Michigan Law 101 – How A Bill Becomes A Law

michigan legislature capitol

Understanding how a bill works its way through the Michigan legislature and becomes a law can be complicated if you don’t know where to start.  The process can be broken down, however, so it’s at least easier to understand the 101 basics. By the time you’ve finished reading this post you will know the fundamentals of how an idea becomes a Michigan Bill, how that bill works its way through Michigan’s legislature, and how that bill becomes a law. This post will also show you some web-based tools that can help you easily track a bill’s lifecycle and how to find a bill’s actual written text. It’s important to read the sponsored legislation verbatim rather than relying solely on another person’s opinion or cliff notes about the bill. RMP has done a couple “101” posts for subjects including Michigan Petroleum Geology 101 and Michigan Petroleum Production 101 in past posts and now it’s time for Continue reading “Michigan Law 101 – How A Bill Becomes A Law”

Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly – January 2016

The big story this month is the location of the Ensign #161 drilling rig.   The lat/lon of Ensign #161 on the date of this post’s publication is 40.4293, -104.604 which is not a Michigan lat/lon.   You can see a map of Ensign #161 along with 10 other active Ensign rigs in the same area of Colorado by clicking on this link (depending on when you read this, the location may have changed). With Ensign #161’s location in Greeley, Colorado, which is just north of Denver and just SE of Fort Collins, you might wonder: why is Ensign #161’s Colorado location the big story in Michigan in January of 2016?

The answer is that Marathon just Continue reading “Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly – January 2016”

Wolverine Pipeline Maintenance At Holland West Middle School

wolverine pipeline

This post is a retraction of a post published by RMP last Sunday January 17, 2016.  RMP mistakenly posted a story about a gasoline spill at Holland West Middle School in Holland, Michigan.  There was no gasoline spill by Wolverine Pipeline at West Middle School.   The pictures RMP obtained of Terra Contracting Services remediating a petroleum sheen on surface waters on 12/31/2015 were not related to the excavation activity being performed by Wolverine Pipeline at West Middle School.  Half of the photos RMP published were of West Middle School and half the pictures RMP posted were a  different undetermined location.  RMP mistakenly connected the two sets of photos as at the same location.  Tom Shields from Wolverine Pipeline let RMP know the information that we published was erroneous and it was taken down immediately.   RMP regrets any false sense of alarm caused by the publication and wanted to immediately issue this retraction.

Here is the story of what has happened and where we are today with regard to Continue reading “Wolverine Pipeline Maintenance At Holland West Middle School”

Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly – December 2015

marathon oil hvhf beaver creek

The December issue of RMP’s Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly (MOGM) marks our 12th edition, our first full year of publications, and the final edition for 2015. The story for 2015 was this: oil & gas exploration in Michigan is at its slowest ever. It was the all-time slowest year in Michigan’s oil & gas exploration history beating the record set in 1931 for lowest permitting & drilling activity.   While the predictions RMP made last year were spot on target for Michigan in 2015, some unexpected things happened also.

Half-way around the world, Saudi Arabia’s 2015 actions to increase their own crude oil production to stave off US shale production have had a deep cutting effect on American oil & gas producers across the nation as well as right here at home.  As long as we rely on crude oil as an energy source, the King of Saudi Arabia can significantly impact a large segment of our energy economy which effects our national security and causes Americans to lose jobs.  Switching from internal combustion engines to fuel cells would fundamentally change the balance of world power as it relates to energy.  America can end its reliance on Saudi Arabia & other OPEC countries by responsibly migrating away from crude oil as an energy source. We have seen American oil producing companies lose major percentages of their net financial worth and layoff tens of thousands of American workers in 2015 because of Saudi actions.

chesapeake stock value drops 70 percent in 2015
Chesapeake has lost nearly 70% of its value in 2015. More evidence with hard numbers that supports what RMP has been saying all along about the oil & gas bust because of actions taken in Saudi Arabia to hurt American companies.

Another large scale international event related to oil & gas that will impact Michigan happened this December when President Obama Continue reading “Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly – December 2015”

The Back Forty – A Michigan Gold Mine

Aquila’s flagship Back Forty Project is a volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposit located along the mineral-rich Penokean Volcanic Belt in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.  Valuable metals are deposited in the ore along the Menominee River which represents the state line between Michigan and Wisconsin. The Back Forty Project currently demonstrates a 16.1 million ton measured and indicated (M&I) resource containing close to 1 million ounces of gold and 1 billion pounds of zinc. The Back Forty Project sits on the banks of the Menominee River which drains to Lake Michigan via Green Bay just north of the eponymous city.  RMP has created an interactive Google Map of the Back Forty Gold Mine which is embedded at the bottom of this post if you’d like to go directly to the Google Map.  Or you can just click here to open RMP’s interactive Google Map of the BackForty goldmine in a new browser tab.

Aquila now owns 100% of the development-stage Back Forty Project that will delineate the zinc- and gold-rich VMS in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Over the past 10 years, Toronto based Aquila Resources and various joint venture partners, including Hudbay Minerals, have spent more than Continue reading “The Back Forty – A Michigan Gold Mine”

Enbridge Line 5 Crude Oil Leak – North Straits Pump Station Near Lake Michigan Shoreline

The Enbridge Line 5 crude oil pipeline runs from Superior Wisconsin to Sarnia, Ontario.  Line 5 is a 30 inch diameter crude oil pipeline that is split into two 20 inch diameter pipelines at the North Straits Pump Station near St. Ignace.   The two 20 inch diameter pipelines proceed under the Straits of Mackinac about 1,000 feet apart reaching depths of 200 feet before reemerging in the lower peninsula.  The pipeline was commissioned in 1953 and has been in service for over 62 years.  As of December 2013, Enbridge increased the capacity of Line 5 to pump 540,000 barrels of crude oil per day.  This is 50,000 barrels of oil more per day than its previous capacity of 490,000 barrels of oil per day.  RMP has created an interactive “Line 5” Google Map that is embedded at the very bottom of this post if you want to skip right to the map or click here.

