Yesterday EQT, the country’s largest natural gas-producing company (based in Pittsburgh) released “preliminary highlights” for financial and operational performance in first-quarter 2020, ahead of the official full release on May 7. It was a tease of good things to come in the full release. What did it show?
Read More “EQT First Look at 1Q20: Production Up, Costs Down, Future is Bright”
Great news! The Mariner East 2 pipeline project along with Shell’s mighty ethane cracker project will once again be able to restart their stopped construction. At least according to our reading of the law. As you may know the Pennsylvania Dept. of Community and Economic Development (DCED) has been “reviewing” waiver requests to allow all work to resume for both ME2 and the cracker project (see PA DCED First Grants Then Rescinds ME2 Pipe Construction Waivers and Shell Files for Waiver to Restart PA Cracker Work w/Fewer Workers).
Read More “Mariner East Pipe, Shell Cracker Can Restart Construction May 1”
The first phase (of three) for Sabal Trail, a $3.2 billion, 515-mile interstate natural gas pipeline in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama to deliver Marcellus gas to the southeast, came online in June 2017 (see Sabal Trail Pipeline Begins Service Connecting M-U Gas to Florida). The second phase was just green-lighted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and about to come online now.
Read More “FERC OKs Extra Compression on Sabal Trail Pipe, M-U Gas to FL”
The U.S. rig count continues in a freefall, losing massive numbers of rigs each week. Over the past month rigs have gone down 47, then 45, then (gulp) 80, and then 74 (see Rig Count Plunges Another 74; M-U Count Steady as She Goes). Last week the rig count crashed another 76–the second-highest loss for one week in the modern era. Most of rigs disappeared from the oil patch. However, last week the Marcellus lost 2 rigs too.
Read More “Carnage Continues: Rig Count Down Another 76, Marcellus Down 2”
Eighteen Pennsylvania State Senators sent a letter to Gov. Tom Wolf on April 21 asking Wolf to direct the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) to stop trying to ram through a new tax on carbon that will kill the state’s flourishing natural gas-fired electric generating plants.
Read More “18 PA Republican Senators Ask Gov. Wolf to Cancel Carbon Tax Plan”
We’ve recently brought you a number of stories about Chesapeake Energy and their falling stock price (see Chesapeake’s Reverse Stock Split Bombs, Company “On Life Support” and Chesapeake Suspends Dividend Payments; Stock Still Falling). Most analysts believe that with $9 billion in debt and a stock value approaching $0, the company will have to declare bankruptcy. Soon. But not everyone sees it that way. We spotted one analyst who says Chessy still has a fighting chance to stay out of bankruptcy, if…
Read More “Chesapeake Energy’s Slim Chance to Avoid Bankruptcy”
Reuters recently published a story called “Bankruptcy looms over U.S. energy industry, from oil fields to pipelines.” Until now the main focus and chatter has been about shale oil drillers and how they will, or will not, survive the low oil price apocalypse. What we haven’t heard much about (until now) are pipeline companies. As the article points out, midstream companies are not immune to the price crash nor (for some) to bankruptcy.
Read More “Oil Price Crash Threatens Midstream (Pipeline) Companies Too”
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Update regarding Ohio landmen professional registrations; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: U.S. oil firm Continental Resources halts shale output, seeks to cancel sales; NATIONAL: COVID-19 mitigation efforts result in the lowest U.S. petroleum consumption in decades; Patterson-UTI sees 60% decline in activity as oil prices crater; For natural gas, negative U.S. crude is manna from heaven; How the futures market impacts physical crude oil; US energy independence can still lead the way; INTERNATIONAL: U.S. natural gas to be world’s priciest amid virus upheaval.
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Fri, Apr 24, 2020”