Phila. Gas Works Public Advocate Endorses LNG Export Plan
In September, MDN told you that Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW), the country’s largest municipal-owned utility company, floated a plan to partner with a private company to build a new LNG export facility at its Passyunk Plant located in south Philly (see Phila. Gas Works Floats New Plan for LNG Export Facility). One of the first steps in making such a plan a reality is to run it by the PGW “consumer advocate”–an group appointed to be the voice of consumers as a check on decisions made by PGW management. The consumer advocate has just spoken–and likes the LNG plan!
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When shale drilling activity ramps up, the people who are needed to do all those jobs show up. In droves. Some come from out-of-state. Some are local, and some from in-state but not local. Regardless, they all need a place to sleep. A home away from home (if they aren’t local). Increasingly those places are campgrounds. Problem is, there aren’t enough campgrounds for workers to park their RVs. So enterprising farmers in West Virginia are turning some of their acreage into campgrounds, to profit by hosting shale workers. Some establish small campgrounds, with just a handful of (2-4) sites. But beware–there’s a pile of permits required to operate a campground of any size. Some farmers are skipping the permit process, which is NOT recommended.
A group of 13 landowners in Virginia whose property was force taken by Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) using eminent domain is appealing a case they already lost in federal court to the U.S. Supreme Court. The landowners claim MVP has taken private land–their land–to use for private/corporate gain and not (as the law requires) taken for a “public” benefit. Eminent domain allows the taking of private land for public benefit, but not taking private land for private benefit. The issue really revolves around the question of, What is a public benefit? Can a private company use government powers because what they provide benefits the public? The big question is, will the Supreme Court, which gets some 8,000 such appeals each year, make this appeal one of the 80 or so they consider?
Can fracking save butterflies? According to California University of Pennsylvania’s Supervisor of the Fish & Wildlife, you betcha. You heard how important “pollinators” are, right? We immediately think bees when we hear the word pollinator. But monarch butterflies, a species whose population has dropped 90% since 1990, is also a important pollinator. In places across southwestern PA habitats for the monarch have disappeared, long before shale drilling showed up. Range Resources is helping replant vegetation that monarchs love. And it’s having a big impact. Range’s efforts are not just “throw a few seeds here and there” for publicity. Range is working hard and “willing to do it right.”
Columbia Gas of Massachusetts (NiSource) continues to try and recover (physically and reputationally) from a series of explosions in its local delivery pipelines north of Boston in mid-September (see 
For some time we’ve covered the story of MLPs–master limited partnerships–and how they are being phased out. An MLP is an alternative form of organizing a company (or subsidiary company), different from a corporation. The primary purpose of an MLP is for investors, who buy “units” in the MLP instead of shares of stock, so the investor can pay less in taxes. Trump’s tax cut, while benefiting the little guy (yeah!), disadvantages MLPs (boo!). Which has caused many pipeline companies organized as an MLP to give up that form of structure. Meanwhile, new companies are being formed to buy royalty rights–using the MLP structure! So while pipeline companies are dumping the MLP structure, royalty companies are embracing it.
The “best of the rest”–stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading: Ameren Illinois to undertake two-year natural gas pipeline upgrade beginning in 2019; PUC approves Minnesota Power’s planned natural-gas plant; Natural gas edges lower as the winter season approaches; Bright skies ahead for natural gas price; Natural gas price prediction – prices slip on warm weather forecast; The drilling boom on federal lands is driven more by price than policy; What next as Big Oil moves in on U.S. tight oil?; Pieridae’s Goldboro LNG eligible for German loan; Panama Canal transits four liquefied natural gas vessels in one direction; Fracking in Lancashire: 1.1 magnitude tremor halts work; Sorry China, shipping costs make Europe a LNG hot spot right now; Is $100 oil inevitable?
Although Cabot Oil & Gas extracts natural gas from an area of Pennsylvania where gas fetches some of the lowest prices in the country, the company is making money hand over fist. The company made $122 million in profit during 3Q18 and estimates it will generate “free cash flow” (money in the bank) in the range of $650 million to $700 million in 2019. Cabot has moved from growth for growth’s sake to steady growth and higher dividends. A key part of their growth is the addition of new pipelines.
Southwestern Energy’s third quarter 2018 update on Friday showed the company hitting a new record-high for production. While Cabot Oil & Gas’ production is 100% natural gas (dry gas at that), Southwestern has a mix. The jump in production–to an average of 2.77 billion cubic feet equivalent per day (Bcfe/d)–is largely due to an increase in wet gas (NGL) production. CEO Bill Way said he expects “liquids production” will represent one-third of the revenue the company receives in 2018. Although Way says the company experienced an “outstanding quarter both financially and operationally,” we do have to point out they lost $29 million during 3Q18.
Penn Virginia is an oil and gas driller headquartered in Radnor, PA (near Philadelphia). Although it’s based in the Keystone State, Penn Virginia has only a small presence in the Marcellus Shale–21,700 net acres with no drilled wells (at last check). They concentrate on oil drilling the Texas Eagle Ford Shale play. In July we told you the company is once again trying to sell itself (see 
An important court case was decided on Friday in Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court that potentially impacts all shale drilling in the state. You will recall that seven selfish towns sued the state over the 2012 Act 13 law and it’s provision that would substitute a statewide, uniform and fair set of zoning ordinances for drilling in place of a patchwork, crazy quilt system of local ordinances for oil and gas drilling. Seven selfish towns (including Robinson Township) wanted their own ordinances and sued, ultimately winning at the Supreme Court (see 
In August 2016, energy giant Tenaska (headquartered in Omaha, NE) broke ground to build a 925-megawatt natural gas-fueled power plant in South Huntingdon (Westmoreland County), PA (see 
Events related (or of interest) to the Marcellus and Utica Shale, primarily pro-drilling events. To have your event included (or if you are aware of a worthy event you believe should be on this page), please send the details and/or a link to have it included to the calendar@marcellusdrilling.com email address.