SWPA Labor Unions Say Wolf’s $2.4B Carbon Tax Will Hurt PA Economy
Two different trade unions are asking some great questions about Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s plan to force the state to join the so-called Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a carbon tax on coal and gas-fired electric generating plants. For example, how would a $2.36 BILLION carbon tax reduce carbon dixoide emissions any more than is already happening by the use of natural gas? PA already reduced CO2 emissions by 32% over the same time period RGGI (a coalition of liberal northeastern states) began–far more of a reduction than RGGI states have experienced!–without belonging to the RGGI tax plan.
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The onshore rig count continues to bump along near the bottom. A few weeks ago we noted that after hitting bottom, the Enverus rig count had once again started to climb (see 
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Joe Biden’s energy plan will destroy Pa.’s economy; Project to make natural gas available to homes in Wayne County; Natural gas grand jury report ignores state’s history of responsible stewardship; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Wyoming’s drilling rig count hits zero: what that means for the state and its economy; NATIONAL: FERC’s McNamee intends to step down in early September; DOE announces $33 million for natural gas pipeline retrofitting projects; New documentary film, ‘Juice,’ challenges elitism of anti-growth environmentalism; Biden vs. Trump: the battle over us energy policy and its consequences; A saga of NGL storage: RBN’s greatest hits; INTERNATIONAL: Bechtel names new oil and gas chief; Saudi Arabia turns off America’s oil taps again.
MDN is taking a rare vacation day today, Friday, August 7. We will be back on Monday to catch you up on all the latest news.
Gulfport Energy, the third-largest (by number wells drilled) producer in the Ohio Utica Shale, issued its 2Q20 update yesterday. Back in June, the company said it would shut-in some of its production, delaying production until later this year (see 
It’s been a loooong road getting the Mariner East 2 (ME2) pipeline system, which includes building two pipelines side-by-side from eastern Ohio across Pennsylvania to the Philadelphia area, done. From what we can tell, ME2 is now done–with the possible exception of a few miles where smaller pipeline is being used until a bigger replacement is done. For all intents, ME2 is done. However, ME2X, a second pipeline being built next to the first, is not yet done. But it’s getting close! According to comments from Energy Transfer (ET) made during a quarterly conference call yesterday, ME2X will be in service by the end of this year, and the entire project will be done-done sometime in 2Q21. Finally!
Most of the layoffs during this particularly brutal (and historic) downturn in the oil and gas market have taken place in oilfield services companies like Halliburton, Baker Hughes and Sclumberger. But exploration & production companies are not immune. Chevron is laying off workers in their Marcellus/Utica operation because the company is selling all of its Appalachian assets and leaving the region (see 
In February MDN told you about an effort by the radicalized Sierra Club to block a New York landfill from accepting drill cuttings from the Pennsylvania Marcellus (see 
Three weeks ago there were 27 new permits issued in Pennsylvania for shale drilling. Two weeks ago there were only three new PA permits issued. But over the past week, from July 27-31, PA permits issued for drilling new wells jumped to 32! New permits issued in Ohio last week were six, and two new permits were issued in West Virginia.
We have some significant news coming out of yesterday’s 2Q update from Equitrans about the company’s Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project. Equitrans is seriously considering expanding compression along MVP to flow an extra 500 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of natural gas along the pipeline after it’s up and running.
Two big pieces of news coming from yesterday’s Range Resources 2Q update: (1) The company is not yet done with asset sales, including active discussions on selling its northeastern Pennsylvania leases/wells in Lycoming County; and (2) drilling costs averaged less than $600 per lateral foot last quarter–the lowest average in the Marcellus/Utica region.
The pipeline business is doing just fine, despite COVID-19. That’s according to Alan Armstrong, CEO of one of the country’s largest pipeline companies–Williams. On a conference call yesterday to discuss the company’s 2Q20 performance, Armstrong said: “[M]any people assume that natural gas demand would be greatly diminished by COVID-19 and a stalled economy. Fortunately, we have not seen that play out at all. In fact, natural gas demand has continued to grow, both broadly across the market and on our systems, in particular.”
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) finally got its butt in gear and issued a favorable environmental assessment (EA) for an amended request by PennEast Pipeline to break the project into two phases–building the pipeline through Pennsylvania in Phase One, and through New Jersey in Phase Two. FERC was supposed to issue its findings on or by July 10. Finally, after two weeks with no report, no explanation, and no communication, PennEast goosed FERC on July 24 (see