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    Monroeville Continues to Block Seismic Testing to Prevent Drilling

    Monroeville, PA (Allegheny County, suburb of Pittsburgh) is hostile toward the shale industry. In September, Monroeville Council voted to enact a super-restrictive seismic testing ordinance (see Monroeville, PA Passes Restrictive Seismic Testing Ordinance). The ordinance is meant to hassle Huntley & Huntley (H&H), which wants to conduct seismic testing in two rural areas of the municipality (for potential drilling in a neighboring municipality). In October, the contractor hired to do the seismic work for H&H, Geokinetics, took Monroeville Council to court over their punitive seismic ordinance (see Monroeville Seismic Testing Ordinance Challenged in Court). Both sides compromised and in November settled the case, which Monroeville Council voted to accept in December (see Monroeville Council Approves Seismic Testing Court Settlement). That should be the end of the story, right? Wrong. Monroeville has continued their harassment by asking a court to immediately suspend the testing because (they claim) Geokinetics did not give proper notification to residents that the testing was happening. This is nothing more than a transparent attempt to prevent future drilling by slowing, or stopping, H&H’s ability to get an accurate picture of the best places are to drill a Marcellus well. Fortunately Geokinetics just finished the testing, so Monroeville’s pathetic attempt to stop it is now moot…
    Read More “Monroeville Continues to Block Seismic Testing to Prevent Drilling”

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    ME1 Pipeline Shutdown in M-U Causing Propane Prices in TX to Drop

    Propane is one of the NGLs (natural gas liquids) that come out of the ground along with natural gas and oil–especially in “wet gas” areas like southwestern PA, eastern OH, and the northern panhandle area of WV. Ethane and propane have been flowing through the converted Mariner East 1 (ME1) pipeline for more than year–hauling propane (and ethane) from southwest PA all the way to the Marcus Hook refinery near Philadelphia. At Marcus Hook, the propane is loaded onto ships and sent around the world. The world is an important market for our propane. However, ME1 was suddenly switched off on March 3 by order of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) after a sinkhole opened up under the pipeline, exposing some of the bare steel to the open air (see PA PUC Shuts Down Mariner 1 Pipeline Due to Mariner 2 Sinkhole). Sunoco Logistics Partners, the owner of ME1, is building a new set of pipelines called Mariner East 2 (ME2) close to the existing ME1. ME2 will also haul ethane and propane to Marcus Hook, greatly expanding capacity. As part of their construction work in Chester County, several sinkholes developed leading to the shutdown of ME1. You might think if the supply of propane suddenly stops, prices would go up. But that’s not what happened. Because the propane ME1 was hauling to Marcus Hook was exported, that supply is now staying here at home. The effect has been to drive DOWN the cost of propane–in Texas!…
    Read More “ME1 Pipeline Shutdown in M-U Causing Propane Prices in TX to Drop”

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    2nd Commissioning Cargo Now Being Loaded at Cove Point LNG

    Gemmata returns to Cove Point

    Yesterday our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration, issued its weekly Natural Gas Update report. In one of the short bullet point notes we learned important new information about the Cove Point LNG export facility. We learned that the next ship to arrive and load up at the facility will NOT be the Patris, as we were led to believe (see Cove Point LNG Gets Ready to Ship First Marcellus Molecules in Apr). Instead, the first ship that loaded molecules at the facility, the Gemmata, has returned and is (as you read this) loading a “second commissioning cargo.” Which takes some explanation. The first commissioning cargo was gas brought to the facility by an LNG tanker and unloaded, regasified, and then put through liquefaction again–in order to test the facility. That first cargo was natural gas from Nigeria, brought in by Shell. And Shell shipped out the first commissioning cargo on the Gemmata on March 1 (see Cove Point Ships First LNG Cargo – But Not M-U Gas). This is the second commissioning cargo–so apparently the ship that brought in the original Nigerian gas was bigger than the Gemmata. The Gemmata unloaded its shipment of Nigerian gas in the UK, turned around and came back, docking at the facility on Tuesday of this week. Yes, the Patris is still on the way to Cove Point and will dock on April 9, next Monday, and will begin loading the first batch of Marcellus molecules…
    Read More “2nd Commissioning Cargo Now Being Loaded at Cove Point LNG”

