NYMEX NatGas Price Crashes – Down $0.37 in 2 Days, Now $2.51
Earlier this week the NYMEX natural gas futures contract for December rolled off and the January contract became the “front contract” being traded. The latest storage numbers–how much gas has *not* been withdrawn from storage–combined with weather forecasts and computerized trading to hammer prices. Natgas was down 10 cents on Wednesday, and down another 27 cents yesterday, for a combined 37 cent loss over the past two days. Yuck. But it’s not all bad news, at least here in the Marcellus/Utica.
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The first of 10 LNG (liquefied natural gas) mini-trains at Kinder Morgan’s Elba Island, Georgia export facility went online in December of last year (see 
The clown judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (one of whom quotes from children’s books in her opinions) have signaled they will overturn, again (for the second or third time) a permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that allows the 92% completed Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) from finishing its work by installing pipe under or through creeks and rivers. We have the Sierra Club to thank for the lawsuit, and colluding liberal Democrat judges to thank for continued obstruction of this legally-permitted project from finishing.
The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) is in major butt-covering mode with the state’s conventional (non-shale) oil and gas industry. During an industry-led advisory committee meeting held yesterday, members of PA’s conventional oil and gas industry delivered some rather blunt comments to DEP Deputy Secretary for Oil and Gas Management Scott Perry, accusing the DEP of “ramming the most punitive set of regulations on this industry to date.”
Mob rule now prevails in New York City under Mayor Bill de Blasio. In February we told you about a mob of anti-fossil fuelers attempting to block the final few feet of construction for a 6.8-mile natural gas pipeline stretching from Brownsville to North Brooklyn (see 
The Enverus U.S. rig count continues to rise. Two weeks ago the nationwide count was 382. As of Wednesday, the count stood at 396, up 14. Over the past week, the Marcellus shale play in northeastern PA lost a rig. The combined M-U rig count is now 32.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Summit Midstream regains compliance with NYSE minimum price continued listing standard; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Massachusetts AG tells Bloomberg group of plan to use its attorneys to enforce Paris climate treaty; NATIONAL: ‘Methane’ sounds worse than ‘natural gas’; INTERNATIONAL: NUS team invents ‘fast and safe’ way to convert natural gas to solid form; OPEC, allies agree to increase output by 500,000 barrels a day in January; More than 140 trucks, buses switch to natural gas in Vancouver; Making shipping cleaner – is LNG the answer?