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PA DEP OKs Dominion Pipeline to Feed PA NatGas to OH Power Plant
Dominion Energy’s West Loop Project will flow natural gas from western PA into Ohio to feed a new natural gas-fired electric plant being built there. We first noticed this small (but important) project in June 2019 (see Dominion Pipeline to Feed Western PA NatGas to OH Power Plant). The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued final approval for the project in December (see FERC OKs Dominion Pipeline to Feed PA NatGas to OH Power Plant). And now, the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has issued a Section 401 Water Quality Certification for the project.
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It’s full speed ahead for the Adelphia Gateway Pipeline project in southeastern Pennsylvania. In December the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a final approval for the project (see 
Seneca Resources, the drilling arm of National Fuel Gas Company, does most of its exploration and production in central and western Pennsylvania (although it also does some drilling in California). A spokesman for Seneca recently went on the record to talk about the company’s prolific 2019 production, with a forecast for 2020 (production is going UP). However, the company plans to ax one of its three rigs in 2020.
Electric fracking (or e-fracking) continues to displace traditional fracking in the Marcellus/Utica. What’s the difference between the two? Traditional fracking uses diesel-fueled engines to produce electricity to power pressure pumps for hydraulic fracturing operations. Electric fracking uses natural gas from the well pad to power turbines to create electricity. Electric fracking fleets are roughly half the size of traditional diesel fleets–and a whole lot quieter.
Last Friday (and again yesterday) the price of natural gas futures–the NYMEX NGc1 futures price (based on gas selling at the Henry Hub)–went below $2 per MMBtu (or Mcf). It was the lowest price we’ve seen in nearly four years. In fact, as this post is being written, the latest price NGc1 (Tuesday morning) is trading at is $1.93. Is there any hope for prices to increase?
Nearly a year ago a lawsuit brought by greedy lawyers (ab)using a group of 21 children against the United States for not doing enough about mythical man-made global warming began in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (see 
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Area residents respond to oil, gas documentary about plastic problem; FERC decision this week for PennEast Pipeline; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: San Francisco bans natural gas in new, remodeled municipal buildings; Protests target a ‘carbon bomb’ linking two major pipelines outside Boston; Persistent fog reduces activity at Cheniere’s Sabine Pass LNG terminal; NATIONAL: EIA expects U.S. energy-related CO2 emissions to decrease annually through 2021; Schlumberger plans U.S. pullback as shale oil drillers struggle; Natural gas 2019 review and what lies ahead in 2020.
Dear MDN Reader:
It’s been a while since we’ve updated our calendar of events page. We just have. The list below includes events related (or of interest) to the Marcellus, Utica and other Appalachian shales happening from now through the end of March. Be sure to check it out!
Two weeks ago the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced the largest fine for a single company/project in its history. DEP slapped Energy Transfer (ET) with a $30.6 million fine for the construction and subsequent explosion of the company’s Revolution gathering pipeline in western PA (see 
The gloves are off in Harrisburg. We previously told you about Gov. Wolf’s plan to have PA join with northeastern states in the so-called Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a regional alliance to slap a carbon tax on natural gas-fired electric plants (see 
PA Rep. Cris Dush, a Republican from Jefferson County, is about to introduce two bills that would either dissolve both the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) and Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) or withdraw PA from both compacts.
Aqua America, the nation’s second-largest water/wastewater utility company headquartered near Philadelphia, announced in October 2018 it would buy Peoples Gas, the nation’s fifth-largest natural gas utility company headquartered in Pittsburgh, for $4.275 billion (see 
We’ve often said if we could have anyone else’s brain who writes about the Marcellus/Utica, it would be Tom Shepstone’s brain. Tom, who has become a good friend over the years, writes the