Energy Stories of Interest: Tue, Jan 29, 2019
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Lawmaker calls on officials to investigate pipeline players; WV’s Northern Panhandle resurgent; officials cite natural gas, remediation projects; Rover Pipeline donates $40,000 to 4-H; Dominion Energy, Dominion Energy Midstream complete merger; NATIONAL: U.S. energy-related CO2 emissions increased in 2018 but will likely fall in 2019 and 2020; EPA highlights decrease in greenhouse gas emissions and deregulation in annual review; Kinder Morgan sets 2019 budget with emphasis on natural gas projects; Heavy-duty natural gas truck sales down in 2018; New shale tech provides real-time picture, avoids frack hits.
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A 30-inch segment of Enbridge’s Texas Eastern Transmission Company (Tetco) interstate natural gas pipeline exploded one week ago today, sending two people to the hospital and destroying two nearby homes when fires from the blast spread (see 
There’s just no getting around the obvious–that the shale industry is once again heading into something of a dip. We’re not just talking about shale oil drillers scaling back drilling new wells in places like Texas and North Dakota. We’re talking about big gas drillers in the Marcellus/Utica who are signaling that 2019 will see less spending and less drilling, although production won’t decline.
A few weeks ago MDN brought you an updated map showing where Utica drilling has (and has not) happening in Ohio (see 
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 
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 
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