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    Army Corps Engrs Reinstates MVP Permits for 4 WV River Crossings

    In May, the radical Sierra Club claimed a victory in temporarily stopping construction work of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) at four river crossings in West Virginia (see Army Corps Engineers Suspends MVP Permit for River Crossings). The Sierra Club and a mishmash of other radicalized green groups filed a motion asking the Fourth District U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to suspend a permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that allows MVP to construct the pipeline across streams and rivers in the Mountain State. The Clubbers’ tortured logic was this: When constructing the pipeline across a river, the stated standard (according to the permit) is that construction can take no longer than 72 hours. MVP says it will need longer when constructing the pipeline across four rivers–Elk, Gauley, Greenbrier and Meadow. Therefore (say the Clubbers), MVP is in violation of the general permit issued by the Corps and that means ALL (not just those four rivers) construction should be stopped, immediately. The Corps said they had reviewed the standards and at that point (in May) rescinded the permit as it applies ONLY to those four rivers, NOT to any locations. The Corps has just reissued the permit in question, tweaked to allow MVP more time. That’s the new news and the good news. However, in June the Fourth District Court agreed with the Clubbers and for now, has stopped construction at all 591 stream crossings the pipeline traverses in WV (see Sierra Club Succeeds in Delaying MVP Project in WV via Court Order). So even though the underlying reason the case was brought in the first place, that construction will take longer at four crossings (out of 591) is now resolved, the court order is still in place preventing work at any of the crossings in WV…
    Read More “Army Corps Engrs Reinstates MVP Permits for 4 WV River Crossings”

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    Dominion Surrenders to Mt. Vernon – Relocating Compressor Station

    In October 2016, Dominion announced a new pipeline project called Eastern Market Access Project (see Dominion Announces $145M Project to Expand Gas Supply to DC & MD). The project will beef up two compressor stations in Virginia, build a new compressor station in Maryland, and add a couple of pipeline taps near Washington, D.C. The purpose of the $145 million project is to deliver more gas to Washington Gas (and its customers), and to deliver gas to a new gas-fired electric power plant being built in Maryland. A Dominion spokesman confirmed for MDN that the gas will come from either the Marcellus or Utica plays. The compressor station slated to get built in Maryland sits just across the Potomac River from Mount Vernon–the home and estate of our illustrious first president, George Washington. Mount Vernon is designated as a National Historic Landmark and part of the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places. If you’ve ever visited, it has an incredible view. The folks operating Mount Vernon took exception to a compressor station junking up that incredible view. Dominion says you won’t be able to see the compressor station at all from Mount Vernon, but Dominion’s arguments fell on deaf ears. Last week Mount Vernon launched a very public campaign to stop the new Dominion compressor station from locating across the river. The campaign worked. Facing a PR nightmare, Dominion issued a statement saying they will work with Mount Vernon to find a new/different location for the compressor station, something acceptable to both sides…
    Read More “Dominion Surrenders to Mt. Vernon – Relocating Compressor Station”

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    Europe Building New Cracker, to be Fed by Marcellus/Utica NGLs

    Here’s some exciting news: The first ethane cracker plant to get built in Europe in the past 20 years has just been announced by INEOS. Based in Switzerland, INEOS is a young but rapidly growing chemical company with roughly $40 billion in sales per year. INEOS’ competitors would be companies like BASF, Bayer and Dow Chemical. INEOS has its fingers in a lot of pies. For example, the company currently has two ships that shuttle Marcellus and Utica Shale ethane from Philadelphia to Scotland and Norway (see Ineos Gets Ready to Begin Ethane Exports from Marcus Hook, PA). INEOS has also been tapped to provide the technology for an ethane cracker plant to be built in Belmont County, OH (see PTT Taps Swiss Company INEOS for OH Cracker Plant Technology). INEOS already owns their own cracker plant in Scotland (see Cracker Plant in Scotland “Brought Back to Life” Thx to Marcellus Ethane). Now the company plans to build a €2.7 billion (US$3.2 billion) cracker plant and propane dehydrogenation unit in northern Europe. A specific country/location has not yet been selected. An INEOS official said, regarding the new cracker facility: “All our assets will benefit from our ability to import competitive raw materials from the US and the rest of the world.” Our translation: We love cheap Marcellus/Utica NGLs, and this plant will use lots of it…
    Read More “Europe Building New Cracker, to be Fed by Marcellus/Utica NGLs”

