Chesapeake Utilities | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Maryland | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide MD
Maryland Bd of Public Works Considers Wetlands Permit for Gas Pipe
In December, the Maryland Board of Public Works (BPW), which has three members (two leftwing Democrats and RINO Gov. Larry Hogan), surprisingly approved a 10-inch, 6.83-mile pipeline for the Maryland portion of a 19+ mile project called the Del-Mar Energy Pathway Project, crossing both Delaware and Maryland (see Maryland Board of Public Works Approves Tiny Pipe in Eastern Shore). There is one final bit of that project (10.75 miles) that needs a wetlands permit in Maryland in order to build. BPW will make that decision on Wednesday.
Read More “Maryland Bd of Public Works Considers Wetlands Permit for Gas Pipe”
Here’s an interesting twist. Just last week we told you about ongoing opposition from anti-fossil fuelers to a currently dormant project, the Mountaineer NGL Storage hub project in Monroe County, OH (see 
It was exactly one year ago that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in THE most consequential lawsuit for Marcellus Shale drilling we’ve seen, a case called Briggs v Southwestern Energy (see 
The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) received some 13,000 public comments on its horrible plan to force PA residents to pay $2.36 billion in new energy taxes (a carbon tax) for electricity produced by coal and natural gas power plants–a scheme called the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). The plan would greatly reduce the number of gas-fired power plants operating in the state and create energy insecurity for the entire PJM portion of the national electricity grid.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Consistency needed in pipeline permitting process; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Elon Musk’s SpaceX reportedly plans to drill near a Texas launchpad for natural gas; New Mexico officials taken aback by Biden assault on oil and gas; NATIONAL: Biden admin acknowledges suspending new federal permits is only the beginning; Biden fracking policy and why exposed E&Ps do not care; Biden’s fossil-fuel freeze; In 2019, oil and lease condensate proved reserves were flat; natural gas reserves declined; A mild winter continues low U.S. natural gas prices; Biden’s fiscal and climate priorities may support oil prices, says Goldman Sachs; Energy sector predictions for 2021; INTERNATIONAL: BP launches direct sales of LNG in China; Oilfield service companies see drilling rebound everywhere but the U.S.
With Richard “Dick” Glick as the new Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), life just got harder for the PennEast Pipeline project. Not impossible, but certainly harder. On Tuesday FERC gave PennEast a little bit of love when it turned down a request by a Pennsylvania landowner that PennEast not be allowed to use eminent domain to cross the landowner’s property. But also on Tuesday FERC removed from its agenda a final decision on whether or not to approve PennEast’s request to split the project into two phases.
Last fall Mountaineer NGL Storage, a $500 million project in Monroe County to build underground storage for ethane and other NGLs, asked Ohio to cancel a key permit for the project (see 
After literally *years* of complaints that simple permits in Pennsylvania required in drilling new shale wells–like a Chapter 102 Erosion and Sedimentation permit–are taking two, three, even six to eight months for an approval (instead of the law-mandated 14 days), the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) is finally doing something about it. Why? They’ve just received a swift kick in the seat of the pants.
President Joe Biden is already a complete disaster for the oil and gas industry. His first two days in office (day and a half, actually) can only be described as a full-on attack against our industry. That’s according to the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA). We received a rundown of the damage Biden has already caused. Here’s just one example (out a list of 100+): Biden has put a freeze (pun intended) on the Dept. of Transportation’s rule that allows LNG to be shipped by rail. The rule is being “reviewed” with an eye to reversing it.
Over the past week, the Enverus U.S. rig count added another 6 active rigs, making the new count 430. The Marcellus wet gas region (in southwest PA and WV) lost a rig, while the Marcellus dry gas region (in northeast PA) gained a rig. Overall the Marcellus/Utica combined rig count remained stead at 42 active rigs. The M-U’s chief competitor, the Haynesville Shale, lost one rig, now with 48 active rigs.
Last week MDN told you the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) had given final approval to Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) to install pipeline through 3.5 miles of woodlands, and under the Appalachian Trail, in the Jefferson National Forest in Monroe County in West Virginia, in and Giles and Montgomery counties in Virginia (see 
Et tu, Brute? Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Commissioner Neil Chatterjee, a Republican who used to work for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, is showing his true swamp-dwelling colors. On Tuesday Chatterjee voted against several critical natural gas projects (ones he voted in favor of previously), including a vote against allowing the Weymouth, MA compressor station, fully built, tested and ready to start, to begin operations.
Did you know that the Appalachia Basin, made up of the Marcellus and Utica Shale, accounted for more than 40% of the natural gas produced in the US in 2020? The M-U averaged 32.19 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas production in 2020, and 33.44 Bcf/d in 2019. A new report from GlobalData says the outlook for the Marcellus and Utica plays is closely tied to the demand for LNG exports from the U.S. You might say they’re “joined at the hip.” Unfortunately, most LNG exports happen along the Gulf Coast.