Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Jan 10, 2018
The “best of the rest”–stories that caught MDN’s eye over the break that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Interview with CRSD’s Susan LeGros; NY Gov. Cuomo’s latest energy proposals try to cut down natgas; rig count stands at 21 in OH Utica; Arctic blast send natgas prices through the roof in North Carolina; California municipalities may have committed securities fraud in targeting Exxon; corporate raider Carl Ichan still hassling SandRidge Energy; utilities cut rates, credit Trump tax reforms; Agility Gas gets patent for ethylene shipping on LNG carriers; Germany scraps 2020 climate change targets because they won’t meet them; and more!
Read More “Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Jan 10, 2018”
On September 29, U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry sent a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) directing the agency to complete action on a “Grid Resiliency Pricing Rule”–ostensibly within 60 days. The proposed rule Perry proffered, sometimes referred to as the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR), would put in place regulations that favor electric generating plants powered by coal and nuclear. That is, it would allow unprofitable ventures to pass along new costs, making them profitable–in the name of protecting the electric grid. The theory Perry (and by extension President Trump) subscribe to is that if the free market drives out coal and nuke plants, the electric grid would be “vulnerable” to far fewer sources to power it. If coal and nukes are all but gone, and all of sudden there’s a natural gas shortage, or prices spike for natural gas, it would endanger the electric supply in this country. On one side of the argument are those who believe the free market sometimes needs a helping hand (via regulation), and on the other those who believe the free market will sort it all out and we are not vulnerable. The incoming/new chairman of FERC, Kevin McIntyre, asked for an extension so he and another new FERC member could take a little time to do a proper review (see 
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 
In February 2015, Philadelphia-based economic consulting firm Econsult Solutions released a study looking the potential economic impact of the Mariner East 1 & 2 projects, concluding the two project together would result in $4.2 billion coming to Pennsylvania (see 
One of the companies in the Marcellus industry targeted for extinction by Pennsylvania’s former Attorney General, Kathleen Kane, was Minuteman Environmental Services (see 
Last week we noticed the large merger/acquisition by Dominion Energy in buying South Carolina-based SCANA Corporation. We didn’t think much of it at the time. SCANA is an energy-based holding company principally engaged, through subsidiaries, in electric and natural gas utility operations and other energy-related businesses. In other words, the local electric and gas company for much of South Carolina. Dominion is a big company with many operations–they are a pipeline company, an electric generating company, and a utility company (like SCANA). The merger makes sense–Dominion gets to grow and add more customers to its utility business. We didn’t think there was a tie-in with the Marcellus/Utica region, which is why we haven’t (until now) brought you the news about Dominion’s $7.9 billion all-stock purchase of SCANA. However, there is a big potential connection to the Marcellus/Utica. You may recall we brought you news in early December that Dominion and their partner in the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) project Duke Energy are considering expanding the original ACP to more locations in North Carolina, AND expanding the pipeline into South Carolina (see 
Last May, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced plans to construct a new “state-of-the-art, locally-sourced mini-power grid” that will connect to the statewide electric grid but will also be able to operate independently, to power the Empire State Plaza in Albany–a complex of buildings in downtown Albany housing much of New York State government (see 
In December, the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) released “interim final technical guidance” (i.e., new regulations) for drilling Marcellus Shale natural gas wells in areas where there is longwall coal mining. Sometimes drillers want to lease and drill under coal mines. Since coal mines sink large holes in the ground, there are existing guidelines in place for how closely an oil/gas well can be drilled on or under a coal mine–guidelines put in place in 1957. As a result of legislation passed in 2011 called Act 2, a review was conducted to see if the standards for oil/gas drilling near coal mines might be modified, allowing such drilling to happen in conditions not currently allowed. A study was performed and in January 2017 the DEP rejected that study–preferring to keep a default ban on any drilling under coal mines for the time being (see 
