Other Stories of Interest: Fri, Sep 3, 2021
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Bipartisan vote by PA House Committee approves resolution to carbon tax; Yaw angry over greenhouse gas compact vote; NATIONAL: The growing misuse of satellite monitoring data; US weekly LNG exports and Henry Hub climb; Fleet investment in near-zero emission natural gas trucks increases; New research raises concern about electric vehicles’ prospects; INTERNATIONAL: UK faces stark energy choice.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Fri, Sep 3, 2021”
On Monday MDN told you that given supplies of natural gas going offline on the Gulf of Mexico due to Hurricane Ida, and given that the hurricane missed major LNG export facilities (meaning they will continue to operate and export gas), the price of natural gas was/is skyrocketing (see 
Yesterday the Pennsylvania Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) voted to approve the final Environmental Quality Board regulation to slap an insanely high carbon tax, euphemistically called the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), on PA’s coal and natural gas-fired power plants. The partisan vote was 3-2 (Democrats voting for, Republicans against) in favor of hiking electric rates by an extra $2.36 billion over the next 10 years. Is there any way to stop Gov. Tom Wolf’s illegal entry into RGGI?
In early August MDN told you about privately-owned Penn Production Group, LLC, which concentrates on exploration and production for oil and gas in western Pennsylvania. Penn Production closed on the purchase of certain assets owned by Greylock Energy in Clearfield County, PA (see 
Once again the issue of whether or not to use conventional (not shale) wastewater and its byproducts is in the news. The issue has long been debated in Pennsylvania. Earlier this week we brought you news from a recent study that finds more studies should be done on the issue of using brine wastewater to treat dusty roads in PA (see 
In early June Southwestern Energy Company announced it would no longer be a pureplay Marcellus/Utica driller. Southwestern said it was buying Indigo Natural Resources, which drills for natural gas in the Louisana Haynesville Shale, for $2.7 billion (see 
August 30 was RINO Neil Chatterjee’s last day at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (see 
An extensive story running in the Youngstown Business Journal tackles the thorny issue of violated expectations for Ohio landowners who thought they would get rich from Utica Shale wells on their land but didn’t. The article contains some good information and is a cautionary story for landowners. However, we’re concerned the story doesn’t present the full picture–that some landowners DO get significant revenue from royalties and signing bonuses.
Yesterday a group of ~30 protesters rallied at the Historic Courthouse in Chester County, PA, and marched, while chanting, to the County Justice Center. Their protest is against almost completed Mariner East 2 (ME2) pipeline construction and against a long-completed and flowing Mariner East 1 (ME1) pipeline. The protesters, some who were left wing nuts, others who were honest folks who have been duped by Big Green and scaremongers in the media, asked county commissioners to file a Petition for Emergency Relief with the state Public Utility Commission (PUC) to stop any further construction of ME2 and shut down the already-operating ME1 pipeline that runs through the county.
The Barack Hussein Obama administration went crazy with over-regulation in many sectors. One of them was to redefine “waters of the United States” (or WOTUS) as everything down to (no exaggeration) mud puddles (see 
According to the experts at RBN Energy, U.S. LNG feedgas demand “has been the single biggest factor behind the soaring natural gas prices and storage shortfall this year.” Feedgas is the gas that feeds LNG export facilities. Two more LNG facilities are due to begin operation in the first half of 2022, both of which have the potential to use Marcellus/Utica molecules. RBN does a deep dive into how LNG export facilities ramp up and when even more feedgas demand will increase.
The Jones Act prevents LNG from being transported from one U.S. port (like Cove Point, Maryland and Elba Island, Georgia) to other U.S. ports (like Boston and New York) because there are no built-in-the-USA LNG carriers, a requirement under the 1920 Jones Act. When New England runs low on natural gas, they must import the gas from Russia (see