MDN’s Energy Stories of Interest: Tue, Sep 2, 2025 [FREE ACCESS]

MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: FirstEnergy cuts jobs across five-state footprint; Oil and gas royalty owners gather in Cambridge to share insights; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Congressman announces $5.1M pipeline safety grant for New York; NATIONAL: Oil posts first monthly loss since April; U.S. natural gas futures post weekly gains; Comprehensive study settles the debate about the impact of wind turbine noise on humans; Wall Street forecasts oil in the $50s next year; How the NGL overbuild benefits ethane exports; Energy Appreciation Day; INTERNATIONAL: Indian oil minister defends Russian oil imports; We need more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, not less; Colombia’s president orders oil company to cancel US venture over enviro concerns.

MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION

FirstEnergy cuts jobs across five-state footprint
Pittsburgh (PA) Business Times/Paul Gough
FirstEnergy Corp., parent company of West Penn Power, laid off just under 50 employees across its five-state footprint, including Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, and New Jersey. The cuts represent less than 0.5% of its workforce and affected only support roles, not line workers or customer-facing positions. Spokeswoman Jennifer Young said the changes align with business priorities, alongside departmental consolidations and role shifts. West Penn Power, serving 725,000 customers in 24 Pennsylvania counties, is continuing a $368 million system upgrade, part of FirstEnergy’s $28 billion infrastructure plan through 2029, with recent improvements completed in Westmoreland County townships. [MDN: Always disappointing when people are let go, but sometimes necessary. The company was caught in a massive fraud case in Ohio over House Bill 6 and bribes offered to legislators to pass it (see FirstEnergy Involved in Bribery Scheme to Pass $1B Nuke Bailout Law). It’s taken years, but the company finally appears to be recovering from that scandal.]

Oil and gas royalty owners gather in Cambridge to share insights
Cambridge (OH) Daily Jeffersonian/Jane Imbody
The Ohio Chapter of the National Association of Royalty Owners will host its fourth annual convention Sept. 10–11 at the Pritchard Laughlin Center in Cambridge, themed Facing our Future with Knowledge. The event aims to equip mineral owners with insights on royalties, legislation, technology, and economics in the oil and gas industry. Highlights include educational presentations, a legal and legislative roundtable, networking, and updates from NARO leaders. Speakers will address topics such as wealth preservation, carbon capture, injection wells, and abandoned wells. Day two features legal updates, regulatory perspectives, and a session on Utica Shale Academy before concluding with NARO’s business meeting. [MDN: An important event for Ohio landowners to attend.]

OTHER U.S. REGIONS

Congressman announces $5.1M pipeline safety grant for New York
Congressman Nick Langworthy
Congressman Nick Langworthy announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation’s PHMSA awarded the New York Department of Public Service $5,156,215 through its State Pipeline Safety Base Grant program. The funding covers up to 80% of New York’s natural gas pipeline inspection and enforcement costs, ensuring safe and reliable transmission and distribution across the state. Langworthy emphasized the grant’s role in supporting natural gas as a clean, dependable energy source and highlighted his efforts to pass the Energy Choice Act to prevent a statewide ban on natural gas in new construction. The program funds inspectors, equipment, and enforcement to maintain compliance with federal and state pipeline safety standards. [MDN: Langworthy has been an important supporter of the NY oil and gas industry.]

NATIONAL

Oil posts first monthly loss since April
Bloomberg/P. Burkhardt, A. Longley, M, Gindis
Oil posted its first monthly loss since April, with West Texas Intermediate falling 7.6% in August to about $64 a barrel and Brent closing near $68, as worries about oversupply and weakening demand weighed on markets. Prices slumped further after U.S. consumer sentiment hit a three-month low, raising concerns about the impact of tariffs on economic growth. Geopolitical tensions added pressure, with U.S. opposition to Russia’s strikes on Ukraine and new trade levies on Indian imports of Russian crude. Analysts noted OPEC+ is restoring production, keeping supplies ample while demand outlook dims, leaving markets vulnerable to exaggerated swings ahead of holidays. [MDN: There’s nothing wrong with these prices. They are perfect in the $60s. WTI for October delivery slipped 0.9% to settle at $64.01 a barrel in New York. Brent for November settlement slipped 0.7% to settle at $67.48 a barrel. The Brent October contract, which expired Friday, shed 0.7% to settle at $68.12.]

U.S. natural gas futures post weekly gains
Wall Street Journal
U.S. natural gas futures settle higher, posting weekly gains with help from firming LNG feedgas flows and a below-average inventory build that reduced the storage surplus over the five-year average to its lowest level since the first week of June. “We don’t view gains this week as having anything to do with weather patterns when considering they are quite bearish much of the next 15 days,” NatGasWeather.com says in a note. “Thereafter, time will be running out on summer heat.” Nymex natural gas settles up 1.8% at $2.997/mmBtu, gaining 7% on the week. [MDN: The price is rising, and came close to $3 on Friday. That’s the good news. Even better news is that it continues to rise even though temps are cooling, so this run-up in price is not related to weather.]

Comprehensive study settles the debate about the impact of wind turbine noise on humans
Earth.com/Eric Ralls
A recent peer-reviewed lab study by Agnieszka Rosciszewska and colleagues at Adam Mickiewicz University used blind exposure to wind-turbine noise (~65 dB, akin to sitting ~3 feet from someone talking) alongside traffic noise and silence, tracking brain activity and cognitive performance. Results showed no impairment in attention or reasoning, nor any significant shift in brain patterns indicating strain, and turbine noise wasn’t rated more annoying or stressful than traffic. The findings suggest no causal link between turbine sound and cognitive harm; instead, reported symptoms likely stem from a nocebo effect—where expectation of harm shapes perception. [MDN: Too funny. This so-called study argues those big, super-annoying, super-loud windmills and the noise and air impacts they make doesn’t harm you. The “study” argues it’s all in your head. When you see a headline that science is “settled,” that’s the tip-off that this is leftist garbage. They seek to bully you into their point of view. Science is NEVER settled. It’s a seeking for facts, and it involves repeatable experiments to verify facts. People who live near windmills hate them. This “study” attempts to gloss over that fact.]

