Other Stories of Interest: Wed, Dec 2, 2020
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Tellurian withdraws U.S. application to build Permian natgas pipeline; NATIONAL: The United States briefly returned to net importer status for petroleum earlier this year; Pioneer Natural Resources CEO sees oil demand recovery in 2022; How Biden may save U.S. gas exports to Europe; Death march for US shale?; INTERNATIONAL: Asian prices supportive of further US LNG export activity increase in December; Steady shale gas bolsters clean energy in China; India’s natural gas use has returned to pre-Covid levels; OPEC+ meeting delay is a nervous moment for U.S. shale business; Green hydrogen in natural gas pipelines: decarbonization solution or pipe dream?
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Yesterday ExxonMobil released the outlines of its development plan for the next five years. We previously alerted you that Exxon was looking to write down (impair) up to $30 billion of its assets, including (potentially) its assets in the Marcellus/Utica (see 
If there’s a bad cold snap in New England this winter forcing residents to use more natural gas (leaving less natgas for power plants), blackouts may occur. That’s the prediction from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) in their just published 2020-2021 Winter Reliability Assessment (full copy below). If blackouts do occur, the residents of New England can thank Gov. Cuomo and their own politicians, like Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, for blocking natural gas pipeline projects to the region.
Diversified Gas & Oil (DGO) is a fascinating company (
In December 2015, evil corporate raider Carl Icahn (invests in companies so he can fire a bunch of people, boost the stock and pocket the profit) fired Cheniere Energy CEO Charif Souki (see 
Here’s a first! Pennsylvania has (so far) issued 36 permits for frack wastewater injection wells. Every single one of those wells is located in the western part of the state. A frack wastewater company headquartered in Susquehanna County, PA (in the northeastern part of the state) is “exploring the possibility” of building an injection well in (no lie) Dimock! We love it!
Enbridge’s Weymouth compressor station project, the final piece of the $452 million Atlantic Bridge expansion project, last week received permission from the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to begin operations in early December. This is a MAJOR victory.
Sunoco Pipeline is beginning construction work this week on some of the final bits of the Mariner East 2 pipeline project in Delaware County. One of the projects is to install the pipeline through the Glen Riddle Station Apartment complex. The owner and tenants are not happy. They should have known this day would come.
Mainstream media is spinning the story of a Cumberland County, PA man who doesn’t feel safe living 1,000 feet away from the Mariner East pipeline into a David and Goliath cliche. The man won a small victory from a left-leaning, Sunoco-hating administrative law judge last December (see 
A truly bipartisan bill ensuring only those people in Pennsylvania who actually need pipeline safety information have access to it was signed into law last week by Gov. Tom Wolf. PA House Bill (HB) 2293 requires pipeline operators to provide emergency response plans upon request to the secretary of the Public Utility Commission, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, and the Emergency Management Director for each county where the pipeline runs through a densely populated area.
West Virginia has two main oil and gas industry groups: Independent Oil & Gas Association of West Virginia (IOGAWV) and West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association (WVONGA). Both groups recently commented on how the incoming Biden administration will affect the oil and gas industry in WV and beyond. You might think both groups would have similar views. They do not.
Each year Marcellus Drilling News takes Thanksgiving and the day after off to rest and relax with family. We will be sure to keep an eye on the news and if there is anything earth-shattering, we will bring you that news. Otherwise, we’ll see you next Monday. Have a great Thanksgiving! – Jim Willis, Editor