Antis Target PA Speaker Turzai for Airplane Ride Paid by Shale Co.
Pennsylvania House Speaker Mike Turzai has been a long-time supporter of the Marcellus Shale industry in the Keystone State. He’s not only an “advocate” for shale energy, he’s devastatingly effective against the shenanigans of anti-fossil fuelers from the Democrat Party. And they hate him for it. Although Turzai previously announced he won’t run for reelection (see Say It Ain’t So! PA House Speaker Mike Turzai is Retiring), antis are trying to sully his sterling reputation even now.
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An economist from Binghamton University who has zero training in health care and the medical field is the lead author of a new study that claims air pollution from Marcellus fracking killed an estimated 20 people in Pennsylvania from 2010-2017. While the “study” aims to paint Marcellus fracking as a killer, we say it makes the opposite point. This study (if you believe its results) proves Marcellus fracking is about the safest form of energy on earth!
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Modern natural gas facilities can help NY reach climate goals; Here’s what makes EQT Corporation an attractive bet now; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Tellurian’s supply pact with Petronet expires in setback for Driftwood LNG; NATIONAL: Analysts urge caution as oil recovery gets underway; U.S. shale companies are turning the oil taps back on; It’s time to start ignoring the negative news for natural gas, here’s why; INTERNATIONAL: Canada is the largest source of U.S. energy imports; Oil prices inch higher, 1-month supply cut extension falls short of market hopes.
The U.S. onshore rig count continues to collapse. Over the past week another 22 rigs disappeared from the count, mainly located in oil plays (like the Permian). Yet the news continues to be spun as “the bottom appears closer” when the decrease will stop. Really? We don’t see it! Last week the Marcellus (dry gas area of northeastern PA) lost another rig.
One of our favorite M-U reporters, Paul Gough of the Pittsburgh Business Times, went in search of news about Appalachian shale drilling and its future. He found some rays of light. Gough talked with several of our favorite M-U people–CNX CEO Nick DeIuliis, Deep Well Services CEO Mark Marmo, and Range Resources COO Dennis Degner. Those three (and others) are certainly not Polyanna about what the future holds. There will be bumps. But they do offer hope that on the other side of this pandemic the M-U will actually emerge stronger and better.
MDN was launched in January 2009, during the heyday of leasing for shale drilling in the Marcellus/Utica region. One of our early focuses was to highlight lease deals by landowner coalitions. (Indeed, it was one such deal, in Deposit, NY, that inspired Jim Willis to begin writing MDN.) These days you don’t read or hear much about landowner coalitions because most properties are now leased (not all, but most). MDN friend Nicole Jacobs from Energy in Depth highlights a successful coalition in Belmont County, OH in a recent post.
Although many landowners in the Marcellus/Utica (at lease those who are interested) have already signed leases to allow shale drilling on and under their property, not all have. And sometimes leases expire with no drilling. Plus, not all landowners have leases that allow pipelines and other development (like solar projects). The Ohio State University Extension is offering several webinars at the end of June of interest to all landowners general, and Ohio landowners in particular, with an interest in leasing and mineral rights.
Massachusetts produces most (perhaps all) of its electricity from natural gas-fired power plants and some 3.5 million people in the state use it to heat their homes. And yet MA Attorney General Maura Healey (radical leftist Democrat), in what can only be described as a psychotic break, has demanded the state Dept. of Public Utilities “study” how the state can completely phase out the use of all natural gas. Yes, Healey has completely lost her mind!
We’ll say it right up front: We’re not impressed with so-called “renewable” natural gas (RNG) and all of the machinations companies go through to obtain and deliver it to their customers. RNG is chemically identical to regular old natural gas. It’s called methane (CH4). It burns the same and releases the same amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere when it burns. Chesapeake Utilities (nothing to do with Chesapeake Energy), which operates in the Delmarva Peninsula (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia), is the latest utility company to cook up an RNG scheme–to use chicken “droppings” as the source of methane. Whatever.
As recently as early March Gulfport Energy, a major driller in the Ohio Utica Shale, and its single largest investor, Firefly Value Partners (owns 13.1% of outstanding shares), were sniping at each other. Firefly was actively trying to pack the board of directors with its own nominees (see 
In April, Montage Resources shut-in “low margin production” wells in its liquids-rich producing area. The shut-ins primarily impacted Utica condensate production. In early May during the company’s first-quarter update conference call, CEO John Reinhart said the company had begun to restart some of the shut-in or “curtailed” production (see 
On Tuesday, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court asking the court to not even consider hearing a case involving PennEast Pipeline. Grewal wants to deny the project its day in court. In the brief Grewal outright lies by saying “PennEast is wrong” in its claim that a lower court decision, if allowed to stand, would result in pipeline projects across the country getting blocked. That is a 100% lie and Grewal knows it.
Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) Executive Director Steve Tambini is such a disappointment. He has totally caved to the hard-left environmental lobby that has its hooks deeply embedded in the DRBC. On June 1 Tambini sent a letter that’s, well, embarrassing. He sent the letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), telling FERC that the DRBC does have a say in whether or not the PennEast Pipeline can get built–even though not one inch of Phase 1 of the project will traverse DRBC’s jurisdiction.
CNX Resources announced yesterday that it will buy back $400 million (roughly half) of its outstanding notes, debt that’s not due to be redeemed until 2022. They’re buying it back early. The company’s finances continue to get stronger. It was just February when Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings downgraded the credit rating for six of the biggest M-U drillers, including CNX (see