Marcellus Drilling News: New Fortress Energy Reapplying For Wyalusing LNG Natural Gas Plant Permits In Bradford County
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On March 14, Marcellus Drilling News reported New Fortress Energy intends to apply for updated permits for its proposed Wyalusing LNG natural gas plant in Bradford County, according to statements in a March 10 SEC company filing.

In a March 2022 voluntary settlement of an Environmental Hearing Board appeal of the air quality permit for the proposed facility, the developers of the LNG plant and DEP agreed a new air quality permit would be needed for continued development of the facility.  Read more here.

The company’s SEC statement said, “We intend to apply for updated permits for the Pennsylvania Facility with the aim of obtaining these permits to coincide with the commencement of construction activities.”

The company warned, “There is no assurance that we will obtain and maintain these permits and authorizations on favorable terms, or that we will be able to obtain them on a timely basis, and we may not be able to complete our projects, start or continue our operations, recover our investment in our projects and may be subject to financial penalties or termination under our customer and other agreements, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operating results, liquidity and prospects.”

“We operate in the highly competitive industry for LNG and face intense competition from independent, technology-driven companies as well as from both major and other independent oil and natural gas companies and utilities, in the various markets in which we operate and many of which have been in operation longer than us.

“Various factors relating to competition may prevent us from entering into new or replacement customer contracts on economically comparable terms to existing customer contracts, or at all, including , among others:

-- Increases in worldwide LNG production capacity and availability of LNG for market supply;

-- Decreases in the price of LNG; and

-- Displacement of LNG or fossil fuels more broadly by alternate fuels or energy sources or technologies (including but not limited to nuclear, wind, solar, biofuels and batteries) in locations where access to these energy sources is not currently available or prevalent.”

“In addition, we may not be able to successfully execute on our strategy to supply our existing and future customers with LNG produced primarily at our own liquefaction facilities upon completion of the Pennsylvania Facility or through our Fast LNG solution.

“Various competitors have and are developing LNG facilities in other markets, which will compete with our LNG facilities, including our Fast LNG solution.

“Some of these competitors have longer operating histories, more development experience, greater name recognition, larger staffs, larger and more versatile fleets, and substantially greater financial, technical and marketing resources than we currently possess. We also face competition for the contractors needed to build our facilities and skilled employees.”

“As of December 31, 2022, we have spent approximately $128.6 million to develop the Pennsylvania Facility. Approximately $22.5 of construction and development costs have been expensed as we have not issued a final notice to proceed to our engineering procurement and construction contractors.”

The Wyalusing LNG facility will cost an estimated $800 million to build.

Click Here for a copy of the company’s SEC statement.

LNG Transportation/Export Facility

According to a federal court filing, the U.S. Department of Transportation is set to miss the March 13 deadline to suspend a federal regulation that allows liquefied natural gas (LNG) to be transported by rail nationwide.

This will be the third time that the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, an agency within DOT, has missed this deadline.

The initial suspension of the LNG-by-rail rule was expected in June 2022, then December 2022, and now March 13, 2023.

Along with missing its March 13th deadline to suspend the LNG-by-rail rule, DOT has also indicated in the court filing that it will not make its own March 20th deadline to propose a replacement regulation.

The current rule allows transport of LNG-by-rail across the nation, including for a New Fortress Energy proposal to ship LNG-by-rail from Wyalusing, Bradford County nearly 200 miles south to an export terminal in Gibbstown, NJ.

If the project is approved, it would result in two 100-car trains of LNG moving through dozens of communities, including the City of Philadelphia, daily.

Read more here.

(Photo: Wyalusing LNG plant site.)

NewsClips - New Fortress:

-- Marcellus Drilling News: New Fortress Energy Reapplying For Wyalusing LNG Natural Gas Plant Permits In Bradford County 

-- Delaware Currents: Future Of Rail Shipment Of PA LNG-Natural Gas To Gibbstown LNG  Export Project Remains Far From Certain In Philadelphia Area

-- Inside Climate News - Jon Hurdle: PA Members Of Congress Urge Biden To Permanently Ban Rail Shipments Of LNG Natural Gas Warning Of Risk Of Explosion, Catastrophe

-- New Jersey Monitor: Ohio/PA Train Derailment Prompts New Calls To Block PA Natural Gas Transport Plan By Train/Truck To Proposed New Jersey LNG Export Terminal

-- The Philadelphia Citizen Guest Essay: The Unchecked Threat Of LNG Natural Gas At The Port Of Philadelphia - By Clean Air Council

-- PennLive Guest Essay: Philadelphia - Don’t Miss The Big Picture On LNG Natural Gas, You Need An Export Terminal - By Sen. Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming)

-- Scranton Times Editorial: Well At Least The Ohio/PA Train Derailment Wasn’t LNG Natural Gas

NewsClips - LNG Big Picture:

-- PA Capital-Star Guest Essay: Why Your Electric/Natural Gas Utility Bill Has Gone Up And What You Can Do About It - By Patrick Cicero, Consumer Advocate Of PA, Terrance Fitzpatrick, Energy Assn. Of PA [Natural Gas Prices Tripled]

-- Wall Street Journal: Why Natural Gas Bills Are Going Crazy, With No End In Sight

-- Reuters: Flood Of LNG Natural Gas Export Projects Due To Come Online Saturating Natural Gas Market, Knock Natural Gas Prices

