MDN’s Energy Stories of Interest: Thu, Nov 6, 2025 [FREE ACCESS]

MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Tom Shepstone – champion of energy sanity and human flourishing; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Let Andrew Cuomo’s latest farewell be his last one, too; NATIONAL: U.S. natural gas futures snap winning streak; The DC Circuit Court is blocking America’s energy dominance; INTERNATIONAL: Crude slides despite strong demand; Canadian gov signals plans to scrap oil, gas emissions cap; ADNOC leans on USA expertise for ‘promising’ shale pivot; European gas prices fall amid strong LNG imports; Natural gas freight rates surge by 50% as Europe races to refill inventories.

MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION

Tom Shepstone – champion of energy sanity and human flourishing
The Word Merchant/Stephen Heins
Thomas Shepstone is an influential energy humanist, business analyst, and advocate who champions abundant, reliable energy solutions against what the author calls “anti-humanism” and “climate hysteria.” As president of Shepstone Management Company, he focuses on practical energy decisions that serve communities and promote economic development, driven by his background in Agricultural Economics. Shepstone has consistently promoted natural gas, testifying on the benefits of the shale revolution and combating anti-fracking misinformation through his work with Natural Gas Now and Energy in Depth (EID). His advocacy, detailed on platforms like his Substack, Energy Security and Freedom, critiques subsidized renewables and pipeline bans, instead championing a “best of the above” energy portfolio—including natural gas and nuclear—to ensure energy security, job creation, and lift people out of global energy poverty. [MDN: This is a moving tribute to our good friend Tom Shepstone, from another good friend, Steve Heins. We encourage you to click and read the full column. As we so often say, if we could have anyone else’s brain, it would be Tom Shepstone’s. He’s an energy champion.]

OTHER U.S. REGIONS

Let Andrew Cuomo’s latest farewell be his last one, too
New York (NY) Post/Seth Barron
Andrew Cuomo attempted a second political resurrection after his disgraceful 2021 resignation, fueled by “megalomania” despite voters’ clear rejection. The author fiercely criticizes his governorship as a decade of “preening vanity” and poor policies. Specific failures cited include banning fracking, which allegedly caused high poverty in Western New York, the corrupt “Buffalo Billion” program, and detrimental criminal-justice legislation like bail reform and “Raise the Age.” The article also condemns his elimination of psychiatric beds alongside marijuana decriminalization. Concluding that Cuomo’s opponent is terrible, the author nonetheless celebrates that voters finally denied Cuomo’s comeback bid, urging him toward a “well-deserved, and delayed, retirement.” [MDN: New York City is heading into political hell, and it’s a hell of its own making. Watch for people and businesses to flee NYC. Watch for NYC to lose its title of king of finance. It’s coming. As for Cuomo, he banned fracking, permanently, during the COVID pandemic. He deserved to lose and we’re glad he did, although we’re not happy with the winner, Zohran Mamdani, an Islamist Communist. You get what you deserve, NYC. Bend over, it’s going to be painful.]

NATIONAL

U.S. natural gas futures snap winning streak
Wall Street Journal
U.S. natural gas futures pull back after five straight sessions of gains with weather forecasts signaling a shift toward milder weather after next week’s expected cold snap. Tomorrow’s EIA inventory data are expected to show a smaller-than-average increase, which could lend some support to the recent rally. Analysts in a Wall Street Journal survey predict a 31 Bcf injection, which would reduce the storage surplus over the five-year average to 160 Bcf from 171 Bcf the week before, Nymex natural gas settles down 2.6% at $4.232/mmBtu. [MDN: Listen, we’re ecstatic that we’re still above $4! So what if the price slides a little?]

The DC Circuit Court is blocking America’s energy dominance
Washington (DC) Examiner/Rick Santorum
The article asserts that achieving U.S. leadership in AI, supporting reindustrialization, and ensuring affordable energy require America to increase its fossil fuel supply, particularly natural gas, for energy dominance. The author argues that while climate activists oppose this, the most destructive obstacle is the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals. This court routinely halts federally-approved energy projects, like pipelines and LNG terminals, through litigation filed by activists who failed at the ballot box, paralyzing national infrastructure, increasing costs, and posing a national security risk. The author urges the Supreme Court to intervene in related “climate damage” lawsuits and calls for Congress to mandate that challenges to energy projects be heard in local circuit courts where the projects are physically located. [MDN: Rick Santorum, former U.S. Senator from PA, points out a critical issue and suggests some common-sense solutions for fixing it. We need more pipelines and infrastructure. Foreign-backed Big Green groups are stopping it via the abuse of our court system. FIX IT.]

