PA Legislators Strongly Disapprove Ch. 105 Water Permit Changes
In December MDN brought you the news that the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) is proposing and seeking comments on changes to the state’s Chapter 105 (water obstructions and encroachments) permit (see PA DEP Proposes Changes to Ch. 105 Water Permits). It’s a fundamental permit almost all outdoor construction projects in PA are required to obtain, including the drilling of shale wells. Republicans on the PA House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee voted yesterday to send a letter to the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) expressing their strong disapproval of the proposed changes.
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More than six years ago a group of landowners in Wayne County, Illinois sued the state for its refusal to grant permits to drill and frack in the New Albany Shale deposit. Over the years the case morphed and the plaintiff became Next Energy, LLC, which acquired the leases to explore and develop the shale under the landowners’ property. The huge news is that the U.S. Supreme Court has taken an active interest in the case and is demanding the Illinois Attorney General file a response to the case–a key indicator the Supremes are leaning toward hearing the case.
Cheniere Energy operates two huge LNG export facilities–one in Sabine Pass, Louisiana, the other in Corpus Christi, Texas. Cheniere is the #1 LNG exporter in the U.S. Yesterday the company issued its fourth-quarter and full-year 2020 update. The company said it secured over 4 million tonnes of LNG supply deals during 4Q20. While the company took a hit with canceled cargoes during the pandemic, Cheniere expects 2021 to rebound and be a banner year. Why do we care? Because a significant quantity of Marcellus/Utica gas flows to the Cheniere facilities for export.
The Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) is an international governmental organization providing a framework for exchanging experience and information among member cuntries. The GECF is a gathering of the world’s leading gas exporting countries and was set up as an international governmental organization with the objective to increase the level of coordination and strengthen the collaboration among its members. GECF publishes an annual report called Global Gas Outlook 2050 (full copy below) that provides long-term energy projections based on assumptions regarding macroeconomic conditions, energy prices, and policies. The most recent report, issued yesterday, makes a startling prediction.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: UGI work to begin on $6 million pipeline that will change fuel mix at Northampton County’s Keystone Cement; Antero Resources presents a check to the Mountaineer Food Bank for $150,000 to help battle food insecurity; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Midcoasters say $90M natural gas line expansion isn’t aligned with state climate change plan; NATIONAL: Day 2: Rep. Haaland goes further, says federal lands moratorium is not a “permanent thing”; Quantum Fuel Systems awarded substantial natural gas virtual pipeline trailer order; Natural gas price spike curtails ammonia plants, linking hydrogen and gas markets; INTERNATIONAL: Keystone XL’s death sparks rush to ship oil-sands by rail.
Yesterday Equitrans Midstream, formerly EQT Midstream, delivered its fourth quarter and full-year 2020 update. A key focus for the company is completing the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project from Wetzel County, WV to Pittsylvania County, VA. Company officials yesterday expressed confidence they will get the balance of the 92% already-completed project done and fully online by the end of this year. That is terrific news indeed!
Yesterday Equitrans Midstream issued its 4Q and full-year 2020 update (see today’s lead story). There was discussion during the Q&A portion of yesterday’s Equitrans conference call referring to the company’s recent request to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to change the type of stream crossing process it can use at 120 locations to cross 181 water bodies and wetlands so it can complete the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project this year.
Our headline is a bit cryptic, so we’ll explain right up front that G&P stands for gathering and processing. In pipeline giant Williams’ latest update (covering 4th quarter and full-year 2020) company reps said the Northeast G&P unit “continues to come on very strong producing record results and contributing $29 million of additional EBITDA this quarter.” They also said Northeast (namely Marcellus) gathering volumes grew by 7% in 4Q, and processing volumes grew by 9%.
In 2016 Crestwood Equity Partners formed a joint venture with New York City’s largest utility company, Consolidated Edison Inc., to operate a critical link of pipelines and storage facilities in the heart of the Utica/Marcellus, called Stagecoach Gas Services (see 
You have to hand it to Pennsylvania State Sen. Gene Yaw, he sure knows how to set off the crazies in the Keystone State. Yesterday Yaw issued a fantastic op-ed saying if Gov. Wolf gets his bizarre Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) carbon tax adopted, Pennsylvanians can look forward to power outages like those recently experienced in Texas, which happened in large part because of the failure of “renewable” energy sources like windmills. Yaw’s comments have the lefties yammering away to “correct” Yaw’s non-standard and non-approved speech.
All three M-U states received permits to drill new shale wells last week. Pennsylvania received 10 new permits. Ohio received 6 new permits. And West Virginia received 3 new permits.
As we reported in January, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (Democrat) has, for the seventh year in a row, introduced a Marcellus-killing severance tax proposal as part of his annual budget proposal (see 
The official state bird for New York State is the tiny Eastern bluebird–no bigger than a chickadee. Here at MDN HQ, we maintain two bird feeders year-round in the front yard. We can remember only maybe 3-4 times over the years we’ve actually seen a bluebird at our feeders. The bluebird is one of our favorites because we see it so rarely. According to researchers at Penn State in State College, PA, loud noise from pipeline compressor stations has the ability to “diminish” the “reproductive success” of bluebirds and other songbirds. Who would even think to conduct such an experiment?
Researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago have discovered a way to convert methane into liquid methanol at room temperature. This is a big deal because methanol burns more cleanly (less carbon dioxide emissions) than burning methane (i.e. natural gas). Prior to this discovery by Chicago researchers, converting methane into methanol required a lot of heat and pressure that generates a significant amount of CO2 as a byproduct. There’s no real advantage to burning methanol created that way. This discovery sidesteps the heat and pressure needed to convert methane into methanol.