Chevron Dumping Pittsburgh Office Space – 90,000 Sq Ft for Lease
Last December Chevron announced it was writing down the value of its Marcellus/Utica assets and putting those assets up for sale (see Chevron Writes Down $5B+ in Marc/Utica Assets, Looks to Sell All). Prior to the pandemic lockdown, Chevron said it would begin cutting 320 jobs in the M-U beginning in early April (see Chevron Cutting 320 Jobs in Marcellus/Utica Beginning April 6th). The cuts continued in May with another 80 employees getting a pink slip (see Chevron Cuts Another 80 Jobs in M-U; Still Looking for Buyer). It shouldn’t come as a surprise with all the layoffs that Chevron is now advertising most of their Pittsburgh HQ office space for sublease.
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The Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), the quasi-governmental agency tasked with overseeing water usage within the Susquehanna River Basin, has been a huge success with respect to partnering with the Marcellus Shale drilling industry. The SRBC recently updated a report (summary below) reviewing shale water usage drawn from the basin from 2008 to 2018. The report finds shale water usage has risen to become the #3 source of water used in the river basin–although shale usage of basin water is still a small fraction of that by larger users, including municipalities and electric power generation.
Last Thursday President Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) titled, “Accelerating the Nation’s Economic Recovery from the COVID-19 Emergency by Expediting Infrastructure Investments and Other Activities.” The EO taps the President’s emergency powers to address and mitigate the economic and employment crises resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, by invoking emergency permitting procedures for infrastructure projects, including pipelines, that are otherwise delayed by regulatory roadblocks. This includes projects subject to Clean Water Act water quality permits, the Army Corps of Engineers Nationwide 12 (NP12) permit program, and the Endangered Species Act. This EO potentially has big implications for finishing up both the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) and Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) projects.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Gov. Wolf pledges veto of bill prohibiting DEP from enacting big carbon tax; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: BP set to slash 10,000 jobs: ‘I can’t make your worries disappear,’ says CEO; OERB, Francis Tuttle offer free courses to idled oil, gas workers; NATIONAL: Shale producers’ hedging strategies take center stage; INTERNATIONAL: North America’s largest pipeline company aims to pivot to natural gas and renewable energy.
EnergyNet is an online marketplace for buying and selling oil and gas working interests (operated and non-operated), overrides, royalties, mineral interests, leaseholds, and other contracts. From time to time we spot auctions on EnergyNet from Marcellus/Utica drillers. EnerVest Energy is currently auctioning a package of leases scattered across Ohio and Pennsylvania via the EnergyNet website. The EnerVest auction ends June 17. We have the details below.
In what is a hollow victory for anti-fossil fuel zealots, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied hearing an appeal for a case from Sunoco Logistics Partners about a permit for a pump station in Lebanon County, PA. The Supremes’ rejection means a lower court ruling stands that overturns the permit. Thing is, that pump station was built years ago and has been functioning ever since. There’s no way that pump station is going away. So why did the antis blow all that money in litigation over the years?
Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), the 303-mile pipeline from West Virginia into southwestern Virginia, recently received permission from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to change the method it will use to cross over (actually under) the Roanoke River. Not that it makes much difference right now since the entire project, which is 90% complete, is stalled due to a federal lawsuit aimed at blocking an unrelated Midwest oil pipeline.
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 
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!
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!