MVP Gets Another Permit, Still Waiting on FERC to Resume Constr.
Almost two weeks ago Equitrans Midstream sent a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) requesting they be allowed to restart construction on the Mountain Valley Pipeline, construction which has been suspended since October 2019 (see Equitrans Asks FERC to Allow MVP Construction Restart This Week). So far FERC has not granted the request. However, we have one more (minor but important) permit issued for the project.
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This one was easy to predict. Back in August we told you that the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project was attempting to buy some love from the radical anti-fossil left by donating $19.5 million to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy to “conserve land along the Trail corridor and support outdoor recreation-based economies in Virginia and West Virginia” (see
It’s like the coming and going of the four seasons (or two seasons if you live in Binghamton, NY, summer for two months, winter the rest of the time). On a regular schedule, anti-fossil fuel organizations fund “studies” that supposedly show links between fracking and harmful effects to humans who live near fracking. The latest junk science study (in a long line of such studies) claims to show there have been harmful effects from air emissions from gas well sites in southwest Pennsylvania.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: MSC thanks Senator Toomey for leadership, service to Pennsylvania; NATIONAL: U.S. natural gas production, consumption, and exports set new records in 2019; Caterpillar transforming pressure pumping business with takeover of Weir oil, gas division; Petro-Darwinism: 4 ways the oil industry must rapidly evolve to survive; Tighter markets cause natural gas prices to jump almost 10%.
By any measure, it’s obvious to see that shale *drilling* activity in northcentral Pennsylvania counties–including Bradford, Clinton, Lycoming, Potter, Sullivan, and Tioga–is on the “bust” side over the past five-plus years. 2016 was the low point. However, is there any hope of seeing another boom in shale drilling in the region?
This is extremely frustrating. FirstEnergy subsidiary Energy Harbor is accused of bribing former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and several of his associates to pass (and stay passed) a $1.1 billion bailout bill that funnels electric ratepayer (i.e. taxpayer) money into the hands of FirstEnergy, to prop up two uneconomic and failing nuclear power plants (see 
You know anti-fossil fuelers are getting desperate when they make silly claims like a clean-burning natural gas power plant on the Hudson River (Orange County, NY) is killing crows and trees. One well known anti claims she witnessed the “sudden death” of 200 crows. And the trees in her backyard are “collapsing.” It’s all supposedly because of a nearby state-of-the-art power plant.
We love to hear about companies born in the Marcellus/Utica grow up and expand to other regions. One such company is Deep Well Services, which expanded from our region into the Permian, and now, to another country (see
Score a minor victory for the forces of evil. As we reported yesterday, two days ago Enbridge’s Weymouth, Massachusetts compressor station, about to come online, experienced a second emergency shutdown (see 
Another week of double-digit gains in the Enverus rig count! The US oil and gas rig count jumped 18 to 326 in the week ended Sept. 30, according to a Platts report evaluating Enverus numbers. Last week the rig count was up by 15 (see 