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    Attorney for Anti Group CELDF Fined $52K for “Bad Faith”

    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 PA DEP Issues 2 Wastewater Injection Well Permits, Sues 2 Towns). Both towns eventually backed down (see 2 PA Townships Won’t Enforce “Home Rule” Against Injection Wells). However, in May, Grant’s attorneys (i.e. Linzey) filed a counter-claim against PA asking Commonwealth Court to recognize a sort-of extra-judicial set of rights the town can exercise over top of, or in addition to, state laws–instead of their previous position of trying to replace state laws (see CELDF Continues to Agitate Against Indiana, PA Injection Well). The company building the injection wells, PGE, has been economically harmed by the actions of the towns and attorney Linzey, and sued to recoup costs. This decision in part satisfies that lawsuit. The judge, in very strong language, is punishing Linzey for his continued, intentional abuse of the legal system. We note she is not punishing the towns but rather Linzey…
    Read More “Attorney for Anti Group CELDF Fined $52K for “Bad Faith””

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    Russian LNG Coming to Boston to Alleviate NatGas Shortage?!

    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?…
    Read More “Russian LNG Coming to Boston to Alleviate NatGas Shortage?!”

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    Shale Wastewater Treatment Plant Planned for Potter County, PA

    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 4 Winners Bag $80K at 5th Annual Shale Gas Innovation Contest). Epiphany started life as a company with a mission to pioneer the use of solar technology to desalinate water so people in poor countries have safe drinking water. Laudable goal. However, Epiphany found they actually need to turn a profit and pay bills first–and their technology works equally well for the oil and gas industry. CONSOL Energy (now CNX Resources) was an early backer and user of their technology. JKLM Energy, owned by Buffalo “Marcellus” Bill’s owner Terry Pegula and with active drilling in Potter County, needs a better way to dispose of frack wastewater. So Pegula turned to Epiphany and Epiphany is working with the Coudersport Area Municipal Authority (CAMA) to make it happen…
    Read More “Shale Wastewater Treatment Plant Planned for Potter County, PA”

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    Former Ormet Site in SE OH Changes Hands, Gas-Fired Plant Coming

    Rendering of the 485 MW power plant at the Long Ridge Energy Terminal

    Back in 2014 MDN told you that the former Ormet aluminum plant in Hannibal (Monroe County), OH had been purchased out of bankruptcy by Niagara Worldwide and turned into the Center Port Transload Facility, with an emphasis on providing services for the Marcellus/Utica industry (see Center Port Transload Facility Already Up & Running in OH). In April 2017, we brought you news about plans to build a 485-megawatt Utica gas-fired electric plant at the Center Port location (see More on Gas-Fired Elec Plant Coming to Center Port Terminal). A lot has happened since that time. Most of the facility (not all) changed hands again, selling to Fortress Transportation and Infrastructure for $30 million last June. Since that time, what was called Center Port Terminal has been renamed–to Long Ridge Energy Terminal. The new owners are moving forward, quickly, with plans to build the gas-fired power plant, which is now called the Hannibal Port Power Project. According to the Long Ridge website, the Hannibal Port Power gas plant will be operational by 2020–meaning construction will begin this year…
    Read More “Former Ormet Site in SE OH Changes Hands, Gas-Fired Plant Coming”

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    Bill Introduced to Fix PA DEP’s Extreme Delays Issuing Permits

    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 Traitorous PA Senate Republicans Pass Severance Tax Bill). As part of the Senate’s misguided and mangled budget bill, Republicans slipped in fixes to the state Dept. of Environmental Protection’s chronic delays in issuing permits related to shale drilling (see PA Senate’s “Olive Branch” of “Relaxed Regulations” for Drillers). As we said at the time, the writing was already on the wall–Democrats would lobby to remove the DEP fix and leave the severance tax. The DEP fix (surprisingly) continued in further revisions to the budget plan–until October, when the DEP fixes came out (see Latest PA Budget Bill Drops Fix for Slow DEP Permit Reviews). Although the fix came out, the severance tax came out too and was never passed (thank God for small miracles). But problems remain for Marcellus drillers. Delays are long in the Keystone State when it comes to permits for shale wells. The problems need to get fixed. So PA House Rep. Greg Rothman (Republican from Cumberland County) has just introduced a standalone bill to fix the problem. Predictably, enviro nuts and Democrats are lining up to oppose the fix…
    Read More “Bill Introduced to Fix PA DEP’s Extreme Delays Issuing Permits”

