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Keystone Clearwater Buys ECM Energy’s PA Water Transport Biz
Keystone Clearwater Solutions, a company that provides water services for shale drillers in the Marcellus/Utica, is buying the Pennsylvania operations of competitor ECM Energy Services. Keystone, which operates primarily in Pennsylvania, is picking up ECM’s Williamsport, PA operation and rebranding it under the Keystone name. ECM says the sale frees them up to concentrate on their operations in Ohio and West Virginia.
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The price of electricity and natural gas in New York State is through the roof. Average New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) power prices across major hubs increased by 50% year over year in May, and natural gas prices increased nearly 75% year over year. It’s a train wreck here in New York. And you can directly blame Andrew Cuomo and the Democrats in the NY legislature for blocking new natural gas pipelines. That’s the root cause. No pipelines = obscenely high prices for electricity and gas.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Bradford Co. to receive 9.3M through Marcellus Shale impact fees; Senate committee eyes vote to shield natural gas from Ohio city bans; Encino Energy wins award from Eastern Ohio Development Alliance; NATIONAL: Hydrogen isn’t as clean as it seems; US natural gas futures hold near 7-month high; How COVID-19 reshaped the future of North American LNG projects; No place for pipelines or affordable energy under Biden’s plan; INTERNATIONAL: Gas is so scarce in Europe that coal is making a comeback.
Three Chesapeake Energy senior vice presidents have been shown the door (i.e. got fired) as of Friday. Executive Vice President of Exploration and Production (i.e. head driller) Frank J. Patterson; Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary (i.e. head lawyer) James R. Webb; and Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer (i.e. head accountant) William M. Buergler exited on Friday. It was a “termination without cause.” This follows the firing of their former boss, CEO Doug “the ax” Lawler, who himself got the ax not long after the company emerged from bankruptcy (see 
In a brilliant move aimed at boxing in the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), 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 against the DRBC accusing the quasi-governmental agency of “taking” the property rights of PA residents without just compensation under the law (see 
Traders are crediting news from Enbridge’s Texas Eastern Transmission (TETCO) pipeline that a recent flow restriction enforced by the Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA) will continue through the end of summer with helping to spike the Henry Hub futures price of natgas, up 4.5% on Friday to close at $3.30/MMBtu.
As we report today, Enbridge’s Texas Eastern Transmission (TETCO) pipeline will not be back to full pressure flowing Marcellus/Utica gas south (some of it to the Gulf Coast) until the end of summer. Last week MDN brought you the news that TETCO was denied permission to continue operating its pipeline system (three pipelines, actually) at full pressure (see 
What would happen if there were a Green New Genie who could wave a magic wand and replace all oil and gas energy right now, today, with wind and solar energy instead. Yes, it’s impossible for many reasons, but let’s fantasize for just a moment. What if Alexandria Occasional-Cortex, and the petulant spoiled child Greta Thunberg, and John F. Kerry (a petulant spoiled adult) got their way? Poof! Here it is. Here is what it would look like…
So-called ESG (environmental, social, governance) programs are popping up everywhere–kind of like spring dandelions. Especially programs aimed at the E (environmental) part of that acronym. EQT Corporation, the country’s largest natural gas producer (focused 100% on the Marcellus/Utica) has recently gotten the ESG religion. EQT has joined (by our count) no less than four ESG programs this year. The latest is a program sponsored by LNG export king Cheniere Energy, aimed at monitoring and cutting down on methane emissions at drill sites. Two other M-U drillers are joining the Cheniere effort too.
Williams, Kinder Morgan, and other giant midstream companies with major assets in the Marcellus/Utica are looking at, investigating, and actively considering blending in hydrogen with natural gas in their interstate pipelines. Sounds easy, right? Just hook up to a handy source of hydrogen and let the molecules flow and mingle with methane molecules. But adding hydrogen (H2) to existing methane (CH4) pipelines is not a simple thing. There are major roadblocks to flowing H2 through CH4 pipes. At present, it’s still just a pipe dream.
In March we told you about House of Representatives (HR) Bill 1512, the Climate Leadership and Environmental Action for our Nation’s Future Act (or CLEAN Future Act). The bill gives vast powers to the unelected bureaucrats at the EPA to set new regulatory demands before permits can be approved for facilities that produce plastics or the raw materials used to produce plastics, such as ethylene or propylene (see