marcellus/Utica”
Anecdotally in reading articles about electric power production in New England, we know that almost all electricity is produced in the region by natural gas (unless they run low, then they use fuel oil). We also know a majority of the electricity produced in the PJM region, including the M-U area, is also produced by natural gas. What we didn’t know (but do now) is that the vast majority of electricity in the southeastern U.S. is produced by natural gas. Most of the molecules feeding southeast gas plants come from the M-U.
Read More “Electric Production in Southeast US Dominated by NatGas; Prices Up”
This *really* has our blood boiling. The same Democrat politicians in New England who have blocked new natural gas pipelines from the Marcellus (just 200 miles away) to their region, preferring so-called “renewable energy” instead, have just asked the hapless, incompetent Secretary of the Dept. of Energy, Jennifer Granholm (a fellow Democrat) to restrict LNG exports so their constituents don’t have to suffer the pain of their (the politicians’) decision to block pipelines. We’re talking about Massachusetts’ two U.S. Senators, Elizabeth “Pocahontas” Warren and Ed “Lackey” Markey, and Sen. Pat “Leaky” Leahy whose home state of Vermont has banned all fracking and blocks pipelines. Talk about chutzpah!
Read More “New England Democrats Ask DOE to Restrict LNG Exports”
Our apologies that this latest weekly permit update is a day late. Normally we issued these updates on Wednesdays. Yesterday the Pennsylvania database we use to locate information on new permits issued was throwing an error. We alerted the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection, which maintains the database, and they got it fixed sometime last night. So we’re back! Our thanks to the programmers at the DEP.
The total number of permits across PA, OH and WV last week were down by about half from the week before. There were 33 new permits issued last week vs. 61 two weeks ago.
Read More “33 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jan 24-30”