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Marcellus/Utica NatGas Production Drops 1.5 Bcf/d Jan to May

Enverus (formerly known as Drillinginfo) recently released its latest FundamentalEdge report that explores the ongoing supply response to demand destruction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the report, Enverus estimates how much dry gas production each major shale play produced, month by month, from January through May of this year. The numbers show that production from the Marcellus/Utica, which produces the most natural gas of any play, decreased the most of any play–by some 1.5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) from January to May.
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Weekly Shale Permits Issued for PA, WV (Not OH) Jun 1-5

Lots of permitting activity to drill new shale wells last week in both Pennsylvania and West Virginia. There were 27 new permits issued in PA for June 1-5. There were 8 new permits issued in WV for the same time period. The Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) database appears to be working–we queried it for a variety of dates. The last date showing permits was for the week of May 4-8. Since that time no new Utica permits have been issued–or at least none have been recorded in the database. We’ll keep monitoring.
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Partially Loaded LNG Cargo Arrives/Departs Cove Point, Md.

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As we pointed out two days ago, rumors are swirling that a cargo of Nigerian LNG may be heading (at some point) for the Elba Island, Georgia LNG import/export facility (see LNG Imports Coming *to* Elba Island, Georgia?). An MDN reader sent us a tip about another LNG anomaly: A partially loaded cargo of LNG (from Tinidad) recently docked at the Cove Point, Maryland LNG export facility. What’s up with that?!
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Tri-Point OFS Liquidating Assets in June Online Auction

Tri-Point, LLC is an oilfield services company (OFS) specializing in products and services for drillers and pipeline companies. Tri-Point is headquartered in Houston, Texas but has a number of field offices, including an office in Towanda (Bradford County), PA that services the Marcellus industry. Sadly the company is in bankruptcy. We spotted an announcement about a virtual auction later this month to sell off/liquidate all of the company’s assets.
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Sad Day: PA House Speaker Mike Turzai Quitting Next Monday

PA House Speaker Mike Turzai

Pennsylvania House Speaker Mike Turzai has been a true champion for the Marcellus industry in the Keystone State. He’s also a great conservative, a counterweight to leftist Governor Tom Wolf. Mike Turzai is the reason Wolf’s odious (and really dumb) severance tax has not passed. Turzai has been our firewall. In January Speaker Turzai announced he would not run again at the end of his term, which ends in December of this year (see Say It Ain’t So! PA House Speaker Mike Turzai is Retiring). Yesterday Turzai announced he is leaving as of Monday, June 15–six months before the end of the term. Bummer.
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FERC Voluntarily Ends the Use of Tolling Orders in Pipeline Cases

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has just released a new “instant final rule” that, from what we can tell, pretty much does away with a concept called tolling orders when approving new pipeline projects. A tolling order has been an important tool for FERC in combating frivolous lawsuits filed against every single new pipeline project. A tolling order allows FERC to delay deciding on what is called a rehearing request. Antis can’t trot off to find their favorite Obama judge until FERC either performs a rehearing or rejects a rehearing request. Tolling orders delay that process, allowing pipeline projects to actually get built.
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Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Thu, Jun 11, 2020

OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Natural gas supply from Oklahoma to Upper Midwest plummets over past month; NATIONAL: EIA expects 2020 summer U.S. electricity demand to be lowest since 2009; The mood in U.S. shale slowly shifts to one of cautious optimism about the future; INTERNATIONAL: Asia’s saturated market pushes Australia LNG cargo to Mexico in a rare trade; The world’s top LNG trader is predicting a natural gas comeback.
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