  • Other Energy Stories of Interest: Fri, Apr 6, 2018

    The “best of the rest”–stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading: Ace Pipeline sues EQT for breach of contract in pipeline construction; OH Utica well permits rebound in March; study finds natgas is NOT the reason for coal decline; PUC pushes CHP technology; 3,600 megawatts of electric generating retiring in 2018 in PJM; Sunoco to meet with Chester County officials re pipeline plan; New England desperate to stop 1,600 megawatts of gas-fired electric generation from retiring; Permian’s looming natgas bottleneck; former Chesapeake co-founder Tom Ward buys assets from Chesapeake; Steve Forbes writes on lefty mayors suing oil/gas companies; and more!
    Read More “Other Energy Stories of Interest: Fri, Apr 6, 2018”

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    DRBC: We’ll Make You Guess When We’re Going to Adopt Frack Ban

    In September, MDN told you that the obsequious members of the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) had slavishly obeyed their radical environmental masters by voting to move forward with a permanent ban on fracking in the Delaware River Basin (see DRBC Votes Tomorrow on Permanent Frack Ban Resolution). The final ban language/regulation was dropped like a bomb by DRBC staff on Nov. 30 (see DRBC Drops Permanent Frack Ban Bomb – Public Hearings in January). The DRBC announced they would allow public comment through Feb. 28, later extended to Mar. 30 (see DRBC Schedules More Freak Shows on Proposed Frack Ban Regulation). The DRBC received 8,687 comments online and 227 oral comments at the hearings. So what happens now? According to an update issued yesterday, the DRBC said, “There is no set schedule for a vote by the Commissioners to adopt final rules. As always, the Commission may adopt final rules only at a duly-noticed public meeting.” All of the DRBC’s public meetings are ” duly noticed”–meaning the DRBC provides public notice ahead of time. The next public meeting to be held is May 16. Could the DRBC simply vote at that meeting to adopt these illegal ban regulations? Sure. And then again, maybe they won’t. You just don’t know. Apparently the DRBC wants to keep everyone guessing…
    Read More “DRBC: We’ll Make You Guess When We’re Going to Adopt Frack Ban”

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    MarkWest Building 6 New Processing Plants, 3 Fractionators in 2018

    Attendees at yesterday’s Utica Midstream conference at Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio got an earful about pipelines and processing plants. Perhaps the biggest news coming from the event (for us, anyway), is that MarkWest Energy, now part of Marathon Petroleum, plans to build another six natural gas processing plants and another three fractionation plants in the Marcellus/Utica THIS YEAR. MarkWest plans to spend a whopping $2 billion in the region this year! That’s in addition to building two new processing plants and three fractionation plants last year. A processing plant accepts raw hydrocarbons coming out of shale wells and separates out the methane from everything else–“cleaning up” the methane so it’s pipeline-ready. Fractionation takes what’s left after the methane is removed and separates those other hydrocarbons into their discrete molecules–ethane, propane, pentane, butane, etc. According to MarkWest, M-U moving butane to new markets will be a major focus this year. We also learn that MarkWest’s Sherwood facility (in WV) is now the fourth largest gas processing plant in the U.S.–and by the end of this year, it will be #1! In addition to MarkWest, there were a number of other top notch speakers at yesterday’s event, including Rick Simmers from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources. Rick mentioned in passing there’s a shale well pad in southeast Ohio with a whopping 28 wells on it. Below is a summary of what was said at yesterday’s event…
    Read More “MarkWest Building 6 New Processing Plants, 3 Fractionators in 2018”

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    Just What is Cabot Looking for in Ohio – NatGas, Oil or NGLs?

