Early yesterday morning around 1:20 am, the Texas Eastern Transmission Company (TETCO) pipeline exploded near a trailer park in Lincoln County, Kentucky. The blast and resulting fire killed one woman, injured five more, and destroyed five homes in the area. Flames shot up more than 300 feet into the air, visible from neighboring counties.
Read More “TETCO Pipe Explodes in Kentucky Killing 1; Southbound M-U Gas Stops”
Yesterday Antero Resources, one of the biggest (and best) drillers in the Marcellus/Utica, issued their second quarter update. The company spent the lowest amount of money to drill in 2Q of any quarter since 2013 (just $303 million), yet production was 28% higher in 2Q than a year ago.
Read More “Antero Resources Sets a Drilling World Record in 2Q”
Last December MDN brought you news of a new Transco pipeline expansion project, the Williams “Leidy South Project,” to expand Transco capacity in Pennsylvania (see Williams Unveils “Leidy South Project” to Expand Transco in PA). The good news is that Williams has just officially filed a full application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to build Leidy South.
Read More “Williams Files Leidy South Project with FERC to Expand PA Transco”
A new group has formed in New York State with the aim of using a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision as ammunition to sue NY over its ban on hydraulic fracturing. The new group, called Landowner Advocates of New York (LANY), was started by MDN friend Vic Furman. Could this finally be the solution to force Andrew Cuomo to allow fracking?
Read More “New York Group Launches to Sue Cuomo/State re Frack Ban”
Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), a 303-mile natural gas pipeline from West Virginia into Virginia (being built by Equitrans Midstream) is now 85% complete. Lawsuits are holding up completion of the pipeline, now expected to be done in mid-2020. The project has faced opposition from a small but dedicated group of loons willing to break the law (see Left-Wing Radical Arrested, Removed from MVP Excavator in Va./). Roanoke Gas is stepping up to say MVP and the gas it will bring to the region is “critical” for their gas customers.
Read More “Mountain Valley Pipe “Critical” to Roanoke Gas Customers”
This is no joke. It’s not an “Onion” piece where we’re trying to fool you. In June the New York State legislature passed a horrific “energy” bill that was later signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo (see New York Pulls the Trigger, Commits Energy Suicide with New Law). The new law limits carbon dioxide emissions to zero (an impossibility) by 2050. Everyone is now waking up and saying, “Oh crap, what did we just do?” You see, almost everyone in the state uses either fuel oil, natural gas or propane to heat their homes during our exceptionally cold winters. That’s all gone by 2050–no more burning fossil fuels to heat your home. Welcome to the USSR of NY.
Read More “New York Residents Must Dump Oil & Gas Furnaces by 2050”
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: The Catch-22 of low natural gas prices; Take it from FERC, we need PennEast pipeline and natural gas; Morrisey leads brief against ruling on Atlantic Coast Pipeline; NATIONAL: Heat wave results in highest U.S. electricity demand since 2017; More jet fuel locks-in more oil demand; Trump campaign seizes on Biden’s pledge to eliminate coal, fracking; INTERNATIONAL: OPEC sees oil surplus in 2020 amid shale surge; Prospects for natural gas demand growth in Western Canada.
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Fri, Aug 2, 2019”
Dominion Energy, a huge company with its fingers in many energy pies (pipelines, LNG exports, power generation, utility company) issued its second quarter update yesterday. Although the company is large and yesterday’s update spanned many different initiatives, there was no escaping the fact that much of yesterday’s conversation revolved around the company’s stalled Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) project.
Read More “Dominion 2Q Update: The Battle to Build Atlantic Coast Pipe”
How much “due diligence” must a landowner engage in when it comes to locating a long lost mineral rights owner in Ohio? According to Ohio’s Dormant Mineral Act (ODMA), the landowner who wants to reclaim mineral rights that were severed must (a) send a certified letter to the last known address of the rights owner, and (b) if that doesn’t work, publish a notice in local newspapers to try and find the long lost rights owner. After that, the landowner can reclaim the mineral rights (an oversimplification, but you get the idea).
Read More “OH Court Says Internet Search to Find Mineral Owners Not Required”
In March MDN reported that work has restarted, after eight years, to complete an injection well in Mahoning County, OH (see Work Restarts at 8-Year Dormant Youngstown, OH Injection Well). The Ohio EPA, ever vigilant as they are, recently issued the project a notice of violation…but not for any work related to the injection well itself.
Read More “New Mahoning Injection Well Online Soon; OEPA Issues Violation”
In March, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf traveled to an elementary school in South Philadelphia with the message that only a severance tax on Marcellus Shale production stands in the way of cleaning up lead paint problems that are poisoning the little kiddies at the school (see Gov. Wolf’s Campaign of Lies re Severance Tax Continues in Philly). We were, rightly, incensed. If children are being poisoned by lead paint in Philly schools, find the money somewhere and fix the problem–NOW. It seems we weren’t the only ones thinking that way. Wolf has magically found $4.3 million to fix the problem…without a severance tax.
Read More “PA Gov Magically Finds $ to Fix Philly Schools w/o Severance Tax”
We love happy endings, and this story has one. Despite claims by anti-fossil fuelers that the Tenaska Westmoreland Generating Station in southwestern PA would spread disease and death if it got built, it’s been up and running since last December–producing power and generating money for both its builders and the community–and everyone is just fine. Cue the Pete Seeger song “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” and replace “Flowers” with “Antis”…
Read More “Tenaska’s Westmoreland Gas-Fired Plant – Generating Power & Money”
Yet another cockamamie “study” (i.e. propaganda) about the negatives of fracking–this one done by the University of New Hampshire claiming a few hikers and outdoor enthusiasts in Pennsylvania will have to find someplace else to hike and enthuse…because of evil Marcellus fracking. The thing that really angers us is that Pennsylvania taxpayers paid for this “study”!
Read More “New Study Claims PA Fracking Stops Hikers from Having Good Time”
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette continues to get a lot of negative reaction to its grossly irresponsible series of stories attempting to connect shale drilling to several cases of childhood cancer in southwestern Pennsylvania (see Response to Pittsburgh Newspaper Smear Campaign re Child Cancer). The founder and CEO of Steel Nation, a company deeply involved in the Marcellus/Utica shale industry, is the latest to push back against the Post-Gazette‘s irresponsible series.
Read More “Steel Nation CEO Pushes Back on Post-Gazette Cancer Stories”
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: PUCO threatens to shut down natural gas company; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: U.S. Department of Energy approves LNG exports from Gulf LNG; Bakken gas muscling out Western Canadian supply from Chicago market; NATIONAL: Rystad Energy finds employment is shifting from shale to offshore; Hurricane Barry knocked 700,000 barrels of oil per day offline and hardly anyone noticed; Bill improving natural gas pipeline safety advances in Congress; INTERNATIONAL: Google’s celeb-obsessed search for climate change answers is a hypocritical joke.
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Thu, Aug 1, 2019”
CNX Resources, formerly the CNX Gas division of CONSOL Energy, released its second quarter update yesterday. The big news is that during 2Q CNX drilled the longest new Marcellus well ever…at 19,609 feet! The company reports production jumped 10%, from 123 Bcfe last year to 135 Bcfe in 2Q19, and net income jumped 216% from $61 million last year to $193 million in 2Q19.
Read More “CNX Drills Longest Marcellus Well EVER – Big Budget Cuts in 2020”