Shale Gas News – September 22, 2018

Bill desRosiers
External Affairs Coordinator, Cabot Oil & Gas

 

The Shale Gas News, heard every Saturday at 10 AM on 94.3 FM, 1510 AM and Sundays on YesFM, talked about oil prices, the “Cracker Effect”, water projects and much more last week.

The Shale Gas News has grown again; welcome Gem 104 as our FOURTH station! Gem 104 helps to solidify the Shale Gas News coverage in an important Marcellus region, PA’s northern tier. The Shale Gas News is now broadcasting in Bradford, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lebanon, Luzerne, Lycoming, Pike, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga and Wayne Counties, as well as in greater central PA. The Shale Gas News is aired on Saturday or Sunday depending on the station.

Every Saturday Rusty Fender and I host a morning radio show to discuss all things natural gas. This week, as a guest, we had State Representative Mike Tobash, representing the 125th Legislative District, which spans portions of Schuylkill and Dauphin counties.

Cabot Oil and Gas released its next installment of their “Looking Back, Moving Forward” series. To celebrate Cabot’s ten year anniversary in the Marcellus shale they sit down with your neighbors, area landowners and local leaders all across Northeast PA to ask for their real opinions on what the oil and natural gas industry has meant to the region. This week they talked with Dale Howell and you can see his interview here. You can follow the series on Cabot’s blog Well Said Cabot. 

The Shale Gas News, typically, is broadcast live. On the September 22nd show (click above), we covered the following new territory (see news excerpts below):

• Trump blasts OPEC ‘monopoly’ for higher oil prices. President Donald Trump has once again cast blame on OPEC for high oil prices, even though his own policies have helped fuel the surge. In a tweet on Thursday, Trump blasted OPEC for continuing to “push for higher and higher oil prices. The OPEC monopoly must get prices down now!” Trump said, adding that countries in the Middle East would not be “safe for very long” without protection from the United States. Trump is right to point to OPEC as a cause.
• Governor Wolf Announces More Than 350 New Projects to Improve Water Infrastructure, Promote Community Development, and Protect the Environment. Harrisburg, PA – Today, Governor Tom Wolf today announced 359 new project approvals through the Commonwealth Financing Authority (CFA): 236 Small Water and Sewer Program projects to protect and improve municipalities’ water systems, and 123 projects using funds collected from the impact fee on unconventional gas wells in the Marcellus Shale which will support public services and environmental protection projects.
• Chesapeake Energy Gets $3B Line of Credit from 15 Banks. Chesapeake Energy “amended and restated” its “senior secured revolving credit facility” on Wednesday. What does that mean in everyday language? It means the company has talked a bunch of banks into allowing the company to borrow up to $3 billion on a line of credit backed by the value of the company and its assets. That’s some kind of line of credit! The 15 banks doing the loaning were actually willing to pony up $3.8 billion, but Chessy only wants to use up to $3 billion.
• Local NatGas Pipes Explode Near Boston Killing 1, Injuring 25. You don’t often think of the safety of the pipeline network that delivers natural gas to your home or business because it’s so rare there are any problems with it. When’s the last time you heard about a local delivery pipeline exploding? Last Thursday a major incident occurred 25 miles northwest of Boston when delivery pipelines owned by Columbia Gas (NiSource) in three communities–Andover, North Andover and Lawrence–exploded and caught fire at “more than 60 locations.” The explosions and resulting fires tragically killed one teenager and injured some 25 others.
• MarkWest Plans to Build New Marcellus/Utica NGL Pipeline. Yesterday MarkWest Liberty NGL Pipeline, a subsidiary/part of MarkWest Energy (now MPLX since being bought out and merged into Marathon Petroleum in late 2015), announced plans to build a new NGL pipeline. MarkWest Liberty launched a binding open season for the new pipeline–a time when drillers can sign on the dotted line to reserve capacity along the new pipeline. The new NGL pipeline is a bit different than other NGL pipelines in the Marcellus/Utica.
• “Cracker Effect” – Shell Plant Will Create 7,400 Permanent Jobs. Ever hear of the “cracker effect”? No, we hadn’t either. Not until we read about a new study by a husband and wife team from Washington & Jefferson College. The pair studied the economic impact of cracker plants on surrounding communities–some 34 ethane crackers in 16 counties around the country. Most of the cracker plants are located along the Gulf Coast. The purpose of the study is to accurately forecast what will happen with Shell’s new $6 billion ethane cracker currently under construction in Beaver County, near Pittsburgh. What might the real, measurable economic effect be from Shell’s cracker? According to the authors, the Shell cracker will generate ~7,400 permanent, long-term jobs.
• EdgeMarc Energy Sued for Failing to Pay Overtime – Class Action. Last Wednesday a single person employed by EdgeMarc Energy in Ohio filed a lawsuit against the company in federal court claiming he was “misclassified” as an independent contractor when in reality he was functioning as a full-blown employee. Why does it make a difference? Because independent contractors (1099s) are paid a straight, per-hour rate no matter how many hours they work, whereas employees must, under federal (and state) law, be paid overtime for any hours worked over 40. The worker alleges the company intentionally uses independent contractor status to wiggle out of paying overtime, and that he’s not the only one.

The Shale Gas News sponsored by Linde Corporation

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