FERC Democrats Ram Thru Global Warming Policy for Pipe Decisions
Dick Glick has finally pulled it off. Yesterday the three Democrat members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), under the direction of Chairman Richard “Dick” Glick, rammed through a new policy/regulation to be used when evaluating new natural gas and oil pipelines. Both Republican members of the commission objected. The new policy requires consideration of nebulous and undefined global warming impacts (so-called greenhouse gas emissions) of any project up for review, something that cannot be calculated. This means whoever is in charge of FERC can decide how they want to define the regulation–the filter they use to evaluate a project. It is a classic swamp-dweller maneuver.
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The West Virginia Public Energy Authority is a seven-member board that aims to make the best use of WV’s abundant natural energy resources. State code gives the board power to buy, lease, and issue bonds to build electric power plants and natgas transmission projects. Gov. Jim Justice reactivated the board last summer after it had been dormant for upwards of a decade. The first meeting of the new board is next Wednesday.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Shale giant says it is increasing workforce diversity; NATIONAL: US weekly LNG exports drop by four; Bill to expand natural gas exports to U.S. allies and partners; Senator Bernie Sanders doesn’t understand the oil industry or inflation; AP expands climate change reporting funded by left-wing activist groups; INTERNATIONAL: Oil curves show one of the tightest markets ever.
Frankly, we sometimes wondered if we would ever see this day! Fantastic news: The Mariner East Pipeline system, including Mariner East 1 (ME1), Mariner East 2 (ME2), and Mariner East 2X (ME2X), is now completely built and in the ground. According to an update by builder and owner Energy Transfer issued yesterday, the company is in the process of commissioning and bringing the remaining bits online. The entire system will be online during the first quarter of this year–no later than March 30th. Hallelujah!
There was a time in the Marcellus/Utica when, if the price of natural gas went above $3/Mcf, drilling companies would drill like crazy. Cabot Oil & Gas (now Coterra Energy) would routinely drill wells when the price in the region was less than $1/Mcf! And somehow they made money. With prices hitting above $4/Mcf routinely, even flirting with $5/Mcf, you would think M-U drillers would ramp back up and try to make hay while the sun shines. But M-U drillers are not. They are showing remarkable restraint in NOT expanding their drilling programs. Why?
According to the Bureau of Labor Statics, the oilfield services and equipment industry grew by over 7,000 jobs in December 2021. Marcellus/Utica companies can’t find enough workers to fill all of the open positions in our region, especially in Pennsylvania. According to an article in the Wellsboro Gazette (Tioga County, northeastern part of the state), companies in Tioga and Potter counties can’t fill all of their open positions.
Founded in 1946, the Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Association (TIPRO) represents nearly 3,000 individuals and companies from the Texas oil and gas industry. TIPRO is one of the country’s largest oil and gas trade associations and a strong advocacy group representing both independents and royalty owners in Texas. TIPRO generates some great research reports, including their latest annual “State of Energy Report” for 2022. The report, which looks at oil and gas across the country (not just Texas) finds that the O&G industry supported a total of 832,869 direct jobs in the U.S. last year. The U.S. O&G sector paid a national annual wage averaging $115,166 during 2021, 76% higher than average private sector wages!
Two days ago the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) gave a briefing and delivered a report to the PA Environmental Quality Board (EQB). Kurt Klapkowski, Director of the Bureau of Oil and Gas Planning and Program Management, said the state’s conventional oil and gas drilling companies only paid $46,100 of the $10.6 million it cost for the DEP to regulate that industry in FY 2020-21. That’s a pretty serious deficit. What is DEP suggesting as a fix?
Get a load of this… Last May, the International Energy Agency (IEA) and its Executive Director Fatih Birol published a nonsensical “report” called “Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector” (see 
In May 2017, Murrysville Township (Westmoreland County) struck a zoning compromise with local drillers on the distance of setbacks (see 
In the closing hours of the 2014 West Virginia legislative session, the legislature passed Senate Bill (SB) 373, the Aboveground Storage Tank Act (see 
