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    ECA Sells Marcellus/Utica Assets to ArcLight Capital – Shareholders Shafted

    Greylock Energy CEO Kyle Mork

    Big news concerning Energy Corporation of America (ECA), a privately owned company founded in 1963 with corporate headquarters in Denver, CO. The company owns (or rather owned) and operated approximately 4,600 (mostly vertical) wells, 5,000 miles of pipeline, and leases more than 1 million acres in North America–most of it in Appalachia. We spotted a press release yesterday that says ArcLight Capital has acquired substantially all of ECA’s natural gas production and pipeline assets. But here’s where it gets interesting. ArcLight has set up a subsidiary called Greylock Energy, which will own the assets–all of the ECA natgas/pipeline assets will go to Greylock. The former CEO of ECA, Kyle Mork, will become the CEO of Greylock. Many (most?) of top management from ECA will become part of Greylock. The existing ECA palatial headquarters building we told you about back in 2014 (see ECA’s New Regional HQ in Charleston: More WV Drilling on the Way?) will become the new HQ for Greylock. In other words, it’s all still ECA, but there’s a new nameplate on the door. So what really happened? What happened, according to an MDN source, is that ECA did something akin to what we’ve seen a number of times before: they converted debt into equity (ownership) and shafted existing shareholders out of millions of dollars. Except in this case we’re not sure ECA actually had large debts. There’s no way to know since it’s a private company. But the pattern is the same. ECA gave the keys to new owners, leaving the previous owners (i.e. shareholders) standing on the curb…
    Read More “ECA Sells Marcellus/Utica Assets to ArcLight Capital – Shareholders Shafted”

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    DRBC Drops Permanent Frack Ban Bomb – Public Hearings in January

    We knew it was coming. We told you back in September that the obsequious members of the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) will slavishly obey 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 yesterday by the DRBC. In dropping their bomb, the DRBC said (with no proof) that fracking “poses significant, immediate and long-term risks” to the waters in the basin. Then they declared, by fiat, that “High volume hydraulic fracturing in hydrocarbon bearing rock formations is prohibited within the Delaware River Basin.” Of course the Federal Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit may have another take on that (see DRBC Lawyer Nearly Faints 2nd Time When Questioned by Fed Judges). What happens now? Aside from the lawsuit cooking in the background to challenge the DRBC’s jurisdiction over fracking, the bureaucrats will hold a series of four public hearings in two locations–i.e. circus freak shows–where THE Delaware Riverkeeper herself and others will make pompous jerks of themselves and try to drown out landowners who want to express opposition to this injustice. Below we have a copy of the proposed regulation the lawless DRBC intends to adopt by fiat early next year, the list of public hearings (pro-gas needs to show up in force!), and reaction from antis and the industry…
    Read More “DRBC Drops Permanent Frack Ban Bomb – Public Hearings in January”

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    PA DEP Signals Onerous New GP-5 & 5A Methane Regs Coming 1Q18

    Yesterday the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued “draft final language” for the proposed General Permit 5A (GP-5A) and the revised General Permit 5 (GP-5)–regulations that supposedly will cut down on fugitive methane from escaping from drill pads and pipelines. The onerous regulations were originally prompted by bullying from the Obama Environmental Protection Agency. Even though EPA pressure has disappeared under President Trump, PA Gov. Wolf still intends to push forward with these onerous and unnecessary regulations. Unnecessary? Really Jim? Yes, really. See our companion story today that a new Penn State study has found very small amounts of methane escape from Marcellus well pads and pipelines (see Penn State Study Finds Very Little Methane Leaks from Shale Infra.). Makes no difference. Wolf is set on this course and will attempt to ram it through, to win brownie points with his unhappy enviro left supporters, ahead of next year’s election. The DEP held a webinar yesterday to discuss this latest version of GP-5 & 5A, and lay out a timeline (early next year) for adopting it…
    Read More “PA DEP Signals Onerous New GP-5 & 5A Methane Regs Coming 1Q18”

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    Penn State Study Finds Very Little Methane Leaks from Shale Ops

