Northeast

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration has signed a $2.5 million contract with the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health to conduct additional research on the potential health effects of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the state.  The move comes in response to growing concerns in four southwestern Pennsylvania counties where unconventional natural gas development…

Equitrans Midstream Corp. has significantly cut its 2021 financial forecast as Appalachian natural gas producers continue to curb spending and output. Equitrans, the third largest natural gas gatherer in the United States with operations in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, this month cut its net income guidance for next year to $540-610 million. That’s down…

The voluntary bankruptcies by U.S. exploration operators have continued to mount, with Lower 48 oil production by the insolvent companies set to decrease from current volumes by around 25%, or 200,000 b/d, at the end of 2021, according to a Rystad Energy analysis. “Operated oil production from the recent Chapter 11 filings is heavily weighted…

Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. has again curtailed natural production volumes that averaged 372 MMcf/d through the last two weeks of September as it continues to weather weak Appalachian prices.  Shut-in volumes have grown to average 450 MMcfe/d since Oct. 1 in anticipation of better prices soon. Cabot has lowered full-year production guidance to 2.300-2.350…

Construction of Royal Dutch Shell plc’s multi-billion dollar ethane cracker in western Pennsylvania is about 70% complete, while the 98-mile pipeline system that would feed the facility is 95% complete, a company executive said Tuesday, noting that the Covid-19 pandemic has complicated the project. “All of the major equipment is up, all of the modules…

An underground natural gas liquids (NGL) storage project in Ohio — seen as key to the Appalachian Basin’s petrochemical buildout — has hit another snag as its backers have withdrawn their permits in the face of a lawsuit from environmental groups.  The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) last week cancelled three permits to drill…

Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. LLC (Transco) has agreed to pay nearly $1 million in penalties and environmental donations for violations that occurred during the construction of its Atlantic Sunrise expansion project, Pennsylvania regulators said Tuesday.  The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) said it has collected a civil penalty of $736,294 from Transco for…

FERC on Thursday turned back a rehearing on a 2-1 vote regarding its prior approval for Appalachian natural gas takeaway Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC (MVP) to extend the system. The environmental impacts for the Southgate extension are acceptable, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ruled in its regular meeting. Chairman Neil Chatterjee and James P. Danly…

Citing adverse impacts at a horizontal directional drill (HDD) site in southeastern Pennsylvania, the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has ordered Sunoco Pipeline LP to reroute part of its Mariner East (ME) system. Sunoco will need to “take all steps necessary, including the submission of appropriate applications and supporting materials for permit amendments,” to…