Events related (or of interest) to the Marcellus, Utica and other Appalachian shales happening in the next 90 or so days. Send your calendar items (listed for free!) to: jim (at) marcellusdrilling.com.
Read More “Calendar of Marcellus/Utica Events Now Thru August 2019”
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Senators Santarsiero, Collett to introduce bill giving AG jurisdiction over environmental crimes; NATIONAL: New EIA product expands access to state and regional energy information; Rep. Diana Degette pushes duplicative regulations…again; FERC rescinds policy on issuing Notices of Alleged Violations.
Read More “Energy Stories of Interest: Fri, May 17, 2019”
Hey New York Islanders NHL team–you’re screwed. No new stadium because your governor, Andrew Cuomo has just directed his corrupt Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to deny a permit to build the Williams Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) natural gas pipeline, a pipeline your new stadium needs or won’t get built. You can thank Andy for blowing your billion dollar project. Oh, and residents in NYC’s tenement buildings who won’t have heat next winter because their landlords are being forced by the city to dump fuel oil and now have nothing to switch to? They can thank Andy too, as they huddle with their winter coats on in their freezing apartments.
Read More “NY Gov. Cuomo Denies Permit for Williams NESE Pipeline to NYC”
Yesterday MDN told you that Pin Oak Energy Partners has purchased Protégé Energy’s 10,000 acres of Utica Shale leases (and other assets) located in Washington and Noble counties in Ohio, and Wood County in West Virginia (see Pin Oak Buys Protege Energy’s Utica Assets in Ohio, W.V.). It didn’t take long for Pin Oak to form their first drilling unit in Washington County, called Big Red. We have the details on where it is, and which properties are included.
Read More “Pin Oak Already Planning 1st Utica Well on Protege Acreage in OH”
From time to time we check in on Epsilon Energy, which concentrates most of its effort on the Marcellus in Susquehanna County, PA. Does Epsilon actually do any of its own drilling? No. They partner with (give money to) other companies and the other companies do the actual drilling. Epsilon, according to their website, owns ~4,000 net acres in the PA Marcellus–down from 5,750 net acres which their website showed in February. Epsilon released their first quarter 2019 update earlier this week.
Read More “Epsilon Energy Drilling 4 “Lower Marcellus” Wells in NEPA”
Holy Toledo! Enbridge, a really big pipeline company headquartered in Calgary, Canada, is in the process of buying the 23-mile Generation Pipeline located in northwest Ohio for $100 million. Enbridge owns the Texas Eastern Transmission Company (Tetco), as well as a 50% share in the NEXUS Utica Shale pipeline in the Marcellus/Utica region. It is that later project, NEXUS, that prompted Enbridge to pursue a purchase of Generation Pipeline.
Read More “Enbridge Buys NW Ohio Pipe – Flows Utica Gas to Toledo”
Another chapter in the long-drawn-out saga of the effort to build a 22-mile pipeline in New Jersey. In February MDN reported that New Jersey radicals had succeeded in scuttling a plan to convert an old coal-fired electric plant into using natural gas (see Cape May NatGas Power Plant Dead – Scrub Pines Pipeline Too?). At the time we raised the question about whether the pipeline that would feed the plant would still get built. A state commission that previously approved the pipeline indicated in March they would unapprove it, given the power plant project is now dead (see NJ Commission Pulls Approval for Short Pipe Thru Scrub Pines). However, the commission still has not officially revoked permission to build the pipeline. Why?
Read More “NJ Commission Remains Paralyzed on Revoking Pipeline Approval”
The condition of roads in West Virginia, and how/why they are as bad as they are, was a big topic on Day Two of the West Virginia Oil & Natural Gas Association (WVONGA) spring meeting. A rep from the WV Dept. of Transportation talked with oil and gas folks about WV roads and what can be done. Much of the conversation, judging from reports, revolved around perceptions.
Read More “Shale Industry Impacts on WV Roads Big Topic at WVONGA Meeting”
The best teachers (people) and the best teacher (method of instruction) have the same thing in common: Hands on. As in tactile, doing stuff, rather than sitting in a chair attempting to learn by information dumping. Particularly with elementary-age kiddies. Cabot Oil & Gas and Southwestern Energy recently sponsored the annual Vehicular Career Day where 400 fifth graders from school districts across Susquehanna County climbed into big rigs, buses, and emergency vehicles. The shale industry was well-represented. Needless to say, the kids loved it.
Read More “Capturing the Interest of the Next Generation to Work in PA Shale”
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: PA House begins debate on bill to compensate Delaware River watershed drilling rights owners over $10 billion; Wolf makes closing pitch for infrastructure plan ahead of start of budget season; Steel Nation expands operations; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Broomfield approves six-month oil and gas moratorium; NATIONAL: 6 reasons why it’s time to stand up for natural gas; Bill Nye in defense of the Green New Deal: ‘The planet’s on f—king fire!’; Bipartisan senators seek sanctions on Russian pipeline work.
Read More “Energy Stories of Interest: Thu, May 16, 2019”
Listen up landowners in Washington County, OH: For some of you, your shale lease may now be owned by someone else. Pin Oak Energy Partners, a relatively young Marcellus/Utica driller based in Akron, OH, has purchased all of Protégé Energy’s Utica Shale leases (and other assets) located in Washington and Noble counties in Ohio, and Wood County in West Virginia. The vast majority of the lease transfers are in Washington County.
Read More “Pin Oak Buys Protege Energy’s Utica Assets in Ohio, W.V.”
EdgeMarc Energy, headquartered in Canonsburg, PA (with 45,000 acres of Marcellus/Utica leases), is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, looking to sell all of the company’s assets. The reason? They can’t move their production to market because their main pipeline partner, Energy Transfer’s Revolution Pipeline, exploded last September and ET has not been able to get the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection to allow them to restart it.
Read More “EdgeMarc Energy Files for Bankruptcy, Blames Revolution Pipe”
Speaking of the exploded Revolution Pipeline located in southwestern Pennsylvania that’s led to a driller declaring bankruptcy (see EdgeMarc Energy Files for Bankruptcy, Blames Revolution Pipe Outage), yesterday the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued an order to Energy Transfer, builder of Revolution, to “identify and restore or mitigate all streams and wetlands that it illegally eliminated or altered during the construction” of the pipeline. DEP claims ET “illegally” eliminated at least 23 streams and changed the length of another 120 streams.
Read More “PA DEP Claims Energy Transfer Illegally Damaged Streams, Wetlands”
Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), being built by Equitrans (formerly EQT Midstream), has just agreed to pay a $265,972 fine and submit a plan of corrective action to West Virginia state regulators to fix storm water runoff caused when building the 303-mile pipeline in the Mountain State.
Read More “Mountain Valley Pipe Agrees to Pay $266K Fine for WV Enviro Damage”
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has just upheld a lower court opinion that allows shale drilling to happen *anywhere* in a township, so long as such drilling satisfies standards to protect public health, safety and welfare. This is the end of the road for a lawsuit funded by Big Green that began in 2015 in Westmoreland County, PA.
Read More “PA Supremes Say Drilling Allowed in ALL Districts of SWPA Town”
Advanced Power Services finally breaks ground…TODAY…on building an 1,100 megawatt Utica-fired electric plant in Columbiana County, OH (see New $1.1B Utica-Powered Electric Plant Coming to Columbiana County). The plant, big enough to power 1 million homes (!), was approved by the Ohio Power Siting Board in September 2016 (see $1.1B Utica-Powered Electric Plant in Columbiana Gets State Approval).
Read More “Construction Finally Begins on Columbiana Utica-Fired Power Plant”