Oaktree Capital Invests $100M in Banpu, Promises Another $600M
Oaktree Capital Management, a huge investment firm with 1,000 employees and $140 billion in assets under management, is investing some of its considerable stach in BKV Corporation. BKV (which stands for Banpu Kalnin Ventures) is the American shale drilling arm of Banpu, Thailand’s largest coal mining company. BKV/Banpu has invested ~$500 million in the PA Marcellus, going as far as building a regional office in northeastern PA a year ago (see Banpu Opens New $5M Marcellus Operations Office in NEPA).
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The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) over the weekend published a final (revised) version of its Waste General Permit which governs how wastewater from shale fracking and produced water can be processed and reused for more drilling and fracking.
It really is frustrating and beyond belief. Republicans in Ohio continue to fiddle around and try to delay overturning House Bill (HB) 6 that gives FirstEnergy a $1.1 billion bailout to keep its economically failing nuclear power plants from closing. The company’s Energy Harbor subsidiary is accused of bribing Ohio House members with $60 million to pass and keep passed HB 6 (see 
Innovex Downhole Solutions ordered 100 jackets for its workers as Christmas gifts from popular outdoor recreation and clothing giant The North Face. But North Face turned its face away and told Innovex because the company is part of the nasty fossil fuel industry, North Face would refuse to fulfill the order. In essence, North Face told Innovex to go screw itself. [Yes, it’s time to boycott The North Face and refuse to buy anything from them, and if you get a Christmas present manufactured or sold by North Face, please return it and let them know why you want a refund.]
NATIONAL: Energy Transfer and Sunoco donate over $1.5 million to benefit pediatric cancer patients; Biden introduces his climate team, says ‘no time to waste’; Bankruptcy-hit US operators set to lose a quarter of oil production in 2021; S&P Global Platts urges caution for energy companies in 2021; What Biden executive orders could mean for the energy sector; U.S. propane prices spike; December exports soar to all-time highs; INTERNATIONAL: Fuel demand in India is soaring despite pandemic.
The Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board (EHB), a special court set up to hear appeals of decisions by the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), ruled on Wednesday that Sunoco Pipeline’s Mariner East 2 project does NOT have to reroute around Marsh Creek State Park in Chester County as ordered by the DEP. At least, not yet.
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC), the agency in charge of issuing permits for building the Mariner East pipeline projects, has just poked its head up to weigh in on another Energy Transfer project it issued permits to build: Revolution Pipeline. The PUC is proposing a $1 million penalty for “multiple violations” that led to an explosion of the pipeline as it entered service. The PUC also details a bunch of hoops ET must jump through in order to start service on the pipeline.
Yesterday the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued approval to Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) to restart work in private land next to the Jefferson National Forest. The order allows MVP to complete installing pipeline along a 17-mile stretch. Of course, FERC Commissioner Richard “Dick” Glick (Democrat) strongly objected, because he hates all fossil fuels and votes against any and every gas and oil pipeline project.
Pennsylvania’s Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) provides revenue projections for use in the state budget process along with impartial and timely analysis of fiscal, economic, and budgetary issues to assist PA residents and the General Assembly in their evaluation of policy decisions. The IFO published its Monthly Economic Update on Wednesday (for December). The update contains a rather ominous paragraph projecting impact fee revenues for 2020 will drop by $53 million–to the lowest level of revenue generated since PA enacted an impact fee.
For some reason, S&P Global Platts has not tabulated and reported on the latest Enverus rig count numbers for the past few weeks. Have no fear. MDN pulled the latest rig count report directly from Enverus. It shows that over the past week (ending Dec. 16), the U.S. rig count fell by five to 401 active rigs.
MDN is updating our Calendar page more frequently to bring you the latest news on events of interest that have either been canceled, postponed, or in some cases, have gone virtual. We encourage you to review the list. A number of free and low-cost webinars and online events have popped up as an alternative to in-person meetings.
Leftists, like Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, always have to learn lessons the hard way. In August, Wolf’s Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) finalized and put into effect a massive increase in the permit fee to drill new shale wells, going from $5,000 per well to $12,500 (see 
Two weeks ago MDN reported that Enbridge, builder of the Weymouth, Massachusetts compressor station, said the compressor would come online Dec. 4 (see 
Anti-fossil fuelers have a new favorite lie to tell: Any kind of power plant or pipeline that uses natural gas is racist. It’s a sick and twisted lie, but that’s the line they now use. For example, the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board recently approved a permit for the construction of a new 17-megawatt natural gas power plant to power the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia. Environuts are hollering it’s racist.