INTERNATIONAL

Crude slides despite strong demand
Bloomberg/Mia Gindis, Alex Longley
Oil prices, represented by West Texas Intermediate (WTI), fell 1.6% to settle below the key $60 mark due to ongoing oversupply concerns. A significant contributor was the US government report showing a larger-than-expected 5.2 million barrel increase in crude inventories, the biggest jump since July, driven by higher imports and reduced refining activity. Although product inventories fell, indicating some demand resilience, the broader market outlook is bearish, with a major commodities trader forecasting a 2 million barrels a day global glut next year. This follows a roughly 17% decline in the US benchmark this year, amplified by increased production from OPEC+ and non-member nations, leading to lackluster trading. [MDN: WTI for December delivery declined 1.59% to settle at $59.60 a barrel. Brent for January fell 1.43% to settle at $63.52 a barrel. [MDN: Still in, or very close to, the $60s.]

Canadian gov signals plans to scrap oil, gas emissions cap
Bloomberg/N. Al Mallees, T. Seal
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government signaled a major shift in climate policy, unveiling a strategy that plans to eventually lift the controversial cap on oil and gas emissions, favoring instead a revamped industrial carbon pricing system to drive long-term net-zero goals by 2050. This approach, diverging from former Prime Minister Trudeau’s regulation-heavy policy, aims for “investment, not prohibitions” and “results, not objectives.” The government believes enhanced carbon markets, methane regulations, and technologies like carbon capture will make the cap unnecessary, a move welcomed by the energy sector. The budget also maintains several green investment tax credits and proposes a critical minerals sovereign fund, while indicating potential changes to the zero-emission vehicle mandate. [MDN: Ever-so-gradually, the Canuks are moving away from their insane carbon regulations. And this is coming from a far-left government. Who says Canuks can’t learn?]

ADNOC leans on USA expertise for ‘promising’ shale pivot
Bloomberg/A. Di Paola, J. Bercetche
The United Arab Emirates is pivoting to US-tested hydraulic fracturing (fracking) techniques to unlock its “very promising” unconventional gas resources and boost output, driven by forecasts for surging demand, especially from the power-hungry data center boom. Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (Adnoc) is utilizing lessons learned from US shale fields, with early results in some areas “exceeding what we see in the US,” according to CEO Musabbeh Al Kaabi. The company is developing these new gas sources to meet local needs and supply a new export terminal, the multibillion-dollar Ruwais liquefied natural gas project, which will more than double Adnoc’s annual gas export capacity by adding 9.6 million tons. The UAE aims to achieve gas self-sufficiency by the end of the decade, freeing up excess volumes for export. Adnoc is also expanding its global LNG trading operations and international investments. [MDN: So who, exactly, is sharing our shale drilling secrets with the UAE? SLB? Halliburton? Someone else? Inquiring minds would like to know.]

European gas prices fall amid strong LNG imports
Wall Street Journal
European natural-gas prices fall in mid-morning trade, with the benchmark Dutch TTF contract down 0.7% to 31.58 euros a megawatt hour amid strong imports of LNG. “The market shrugged off concerns that lower-than-expected wind power generation would boost demand for natural gas, instead focusing on the rising availability of supply,” ANZ analysts say. Meanwhile, investment funds reduced their bullish bets on TTF gas prices last week, and there is now a significant amount of bearish positions, according to ING. This is despite a relatively vulnerable gas balance for the upcoming winter, with EU inventory levels still below the five-year average. “The large gross short does leave some positioning risk in the market, particularly if there are any surprises through the heating season,” ING analysts say. [MDN: It’s odd, but the price is falling, slightly, for gas in Europe (which does affect our prices here), yet shipping the LNG to Europe is up by 50%—see our next summary below.]

Natural gas freight rates surge by 50% as Europe races to refill inventories
OilPrice.com/Tsvetana Paraskova
Global liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker freight rates have surged, with Atlantic rates jumping over 50% in a week, driven by approaching winter demand and Europe’s push to fill inventories to a 90% target. The tight supply of LNG carriers was exacerbated by recent delays in Egyptian cargo deliveries, disrupting global schedules. Although new U.S. LNG capacity is prompting speculation of an oversupply by 2027, current market prices suggest a balanced supply. Long-term demand, particularly in Asia and Latin America, is projected to grow significantly, indicating that LNG tanker rates may remain high until new vessels enter service. [MDN: European gas prices are down, yet the ships that carry the LNG to Europe are charging 50% more over the past week. Seems odd.]