    Methane (i.e. natural gas) is often made out to be a bogeyman by radical environmentalists. They’d have you believe a single molecule wafting into the air will cause global warming and make Mom Earth fry. It’s bunkum. However, the fairy tales we grow up with exert a strong control over us later in life. The hew and cry of so-called environmentalists is that extracting natural gas leads to fugitive methane in the atmosphere–and fugitive methane diminishes the benefits of using natural gas. Some quacks like Cornell professors Tony Ingraffea and Robert Howarth actually say burning dirty coal is better than extracting and using clean-burning natural gas (see Geriatric Duo Howarth & Ingraffea Want NY to Stop Using NatGas). So how much methane actually escapes during the process of drilling and extracting and pipelining the gas? Take a wild guess. Maybe 5% wafts into the stratosphere? Or perhaps 2-3%? What about 1%? If only 1% of the gas extracted was lost in the extraction/transportation process, that would be pretty darned good in our book. Penn State researchers, using a grant by the federal Dept. of Energy, set out to answer the question of how much methane is escaping. They did a study in northeast PA, using data from stationary towers and airplanes flying over gas operations. The study, titled “Quantifying methane emissions from natural gas production in north-eastern Pennsylvania” (full copy below) found that methane leakage rates from natural gas wells and other infrastructure in the Northeast Marcellus Shale are roughly 0.4 percent of production. You read that right! A measly four-tenths of one percent of all production is lost. Statistically speaking–zero…
    Read More “Penn State Study Finds Very Little Methane Leaks from Shale Ops”

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    NC Plays “Death by a Thousand Questions” with Atlantic Coast Pipe

    North Carolina has a Democrat governor. The state Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is an executive branch agency. So it’s no surprise to learn that the DEQ has turned antagonistic toward Dominion’s $5 billion, 594-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP)–a natural gas pipeline that will stretch from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina. In October the DEQ rejected the plan submitted by Dominion for the pipeline project, claiming the erosion and sediment control plan is not up to snuff (see NC DEQ Rejects Plan for Atlantic Coast Pipeline – What’s Next?). Since that time Dominion has been back and forth with the DEQ. On Wednesday the DEQ sent Dominion a fourth round of questions. Dominion has 30 days to respond, and the DEQ another 60 days after that to respond to the response. Bingo, another 90 days gone, just like that. What this appears to be is “death by a thousand cuts,” or in this case, “death by a thousand questions”…
    Read More “NC Plays “Death by a Thousand Questions” with Atlantic Coast Pipe”

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    Philly Dems Claim Shale Industry “Pollution” Targets Blacks

    This is truly outrageous and disgusting. We feel filthy just having to read and report on this news–filthy because of the outright falsehood of the preposterous allegation. Did you know that pollution can now target people based on their race? That’s what the idiotic State Rep. Donna Bullock (Democrat from Philadelphia), along with the radical Moms Clean Air Force and Defend Our Future groups said at a presser yesterday. They claim that “toxins from the oil and gas industry disproportionately impact African-American families throughout Pennsylvania.” They cite a faux report from the National Association for the Advancement of [Liberal] Colored People (NAACP) that claims “African-Americans are exposed to 38 percent more polluted air than their white counterparts” because of the oil and gas industry. Utter rubbish. “Hey, I’m a pollution molecule floating around and if I see a black person, I’ll just zoom right into that person’s nostrils–but I’ll leave the white folk alone.” You see how absurd this is? The NAACP claims more black people live near oil and gas operations than white people–although they offer no data to back up the claim. And because they live closer, that means they’re “polluted” more than others. Again, rubbish. When will someone stand up to such insane claims and demand these people resign and slink away in shame?…
    Read More “Philly Dems Claim Shale Industry “Pollution” Targets Blacks”

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    New System Allows 100% Reuse of Frack Wastewater in Marcellus Test

