Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Mon, Dec 16, 2019
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: When Chevron leaves the region, so will most of its charitable giving; PA DEP invites comments on Mariner East pipeline chapter 102/105 permit revisions; Special permit for LNG by rail foreshadows boon for U.S. small-scale liquefaction; Southwestern Energy: a misunderstood natural gas producer; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: FERC approves Driftwood LNG site preparation work; SandRidge CEO resigns as Icahn-backed board eyes spending plan; Primus Green Energy commissions FEED study for Texas natural gas-to-gasoline plant; NATIONAL: U.S. drops four natural gas rigs as oil count climbs; Shale slowdown takes economic toll; INTERNATIONAL: Global natural gas electricity is gaining on coal; U.N. climate talks end without meeting goals.
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On Wednesday MDN told you Chevron is hinting they will sell off all of their Marcellus/Utica assets (see 
In October MDN told you Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) had been bullied by the Attorney General in Virginia into agreeing to pay a $2.15 million fine and subject itself to stricter monitoring–an ongoing anal exam–as they complete construction of the pipeline in the state (see 
Columbia Gas of Ohio says it can’t build local natural gas delivery pipelines fast enough to meet the demand for new customers. “We’re adding new customers, commercial, industrial, residential, in every quadrant of the region” according to Columbia Gas President Dan Creekmur. And he doesn’t it see it stopping any time soon. So the company is spending big bucks (nine figures) to build new local gas pipelines–this year!
On Wednesday, President Trump presided over the swearing in of Dan Brouillette to serve as the 15th U.S. Secretary of Energy. Vice President Mike Pence administered the oath of office. President Trump nominated Brouillette in November following the announcement of former Secretary Rick Perry’s resignation. He was confirmed last week by the U.S. Senate with a vote of 70-15. The second day on the job as Secretary, Brouillette came out swinging–at both New York and Russia.
We’re always on the lookout for new and better ways to counter the blizzard of lies and smears against shale energy and fossil fuels coming from Big Green and its empty-headed, regurgitating supporters. Honestly, how can you counter the pile of crap they spread via mainstream media day in and day out? Perhaps our Canadian cousins to the north can show us the way. The Province of Alberta (the official government of Alberta) has opened an “energy war room” to push back against all the lies being spread about fossil fuels–in particular lies about Canadian tar sands from which a great deal of oil is extracted.
There is a double standard in existence in New York. A CORRUPT double standard. And the corruption comes from Andrew Cuomo. In 2014 judges on NY’s highest court, the Court of Appeals (all them appointed by the governor) voted to uphold a disastrous energy policy that grants town boards of local municipalities the right to ban fracking, should the state ever allow it, in an entire community (see 
MDN editor Jim Willis had the pleasure of attending yesterday’s S&P Global Platts “Global Energy Outlook Forum” yesterday in New York City. Each year Platts hosts this event, assembling some of the best thinkers and industry participants from across all energy sectors to discuss what happened during the previous year, and what’s on the way next year and down the road with respect to energy. All kinds of energy.
If there is one defining characteristic of a truly conservative Republican, it is that he or she does not like higher taxes. On anything. Conservatives know that higher taxes equal less freedom of individual choice. And higher taxes feed (and perpetuate) the bureaucratic Big Government machine. A lower taxes philosophy is baked into the true conservative’s DNA. Yet a group of brainwashed college students professing to be Republican and conservative (they’re neither) has just launched a group called Young Conservatives for Carbon Dividends to lobby for an insane carbon tax.
In a bombshell announcement yesterday, Chevron said it is writing down (reducing the paper value) of all its shale assets by $10-$11 billion in the fourth quarter. “More than half” of it is a write-down of its Marcellus/Utica assets. Not only that, but Chevron says it is “evaluating its strategic alternatives for these assets, including divestment.” Translation: Chevron has put its M-U assets, all of them (over