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    Co-Tenancy Front and Center for WV Legislature as Session Nears

    At the beginning of each new year the West Virginia legislature meets for a 60-day session. This year the session runs from Jan. 10 to Mar. 10. For the previous maybe 6-7 years, the shale industry has pushed for some sort of forced pooling legislation. Each year those bills, as close they sometimes got, were defeated. This year the industry is staying well away from saying anything about “forced pooling.” Last time around (in 2017) we came close with something MDN calls forced pooling lite–a bill that would have allowed for co-tenancy and joint development. That bill was eventually defeated (see WV Force Pooling Lite Goes Down in Flames – Lawmakers Blame Pot). For the rest of last year WVONGA (the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association) hyped both co-tenancy and joint development. What are they? Co-tenancy says a majority of rights owners can vote to accept a lease for drilling. It corrects a situation in which multiple rights owners are listed for a property–sometimes 200 or more rights owners for a single piece of property! It is often difficult, if not impossible, to track them all down and get them to sign on the dotted line. Joint development (sometimes called “lease consolidation”) is more nuanced. Currently there are a number of existing old leases, signed before shale drilling began, that prevent drillers from drilling a horizontal well across an individual property boundary line–until a new lease is signed. Joint development says if the driller already owns the leases on all adjoining properties they want to combine into a single drilling unit, they can do so without signing a new lease. WVONGA says it corrects a loophole that prevents more drilling from happening. Rights owners say joint development legislation lets drillers have a freebie–instead of signing a new lease (for more money), the driller gets something never envisioned when the original lease was signed. It is a form of theft. We’re happy to see WVONGA leave joint development behind. This year WVOGNA and legislators are laser-focused on co-tenancy, which we think is a good thing…
    Read More “Co-Tenancy Front and Center for WV Legislature as Session Nears”

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    What is Condensate? A Closer Look at this Important Shale Hydrocarbon

    From time to time MDN mentions condensate. What, exactly, is condensate? We’ve seen it described as a “light” form of crude oil. Condensate is an important component of what comes out of wells drilled in southwestern Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio. Condensate can be sold for a higher price that plain old natural gas molecules. As we’ve often written, when you sink a hole in the ground looking for one hydrocarbon, like oil or gas, you get other hydrocarbons out of the ground along with it. Natural gas (methane) comes out of holes drilled looking for oil, and the reverse. And just about all of the holes drilled get some form of natural gas liquids–including ethane, pentane, butane and propane. So where does condensate sit in the constellation of hydrocarbons? Is it closer to crude oil? Or closer to natural gas and NGLs? Two ships collided in the East China Sea over the weekend–one of them loaded with condensate. The ship exploded and all 32 souls on that ship died in the blaze or are lost at sea. So Reuters posted an article to explain just what the heck condensate is. We found the article useful for our own understanding, and thought you might too…
    Read More “What is Condensate? A Closer Look at this Important Shale Hydrocarbon”

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    Finalists Announced for 2018 Northeast & 2018 Texas Oil & Gas Awards

    Once again Marcellus Drilling News is happy to partner with and support the Oil & Gas Awards, for 2018. The Awards boys have just released two lists of finalists–one for the Northeast Awards, being held March 1 in Pittsburgh; and one for the Texas Awards, being held March 7 in Houston. This year six of the entrants for the awards contracted with MDN editor Jim Willis to help them prepare their entries (both Northeast and Texas). It was a blast for Jim to dig in and understand more about the companies submitting an application for the awards–and to help them craft what we hope are winning entries! Jim worked with some true professionals from the companies entering the awards–it was a pleasure. Below is a list of the finalists in each region. Good luck!…
    Read More “Finalists Announced for 2018 Northeast & 2018 Texas Oil & Gas Awards”

  • Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Jan 8, 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: Anti-fracking NY invests more retirement $ in fracker CNX Resources; soaring prices in NJ show need for PennEast Pipeline; hearing for Scranton-area power plant emissions credits; local freight railroad in NEPA breaks record, thx to shale industry; permits in OH and PA remain strong; pipeline debate renews in New England with world’s highest prices; CUmmins Wesport natgas engine gets approved; record U.S. gas demand due to cold weather & exports; and more!
    Read More “Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Jan 8, 2018”

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    NatGas Trading in NYC Hits $175/Mcf – Highest Ever Recorded!