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    Appalachia Resist! OH “Camp” Trains Children to be Eco-Jihadists

    We find this story truly disgusting, and disturbing. On the Fourth of July, a small group of parents in Ohio forced their children to attend an Appalachia Resist! protest “camp” in Athens where the kids were brainwashed and indoctrinated, taught to hate fossil fuels and hate the people that work to extract them. Perhaps parents passing down their irrational hatred to their children is nothing new–but teaching kids how to sabotage equipment and spike trees, in order to stop legal fossil fuel extraction activities, is rather new–or at least not something you see a lot of. What kind of country have we become where parents do this to their kids?…
    Read More “Appalachia Resist! OH “Camp” Trains Children to be Eco-Jihadists”

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    Oil & Gas Workers Make Highest Average Paychecks in U.S.

    Oil and gas is back, and back in a big way. During the downturn in 2015-2016, hundreds of thousands of people lost their jobs in the shale industry when companies like Chesapeake Energy, Halliburton and others laid off thousands at a time. Our industry is a boom and bust industry, there’s no denying it. The work is there, until it isn’t. Last year our industry began to turn around once again. These days, workers are once again in high demand. If you’re a truck driver in Texas making under six figures, you’re not working in the shale industry (see WSJ story: Hot commodity in the shale boom: truckers). Researchers at Bloomberg (yes, left-leaning Bloomberg) are reporting that of all the industries in the U.S., those working in “energy” (including oil and gas) now make the highest average salaries of any industry. The median pay for energy workers last year was $123,000! If you’re looking for work, or looking to change careers, now is the time to check out the shale industry…
    Read More “Oil & Gas Workers Make Highest Average Paychecks in U.S.”

  • Energy Stories of Interest: Fri, Jul 6, 2018

    The “best of the rest”–stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading: Cheniere gets permit for new LNG plant in Corpus Christi; Washington Metro upgrades fleet with hundreds of new CNG buses; war on coal is becoming war on natural gas; US crude by rail traffic rebounds in 1Q; fracking-induced earthquakes generate “anxiety” in the public; Suez Canal opens up to more LNG carrier traffic; US-Mexic oil and natgas alliance will stay strong; two biggest threats to the natgas boom; China keeps LNG off tariff list for now, but will it become a trade weapon later?; and more!
    Read More “Energy Stories of Interest: Fri, Jul 6, 2018”

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    Major Federal Court Decision Opens Door to Stop DRBC Frack Ban

    A lawsuit that began in 2016 is finally bearing fruit, and may lead to blocking efforts by the rogue Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) to block fracking in Wayne and Pike counties in Pennsylvania. In May 2016, a landowner in Wayne County filed a lawsuit against the DRBC asking a judge to declare that the DRBC does not have jurisdiction to prevent construction of a natural gas well (see Wayne County, PA Landowner Sues DRBC Over Fracking Ban). The Wayne landowner argued in U.S. District Court that oil and gas wells, under the DRBC’s charter, do not constitute a “project” that is regulated by the DRBC and therefore are exempt from oversight from the DRBC. The way the DRBC so broadly reinterprets the word “project” in the original charter, it allows them to regulate anything and everything. In March 2016, MDN reported that U.S. District Judge Robert Mariani ruled against the landowner (see Judge Tosses Wayne County, PA Landowner Lawsuit Against DRBC). At first blush it seemed like a setback for landowners in Wayne and Pike counties. But looks can be deceiving. As we pointed out, when you read the judge’s decision, he harpoons all of the DRBC’s legal arguments, but in the end rules against the landowner. Why? Because the judge wanted to send the case to a higher court for an ultimate decision–the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. Which is precisely where the case ended up. Last November oral arguments were heard in the appealed case. The DRBC’s lawyer conveniently had a couple of fainting spells that delayed the proceedings when tough questioning didn’t go his way (see DRBC Lawyer Nearly Faints 2nd Time When Questioned by Fed Judges). On Tuesday, July 3rd, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled, sending the case back down to U.S. District Court with orders to more fully consider what is, and what is not, meant by the word “project” in the original DRBC charter. Interpretation: This is a MAJOR victory for the landowner, and a MAJOR defeat of the DRBC. No, the case isn’t over yet, but now the full case will get heard. The legal arguments in the case clearly support the landowner. The rogue DRBC is very nervous, as evidenced by reaction from their proxy mouthpiece, THE Delaware Riverkeeper…
    Read More “Major Federal Court Decision Opens Door to Stop DRBC Frack Ban”

