Columbia Gas of Mass. Sentenced to $53M Fine, Probation, Sell Co.
Columbia Gas of Massachusetts (NiSource) never quite recovered (reputationally) from a series of explosions in September 2018 that occurred with its local delivery pipelines north of Boston (see Local NatGas Pipes Explode Near Boston Killing 1, Injuring 25). The explosions and resulting fires tragically killed one teenager and injured 25 others. It left some 8,600 households and businesses without natural gas for months. Several class action lawsuits were filed against the company, which got settled last summer for $143 million (see Columbia Gas Pays $143M to Settle Lawsuit from Mass. Explosions). The company has reached a plea deal to (a) sell the company, and (b) pay the largest criminal fine ever imposed under the Pipeline Safety Act.
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MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: WV oil and gas office faces budget shortfall, anticipates layoffs; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Oil, natural gas activity across Louisiana, New Mexico and Texas still grim, says Dallas Fed; NATIONAL: North America associated natural gas recovery not seen before 2022; INTERNATIONAL: Russia takes a leaf out the U.S. shale oil playbook; The US is defending Europe by blocking Putin’s pipeline; Shell CEO sees COVID-19 as opportunity for ‘green recovery,’ as net-zero emissions goals advance; How Russian and Saudi oil ties to China complicate the post-pandemic world.
The Washington & Jefferson College Center for Energy Policy and Management (Washington, PA) is hosting a free webinar series on “
In March 2019 natural gas utility Consolidated Edison, which supplies Manhattan, the Bronx and most of Westchester County, slapped a moratorium on new natural gas customers from hooking up to the grid in Westchester due to lack of gas supplies (see 
EdgeMarc Energy, headquartered in Canonsburg, PA (once with 50,000 acres of Marcellus/Utica leases), filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 2019, looking to sell all of the company’s assets (see 
Yesterday the Pennsylvania Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee held a virtual hearing on Gov. Wolf’s plan to bypass the state legislature and force the state to join the so-called Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a group of northeastern states attempting to assassinate coal and gas-fired power generation by taxing it to death with an insane carbon tax (see 
There were 16 new permits issued in PA for shale drilling June 15-19. There were 7 new permits issued in OH for shale drilling during the same time period. There was 1 new permit issued in WV for shale drilling last week.
As we have been saying for some time, LNG exports from the U.S. are low and staying low for at least a few more months (see 
Last December Chevron announced it was writing down over $10 billion worth of its U.S. onshore shale assets, with $6.5 billion of that number coming from its Marcellus/Utica assets. Also in December, the company posted for sale ALL of their M-U assets (see 
Last October PA Gov. Tom Wolf, in a naked power-grab, said he would try to force PA to join the so-called Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a group of northeastern states attempting to assassinate coal and gas-fired power generation by taxing it to death with an insane carbon tax (see 
Coincidentally we have a second story today about pipe welding inspectors. In another post, we tell you about a pipeline welding inspector who falsified records (see ME2 Pipe Worker in SWPA Admits Falsifying Welding Records 77 Times), which is very much the exception and not the rule. In this second story, an inspector who worked for Equitrans Midstream has filed what he hopes will become a class action lawsuit against the Equitrans, claiming he and others were jilted out of overtime pay.
The received wisdom has been that with the oil markets getting whacked by the Saudis, the Russians, and the virus, and with new drilling scaled back and oil wells in the Permian, Bakken, Eagle Ford and other oil plays being shut-in, far less “associated gas” would be produced, leading to tighter natgas supplies further leading to higher prices for natgas (benefitting the Marcellus/Utica). But the price of natgas has remained at a 25-year low. What the heck is going on?