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MVP Update: USFWS Needs More Time; Antis Pester DEQ
Last Friday the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) filed a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) asking for an extra 45 days to revise an Endangered Species Act (ESA) review of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project. Also from last week: anti-fossil fuelers (Big Green groups) virulently opposed to MVP (which is 90% built) continued to hound the project by pestering the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) over minor violations the DEQ found in construction activities from September to December. Big Green wants to know what the DEQ is going to “do” about the violations.
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UGI Corp. has just won a case on appeal at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit that overturns an order by a lower court ordering UGI to pay more than $380,000 combined to two sets of property owners for taking their land as part of the Sunbury Pipeline in Snyder County, PA. The landowners who sued used a so-called expert whose testimony was, according to the judges, “speculation and conjecture” and “not good science.” Therefore the lower court award was overturned.
In January the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) finally, after more than a year, agreed to lift a moratorium on new construction work for several Energy Transfer pipeline projects in the state, including the Mariner East 2 and 2X projects (see 
The fix is in. A bankruptcy judge in Delaware yesterday announced he is awarding the sale of the closed Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) refinery to a Chicago developer that has plans to demolish the East Coast’s largest and oldest refinery–and replace it with big, smelly, noisy warehouses with trucks coming and going day and night. The judge’s remarks are telling, citing as one of his main reasons for dumping the refinery is the facility’s “numerous and repeated problems.”
Our friend Mark Mathis from the 
A Boston University professor has gone on a so-called “hunger strike” in his campaign against fossil fuels and a compressor station near Boston that will flow more of them. And you actually *pay* to send your kids to BU?
NATIONAL: House Republicans propose carbon capture and sequestration legislation; Trump sends Danly’s FERC nomination to Senate for second time; Pressure rises on the oil and gas industry to address gas flaring; How the left occupies Attorneys General offices: a case study in capture; Stop playing games with America’s energy future; Enverus and RS Energy Group combine forces; INTERNATIONAL: BP lays out long-term ambition to achieve net-zero emissions; Despite phase-out pledge, EU will continue to fund gas projects.
In 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 their Marcellus/Utica assets (see 
The Ohio Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the Ohio tax commissioner correctly charged Tallgrass Energy’s Rockie Express (REX) pipeline $2 million in excise tax (based on $699 million of income), for gas transported from and to (within) Ohio. REX claimed it did not owe the tax because the same law that exempts gas transported out of state applies to gas sales in-state. But the tax commission, and now the Supremes, say that the portion of gas transported through REX that stays in Ohio is not exempt and can be taxed. So pay up.
Yesterday Dominion Energy issued its fourth quarter and full-year 2019 update. As part of the update, Dominion’s top brass talked about 2020 and beyond. Of particular interest for us was a bunch of news about the company’s stalled Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) project. In particular, Dominion has purchased a small stake in the pipeline from partner Southern Co. for $175 million. The new price tag for the project has now gone to $8 billion. Even with the delays and setbacks in court, Dominion remains 100% committed to building ACP.
A Reuters article warns that U.S. shale gas investors are “bracing” for write-downs by major drillers, particularly in the Marcellus/Utica region. The article chronicles the write-downs we already know about (EQT, CNX, Shell and Chevron) and speculates that others (like Antero and Cabot) may make announcements in the coming days. And then, in a bit of a twist, the article ends with information about BKV (Banpu Kalnin Ventures), to say (a) Banpu’s American shale assets have already been written down before they purchased them, and (b) Banpu will not do any new drilling until the price of gas recovers to at least $3.50/Mcf. They may wait a looooong time.
Three cheers for Pennsylvania State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler). Hip hip hooray! Metcalfe is the Majority Chair of the House Environmental Committee. He’s not a big believer in the hoax/myth of man-made global warming, and he’s not afraid to say so. Because Metcalfe won’t bow down to the climate change worshipers and their twisted agenda, a cabal of “green” groups has colluded to demand House Speaker Mike Turzai fire Metcalfe from the Environmental Committee. When pigs fly my climate changer friends!
Powerhouse consulting firm Deloitte released its “2020 Oil and Gas M&A Outlook” report yesterday (full copy below). In something of a surprise (for us), the experts at Deloitte found that the number of mergers and acquisitions in the oil and gas space went DOWN in 2019, although the value of the deals was up (due to big deals like Occidental’s $55 billion buyout of Anadarko). What’s ahead in 2020? More of the same, according to Deloitte. Wait–aren’t drillers dropping like flies, not able to turn a profit so they’re selling and merging? No, not really.