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    Sunoco Seeks to Use Alternate Pipe Near Philly to Get ME2 Flowing

    Years ago when Sunoco Logistics Partners (aka Energy Transfer Partners) originally proposed and planned the Mariner East 2 twin pipelines from the edge of eastern Ohio through the entire length of Pennsylvania to the Marcus Hook refinery near Philadelphia, the completion date promised was the end of 2016. Little could Sunoco foresee the multiple lawsuits, regulatory hearings and illegal protest actions that would conspire to throw the project off schedule for more than a year and half. When pipeline companies plan such multi-billion dollar projects, they first get customers (drillers) to sign on the dotted line, guaranteeing there will be enough product (and revenue) to make the project worthwhile. Drillers *did* sign on the dotted line, and they’re still waiting. Waiting and now pressuring Sunoco to get the darned thing up and running. The pipeline itself is 98% complete–in the ground and connected. But an all-important 2% is still not complete, most of it in the Philly suburbs–Delaware and Chester counties. Sunoco continues to have problems with underground horizontal directional drilling and with ongoing litigation by towns in the Philly area. What to do, with customers breathing down your back? Sunoco has come up with an ingenious solution that is sure to send the crazies into orbit. Sunoco is asking the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) for permission to use part of an existing 12-inch pipeline in that area that previously carried refined petroleum products (things like gasoline, heating oil, and jet fuel), repurposing the pipeline to carry NGLs (ethane, propane, butane, etc.). This is only a short-term fix until the last bits of the full ME2 is up and running…
    Read More “Sunoco Seeks to Use Alternate Pipe Near Philly to Get ME2 Flowing”

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    2 Lancaster Radicals Arrested Stopping Atlantic Sunrise Pipe Work

    The married couple who started Lancaster Against Pipelines (LAP), Mark and Malinda Clatterbuck, are far-left radicals who pretend to be mom and pop, salt-of-the-earth, neighbor-next-door, aw-shucks common folks who would never engage in “violent” protests. Mark Clatterbuck admits to traveling to North Dakota to participate in the mass action against the Dakota Access Pipeline–a “protest” that turned quite violent and destroyed millions of dollars of property. No, we’re not saying nor implying that Clatterbuck himself engaged in illegal actions while there. We are saying the Clatterbucks’ sympathies lie with protest movements that sometimes result in such actions. The Clatterbucks made some big boasts–that some 1,000 people had pledged to protest and get themselves arrested to stop Atlantic Sunrise, a $3 billion, 198-mile pipeline project running through 10 Pennsylvania counties to connect Marcellus Shale natural gas from northeastern PA with the Williams’ Transco pipeline in southern Lancaster County. Something under 50 people have actually been arrested for illegal actions in trying to stop construction. As the Atlantic Sunrise project nears completion in all locations, including Lancaster County, apparently LAP is feeling neglected. Nobody talks about them anymore. They didn’t/couldn’t stop the pipeline, as they had boasted they would. So in an attempt to grab one more headline, Mark and another LAP protester, Elliot Martin, connected themselves together at a pipeline construction site using a “sleeping dragon”…
    Read More “2 Lancaster Radicals Arrested Stopping Atlantic Sunrise Pipe Work”

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    Blue Wolf Goes Hunting – Extreme Plastics Merging with Mustang

