Good old American ingenuity has done it again. A company in Oklahoma called Newpoint Gas has, using existing technology, developed a process to produce clean water, electricity and hydrogen energy from natural gas–and do it with zero emissions. How cool is that?
Read More “New Way to Produce Water & Electric from NatGas w/Zero Emissions”
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Sen. Casey throws supports behind Gov. Wolf’s Restore PA plan; The war on natural gas stunts our economy, crushes the working class; NYC Mayor de Blasio warns of natgas moratorium consequences; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Wildcatter Floyd Wilson launches Falconer Oil and Gas Corp.; Colorado governor signs major overhaul of oil and gas rules; Utility may retire McIntosh Unit 3 in favor of natural gas, solar; Yoga mats debut at Texas industry meeting; NATIONAL: Natural Gas Council urges trump to fill vacancies at FERC; The frac sand revolution – “last mile” logistics; INTERNATIONAL: Anti-fossil fuelers go berserk, turn violent in London.
Read More “Energy Stories of Interest: Wed, Apr 17, 2019”
We spotted an article in the Pittsburgh Business Times (one of our favorite pubs) announcing Mark Marmo, CEO of Deep Well Services, as the winner of the 2019 Fox Rothschild Outstanding CEOs and Top Executives Award. The award is well deserved. Mark is a great leader and a great person. As cool as the award is, Mark is quoted in an interview about the award sharing information that is, for us, the top news to report today: Deep Well is currently helping drill what are the three longest onshore shale wells ever drilled in the U.S.
Read More “Deep Well Services Helps Drill 3 Longest Onshore Laterals in U.S.”
It’s no secret that upstream companies (drillers) like EQT are trimming head count and reducing annual spending. So it probably won’t come as a surprise that EQT has put 46,000 square feet (out of 250,000 sq. ft.) in its palatial headquarters in downtown Pittsburgh up for sublease. Meanwhile, in a contrasting bit of news, midstream (pipeline) company Williams has just renewed the lease for its big regional Pittsburgh headquarters at Park Place Corporate Center–a 112,481 sq. ft. building.
Read More “EQT Downsizing Pittsburgh Office; Williams Keeping Big Office”
Antero Resources’ innovative wastewater recycling facility in Doddridge County, WV began operation in November 2017 (see Antero’s $275M WV Wastewater Recycling Facility Ready to Launch). Since that time, the Clearwater Facility has continued to expand. Today it operates at about 70% of its full capacity.
Read More “Antero’s WV Frack Wastewater Plant “Best Project Like it in World””
In a new and important development in New York State’s war against natural gas pipelines, local utility Consolidated Edison says if the Williams Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline project is delayed or canceled, not only will Westchester suburbanites continue to be subject to Con Ed’s ban on new customers from hooking up to receive natgas, so too will customers who live in New York City itself.
Read More “Con Ed Threatens NYC Proper: No New Pipe, No New Gas Customers”
Yesterday our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration, issued our favorite monthly report, the Drilling Productivity Report. The DPR is a forecast of oil and gas production in the country’s seven major shale plays for the coming month, made by the expert number crunchers at EIA.
Read More “EIA Apr ’19 Drilling Report: Shale Gas Production Almost 80 Bcf/d”
New York State is already doing it, Pennsylvania is actively considering doing it, and now, Ohio has caught the contagion too. The “it” we’re talking about is soaking electric rate payers to pump more money into the coffers of big corporations so they can keep uneconomic and financially failing nuclear electric generating plants operating. Both PA and OH lawmakers have floated plans to soak rate payers in their respective states.
Read More “PA, OH Bills Would Prop Up Failing/Expensive Nuclear Power Plants”
Federal Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler recently granted a “wide-ranging” interview to Reuters. The first series of questions from the reporter dealt with last week’s Executive Order signed by President Trump, instructing the EPA to tweak the existing Clean Water Act Section 401 certification process. Wheeler said the agency was already working on the tweaks before Trump signed the order, knowing that the order was on the way.
Read More “EPA was Already Working on Revised 401 Cert. Before Trump’s EO”
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Manchin looks ahead to natural gas possibilities; President’s order to speed oil and gas infrastructure permits a winning move; NATIONAL: Sen. Elizabeth Warren says she’d ban new fossil fuel production on federal lands as president; U.S. Supreme Court denies natgas-fired generators challenge of nuclear subsidies.
Read More “Energy Stories of Interest: Tue, Apr 16, 2019”
Another truly huge merger/buyout was announced Friday when Chevron said it is buying Anadarko Petroleum for $33 billion. When you factor in Chevron assuming Anadarko’s debt, the total deal is valued at $50 billion, a number hard to wrap your brain around. The key question for us is: What does this mean for Chevron’s drilling program in the Marcellus/Utica?
UPDATE: See our note below about Anadarko in PA.
Read More “Permian Love Story: Chevron Buying Anadarko in $50B Megamerger”
The Pennsylvania Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) is grabbing more money that we think belongs to private landowners. This time from leasing land underneath the Youghiogheny River and Little Pine Creek. DCNR has leased 124.2 acres for a signing bonus of $496,800 (or $4,000 per acre). Plus the state’s customary royalty rate of 20% on anything produced. And no, the state does not allow post-production deductions–they get their full 20% royalty.
Read More “More Royalty Theft by PA DCNR – Streambeds Leased for $497K”
Energy Solutions Consortium (ESC), based in Buffalo, NY, will begin construction on West Virginia’s very first Marcellus gas-fired electric generating plant sometime “this summer.” The exact date has not yet been set, but should be announced soon. However, in a bit of a surprise (for us), the state’s first natgas-fired plant to get built will not be (as we thought) in Brooke County. Instead, it will be in Harrison County.
Read More “WV’s First Gas-Powered Elec Plant Begins Construction This Summer”
MarkWest Energy, now part of MPLX (Marathon Petroleum) operates the nation’s largest cryogenic gas processing plant operation in the country–in West Virginia. The Sherwood Complex in Doddridge County, WV has the capacity to process up to 2.2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natgas, along with fractionation (separating out ethane) of up to 60,000 barrels per day (bpd). This year the facility will expand.
Read More “Nation’s Biggest NatGas Processing Plant (in WV) Getting Bigger”
According to Anne Blankenship, executive director of the West Virginia Oil & Natural Gas Association (WVONGA), “We have only begun to scratch the surface of developing this enormous resource beneath us,” referring to shale oil and gas in the state. As part of a larger interview with WV media, Blankenship shared a list of the 10 biggest natural gas producers in the state, along with the top 10 biggest oil producers in the state. We always dig that kind of information and thought you would too.
Read More “West Virginia’s Top 10 Gas & Oil Producers, According to WVONGA”
A small LNG export facility at a site on the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida received a favorable final environmental impact state (FEIS) last Friday from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Eagle LNG, the project sponsor, says FERC will almost certainly approve the project for construction sometime later this year. They plan to have it built and running by 2021.
Read More “FERC Grants Final Enviro OK to Jacksonville, FL LNG Export Plant”