-- EnergyWire: Energy Companies Are Racing To Build New Energy Infrastructure-- LNG Terminals, Pipelines-- Before Federal Regulations Are Updated

-- Bloomberg: Oil Investors Get $128 Billion Payout As Doubts Grow About Fossil Fuels; Long-Term Projects Like Refineries, Natural Gas Power Plants Could Become Stranded Assets

-- Reuters: U.S. LNG Natural Gas Producers Poised To Leapfrog Rivals With 3 New Export Terminal Projects

-- Reuters: U.S. LNG Natural Gas Exports Flat Despite Partial Restart Of Freeport, TX LNG Plant

-- WSJ: U.S. LNG Exports: How Natural Gas From Texas Becomes Cooking Fuel In France

-- Public Citizen: LNG Natural Gas: New Report On How Natural Gas Industry Exploited Ukraine War To Lock In Methane Emission Increases, Infrastructure Expansion

-- EnergyWire: Is Shipping LNG Natural Gas By Rail Safe?

PA Oil & Gas Public Notice Dashboards:

-- Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - March 11 to 17; Fracking 2 Wells Interfered With Another Shale Gas Well In Westmoreland County  [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment - March 18 [PaEN]

-- DEP Posts 62 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In March 18 PA Bulletin  [PaEN]

PA Oil & Gas Compliance Reports

-- Feature: 60 Years Of Fracking, 20 Years Of Shale Gas: Pennsylvania’s Oil & Gas Industrial Infrastructure Is Hiding In Plain Sight [PaEN]

-- Conventional Oil & Gas Well Owners Failed To File Annual Production/Waste Generation Reports For 61,655 Wells; Attorney General Continues Investigation Of Road Dumping Wastewater  [PaEN]

-- DEP Issued 754 Notices Of Violation For Defective Oil & Gas Well Casing, Cementing, The Fundamental Protection Needed To Prevent Gas Migration, Groundwater & Air Contamination, Explosions  [PaEN]

-- DEP Report Finds: Conventional Oil & Gas Drillers Routinely Abandon Wells; Fail To Report How Millions Of Gallons Of Waste Is Disposed; And Non-Compliance Is An ‘Acceptable Norm’  [PaEN]

-- DEP 2021 Oil & Gas Program Annual Report Shows Conventional Oil & Gas Operators Received A Record 610 Notices Of Violation For Abandoning Wells Without Plugging Them  [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industry Has Record Year: Cost, Criminal Convictions Up; $3.1 Million In Penalties Collected; Record Number Of Violations Issued; Major Compliance Issues Uncovered; Evidence Of Health Impacts Mounts  [PaEN]

Related Articles This Week:

-- Marcellus Drilling News: New Fortress Energy Reapplying For Wyalusing LNG Natural Gas Plant Permits In Bradford County  [PaEN]

-- U.S. DOT Misses Deadline To Suspend Rule Allowing Shipping LNG Natural Gas By Rail, Including A Proposal In PA  [PaEN]

-- Federal Court Rules Challenge To DEP Air Quality Permit For Adelphia Natural Gas Pipeline' Quakertown Compressor Station May Go Forward  [PaEN]

-- Environmental Groups Appeal DEP Permits For Transco Regional Energy Access Expansion Natural Gas Pipeline In Luzerne, Monroe Counties  [PaEN]

-- DEP To Submit Letter Of Intent To EPA As Early As This Week For Primacy To Regulate Underground Injection Wells  [PaEN]

-- PA Business Groups Urge EPA To Speed Up Approval Of State Primacy Applications For Injection Well Regulation [PaEN]

-- Equitrans/DEP In Discussions To Resolve EHB Appeal Of DEP’s Order To Fix Cambria County Underground Natural Gas Storage Area Conventional Access Wells  [PaEN]

-- Shell Petrochemical Plant Had 3-Hour Emergency Flaring Event To Burn Off Flammable Gases In Beaver County  [PaEN]

-- Commonwealth Court Rules PUC Is ‘Obligated’ To Conduct An Environmental Review Of Projects By The Environmental Rights Amendment In Case Involving A PECO Natural Gas Pumping Station In Delaware County  [PaEN]

-- Environmental Health Project: 75% Of Hazardous Waste Accepted At MAX Environmental Yukon Facility In Westmoreland County Comes From Shale Gas Industry; Sludge Proposed To Be Delisted As Hazardous Waste  [PaEN]

-- Marcellus Drilling News/Wellsboro Gazette: Pine Creek Headwaters Protection Group Objects To Location Of Mt. Nessmuk Shale Gas Drill Pad In Tioga State Forest  [PaEN]

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Approves 6 Natural Gas Drilling Water Withdrawal Renewals For 7.1 Million Gallons/Day  [PaEN]

-- Environmental Defense Fund, Clean Air Council, Environmental Health Project Sponsor Ad Campaign To Finalize Strong EPA Oil & Gas Methane Emission Limits To Protect PA's Health & Climate  [PaEN]

-- March 29 Southeastern PA Town Hall Meeting In Chester County To Focus On Health, Environmental Impacts Of Fossil Fuels  [PaEN]

-- Pennsylvania's Clean Energy Economy Grew To Over 92,700 Jobs Since COVID Economic Crisis  [PaEN]

[Posted: March 14, 2023]


3/20/2023

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