Wall Street forecasts oil in the $50s next year
OilPrice.com/Tsvetana Paraskova
U.S. shale producers are cutting capital expenditures and may trim activity further as oil prices weaken amid forecasts of a global supply glut. Efficiency gains allow steady output despite fewer rigs and frac crews, but production could plateau or decline if WTI falls into the $50s per barrel, threatening breakevens. Analysts expect strong summer demand to fade, with OPEC+ hikes and South American supply tipping the market into oversupply through early 2026. Wall Street banks project Brent and WTI to average around $63 and $60 in Q4 2025, while the EIA is more bearish, forecasting Brent near $50 in 2026. [MDN: We wouldn’t mind oil going lower, but drillers get squeamish. Time will tell. One thing seems pretty clear…unless there’s some unforeseen war or worldwide conflict, oil isn’t going higher anytime soon.]

How the NGL overbuild benefits ethane exports
East Daley Analytics
The article discusses how the overbuild of NGL infrastructure, particularly in the Permian Basin, is benefiting U.S. ethane exports. Excess capacity in pipelines and LPG export terminals, such as Energy Transfer’s Nederland and Orbit facilities, allows for flexible switching between LPG and ethane exports. This adaptability enables midstream operators to optimize infrastructure use and capture incremental volumes, even when LPG demand is low. However, challenges remain, including geopolitical uncertainties and competition from global naphtha suppliers, which may impact the ability to secure long-term ethane contracts. Despite these hurdles, the overbuilt infrastructure provides a strategic advantage for ethane exports. [MDN: Lots of charts, facts, and figures in this report. Ethane is an important export in the M-U region, too.]

Energy Appreciation Day
Institute for Energy Research/Robert L. Bradley, Jr.
Labor Day serves as “Energy Appreciation Day,” honoring energy as the fundamental “resource of resources” — the capacity to do work — and celebrating how machines powered by inanimate energy have transformed productivity, created wealth, and enabled leisure, shifting work beyond human and animal strength. Whereas in 1700, roughly 500 servants prepared meals for Louis XIV, modern supermarkets offer far greater abundance, and today’s energy-driven communication and transport—like phones and the Internet—is beyond the reach of past industrial magnates like Rockefeller. The average American’s energy use would require about 150 human laborers generating one-tenth of a horsepower. [MDN: A celebration of “Energy Appreciation Day” on yesterday’s Labor Day. A great way to think about things. Energy has completely changed how labor works (making it far easier to work). Things to ponder.]

INTERNATIONAL

Indian oil minister defends Russian oil imports
Bloomberg/Rakesh Sharma
India rejected U.S. pressure to end crude imports from Russia, with Oil Minister Hardeep Puri defending the purchases as essential to preventing a global oil price shock and stabilizing markets. Writing in The Hindu, Puri countered accusations from U.S. officials, including White House adviser Peter Navarro, who labeled India a “laundromat” for Russian oil. He emphasized that India’s imports comply with the G7 price-cap mechanism and have kept prices from spiraling. Russia now supplies 37% of India’s oil, largely at discounted rates, and analysts say New Delhi is unlikely to stop unless a global ban is imposed, framing the issue as political sovereignty. [MDN: India should feel free to go right ahead and keep funding Russia’s war against Ukraine and getting cheap oil for itself. And the U.S. should keep raising tariffs on imported Indian goods (and services) to the point we don’t accept them anymore. See how they like that.]

We need more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, not less
Australian Spectator/Ian Plimer
Ian Plimer argues that Earth’s climate history is dominated by warm, greenhouse conditions and that ice ages—including our current one—began when atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO?) levels were higher than today. He dismisses the notion of a modern mass extinction, calling it a routine “species turnover.” Plimer challenges the idea that human CO? emissions drive global warming, questioning climate models and claiming natural factors are primary drivers. He asserts that Australia’s net-zero target is pointless, self-defeating, and that CO? is beneficial as “plant food.” He concludes with a provocative remark: “drop dead.” [MDN: Ian Plimer is an Australian geologist and Professor of Mining Geology at The University of Adelaide and Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at The University of Melbourne, where he was Professor and Head (1991-2005). He has won many international awards for science and has twice won the Eureka Prize. This provocative article begins this way: “For more than 80 per cent of the time, Earth has been an ice-free warm wet greenhouse planet. Ice sheets were rare. We are currently in an ice age that started 34 million years ago. All of the planet’s six ice ages commenced when atmospheric carbon dioxide was higher than now.” Click the link and expand your mind by reading the rest.]

Colombia’s president orders oil company to cancel US venture over enviro concerns
The Economic Times/MSN
Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Tuesday ordered state-run Ecopetrol to cancel a joint venture with U.S.-owned Occidental Petroleum in the Permian Basin, citing environmental concerns over fracking. The $880 million deal aimed to develop 91 wells producing about 90,000 barrels per day, roughly 12% of Ecopetrol’s output. Petro, calling fracking “the death of nature and humanity,” urged redirecting funds into clean energy. Ecopetrol’s stock initially rose 2% on news of the deal but dipped after Petro’s cancellation order. While Colombia bans domestic fracking, this marks Petro’s first move to block Ecopetrol from participating in such projects abroad. [MDN: Petro is a pompous ass, plain and simple. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Time to double tariffs on Colombia and teach them a hard lesson.]