Frackers are in big demand. However, it takes a lot of cash to operate a fracking business. Keane Group is a Texas-based oilfield services company that provides fracking, wireline and top-hole air drilling services to oil and gas companies in the Marcellus/Utica as well as several other major basins. Keane has just doubled its line of credit and can now tap up to $300 million in cold, hard cash–if it needs it. In January 2016, Keane announced they were buying out Canadian-based Trican Well Service for $247 million (see 
Tom Linzey, the attorney who founded and runs the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF), has just been sanctioned by Federal Judge Susan Paradise Baxter and ordered to pay $52,000 to Pennsylvania General Energy (PGE) for his “bad faith” in continuing to press legal arguments on behalf of Grant Township (Indiana County, PA)–legal arguments that say the people of Grant have rights they actually don’t have. Linzey has continued to claim rights for the citizens of Grant that have no legal basis and have been discredited in court. Not only that, but Judge Baxter also referred the matter to the Disciplinary Board of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court with a request that they review Linzey’s actions with an eye to imposing more punishments against him. We’ve previously reported on the story of two Pennsylvania towns that were either hoodwinked, or perhaps willing led astray, by the radical CELDF into passing (now overturned) bans on fracking and injection wells in their towns–Highland Twp (Elk County) and Grant Twp (Indiana County). The two townships thought they would do an end-run around the state’s authority to issue permits for two injection wells–one in each township, by re-incorporating under so-called home rule charters. The towns essentially declared themselves independent of the state for a variety of matters, including oil and gas permits, which PA state law clearly says is a function of ONLY the state Dept. of Environmental Protection. In March, the DEP issued final permits for the injection wells AND sued each town to get those portions of their home rule charters, dealing with oil and gas, overturned (see 
This is so wrong on so many levels. Our blood pressure went through the roof when we spotted a story that a shipload of Russian-produced LNG (liquefied natural gas) is almost certainly coming to Boston and will be delivered on Jan. 22nd. We suspect it may be an illegal shipment. Here’s what happened. The LNG tanker Christophe de Margerie loaded a shipment of LNG at Russia’s Yamal LNG plant–in the Russian Arctic–delivering it to the UK at the Isle of Grain terminal in Kent. The LNG was offloaded and stored, but not pumped into the UK grid. Instead, officials said the LNG would be resold to a higher paying customer. A few days later the tanker Gaselys loaded LNG from the same terminal in Kent. While those who own the shipment won’t say, it’s almost certain the LNG they loaded was the very same LNG unloaded a few days prior–from Russia. Gaselys is coming to America–to unload the Russian LNG in Boston, because New England is natural gas starved at the moment due to the ongoing cold snap. Why not just bypass the unloading/reloading process and ship direct to the U.S.? Because the U.S. slapped the Yamal LNG plant with sanctions following Russia’s moves against the Ukraine. It’s illegal to receive gas produced from that plant. So the people involved “whitewashed” the gas by unloading in Kent, and then pretending they’ve reloaded different gas molecules from the same facility. It’s a farce. Fake. Fraud. The gas coming to Boston is Russian gas. The reason New England needs gas so bad is because of their elected leaders, like Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren–both of whom adamantly oppose new natural gas pipeline projects in their state that would deliver cheap Marcellus/Utica gas to the region. Massachusetts residents should rise up against Healey and Warren for their actions which now mean New England is paying our ENEMIES for natural gas. How screwed up is that?…
A new shale wastewater treatment facility that works in tandem with a local sewage treatment plant may be on the way in Coudersport (Potter County), PA. Epiphany Water Solutions, via a subsidiary company called Epiphany Allegheny, filed for a permit to build a centralized water treatment facility in Coudersport in July 2017. The initial application with the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) was deemed “incomplete”–so Epiphany filed again and this time the application was complete. The DEP will hold a Jan. 16 public hearing in Coudersport to gain local resident’s input on the facility. This is not the first we’ve heard of Epiphany. They were one of four winners of the Ben Franklin Institute’s Fifth Annual Shale Gas Innovation Contest in 2016 (see 
Last year the pressure was intense to pass a severance tax in Pennsylvania to help fill a budget gap. The severance tax issue in PA is a political football–a promise made by current Gov. Tom Wolf to pay off teacher’s unions in Philadelphia for voting him into office. During the budget machinations, traitorous Republicans in the PA Senate caved to pressure and in July passed a budget bill that hikes taxes on lots of things, including a severance tax (see