    Extreme Plastics Plus (EPP) has been manufacturing and installing well pad liners since 2007. Pad liners protect the ground from accidental spills of frack wastewater and chemicals used during the drilling process. Located in Fairmont, WV, EPP’s customers are in the Marcellus and Utica Shale region. In order to expand, EPP raised an undisclosed amount of investment money from Hastings Equity Partners in 2013 (see WV Well Pad Liner Company Gets Shot of Investment Money to Grow). However, a few years later the market turned down and EPP fell on hard times, eventually filing for bankruptcy (see WV Oilfield Services Co. Extreme Plastics Files for Bankruptcy). In late 2016, MDN told you that Blue Wolf Capital Partners was on the hunt for bargains and had offered a “stalking horse” bid to purchase EPP out of bankruptcy. Blue Wolf landed its prey, buying the company’s assets out of bankruptcy in December 2016 (see Blue Wolf Stalks and Rescues Extreme Plastics from Bankruptcy). According to Blue Wolf, EPP would exit bankruptcy with a debt-free balance sheet and in the pole position for an eventual oil and gas market recovery. Blue Wolf has gone hunting again and this time found Mustang Energy Services, another pad liner company. Blue Wolf announced earlier this week it has orchestrated a merger between EPP and Mustang. The combined companies (no word yet on which name, if either, they will use), have customers in eight states and counting. Here’s what happens when Blue Wolf goes hunting…
    Read More “Blue Wolf Goes Hunting – Extreme Plastics Merging with Mustang”

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    Rolling Blackouts/Brownouts Coming to Upstate NY? Maybe

    In May, MDN brought you a story of how New England was “this close” to rolling blackouts due to an extreme shortage of electricity during a cold snap (see When Neighbors Go Bad: NY Forcing New England into Blackouts). New York is blocking natural gas pipelines that are critically needed to flow gas to New England gas-fired electric plants. New England has a bunch of old 1960s oil-burning plants. It was reactivating those old plants and burning 2 million barrels of oil over a two-week period (belching out all sorts of pollution), that kept the lights on in New England this past winter. But what’s this? New York itself is now in a pickle. National Grid, a local electric utility operating in much of Upstate, is warning customers to “reduce unnecessary electricity usage for the remainder of the week.” Why? The company says that although, “Electricity supply to the area is adequate…heavy demand and high temperatures could potentially challenge regional networks.” Translation: Use less electricity or you may face a rolling blackout/brownout. They don’t use those words, but we do. It sure looks to us like NY (via Andrew Cuomo) is beginning to reap what it’s sown. Stop new pipelines, block new gas-fired electric plant projects, and this is what you get when the temps turn really hot, or really cold…
    Read More “Rolling Blackouts/Brownouts Coming to Upstate NY? Maybe”

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    Shale Support Buys 2 Frac Sand Mines in La. to Help Service M-U

    Last September MDN told you that Shale Support Holdings, “a leading provider of frac sand and logistical solutions to the oil and gas proppant market” (headquartered in Texas, with an operations center in Mississippi), was stepping up its presence in the Marcellus/Utica region with a partnership with Tidewater Logistics (see Shale Support Holdings Expands M-U Frac Sand Business via Partnership). The partnership increases Shale Support’s operations in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Because Shale Support can ship sand direct from Mississippi, which is much closer than most other alternatives, the price for frac sand is cheaper for customers. Shale Support announced another important deal in May, to become the exclusive supplier for a major regional frac sand facility in Wysox (Bradford County), PA (see Shale Support Exclusive Frac Sand Supplier for NEPA Facility). Two weeks ago, in June, Shale Support made yet another announcement–they’ve just closed on a deal to buy two natural sand mines in Louisiana. The mines add another 2 million tons per year of frac sand (now totaling 5 million tons) that Shale Support will provide to plays like the Haynesville, Austin Chalk, Eagle Ford and (yes), to the Marcellus/Utica…
    Read More “Shale Support Buys 2 Frac Sand Mines in La. to Help Service M-U”

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    EPA Advances Effort to Overturn Obama Waters of the U.S. Rule

    In May 2015, the Obama rogue Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) along with the Obama U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) released a finalized rule clarifying what “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) means vis a vis what can be regulated under the federal Clean Water Act (see EPA Power Grab: Redefines Waters of the U.S. to Include Everything). Essentially the rule change redefined everything down to mud puddles (no, we’re not exaggerating) as being subject to the Clean Water Act. It was yet another attempt to bring oil and gas regulation under the purview of the federal government, a violation of the U.S. Constitution. We won’t recount the history of lawsuits and counter lawsuits that have ensued. We’ll only tell you that in January the U.S. Supreme Court entered the fray by determining which courts can hear lawsuits regarding WOTUS (see U.S. Supreme Court Changes Jurisdiction for WOTUS Challenges). At the end of January, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt issued an order to suspend/delay the Obama version of WOTUS until a new version is ready, in two years (see EPA Director Scott Pruitt Suspends Obama WOTUS Rule). Pruitt’s action has (so far) held, much to the consternation of radical environmentalists. Pruitt has just architected another masterstroke, issuing a “Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking” for WOTUS. The notice does two things: It states unequivocally that the EPA and Army Corps want to completely overturn the 2015 Obama WOTUS rule; and it inoculates the process of overturning WOTUS so that future lawsuits can’t bring it back from the dead…
    Read More “EPA Advances Effort to Overturn Obama Waters of the U.S. Rule”