Map North Straits Pump Station
The North Straits Pump Station is located about 100 yards from the Straits of Mackinac on the northern shore of Lake Michigan at Point La Barbe in the upper peninsula.  The North Straits Pump Station is the last landmark of Line 5 before it dives into the Great Lakes freshwater system. Click any picture in this post to enlarge it and open a photogallery.

Enbridge Line 5 has recently been receiving more attention than it has in the past because the aging pipelines under the Straits of Mackinac present a major regional economic risk and an environmental risk to the Great Lakes freshwater system. Line 5 puts the Great Lakes freshwater system at risk of a cleanup that could potentially surpass the one billion dollar mark.  Economic losses could also occur in Continue reading “Enbridge Line 5 Crude Oil Leak – North Straits Pump Station Near Lake Michigan Shoreline”

Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly – November 2015

Michigan has issued 104 permits so far this year through November 20, 2015 and continues its streak of the slowest 6 years in a row ever for oil & gas activity. 14 of the permits issued thus far in 2015 are for pilot & horizontal combinations and should really only count as one.   The numbers through 2015 continue to support RMP’s forecasts and analysis of Michigan oil & gas activity.  With only 104 permits issued in November, it’s still very likely 2015 will be the slowest year in Michigan oil & gas history.  1931 currently holds the record as the slowest year for permitting in Michigan history at 111 permits issued.

According to the US Census Bureau, petroleum as a percentage of the US trade deficit is still at 13.7% even with major production increases in oil production due to horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing.
According to the US Census Bureau, petroleum as a percentage of the US trade deficit is still at 13.7% even with major production increases in oil production due to horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing.

Michigan produces less than 5% of the refined oil products purchased by Michigan consumers. Michigan is ranked 19th in crude oil production in the United States out of 31 producing states. Collective US production of oil from all 31 producing states supplies about only half of the crude products US consumers purchase. The US only holds 2.2% of world crude oil reserves. Recent increases in US production of crude because of technological advancements in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing are certainly remarkable and have made a large dent in imported petroleum, but we still only produce about half of the crude oil processed in US refineries.  Oil as an energy source is simply not sustainable even at the currently boosted levels of production.  The USA will perpetually remain in a Continue reading “Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly – November 2015”

Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly – October 2015

michigan oil & gas

The featured image above (Photo Credit: Neo), is of the flare stack at the Milford Sand & Gravel 1-32 well.  West Bay Exploration filed a petition with the Assistant Supervisor of Wells for an exception to Michigan No Flare Order Provisions of Special Order No. 3-71 to flare up to 100,000 scf of natural gas a day from the flare stack shown in the featured image of our October MOGM.  Harold Fitch, the Assistant Supervisor of Wells, signed the Notice of Hearing for this petition on October 9, 2015.  The gas flared at the Sand & Gravel pit comes from two other wells also:  the Kensington Metroparks 1-31 and the Kensington Metroparks 2-32.  The flowlines from the Kensington Metropark wells flow across Kent Lake over to the Continue reading “Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly – October 2015”

Michigan Oil & Gas Production Report January – June 2015

It’s time to review the first six month’s production of subsurface hydrocarbons in the Michigan Basin as most operators have now reported results.   The theme of this report is that things aren’t always as predictable as you think and that it’s important to always be diligent in measuring the data because the data can Continue reading “Michigan Oil & Gas Production Report January – June 2015”

Coal Use Forecasted To Rise – How We Can Mitigate Coal Pollution

Do you consider yourself as a person that cares about the environment?  Are you concerned about climate change?  Are you concerned about oil pipelines traversing our lakes and rivers threatening our fresh water resources?  Then you understand energy production from High Efficiency Low Emissions (HELE) coal is an important part of the plan for a better environment, right?  No?

If we ignore the fact that new coal powered capacity will continue to come online over the next twenty years, we bury our heads in the sand when it comes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other atmospheric pollution.  We need to change the way we use coal and start using thermolysis for gasification rather than combustion for burning.   By choosing thermolysis instead of combustion, we can produce energy without producing pollution that harms our air and water.  In order to foster renewable energy sources like solar and wind, we need to find a common denominator fuel to let renewables compete on a wide scale.  That common denominator fuel is hydrogen.  We can make hydrogen from coal with significantly reduced pollution while we wean ourselves off of fossil fuels.  We can also make hydrogen from water and create zero pollution.   We can increase our capacity to make hydrogen from water while we decrease our use of coal over the long term.  We can phase coal out of our energy mix, but it will take time and we must have a pragmatic approach.

RMP draws contrast between the common misunderstanding between what is combustion and what is a noncombustion chemical reaction.  Burning coal is not the same thing as thermolysis  or the thermal decomposition of matter without releasing particulate matter to atmosphere.   The byproducts of thermolysis are inert and saleable for road making material and other construction material.

Be it known to all within the sound of my voice, whosoever shall be found guilty of burning coal shall suffer the loss of his head.

-King Edward II of England, 1276

Coal has generally had three major knocks against it with regard to pollution and its negative effects on the environment:  1)  CO2 emissions,  2) Sulfur Dioxide emissions, & 3) Mercury emissions.   Other complaints about coal involve NOx’s and other particulate matter released to atmosphere.    So if we could produce cleaner energy from our abundance of US coal without releasing those types of Continue reading “Coal Use Forecasted To Rise – How We Can Mitigate Coal Pollution”