    Researchers with Halliburton and EQT have created a new friction reducer, testing it in three Marcellus wells. What’s a friction reducer? It is a chemical substance used to reduce the amount of friction water (or other liquids) encounters in a pipe. Lots of water (and recycled wastewater) is pumped down the bore hole to frack a Marcellus well–upward of 5 million gallons. About 20% of that water comes back out of the hole and is recycled and used again for more fracking. The problem is, the wastewater has a lot of minerals in it, i.e. it’s super “salty.” In order to keep recycling and using the wastewater to frack more wells, typically fresh water has to be added because as the wastewater gets more salty, it encounters more friction along the pipe. So a friction reducer is needed to keep the liquid flowing fast along the pipe. The innovation–the breakthrough that Halliburton has pioneered–means that drillers won’t have to add fresh water to recycled wastewater for fracking. They can now use 100% recycled wastewater with no fresh water added. Even as the wastewater is reused again and again, getting more salty, it can still be used without mixing in fresh water…
    Read More “New System Allows 100% Reuse of Frack Wastewater in Marcellus Test”

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    FERC Acting Chairman Vents About Big Green Groups Blocking Pipes

    FERC Acting Chairman Neil Chatterjee

    You know why Donald Trump is so popular out here in “flyover country,” where there are real, hard-working Americans? Because he’s not afraid to speak his mind. He doesn’t bother with appearances and inside-the-Beltway decorum where swamp dwellers never say what they really mean or think. Trump just says it–Tweets it, says it in speeches, in meetings. We love it! And we think more people in government should behave like Trump and just say what they really think. It looks like we have someone doing just that–a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) member, no less! Acting Chairman of FERC, Neil Chatterjee, had the temerity to tell the truth at an industry meeting yesterday. Chatterjee said that national enviro groups (antis) are using the legal system to delay approval of natgas pipeline projects. Er, a, OK. There’s really no mystery there. No revelation. No speaking out school. But the very fact that he said it has enviro antis up in arms–that he dared to simply utter the truth. Reuters is all concerned because uttering such truths is “rare for a regulator”–like maybe we should check Chatterjee to see if he has a fever. Since some of the worst of the worst–the Sierra Club and 350.org–have been repeatedly suing FERC (dozens of lawsuits!), it stand to reason (says Reuters), Chatterjee is talking about (gasp) those very groups! Ding ding ding ding. Give that Reuters reporter a prize. Chatterjee does, however, see a silver lining to all of these lawsuits: “Ultimately, lengthier approvals mean projects are better able to withstand legal challenge.” And that just ticks off the radicals all the more…
    Read More “FERC Acting Chairman Vents About Big Green Groups Blocking Pipes”

  • Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Dec 1, 2017

    The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Underground coal fires do not pose a threat to Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline; OH company sees major uptick in business from shale; Rover donates money to local first responders; WVU, NETL collaborating on important shale project; US LNG exports hit record high in November; U.S. shale drilling picks up in September; OPEC extends production cuts another 9 months; today’s poor need MORE oil, natgas & coal; natgas outlook for 2018; and more!
    Read More “Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Dec 1, 2017”

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    Fire at EQT Well Pad in Marshall County, WV

    Yesterday, gas processing equipment at a Trans Energy well pad (now owned by EQT) in Marshall County, WV caught fire. The important things to know: (1) The fire was quickly extinguished, (2) nobody was injured, (3) this was not a well fire and was not related to drilling or fracking. There is a single operating Marcellus well at that location–drilled back in 2011. The well has been producing natural gas and other hydrocarbons since that time. As is common, some of the hydrocarbons (like condensate) are separated right at the well location, by equipment located near the pad. The fire began in that processing equipment. No residents were evacuated and the fire was out within a few hours. However, workers at the nearby Williams Fort Beeler natural gas processing plant were evacuated for a brief time, out of “an abundance of caution”…
    Read More “Fire at EQT Well Pad in Marshall County, WV”

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    CONSOL Energy Split Done – Meet “New” Gas Driller CNX Resources

    CONSOL Energy, headquartered in Pittsburgh, began life as a coal company some 150 years ago. For the past half dozen years MDN has reported on CONSOL’s transformation from coal company to natural gas company. That transformation, as of yesterday, is complete. In July CONSOL filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission that laid out a plan to split the company in two, into a coal company and a natural gas exploration and production company (see CONSOL Energy’s Split into 2 Companies Nearly Complete, New Name?). Yesterday was the first day for the separated companies. CONSOL the coal company retains the CONSOL Energy name and get various coal mines and other coal-related assets. The CEO of the coal company is Jimmy Brock. Meanwhile, CONSOL the natural gas driller got a new name–CNX Resources–and retains all of the other assets. Nick DeIuliis, former president and CEO of CONSOL Energy when it was all one company, is the president and CEO of CNX Resources. In speaking about the newly separated gas drilling company, CNX Resources COO Tim Dugan said this: “You’ll see the Utica becoming a larger and larger part of our development.” Here’s the big news that CONSOL is now split into two different companies…
    Read More “CONSOL Energy Split Done – Meet “New” Gas Driller CNX Resources”