  • Energy Stories of Interest: Thu, Jul 5, 2018

    The “best of the rest”–stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading: Hilcorp gets 3 Utica permits for Columbiana County, first new permits there this year; de Blasio should be prepared for climate lawsuit to be tossed; administrative law judge in Minnesota recommends against building natgas-fired plant; folks are waking up to what it means that Powelson is leaving FERC–and it ain’t pretty; fossil fuels still dominate U.S. energy consumption, although renewables gain some ground; preserve farmland with fracking; University of Arizona about to be outed for climate fraud; a new oil “cartel” threatens OPEC; and more!
    Read More “Energy Stories of Interest: Thu, Jul 5, 2018”

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    PennFuture Tries to Bully Pittsburgh Airport re Gas Royalties

    As is so often the case, radical Big Green groups, like PennFuture, attempt to intimidate (i.e. bully) by using threats of legal action, those who dare to use and (gasp) enjoy the monetary benefits of shale drilling. In early 2013 the Pittsburgh International Airport and Allegheny County, PA signed a deal with CONSOL Energy (now CNX Resources) to lease 9,000 acres surrounding the airport for natural gas drilling (see $50M Check in the Mail: Pittsburgh Airport Lease a Done Deal). The airport received a $50 million signing bonus and the promise of 18% royalties on anything produced and sold. The first wells began to flow natural gas for the first time exactly two years ago, in July 2016 (see CONSOL’s First Pittsburgh Airport Wells Begin to Flow NatGas). So far, for 2016 and 2017, the airport has received a grand total of just over $16 million in royalty payments and another $857,000 from other fees. Yikes! The airport uses the revenue “to reduce airline rates and charges and for capital expenditures…at the Airport.” So along comes the Big Green bullies from PennFuture, threatening to sue the airport if it doesn’t use the money for what PennFuture wants it used for. Yeah, the money does not belong to PennFuture, but that doesn’t stop this rogue “nonprofit” from throwing its weight around and making demands. PennFuture is telling the airport the money MUST be used to “further the interests of citizens under the environmental rights amendment.” Whatever that means. PennFuture told the airport, in a nasty letter, that the airport is in violation of Article I, Section 27 of the Pennsylvania Constitution. Our advice to the airport: Tell PennFuture to take a hike in the vast PA outdoors…
    Read More “PennFuture Tries to Bully Pittsburgh Airport re Gas Royalties”

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    Exploded Leach XPress Pipe Won’t be Online Until Mid-July

    Leach XPress Pipeline explosion/fire on June 7

    TransCanada’s Leach XPress project–some 160 miles of new natural gas pipeline and compression facilities in southeastern Ohio and West Virginia’s northern panhandle which flows 1.5 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of gas all the way to Leach, Kentucky (hence the name)–went online January 1st. A section of the pipeline exploded and burst into flames on June 7 (see Leach Xpress Pipeline Explodes in Marshall County, WV). Still no word on what caused the explosion, although the investigation seems to be centered on a welded seam. TransCanada (and their Columbia Gas Transmission subsidiary) is working hard to get the pipeline back online. The company told shippers in mid-June they expected to have the full 1.5 Bcf/d pipeline back online “early in July” (see TransCanada Says Exploded Leach XPress Pipe Back Online in July). That’s not going to happen since it’s now early July. Last Friday, Columbia pushed back the date to “mid-July,” due to challenges in getting everything remediated and fixed because of heavy rain in the area. Meanwhile, the drillers using Leach continue to find other ways to get their gas to market…
    Read More “Exploded Leach XPress Pipe Won’t be Online Until Mid-July”