News

Proposed rules in Virginia may delay Mountain Valley Pipeline startup

Analysts believe stream-crossing rules proposed by environmental regulators in Virginia may delay the startup of the Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline to 2022, according to Reuters. Incidentally, the companies involved with the project are sticking with their late-2021 target. Natalie Cox, a spokeswoman at Equitrans Midstream Corp, one of the companies building the pipeline, said

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UGI Corporation to purchase Mountaintop Energy Holdings LLC for $540M

UGI Corporation of Pennsylvania has signed an agreement to purchase Mountaintop Energy Holdings LLC for $540 million, according to the Register-Herald. The sale includes $140 million in debt and a claim to all of Mountaineer Gas’ operating assets as Mountaintop Energy Holdings LLC is the parent company of West Virginia’s largest local gas distribution company. The agreement

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Permian reaches most rigs since May, US rig count falls by one

Although the US oil and gas rig count decreased by one to 413 for the week ended Dec. 24, the Permian Basin’s rig count climbed to its highest level since May, according to Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide. The lost rig was a natural gas rig, bringing the total count to 113. Meanwhile oil rigs held

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Plans for natural gas transport by rail in dense areas moves forward

Plans are moving forward for a New Jersey project that would transport natural gas by rail on one of the longest routes in the country, stretching 200 miles through densely populated areas along the East Coast, according to OPB. Gas from Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale will first be sent by pipeline to a new liquefaction plant

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Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale ends 2020 with fewer natural gas rigs

Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale will close 2020 with the lowest natural gas rig count of the year and well below where it started the year prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, oil price wars and overall economic strain, according to WPXI. According to Bakers Hughes there were an average of 18 rigs in Pennsylvania

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University of Pittsburgh receives $2.5M to study health impacts of fracking

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration is giving $2.5 million to the University of Pittsburgh to study the potential health impacts of fracking, according to StateImpact Pennsylvania. Communities in the southwestern portion of the state have been calling for an investigation into the links between fracking and an increased incidence of some illnesses for more than

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Olympus energy completes record-breaking natural gas well in Marcellus Shale

Olympus Energy recently completed its Midas 6M well in Plum Borough with a record lateral length for the Marcellus Shale, according to WXPI. The company completed the Midas 6M with a record-breaking lateral stretching 20,060 feet. The almost 4-mile lateral is a record in the Marcellus among completed and producing wells. Olympus Energy is the

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US oil, gas rig count rises by 10 during week ended Dec. 16

What is fracking? Fracking is a slang term for hydraulic fracturing. Fracturing is a process by which highly pressurized fluid is pumped thousands of feet into the ground to fracture rock formations. The goal is to release the natural gas that’s locked inside the rock. Is it safe? What most concerns people about fracturing is

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Williams receives past-due payment of $112M from Chesapeake

Williams has received a past-due payment of $112 million from Chesapeake Energy Corp., following a court-approved resolution between the companies as part of Chesapeake’s bankruptcy proceedings, according to Natural Gas Intelligence. The Tulsa-based pipeline giant reached a global resolution last month to continue treating and moving Chesapeake’s natural gas in the Lower 48. It received the

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WSJ “News” on Green Energy Is Pure Puffery Compared to Editorial

Roger DonwayContributor, MasterResource … …  [Editor’s Note: Roger Downey focuses on a problem long known to careful readers of the Wall Street Journal or WSJ; its news pages are shallow claptrap when it comes to “green energy.”] Noam Chomsky, MIT’s famously anti-American professor of linguistics, used to say to his audiences something like: All my

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Decreased demand sinks Pa. drilling impact fee to record low

Pennsylvania’s drilling impact fee will sink to a record low this year due to decreased demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to The Center Square. The price of natural gas on the New York Mercantile Exchange, which determines the impact fee, declined 21% this year to $2.08, according to the Independent Fiscal Office. The

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Mountain Valley Pipeline clears hurdle with USFS

Last week, the United States Forest Service released a final supplemental environmental impact statement for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, bringing the project one step closer to resolving a permitting setback that has prevented construction on a small portion routed through Jefferson National Forest, according to Natural Gas Intelligence. The USFS’s recent determination clears the way

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Berkshire Hathaway Energy acquires Dominion’s gas transmission and storage business

Last month Berkshire Hathaway Energy completed the purchase of all of Dominion Energy’s natural gas transmission and storage operating segment assets, exclusive of Quester Pipeline Group, according to Seeking Alpha. Berkshire Hathaway Energy paid $8 billion, including approximately $2.7 billion in cash, which is subject to adjustments, and the assumption of approximately $5.3 billion in debt.

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Eureka Resources earns three patents for wastewater disposal in Marcellus

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recently issued three patents to Eureka Resources for its technology that’s been used to reclaim water at wastewater treatment facilities in the Marcellus Shale, according to Pennsylvania Business Report. The technology includes processes that analyze the chemical characteristics of oil and gas wastewater, sort and direct the wastewater, and extract

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