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    U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Appeal of WV EQT Royalty Case

    The United States Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal of an important West Virginia case, which means the current ruling stands that allows EQT and other drillers to deduct “reasonable” post-production expenses from landowner royalty checks. It is a victory for drillers and a blow to some landowners. How did we get here? A brief history: Last December MDN reported on the huge WV Supreme Court decision against EQT that disallows EQT from deducting post-production expenses from royalty checks, even with signed contracts in place (see WV Supreme Court Rules EQT Can’t Deduct P-P Costs from Royalties). In February this year, with a brand new justice on the bench, the WV Supreme Court agreed to rehear the case after an appeal filed by EQT–a rare and unusual step (see EQT Catches Big Break in WV Supreme Court re Royalty Deductions). In May the WV Supreme Court ruled on the reheard case, overturning its previous decision from last December. The court ruled to allow EQT to deduct “reasonable” post-production expenses (see WV Supreme Court Reverses Itself, Post-Production Deductions OK). Those who won the original case (and lost the reheard case) say newly elected Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Walker had conflicts of interest and should not have been allowed to vote to rehear the case in the first place (which she did). On that basis, they tried to avoid the rehearing altogether, but that failed. Newly elected Justice Walker, with (according to the losing side) conflicts of interest, voted in favor of EQT. On the basis that Walker should not have been part of the process at all, the case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court in September (see Lawyers ask US Supreme Court to Hear WV EQT Royalty Case). On Monday, with no explanation, the Supremes denied the request for an appeal…
    Read More “U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Appeal of WV EQT Royalty Case”

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    Webasto – Saving Marcellus/Utica Trucks Big Money and Time

    Winter has arrived here in the Marcellus/Utica. Keeping a truck idled for hours at a time–just to keep it warm or to get it warmed up before driving–is a waste of money. It’s also harmful to the environment (lots of nasty diesel emissions). There is a better way–the Webasto way. Webasto designed and manufactures an ingenious solution, a tiny little device like a motor, that will heat up the fluids in a truck, meaning you don’t have to start it minutes and hours ahead of time just to warm it up. They even have a device that will keep the cabin warm–without running the truck’s engine! How clever is that? MDN is delighted to bring our audience a new sponsor/advertiser: Webasto. Never heard of it? You may actually have one of their systems in your equipment and not even realize it. They’re responsible for the technology behind Engine-Off heating solutions–improving driver comfort and engine performance for all types of vehicles. Webasto was founded in 1901 in Germany and remains headquartered there. However, it is truly an international company, with operations around the world, including here in the U.S. There are a number of subsidiaries and divisions within the company. The part of the company that has become an MDN sponsor manufactures technologies, like heaters, used in big trucks (see it here).

    Obviously not all MDN readers are interested in technology that keeps trucks warm in the winter. But there are a number of trucking companies, and fleet managers, who subscribe to and read MDN. Companies that work in the Marcellus/Utica region. We have some information you need–information that will (a) save you BIG money, (b) improve your environmental record, and (c) lower maintenance costs for your trucks…
    Read More “Webasto – Saving Marcellus/Utica Trucks Big Money and Time”

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    Lancaster Hospital Produces Its Own Electricity Using Marcellus Gas

