Researchers Find Better/Faster Way to Evaporate Marcellus Brine

It’s good to revisit the basics from time to time. When drilling a shale oil or gas well, each well produces “brine,” a super-salty (minerally) water from the depths that keeps flowing long after the well is drilled and is online. This is not surface water; fresh water found down to about 300 feet. This…

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Supreme Court Won’t Block One Onerous EPA Reg, Jury Out on Another

EPA Administrator Michael Regan used a considerable amount of fossil energy and emitted tons of carbon dioxide to jet over to Dubai last December to participate in the COP28 confab, where he released a final rule that was “two years in the making” to force the U.S. oil and gas industry to cut methane emissions…

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PA DEP Program Gives Fed $$ to Plug “Lower Priority” Orphaned Wells

In August, the Biden-Harris administration promised (but hasn’t yet delivered a dime of) up to $152 million in “Phase 2” federal money, i.e., your taxpayer dollars, to help plug old conventional oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania (see Convenient Timing: Biden-Harris Promise Pa. Another $152 Million). In September, Biden-Harris said a check was in the…

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PA Sen. Yaw Bill Plugs Old Conv. Wells Using $$ from Solar Credits

Pennsylvania State Senator Gene Yaw believes he has a solution to help fund plugging many of the state’s ~350,000 orphaned and abandoned conventional oil and gas wells. Yaw recently introduced a bill, Senate Bill (SB) 1330, that directs the PA Department of General Services to sell any alternative energy credits it owns from buying unreliable…

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3 More Drillers Dinged by PA DEP for Not Disclosing Frack Chemicals

According to Pennsylvania regulation 25 Pa. Code § 78a.122(b)(6)(iv), a drilling company must provide a list of the chemicals intentionally added to the stimulation [fracking] fluid by name and chemical abstract service (CAS) number in a Completion Report. The PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) says three drillers, including EQT, Range Resources, and Greylock Energy,…

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Reuters Says FERC Sides with Venture Global in Shafting LNG Customers

Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass LNG export facility received Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) authorization to place the final three liquefaction blocks (7-9) into service in November 2023 (see Venture Global Gets FERC OK to Commission 3 Calcasieu Pass Trains). The other trains, 1-6, have been online for over two years! However, the entire facility is…

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Radicals Pressure CT Gov. Lamont to Block Algonquin Pipe Project

The Algonquin Gas Transmission pipeline (owned by Enbridge) transports up to 3.09 Bcf/d of natural gas through 1,131 miles of pipeline. Algonquin connects to Texas Eastern Transmission (TETCO), Millennium Pipeline, and Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline and supplies New England with critically needed natural gas supplies for power generation and consumer use. As we told you…

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European Methane Regs Begin to Bite Hard with US LNG Exporters

The European Union’s idiotic methane regulations will soon come into full force, prompting oil, gas, and coal companies to monitor, measure and report their emissions. The same restrictions will also apply to energy imports coming from other countries, including the U.S. (see Europeans Presume to Impose Their Regulations on American Gas). The arrogant Europeans presume…

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If Pennsylvania Loses GOP State Senate Majority, Marcellus is Done

We don’t think it’s overly melodramatic to say that Pennsylvania is standing on the edge of a cliff with the upcoming election in November. Yes, there’s the issue of which presidential candidate, Trump or The Cackler, will win PA and likely win the election. That is of critical importance. But so, too, is another race…

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PA House Intros Bill Creating Energy Advocate with Veto Power

Last Thursday, Sept. 19, Pennsylvania State Rep. James Struzzi (R-Indiana) introduced House Bill (HB) 2573, which creates an Independent Energy Office headed by a new Energy Advocate with the authority to veto any regulation, policy or action of any state agency that “may harm energy reliability and affordability.” This bill appears to be completely different…

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Phase 1 of Austin Master Serv. Cleanup in Martins Ferry “Complete”

In late July, the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) opened up the shuttered Austin Master Services (AMS) radiological waste management solutions company in Martins Ferry (Belmont County), Ohio, to begin cleanup work at the facility (see Flurry of Activity at Austin Master Services Site in Martins Ferry). AMS is permitted by the ODNR to…

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SRBC Approved Another 24 Water Use Permits for PA Drilling/Fracking

The Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) published a notice in the Saturday edition of the Pennsylvania Bulletin that says the SRBC’s Executive Director recently approved or renewed 24 general water use permits for shale gas drilling pads in Bradford, Cameron, Clearfield, Clinton, Lycoming, Susquehanna, Tioga and Wyoming counties in the Keystone State (full list below)….

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FERC Chairman Says Court “Erred” in Vacating Transco REAE Cert

Willie Phillips The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision in late July vacating (nullifying) the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s approval of Transco’s Regional Energy Access Expansion (REAE) project to bring gas from Pennsylvania to New Jersey and Maryland (see DC Circuit Libs Reverse FERC Approval of Transco Northeast Expansion). At a FERC open…

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NERC Worried About Having Enough NatGas Supplies THIS Winter

In a statement issued last week, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) said it “remains concerned about maintaining sufficient natural gas supplies to address extreme winter conditions” for this upcoming winter heating season. In a “Statement on Criticality of Natural Gas this Winter” (full copy below), NERC noted that next month marks the one-year…

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EQT’s Toby Rice Predicts Gas Below $3 for Now; Politicians Butt Out

Toby Rice, CEO of EQT Corporation, currently the largest natural gas producer in the U.S., spoke yesterday at the Gastech event in Houston. Rice expressed his view that the Henry Hub price for natural gas will remain below $3/MMBtu “in the short term.” He also had thoughts on how long companies like his will continue…

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