    Two days ago MDN revealed which rock layers Cabot Oil & Gas is targeting with new test wells in central Ohio (see New Details Emerge on Cabot’s Shale Plans in Central Ohio). Today we answer the question, What does Cabot hope to find? Cabot representative Brittany Ramos told an area newspaper that the company is looking for, “a hydrocarbon, an oil, natural gas, natural gas liquid, something, in the layers below the Utica Shale, but the only way to find that out is to actually drill a well and test.” In other words, they don’t know. They know *something* is down there, but they aren’t sure what. We suspect they’re hoping it’s either oil or NGLs. Cabot, long known for their prolific natural gas production in Susquehanna County, PA, had a previous dalliance with oil drilling in the Texas Eagle Ford shale play–assets they ended up selling in December 2017 (see Cabot O&G Sells Texas Eagle Ford Assets for $765M, Focus on Marc.). Does the company have a renewed interest in finding oil? Perhaps. If not oil, certainly NGLs. We seriously doubt they’re looking for yet another dry gas zone. Below is yet another update on Cabot’s foray into central OH. It is one of the more fair and balanced articles we’ve read. Yes, the reporter interviewed a representative from the faux “landowner group” called the Tri-County Landowners Coalition–in reality an anti-fossil fuel group controlled by elements of the Big Green movement (see Fake Ohio Landowner Groups Launch Misinformation Campaign). In this article the reporter actually asks Cabot to respond to the wild claims made by the Tri-County rep, point for point. Cabot obliterates the anti’s arguments…
    Read More “Just What is Cabot Looking for in Ohio – NatGas, Oil or NGLs?”

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    Rex Energy Defaults on IOUs, Can’t File Annual Report on Time

    Rex Energy filed two regulatory filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this week that don’t bode well for the company. In a Form 8-K filing (a form used to notify investors of events that may be important to investors), Rex let it be known they could not make an interest payment due on senior notes, a semi-annual payment due on April 2nd. Rex said in the filing that the noteholders to whom payment is due (Angelo, Gordon & Co.) have signed a temporary “forbearance” agreement that gives Rex a little breathing room–precious little. The forbearance agreement gives Rex until April 16 to pay up. Angelo, Gordon & Co. have promised not to take any action until that date. The second filing, a Form 12b-25, says that Rex will not be able to file its annual 2017 report on time. In February we reported that it looked like, at that time, that Rex was getting ready to file for bankruptcy (see Rex Energy Preparing to File for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy?). They still haven’t filed for bankruptcy, but surely a missed interest payment and pressure from a major debtholder is not a good sign…
    Read More “Rex Energy Defaults on IOUs, Can’t File Annual Report on Time”

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    EV Energy Partners Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

    In the middle of March, MDN warned readers that EV Energy Partners (EVEP), a subsidiary company of EnerVest, would soon be filing for bankruptcy (see EV Energy Partners Filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in Next 2 Wks). On Monday, the company succumbed and filed. At one time (in 2012), EVEP owned more than a half million acres in the Utica Shale alone (see EnerVest Puts 539,000 Utica Shale Acres on Auction Block). We couldn’t find updated statistics for the company, but we believe they still own a significant amount of Utica (and Marcellus) acreage. Here’s the EVEP announcement that the company has entered into a prepackaged bankruptcy deal…
    Read More “EV Energy Partners Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy”

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    Exposing PA Gov. Wolf’s Lies – He is No Friend of the Marcellus