    Hey Lancaster Against Pipelines–you might want to rethink your opposition to the Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline that flows fracked Marcellus gas from northeast PA to places like Lancaster. Why? Because you’re own hospital is powered by a new electric plant that uses Marcellus gas to generate electricity. Hospitals are known as “critical infrastructure” in PA–facilities that “deliver essential services and functions during natural disasters, emergency events, or grid outages.” Lancaster General Hospital, critical infrastructure in the Lancaster area, now produces almost all of its own electricity from a new 6.6 megawatt power plant it built right on the hospital campus (gasp!). Lancaster General uses a “combined heat and power” (CHP) system. Here’s the cool part: There are a dozen other hospitals across the Keystone State that already use natgas-powered CHP systems to generate their own electricity too. So tell us again, Lancaster Against Pipelines, how filthy fracked gas is destroying Mom Earth and poisoning the air. Quite the contrary: Natgas and the pipelines that deliver it are saving lives in hospitals across the state, including Lancaster County…
    Read More “Lancaster Hospital Produces Its Own Electricity Using Marcellus Gas”

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    Old Hippie/Actor James Cromwell “Escorted Out” of FERC Meeting

    James Cromwell as Zefram Cochrane in Star Trek: First Contact

    Wealthy, old, has-been actor and Manhattanite James Cromwell has a summer playground home in Upstate New York–in Orange County. When he bought his Upstate home he certainly didn’t think a natural gas-fired power plant would be built nearby. That’s like a script from a “B” movie! But such a thing happened. Cromwell, in case you don’t know, is famous for starring in movies like “Babe” and “Star Trek: First Contact.” When Cromwell learned that an electric generating plant that burns evil fossil fuels (natural gas) would be built near his summer home, he thought he would do what all Hollywood stars think will work–shut the project down by protesting. It just has to work because, you know, he’s famous. What a dope. After initial court challenges went nowhere, CPV (Competitive Power Ventures) began building the $900 million Valley Energy Center project in Wawayanda, NY (see Orange County, NY Marcellus-Fired Electric Plant OK’d by Judge). In December 2015, Cromwell and a few star-struck sycophants got themselves arrested for illegally blocking the entrance to the construction site (see Actor James Cromwell Arrested Protesting NY Power Plant Site). The wheels of justice grind slowly, but finally, two years later, the “Wawayanda Six,” as they call themselves, were found guilty and ordered to pay a fine. Some of the six did, but Cromwell and a few others refused. So he was given a one week jail sentence. Cromwell ended up serving just a few days. Being white and famous has its privileges (see “Privileged White” Actor Cromwell Serves < Half of Jail Sentence). Since Cromwell and his sycophants couldn’t stop the plant from getting built, they changed tactics. They thought they could stop a pipeline from getting built to feed the plant natural gas. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) saw through that one and moved forward at a recent meeting to allow the Valley Lateral Project (a short 7.8 mile pipeline) to begin construction. Cromwell and a fellow jailbird from Wawayanda (Pramilla Malick) went to to the FERC meeting and disrupted the meeting by standing and chanting “FERC doesn’t work.” Catchy. Security had to escort them out…
    Read More “Old Hippie/Actor James Cromwell “Escorted Out” of FERC Meeting”

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    Canadian Antis Threaten to “Defend” Against Quebec Utica Drilling

    Advocating for anarchy (a doing away of laws and letting the mob rule) is not unique to radical environmentalists in the United States. Such anarchy is alive and well in the Canadian environmental movement too. The Utica Shale, which underlies much of the Marcellus Shale, also underlies part of Canada’s Quebec province. From time to time we highlight news concerning the Utica in Canada. There hasn’t been much news to highlight over the years since Quebec has had a moratorium on fracking since 2012. But as we reported in December 2016, something of a minor miracle happened–the Quebec National Assembly voted to pass Bill 106, ostensibly to support Quebec’s “clean power plan” (see Fracking in Canadian Utica Shale Takes Big Step Closer to Reality). The bill includes a section that “lays out a framework for oil and gas development” in Quebec. Then in September, Quebec did the unthinkable (for radical environmentalists)–they published draft Utica drilling regulations (see Quebec Government Publishes Draft Utica Fracking Regulations). Canadian driller Questerre believes Utica drilling can begin sometime next year (see Questerre Plans 8 Initial Well Pads in Canadian Utica 2018-2019). That news has antis in Canada going berserk. They’re now threatening that “the public will defend itself” if drilling is allowed. What do they mean by that? Sure sounds like a threat to us…
    Read More “Canadian Antis Threaten to “Defend” Against Quebec Utica Drilling”