Regional Visitors Hope to Facilitate European Import of Marcellus Gas

Parties interested in the international export of natural gas included Penn College in a fact-finding visit to the region this week. Meeting with ShaleNET personnel in the college's Thompson Professional Development Center were representatives of LNG Allies Inc., a nonprofit research and advocacy group; the American Petroleum Institute; Anadarko Petroleum; the embassies of Croatia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia; and the European Parliament Liaison Office. While on campus, the working group heard presentations from Robert Montgomery, Anadarko's production engineering manager for the Appalachian Basin; John F. Strittmatter, director of the ShaleNET U.S. Regional Hub; Diane H. Bubb, ShaleNET U.S. case manager; and David Yoxtheimer, an extension associate with the Penn State Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research. The coalition's two-day stay also featured a breakfast meeting with the Williamsport-Lycoming Chamber of Commerce, as well as tours of the Panda Patriot power plant in Clinton Township and the Energy Transfer Partners compressor station along Route 87.