NJ DEP Stops Construction of Southern Reliability Link Pipe
New Jersey Natural Gas’ (NJNG) $130 million, 22-mile natural gas pipeline project called the Southern Reliability Link (SRL) pipeline project to connect NJNG’s distribution system serving customers in Ocean, Burlington and Monmouth counties (in NJ) has been under construction for a year. Construction has continued even during the virus pandemic (see Pipeline Thru NJ Scrub Pines Continues Building During COVID-19). The odious Sierra Club (anti-fossil fuel nutters) has finally succeeded in convincing the New Jersey Dept. of Environmental Protection to shut down construction on the project–at least temporarily.
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West Virginia University (WVU) has created a new “
Last December the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Environmental Quality Board approved onerous new regulations that supposedly will capture every last molecule of stray methane that leaks from shale drilling operations (see 
In our weekly tracking of the Enverus rig count, the numbers from the latest report (as of Wednesday) show a new record low of 276 active rigs. Quite disturbing for us is that comparing Wednesday of this week with Wednesday of last week, the Marcellus/Utica rig count is down by a whopping six. Ouch. The rig apocalypse continues.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: PA’s gas producers become a political football in new AG report; Crozier Welding, LLC plans $2.5M investment, creation of 15 new jobs in Coshocton; PennEast Pipeline partners still determined to build $1 billion pipeline project; Chesapeake Utilities announces Maryland PSC approval of Elkton Gas acquisition; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Energy Transfer not yet shutting down Dakota Access crude pipeline as it renews stay request; NATIONAL: Electrification is a misguided approach to tackle climate change; Oil went below $0. Some think it will rebound to $150 one day.; Activists not only slow oil pipelines, but also power lines needed for renewable energy; Undone – U.S. LNG export demand unravels; INTERNATIONAL: OPEC Secretary General: “No objective whatsoever” to drive U.S. shale out of business; False Alarm: Bjorn Lomborg’s $69,000 reveal book; For power generation, U.S. LNG emits significantly less greenhouse gases.
In June 2018, EV Energy Partners (EVEP), the drilling subsidiary of EnerVest, emerged from bankruptcy court a mere two months after entering with $355 million of debt erased and sporting a new name: Harvest Oil & Gas Corp. (see 
In April 2019, Pennsylvania State Rep. Mike Turzai, Speaker of the House (who has since resigned and left), along with a group of conservative Republicans, announced a plan for the future of PA (see 
A small Marcellus-focused drilling company based in western Pennsylvania is once again looking for investors. MDS Energy was established in 2005 by Michael D. Snyder. By 2006 the company offered its first investment partnership. Drilling companies today are as much about investments and finance as they are about sinking holes in the ground. MDS quickly grew and in 2007 founded a sister company to concentrate on oilfield services (drilling, construction, etc.) called First Class Energy. First Class has gone on to drill over 1,000 wells, mostly for MDS competitors since MDS itself has not drilled all that many wells–as of the end of 2017 (going by our Marcellus & Utica Shale Upstream Almanac) MDS had eight permits and had drilled four wells–all in Armstrong County, PA.
Yesterday the Pennsylvania House of Representatives voted 130 to 71 (with overwhelming bipartisan support) to pass House Bill (HB) 2025 which would block Gov. Wolf’s attempt to force PA into a northeast carbon tax scheme. We’ve written plenty about Wolf’s plan to force the state to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI (see 
Shame on Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Pat McDonnell for prostituting himself to Gov. Tom Wolf by teasing a forthcoming “report” that says by enacting a jobs-killing carbon tax in the state it will generate 27,000 new jobs, add $1.9 billion to the PA economy, and even save lives. (Maybe the carbon tax can part the Red Sea too?) These are outrageous lies. Perhaps McDonnell should have resigned if Wolf was pressuring him to lie like that. Better to resign with dignity than damage your reputation for becoming known as a paid liar.
There were 9 new permits issued in PA for shale drilling June 29 – July 3. There were no new permits issued in OH for shale drilling during the same time period. There were 2 new permits issued in WV for shale drilling last week.
Can a single pipeline suddenly going offline in the Marcellus/Utica cause the biggest daily drop in natural gas production across the country–ever? Apparently it can. Yesterday TC Energy’s Columbia Gas Transmission subsidiary announced an unplanned outage (for maintenance work) for the Mountaineer XPress pipeline in West Virginia (near Leach, Kentucky). The “force majeure” outage knocked nearly 2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of gas flows offline until at least next Monday, July 13.
Last November MDN told you that Northeast Natural Energy, a small-to-midsized driller headquartered in Morgantown, WV, had lost an arbitration battle and owed a group of landowners in central Pennsylvania $7.9 million in payments for NOT drilling on their land (see 