WV Still Waiting for First Penny of Chinese $83.7B Investment
Two weeks ago at the Northeast Petrochemical Conference in Pittsburgh, a panel of speakers from West Virginia, including former Commerce Secretary Keith Burdette, addressed the topic of Advanced Manufacturing and Petrochemicals related to the shale industry. At the end of the prepared talks, the session was opened to questions from the audience. MDN asked the first question, which was this: “The $83.7 billion question is, what’s going on with the proposed investment in shale and petchem promised by China?”
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PennEnergy Resources, a Pittsburgh based independent oil and gas company focused on the Marcellus/Utica Shale, is getting ready to drill new wells on a pad in Economy (Beaver County), PA. The plan is facing stiff opposition from local residents because it’s located near a housing development in a residential (albeit rural) area, and will use a local road for access.
Another day, another round of press releases from both EQT and the Rice brothers over the future of the company. The two sides are locked in a proxy battle to nominate a majority of board members, who in turn will appoint (or keep) top management for the company. Yesterday’s round of letters was, in essence, a recap of news that broke late last week: One major shareholder advisory firm, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), supports the Rice brothers’ attempt to take over the company, while a second major advisory firm, Glass Lewis & Co., believes existing management is the right answer for EQT’s future.
Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP), a $7 billion, 600-mile pipeline that will stretch from West Virginia into North Carolina, is facing an existential threat by leftist environmentalists. The project is stalled waiting on an appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court, filed last week (see 
A recent article on the Forbes website helps crystallize and expose the strategy of a group we call global warming fundamentalists in their religious quest to block fossil fuels by blocking pipelines. That strategy works this way: Mount enough legal challenges to ramp up costs and ultimately convince pipeline builders to walk away from projects. “Ground zero” in pipeline wars right now is, according to the author, two projects: the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, and the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Both projects are right here in the Marcellus/Utica.
This business of “we must dump the use of fossil fuels and migrate to renewables asap” is not only impractical, it’s lunatic. Yet many adults have bought in to this notion because, we dunno, because they were maleducated in their youth. Radicalized in college. Lied to by the Democrat Party. Take your pick. Just how lunatic is this notion? For the past 100 years the United States has used fossil fuels for 80% *or more* of the energy we use. NOTHING HAS CHANGED. That statistic, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (which tracks these things) says that in 2018 fossil fuel consumption went UP! Not down. We need fossil fuels now more than ever for our energy supplies.
The legal beagles of top energy law firm Babst Calland recently released their ninth annual energy industry report called, “The 2019 Babst Calland Report – The U.S. Oil and Gas Industry: Federal, State and Local Challenges & Opportunities; Legal and Regulatory Perspective for Producers and Midstream Operators.” This latest annual review provides perspective on issues, challenges, opportunities and recent developments in the oil and gas industry that are relevant to producers and midstream operators. In an MDN exclusive, we have the first seven pages of the 92-page report (see below), along with details on how you can request a full copy. Worth the read! Here’s an overview…
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: This is the last job EQT CEO Rob McNally wants to have. But will that work?; Gary Gould joins EQT at the time when the company is locked in proxy battle; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Colorado’s Boulder County imposes oil, gas drilling permit moratorium until March 2020; Natural gas pipeline project carves 29-mile path through Genesee County; NATIONAL: New report warns turning away from oil & natural gas will cost United States $4.5 trillion; U.S. drilling slowdown triggers Weatherford bankruptcy; Every US storage region continues to inject natural gas at above-average pace; BP’s highly unusual natural gas investment; INTERNATIONAL: Risky business: The allure of liquified natural gas; America’s liquefied natural gas boom may be on a collision course with climate change; 672 Mercedes-Benz NGT buses are backbone of environmentally friendly bus transportation in Madrid.
When the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) fiddles around and blows important deadlines, there are consequences. In January 2018, Dominion Energy filed a request with FERC to expand capacity along the existing Dominion Energy Transmission Inc. (DETI) pipeline, to flow Pennsylvania Marcellus gas into Ohio (see 
Two weeks ago MDN provided a list of Marcellus/Utica pipeline projects for which the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is withholding approvals, unnecessarily, due to Democrat commissioners gumming up the works over mythical global warming concerns (see 
In a sad development, the Independent Oil & Gas Association of New York (IOGANY) is losing its superb executive director, Brad Gill (an MDN friend), and its paid office staff, in an effort to cut expenses. The administration of Governor Andrew Cuomo has been hostile to the oil and gas industry in NY–not only with a ban on fracking, but also with new environmental regulations that affect conventional drillers. Cuomo’s actions are having a negative effect on O&G in NY, and IOGANY is dealing with the fallout as best they can. The board of directors is slimming down and will now handle the day-to-day affairs of the association. Along with several other current directors, Brad will remain involved with IOGANY but in a different capacity while he pursues his other oil and gas interests.