    Click chart for larger version

    Brrrr! If you live anywhere in the northeastern part of the country, you’re likely bundled up sitting at home, or bundled up sitting at work. Most schools dismissed today because of the brutally low wind chill values–minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit in upstate NY where MDN is headquartered. Over the past couple of days MDN has highlighted the news that with this latest winter ‘bomb cyclone’ as it’s called, the lack of natural gas pipelines to New England–to feed both homeowners who heat with gas and utilities that use gas to generate electricity–can no longer be ignored. Two days ago we told you that New England now has the dubious distinction of paying the highest average price for natural gas in the entire world (see New England’s Lack of Pipelines = Most Expensive Gas in the WORLD). Yesterday we told you that at least part of the blame for New England’s sky high natgas prices can be laid at the feet of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (see New England Can “Thank” NY Gov. Cuomo for Sky High NatGas Prices). However, lack of pipelines doesn’t only affect New England states, it also affects New York itself. Yesterday history was made when the spot price for natural gas in New York City hit an amazing $175 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) at the Transco Zone 6 New York trading hub. Incredible! In Boston, at the Algonquin City Gate trading hub, the spot price briefly hit $105/Mcf! Below we have the news about these record-breaking prices from the natgas price experts–Natural Gas Intelligence (NGI). Each weekday NGI publishes their MidDay Price Alert by 1 pm Central, both emailed and available at this webpage: www.naturalgasintel.com/middayprices. The MidDay Price Alert, which includes Intercontinental Exchange trade data, gives gas traders (and those with a keen interest in prices) the latest intel on what’s happening with prices at 125+ trading hubs across the country. Here’s what yesterday’s MidDay Price Alert showed for trading in the northeast… Read More “NatGas Trading in NYC Hits $175/Mcf – Highest Ever Recorded!”

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    OH Supreme Court Rules Against Forcing Driller to Explore Utica

    What if a landowner leased his or her land decades ago and a driller drilled a conventional natural gas well on the property, and that well has produced commercial volumes of natural gas for years–and still does. And what if the lease gives that driller the right to drill (or not drill) in any given rock lawyer. And what if that driller is content to simply let that conventional well keep producing and not drill further down, into the now commercially viable Utica (or Marcellus) shale layer? Does the landowner, whose land is located where the Utica/Marcellus exists, have any case for taking back the rights to the deeper shale layers the conventional driller refuses to go after? That’s a case that went all the way to the Ohio Supreme Court in March of last year (see OH Supreme Court to Hear Appeal re Driller Who Won’t Explore Utica). The Supremes heard oral arguments in the case in September. At that time we said this: “The winds appear to be blowing against the landowner, judging by what the judges said” (see OH Landowner Wants High Court to Force Driller to Explore Shale). Indeed we were right. In a January 3, 2018 decision, the Supremes ruled that Ohio does not recognize an “implied covenant to explore further” in oil and gas leases (full decision below). This is sad news for Ohio landowners who have old wells/leases with a driller who stubbornly won’t explore the Utica, nor allow anyone else to either…
    Read More “OH Supreme Court Rules Against Forcing Driller to Explore Utica”

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    Patterson-UTI Rig Count Hits All-Time High in December, Up to 163

    As we do each month, MDN tracks how many rigs oilfield services company Patterson-UTI Energy reports operating–as a proxy for rig count health in general and rig count health in the Marcellus/Utica in particular. Patterson operates many rigs in our region. Last April, Patterson bought out and merged in Seventy Seven Energy (SSE). The addition of SSE’s rigs served to rocket Patterson’s rig count number in April and May much higher (see Patterson-UTI Rig Count Continues to Rocket Skyward – 159 in May). With SSE fully absorbed into Patterson, the rig count number settled down. In September Patterson’s rig count slipped by 1–the first loss since June 2016. In October the count retreated another three, to 158. But the trend reversed in November when the the count jumped again–back up to 161. The numbers for December were just released and show Patterson’s monthly active rig count hit 163–which is a new, all-time high…
    Read More “Patterson-UTI Rig Count Hits All-Time High in December, Up to 163”

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    Was PA DEP Justified in Shutting Down All ME2 Pipe Construction?

