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CNX Files Lawsuit Against Builder of SWPA Compressor Station
CNX Resources is in a spat with Applied Construction Solutions over the construction of a compressor station Applied built for CNX. The spat is about money. CNX says it signed a contract to have its Morris Compressor Station built for $12.4 million. After several renegotiations (change orders) the price was adjusted to $15.2 million. But when CNX got a final bill for $19 million, they balked.
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The work is happening fast and furious at the West Virginia state legislature right now. Legislators only have a 60-day session each year in which to pass new laws. More states should limit the time like WV! Yesterday two different Senate committees voted to pass three different bills, including SB 554, also known as the Lease Cancellation Bill.
Earlier this week our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration, published an article chronicling the critical role of electric power generation in the supply and demand of natural gas. Natgas is the #1 source of fuel producing electricity in the U.S. today–and will be for the foreseeable future. We did some research on the PJM Interconnection–the largest grid operator in the U.S. covering 13 states and the District of Columbia. We located a list of the active gas-fired electric plants operating in PJM, and a list of planned gas-fired plants coming to PJM.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: PA DEP to unveil draft regs to participate in RGGI, capping CO2 emissions from power plants, Feb. 13; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Arizona Senate panel – cities can’t stop developers from using natural gas; NATIONAL: Greenpeace pressures Democrats to reinstate the crude export ban; Reinstating the crude export ban would be a gift to OPEC and Russia; INTERNATIONAL: Japan’s average LNG import price to drop in 2020.
Last June MDN brought you the news that Edge Gathering Virtual Pipelines 2 LLC (EDGE) had successfully deployed a special LNG unit to a remote Marcellus well in PA, converting gas from the well into LNG, selling that gas to a utility in New England (see 
Something of a kerfuffle has kicked up in West Virginia over the issue of drillers issuing lease “release” (some call it “cancelation”) notices–issued after a lease has expired. Senate Bill (SB) 554 dominated debate on Tuesday at a meeting of the WV Senate Energy Industry and Mining Committee. WV landowners (and rights owners) say a lot of older leases don’t have a release provision/notice, something landowners need so they can explore leasing with another driller after an existing lease expires. Drillers say the bill as proposed will create a logistical and administrative nightmare of paperwork.
A new Franklin & Marshall College (F&M) poll released today shows a befuddling result. F&M keeps tabs on a variety of political issues in the Keystone State. The latest poll’s findings on the issue of fracking raise some red flags for us. The results are mixed. The poll surveyed 628 registered voters over six days in January. It found 48% of voters support shale gas drilling in Pennsylvania, compared with 44% who oppose it. Pretty thin margin. However, 48% of those same voters favor a ban on all fracking in the state, versus 39% who oppose a ban. Can anyone say schizophrenia?
America’s natural gas and oil industry announced “a landmark partnership” in late 2017 called the Environmental Partnership, to “accelerate improvements to environmental performance in operations across the country” (see 
Little Johnny one-note, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, is once again singing a single note–and that note is a call to destroy what’s left of the PA Marcellus industry with a severance tax. He sang his one-note tune yesterday, doing his best Santa Claus routine. Wolf says he can give away $4.5 billion of “everything” PA residents desire most in life–if only the evil Republican leadership in both chambers of the legislature would allow a vote on his plan.
A number of Marcellus/Utica drillers recycle most, if not all of, the flowback and produced water from the wells they drill. Produced water (from the depths) continues to pour out of wells for years after they’re drilled. Produced water is super salty, filled with minerals. If a driller can’t reuse the water, they must dispose of it–typically via an injection well (in Ohio). Range Resources not only recycles all of its own produced water but also accepts and reuses produced water from 14 other drillers!
Two weeks ago MDN told you about two bills important to the oil and gas industry in West Virginia that are quickly advancing through the state’s current 60-day legislative session (see