Jimmy Cramer was one of the last Democrats of national prominence we actually respected. No more. Cramer has succumbed to the Dark Side of the Force. In a recent CNBC interview Cramer blurted out: “I’m done with fossil fuels. They’re done. They’re just done.” Later in the interview he called fossil fuels, “tobacco.”
Read More “Jim Cramer Succumbs to the Dark Side – “Done with Fossil Fuels””
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Wolf makes nearly $6 billion in pre-budget address announcements; Pipeline projects create jobs, grow unions; Dominion submits request to plug 3 gas storage wells in Westmoreland County; Newly revealed restrictions challenge redevelopment of bankrupt Philly refinery’s land; Proposed fund to help spur WV investment; NATIONAL: EID investigation sheds light on activist-driven media platform; A battle of interference: New York attorney general seeks to block group’s effort to intervene; U.S. oil fields flared and vented more natural gas again in 2019.
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Mon, Feb 3, 2020”
Yesterday the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) handed the PennEast Pipeline project a huge victory in its fight to overturn a poor decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. FERC said the judges of the Third Circuit were wrong in their ruling that PennEast cannot use FERC’s delegated power of eminent domain to cross property owned or managed by the State of New Jersey. The FERC ruling bolsters PennEast’s appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, making it far more likely the high court will now hear the case.
Read More “FERC Gives PennEast Huge Boost – Pipeline CAN Cross NJ State Land”
With the big news about Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) support of the PennEast Pipeline project, FERC ruling the pipeline CAN cross New Jersey state-controlled lands using eminent domain (see today’s lead story), another important bit of PennEast news from yesterday seems to have gotten lost in the sauce. PennEast filed a request yesterday with FERC to build the pipeline project in two phases. Break the project in two.
Read More “PennEast Asks FERC to Break Pipeline Project into 2 Phases”
CNX Resources reports losing $271 million in the fourth quarter of 2019–but it wasn’t an actual money-out-of-pocket loss. The company wrote down the value of its Marcellus Shale assets (called an impairment). The company took a $327 million impairment charge for its Marcellus assets in PA, and a $119 impairment charge for unproved gas properties in the Marcellus. Below we have details on how many Marcellus wells CNX drilled and completed in 4Q and for the full year, and what company’s top brass says about what’s ahead for CNX in 2020 and beyond.
Read More “CNX Reports $271M Loss in 4Q19; Cutting Back on 2020 Drilling”
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.
Read More “CNX Files Lawsuit Against Builder of SWPA Compressor Station”
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.
Read More “3 O&G Bills Advance in WV Senate, Including Lease “Cancellation””
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.
Read More “Power Generation is Critically Important Market for M-U NatGas”
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.
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Fri, Jan 31, 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 Stranded PA Marcellus Gas Converted to LNG, Trucked to New England). EDGE’s “virtual pipeline” solution aims to solve the problem of flaring, lack of pipelines, and (frankly) lack of good local markets into which to sell the gas. Great news! EDGE is expanding its service in the Marcellus, converting gas into LNG from a “large producer” located in Tioga County, PA.
Read More “EDGE Expands Op to Convert Stranded Marcellus Gas to LNG in NEPA”
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.
Read More “WV Drillers Take Issue with Landowners re Lease “Release” Bill”
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?
Read More “Latest F&M Poll Shows 48% of PA Residents Favor Frack Ban”
Chesapeake Energy released preliminary 2019 fourth quarter production and operational results yesterday. The company said it’s making progress with reducing its mammoth debt. Oil production, which the company increasingly focuses on, was 6% higher in 4Q19 than 4Q18. But the stock price remains low, bumping along just above $0.50 per share (in danger of being delisted, see NYSE Warns Chesapeake Energy Stock to be Delisted…Unless). As always, our interest is in Chesapeake’s prolific Marcellus program. Although the Marcellus only gets a brief mention in this update, what they said certainly caught our attention.
Read More “Chesapeake 4Q19 Update – Using Pad Compressors in Marcellus”
Nuverra Environmental Solutions (formerly Heckmann) is one of the largest companies in the United States that handles transportation and disposal of shale drilling wastewater and leftover rock and dirt from drilling. The company has major operations in the Marcellus/Utica region. Yesterday Nuverra announced the successful completion of its 2000th field ticket for its operators in the Marcellus and Utica basins using…blockchain. What the heck is that?
Read More “Nuverra Uses Blockchain to Streamline Marcellus Wastewater Hauling”
In April 2018 Williams filed a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to expand capacity along the mighty Transco Pipeline to increase the amount of gas the pipeline can flow to the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern U.S by 296 million cubic feet per day. The Southeastern Trail expansion project (SET), as it’s called, was given final approval by FERC in October 2019 (see FERC Approves Transco Southeastern Trail Expansion Pipe Project). Last Friday Williams asked FERC for permission to begin construction in Prince William and Fauquier counties in Virginia.
Read More “Construction to Begin on Southeastern Trail Expansion Pipe in VA”
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 NatGas, Oil Industry Partnership to Accelerate Methane Reductions). The latest O&G company to join up and help reduce methane and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions is…Williams!
Read More “Williams Joins Environmental Partnership to Help Lower CH4 Emissions”