    The gloves have finally come off. Typically the Marcellus industry, as represented by the Marcellus Shale Coalition, has used restrained language when talking about Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf. Hey, the industry has to work with the guy because the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP)–the agency that regulates shale drilling–is part of the executive branch (under Wolf’s thumb). The industry often can’t say what it really thinks. No more. Wolf, who pretends to be a friend of the Marcellus industry and mouths words of support, recently launched a vicious, lying attack against the industry over the severance tax issue (as part of his re-election campaign). The gloves are now off and the MSC is punching back. MSC president Dave Spigelmyer published an editorial in today’s Philadelphia Inquirer pointing out the difference between Wolf’s words and his deeds. In a bout of political schizophrenia (some would say hypocrisy), Wolf says shale gas in PA represents “enormous economic opportunity.” He then turns around and claims high-paid Marcellus lobbyists have spread money around Harrisburg like candy, bribing legislators to block a severance tax. What Wolf doesn’t tell you is that he himself has received millions of dollars from the teacher’s unions he’s promised to give severance tax money to…
    Read More “Exposing PA Gov. Wolf’s Lies – He is No Friend of the Marcellus”

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    Report: The State of Natural Gas in Pennsylvania

    The Commonwealth Foundation is Pennsylvania’s premier free-market think tank. The aim of the Foundation is to “transform free-market ideas into public policies so all Pennsylvanians can flourish.” We’ve highlighted their excellent work over the years. They’ve just done it again. The Commonwealth Foundation has just published a report called “The State of Natural Gas in Pennsylvania” (full copy below). The opening begins this way: “Pennsylvania’s regulatory and tax environment is stunting job growth and deterring investment. A decade after the Marcellus Shale boom, lawmakers are still debating how to tax the industry instead of fixing the policies contributing to Pennsylvania’s increasingly uncompetitive energy market.” At the end of the report the Foundation shows a severance tax comparison of existing severance taxes in other states that PA competes against, like Ohio, West Virginia, Texas, Colorado, and Oklahoma. The chart shows that the existing impact fee (in essence a severance tax) runs around 1.1%. The severance tax in Ohio is running around 0.7%, and in West Virginia 3.5%. In places like Texas, which increasingly competes against PA with prodigious quantities of natural gas production, the severance tax is 4.2%. However, Gov. Wolf’s proposed severance tax would be 5%–the highest in the nation except for New Mexico’s 7.9% (which doesn’t compete with PA). The report shows how PA is restricting Marcellus activity with over-regulation and a high corporate income tax…
    Read More “Report: The State of Natural Gas in Pennsylvania”

  • Other Energy Stories of Interest: Thu, Apr 5, 2018

    The “best of the rest”–stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading: Lauren Barr Katarski joins Bravo Group’s energy and environmental practice; natgas coming to homes and businesses in Tunkhannock, PA; Permian price differential widening on wave of new crude; CT residents curious about natgas pipeline expansion; US crude production grew 5% in 2017, heading for record in 2018; cyberattack affects at least four pipeline systems; fracking, BREXIT and an oil and gas shale bonanza; and more!
    Read More “Other Energy Stories of Interest: Thu, Apr 5, 2018”

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    PA “Rule of Capture” Case has Power to Limit Marcellus Drilling

    As we indicated in our post yesterday, the Pennsylvania Superior Court has handed down a decision that has the power to greatly restrict, even stop, Marcellus drilling in PA (see PA Superior Court Overturns “Rule of Capture” for Marcellus Well). This is a legal issue–and MDN is not written by a lawyer. Hence our earlier misreading of the importance and facts in the Superior Court decision. The issue, in brief, is that Monday’s court decision disallows using an age-old principle called the rule of capture, which we previously described. The rule of capture works for conventional drilling where underground deposits of oil and gas are in pools and the pool may exist underneath multiple surface property owners. Whoever gets there first and sucks the oil/gas out, wins. That’s the rule of capture in a nutshell. And it makes sense. You can’t be held responsible for oil and gas moving from one place to another as it’s extracted. And who knows how much of the pool is located under your property, or your neighbor’s property? The Superior Court justices ruled that the rule of capture doesn’t work for hydraulic fracturing because gas (and oil) trapped in shale rock does not freely move from one place to another as it does in a pool. The judges say the gas would “stay forever” where it is without fracking. In the case of Briggs v. Southwestern Energy, the Briggs family (in Susquehanna County, PA) alleges that when Southwestern drilled and fracked on the Briggs’ neighbor, the fracking was done close enough to their property that some of the gas located under their property (unleased) was released and extracted through the Southwestern well–a “trepass.” Southwestern countered that IF such a “trespass” took place, it falls under the rule of capture. The ultimate issue boils down to this: How far do fractures extend from a lateral well? An expert energy attorney told MDN off the record that Monday’s decision “could change the entire Pennsylvania shale industry” in two important ways…
    Read More “PA “Rule of Capture” Case has Power to Limit Marcellus Drilling”

