AEP Retains Drilling Rights for 31K Acres of Park Land Sold to OH
American Electric Power (AEP) recently sealed a deal to sell more than 31,000 acres of land in eastern Ohio to the state of Ohio for $47 million. The state will use it for a state park. However, subsurface rights are not part of the deal. AEP will wisely hold on those rights. At some point AEP may want to drill and frack the land, and that has antis in a tizzy.
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All we can say is, shame on FirstEnergy. They hired people to block petition gatherers trying to get signatures for a referendum for the November ballot. The tactics used can only be described as bullying–sometimes physical. Workers are trying to get enough signatures on a petition to place a referendum on the November ballot. The referendum, if adopted, would overturn House Bill 6 which grants a $1 billion bailout to FirstEnergy’s economically failing nuclear power plants (see 
In September 2018 MDN brought you the news that Southwestern Energy had, for the first time anywhere, sold natural gas to a customer (utility company New Jersey Resources) that has been certified as “responsible gas.” The certification comes from Independent Energy Standards Corporation (IES) and they call it their TrustWell™ Responsible Gas Program certification (see 
Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York, is not only pathetic, he’s transparent. Over the past few weeks multiple people have criticized Cuomo for his no-new-pipeline policies that have lead to pain and suffering for some New York City and Long Island residents who cannot connect to natural gas because of a coming shortage. The New York Post, Wall Street Journal and other media outlets have piled on. So too have President Trump and EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. All in the past seven days! What does little Andy do? Blame shift.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: How to tell Cuomo frets the natural gas shortage: He’s passing the buck; Toomey praises Trump for shale gas exploration policies in Pennsylvania, U.S.; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Optimizing shale well designs could boost Eagle Ford and Permian economics by 19-23%; Cameron LNG natural gas facility officially opens today; Planned natural gas release angers compressor station opponents; NATIONAL: The United States now exports crude oil to more destinations than it imports from; Natural gas and renewables will rule America’s electricity future; Natural gas exports to Mexico swell, but is a tidal wave coming?; INTERNATIONAL: Novatek – TC LNG Shipping JV off “Blocked Person” list.
MDN is on the road in beautiful Pittsburgh, covering the Shale Insight 2019 event, so today’s lineup of stories is all about yesterday’s opening day. We will return with full strength MDN news on Friday. Meanwhile, tag along with MDN and be a virtual attendee at our industry’s marquee event!
President Trump was in rare form as he addressed several thousand people at the 2019 Shale Insight event. He was the closing keynote speaker of the first day of the conference. MDN editor Jim Willis was there to capture the speech for our readers. After acknowledging and praising three cabinet officials who came along with Trump–Dept. of Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, Dept. of Energy Secretary Rick Perry, and EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler (all of whom Trump had high praise for)–Trump opened his remarks this way: “I was here three years ago and you’re much happier now. You’re much wealthier now.” Trademark Trump!
We snapped a number of pictures of President Trump’s speech yesterday. Unfortunately the camera on our phone isn’t the greatest, and we were sitting far back, so the shots are a bit blurry. We snapped quite a few of the big monitor to improve the images. We’re not sure it helped. At any rate, come along to virtually attend the rally!
Yesterday the Pennsylvania House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee “reported out” (i.e. approved) Senate Bill (SB) 694, which is the Senate version of what was House Bill (HB) 247, a bill which allows fully leased parcels that are part of one drilling “unit” to be combined with parcels in a different unit–“cross unit drilling.” The full Senate voted to approve the bill on September 25 by a vote of 49-0 in favor. Yes, a unanimous vote, with both Republicans and Democrats voting to approve it in the Senate. We’re now one vote away from final passage–the full House. There’s little doubt it will pass.
The last time Equitrans talked about the status of its 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline project (from Wetzel County, WV to Pittsylvania County, VA) was July, when the company said the cost for the project had ballooned to $5 billion and the in-service date delayed until mid-2020 (see 
A common refrain for both landowners and drillers who want to buy/sell/swap mineral rights for drilling is the same: How do you find buyers (or sellers)? Some have resorted to auctions. Others, plain old word-of-mouth. They both have a new way to find buyers or sellers: Something called 
The fight to overturn Ohio’s House Bill 6, a $1 billion bailout (freebie) given to FirstEnergy to prop up its uneconomical nuclear power plants is getting nasty. Really nasty. We previously told you about FirstEnergy’s lying commercials that claim China controls the state’s natural gas industry–because a Chinese bank loaned some of the gas-fired plants money (see 