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PA PUC Begins Geologic Testing Near ME1 Sinkhole
A couple of developments to share with you about the Mariner East 1 NGL pipeline which has been completely shut down since Jan. 21 when a new sinkhole appeared in Chester County exposing a few feet of the bare pipe (see New Mariner East 1 Sinkhole Appears, PA PUC Shuts Down Pipeline).
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We didn’t think it would take long for the oil and gas industry to push back against efforts to raise the state’s severance tax from 5% to 6% and use the “extra” money to fix secondary roads in the state (see 
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Newport, R.I., suffers through days-long natural gas outage; R.I. Gov. Raimondo says state is investigating natural gas outage; NATIONAL: America needs more oil and natural gas pipelines; America cannot afford to ‘keep it in the ground’; INTERNATIONAL: China to use nuclear bomb detonator to mine shale gas in quake zone; Natural gas plan gets boost in small Canadian towns; US LNG landing in Portugal; Europe tops buyers for U.S. LNG with winter cargo influx.
MDN previously reported that last Sunday a new sinkhole appeared exposing a tiny section of the Mariner East 1 (ME1) NGL pipeline in Chester County, PA, prompting Sunoco Logistics Partners to close down ME1 in the Greater Philadelphia area (see 
Coincidentally on the topic of royalty lawsuits (see today’s companion story, 
Since 2012, Pennsylvania has collected the equivalent of a severance tax from Marcellus Shale drillers via something called an impact fee. Same concept as a severance tax. You drill a well, gas comes out, you pay a tax. Except with an impact fee you pay whether or not anything comes out of the ground–a more reliable source of tax revenue than a severance tax!
Why do politicians never seem to grasp the obvious? Distressingly, we’re now reading that a West Virginia State Senator, Randy Smith (Republican, Tucker County), wants to add another 1% to the already-high 5% natural gas and oil severance tax, in order to use the money to fix back roads across the Mountain State.
Utility company Consolidated Edison recently announced it will slap a moratorium on hooking up new customers for natural gas in Westchester County (NYC suburb) beginning March 15 (see 
Last year we reported on rumors that President Trump may issue an Executive Order to overrule states like New York, forcing recalcitrant states to allow new pipeline projects as a matter of national security (see 
Westmoreland Gas, headquartered in Bridgeport, WV, was founded in August 2018 by two industry veterans, one with close ties to Mountain V Oil & Gas. According to a press release issued two days ago, Westmoreland closed on oil and gas assets in WV on Dec. 31, essentially launching the company.
The Independent Oil & Gas Association of West Virginia (IOGAWV) held its annual winter meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday. There was a LOT of talk of WV nabbing the much-talked-about multi-billion dollar NGL storage hub project.
What could have been a major threat not only to Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), but to all pipeline projects, was averted on Tuesday when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case brought by 13 landowners (backed with Big Green money) challenging the right to use eminent domain for private companies.