    The news that the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has suspended all construction work on the Mariner East 2 Pipeline project until further notice continues to reverberate (see PA DEP Caves to Big Green Pressure, Stops All Work on ME2 Pipeline). MDN has taken some heat for our implication that the main reason for the shutdown is pressure from radical Big Green groups. While we maintain our view is not incorrect, we also don’t want to leave the impression that there aren’t problems that need to be addressed with ME2 construction. There are. And the DEP is right to address them. What we DO take issue with is a complete shutdown of ALL construction. If the underground horizontal directional drilling (HDD) work is the primary issue, shut that down–but not all construction, including trench work. At any rate, we spotted a story about a landowner in Cumberland County who says his private water well was fouled when ME2 construction began–and it’s still not right. Below is his story as an example of what the DEP *should* be paying attention to…
    Read More “Was PA DEP Justified in Shutting Down All ME2 Pipe Construction?”

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    Propane Prices in the Northeast & ME2 Pipeline

    A lot of the talk and chatter this week has been about the spike in the price of natural gas (see today’s lead story, NatGas Trading in NYC Hits $175/Mcf – Highest Ever Recorded!). The other hot topic of the week is the decision by the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) to temporarily suspend all construction work on the Mariner East 2 (ME2) Pipeline. What antis in the Philadelphia area don’t realize is that ME2 is vital to their own region and their own pocketbooks. Yesterday we brought you one take on why Philly residents are missing the boat in opposing ME2 (see It’s Time We Stop Missing the Point About the Mariner East Pipes). In that guest post, MDN friend Garland Thompson makes the salient point that jobs and the Philly economy are tied to petrochemicals and the NGLs that will flow through the Mariner East pipelines. Today we bring you another article about why ME2 is so vital to the Philly area: the cost of propane. One of the primary NGLs that will flow through ME2 is propane, used in a variety of applications, but particularly used in places where there are not natural gas pipelines to deliver gas to homes (like the various suburbs around Philly, the ones opposing ME2). Propane prices are going up because (a) much of the propane produced by Marcellus/Utica drillers goes by railcars to Kansas, where it catches a ride on a pipeline to the Gulf Coast, and (b) the propane that does come to the Philly area also comes via rail cars, at a much higher price than if it were shipped via pipeline. Add to that other countries want our propane and are bidding the price up–and you have a prescription for spiking propane prices around Philly. The article below delves into the business of propane, explaining terms you may have heard but don’t know what they mean–like “contango” and “backwardation.” Buckle up–here’s a deep dive into the economics of propane, and why Philadelphia desperately needs the ME2 pipeline–without delay…
    Read More “Propane Prices in the Northeast & ME2 Pipeline”

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    CNX’s Pipelines to be Used for “Partners” – Not Just CNX Res.

    Yesterday we brought you the news that CONE Midstream has been renamed to CNX Midstream, and that CNX Resources is now the sole owner of the entire gathering pipeline system (see CONE Midstream Gets a New Name: CNX Midstream Partners). CONE was originally a joint venture between CONSOL Energy (the “CO” part of the name) and Noble Energy (the “NE” part of the name). CONSOL and Noble had a joint venture on hundreds of thousands of Marcellus/Utica Shale acres. Some of the wells drilled were “owned” by CONSOL, some by Noble. CONSOL and Noble decided to divide up the JV, each taking a piece, in late 2016 (see Divorce: CONSOL & Noble Dissolve M-U Joint Venture). Then in May 2017, Noble up and sold all of their Marcellus leases and wells, to HG Energy (see Noble Energy Sells Remaining M-U Assets for $1.2B – Who Bought?). Not long after, Noble announced they also want to sell their share of CONE. Long story short, CNX (formerly CONSOL) bought Noble’s CONE share, and now owns it lock, stock and barrel. Does that mean CNX will no longer flow gas from HG Energy (formerly Noble) wells served by their 100%-owned pipelines? Not on your life! CNX will continue to service HG Energy’s wells, and may even run gathering lines to other competitors’ wells (i.e. “partners”) in the areas where CNX Midstream operates. So said CNX CEO Nick DeIuliis on a conference call yesterday with analysts. DeIuliis is jazzed that his company now owns 100% of the pipeline gathering system because it will allow them to “move quickly” to seize opportunities…
    Read More “CNX’s Pipelines to be Used for “Partners” – Not Just CNX Res.”