Energy Stories of Interest: Thu, Mar 14, 2019
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Campbell Town Board approves zoning change for landfill expansion; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Jones Act leaves New England out of LNG boom; NATIONAL: Technology expected to counter productivity declines of low permeability formations; U.S. cuts oil production forecast for the first time in 6 months; U.S. supermajors could form new cartel to rival OPEC; Rystad Energy: Oil majors are preparing for a greener future through shale; Perry calls for a full-strength FERC to boost energy exports; INTERNATIONAL: OPEC to be squeezed by U.S. shale until mid-2020s, IEA says; OPEC threatens U.S. once again – privately warns not to pass NOPEC bill.
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A West Virginia Circuit Court case in September 2017, Crowder and Wentz v EQT, found in favor of surface landowners ruling that EQT did not have the right to extend underground shale wells to adjacent properties where EQT also owned the mineral rights (see 
Every now and again we traffic in rumors here on MDN, but we do so rarely and only when we trust the source of the rumor. We have such a rumor to share, from a source we trust implicitly. We’ve been carping for over a year that PTT Global Chemical has repeatedly violated our deep well of patience by hinting that a “final investment decision” (FID) is “coming soon” for their $7-$10 billion ethane cracker complex in Belmont County, OH (see 
BTU Analytics, according to their website, “provides independent fundamentals-based consulting and analytical subscription reports to the North American oil, NGL, and natural gas markets. Our focus is giving clients answers to complex questions supported by data and backed by analysis of the market from wellhead to burner tip.” BTU recently made a bold prediction. The company predicts Marcellus/Utica natural gas production will (already has) plateau at around 31 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d).
In contrast to a prediction by BTU Analytics that the Marcellus/Utica region has plateaued and likely won’t produce more than 31 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas (see Industry Consultant Predicts M-U Output Ceiling is 31 Bcf/d), the number crunchers at the U.S. Energy Information Administration (our favorite government agency) have a different view.
Big Green groups are asking the DC Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider a case it recently decided that says when the federal Clean Water Act gives states one year to review requests for 401 water crossing permits, they have one year (365 days)–not two or three years by gaming the system (see 
Would you feel better if a driller building a shale well pad near your home was “green certified”? Meaning the company has been reviewed and certified by an independent agency for evidence that company adheres to strict environmental standards as it drills. Researchers at Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs set out to answer that question–and they found public opinion of shale drilling would greatly improve if such a “green certification” were in place.
The Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) issued fourth quarter 2018 numbers for Utica shale oil and gas production yesterday, and wow! Both natural gas and oil production rocketed upward. Natgas production was up 32% over the same period last year, to a new all-time high of 663.5 billion cubic feet (Bcf), and oil production hit 5.8 million barrels, up 39% over last year’s 4Q.
Diversified Gas & Oil has been on a mission to buy as many non-shale (conventional) oil and gas wells as it can in the Appalachian Basin. It owns over millions of acres and tens of thousands of wells–many of them located in Pennsylvania. Last fall the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) told Diversified it wants 1,000 of its nonproducing wells plugged in the next five years. Diversified countered it would like to plug 2,000 wells, but over the next 20 years. They ended up compromising.
West Virginia has the right idea. Their legislature meets for 60 days total at the beginning of each new year, and then they’re pretty much done for the year. Go to Charleston, work hard, then leave and go back to your day job. Part-time legislators. Love it! The 2019 session is now done and dusted. In the closing days of the session, two bills to help the oil and gas industry got passed and now wait for Gov. Jim Justice to sign them. However, one very important bill for the industry did not pass.
Ever notice how predators like to hunt in packs? First the Chester County, PA District Attorney launched an ethically questionable “investigation” into “crimes” that may have been committed by building the Mariner East pipelines through his county (see 
Two weeks ago MDN told you that New Jersey radicals had succeeded in scuttling a plan to convert an old coal-fired electric plant into using natural gas (see 
Last September MDN told you that a new natgas-fired electric plant planned for the People’s Republic of Rhode Island in Burrillville was on life support, with antis reaching to pull the plug (see 
Cue the dramatic music, cameras pan on the audience (audience members wearing freakish costumes). It’s time for the beginning of the Natural Gas Hunger Games. We have two contestants: New England and the Canadian Maritimes. Only one will survive and have access to barely enough natural gas to sustain life. Which will it be? Re-cue dramatic music with drums…