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    Shell Ethane Pipeline Hearing Draws Few Supporters, Many Antis

    Click for larger version

    Last night the first of three public hearings held by the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection for the planned Shell Falcon Ethane Pipeline project was held in Monaca (Beaver County), PA. About 100 people turned up for the hearing, which lasted an hour and a half. No signs allowed. The only people who could speak had to register first. Of the 23 who did speak, 16 of them (including out-of-town movement antis) spoke against the project, while 7 people spoke in favor. The 97-mile Falcon Ethane Pipeline system has two “legs” that will feed Shell’s mighty ethane cracker plant. Shell is not using eminent domain for any of its leases for the pipeline. Every lease is negotiated and signed with individual landowners. Antis, in large part being organized and agitated by radical groups like FracTracker Alliance, are making a concerted effort to block the pipeline, hoping they can in turn stop the multi-billion dollar cracker plant currently under construction by blocking the pipeline that feeds it…
    Read More “Shell Ethane Pipeline Hearing Draws Few Supporters, Many Antis”

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    Atlantic Coast Pipe Wants 150 NC Workers, $25/Hr + Free Training

    Atlantic Coast Pipeline, the $6.5 billion Dominion Energy/Duke Energy pipeline from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina has had a few setbacks, but that isn’t stopping construction on the pipeline–in all three states where it runs. On Monday we reported on the latest setback–news that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is refusing to extend tree cutting season for the pipeline (see FERC Won’t Extend Atlantic Coast Pipeline Tree Cutting Deadline). According to Dominion, FERC’s decision will not delay the late 2019 start date for the project. In the meantime, there’s work to be done! One of the places where work needs to get done is North Carolina. We spotted a story from NC that says Dominion and Duke are offering to train “more than 150 people” at Nash Community College, and then put them to work building the pipeline, for $19/hour plus $45/day, which we calculate to be a total compensation package of $24.63 per hour. Details below on how to apply for the jobs and get in on the free college training…
    Read More “Atlantic Coast Pipe Wants 150 NC Workers, $25/Hr + Free Training”

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    VA Tree Sitting Continues in Failed Attempt to Stop MV Pipeline

    Here’s the latest update in the ongoing story of “protesters” who are trying to stop progress in cutting trees for the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), which will run from West Virginia into Virginia. We previously reported on illegal tree-sitters that judges and law enforcement refuse to remove (see WV Judge Refuses to Eject Tree Sitters Blocking Pipeline Work). The latest to join the tree sitting movement is a 61 year-old woman who calls herself “Red” and claims her family has owned land in the area for seven generations. When MVP workers began removing a ladder on the tree where Grandma Red planned to sit, she began screaming like a petulant three year-old child. Her histrionics got them to stop. She subsequently climbed the ladder and is still perched up a tree. The bald truth of the matter is this: Regardless of this nonsensical display by (a) misguided locals like Grandma Red, and (b) movement anti fossil-fuel radicals, MVP is in the process of getting built and will be completed. Tree sitting protesters are not going to stop it. So let’s grab some popcorn and enjoy the show in the meantime!…
    Read More “VA Tree Sitting Continues in Failed Attempt to Stop MV Pipeline”