FERC Deadlocks 2-2, Refuses to Let MVP Change Water Crossing Plan
You can’t say we didn’t warn you about new Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Commissioner Allison Clements, a radical leftist (see U.S. Senate Confirms Radical NRDC Lawyer as FERC Commissioner). Clements joined her fellow radical, Richard “Dick” Glick in voting against a request by Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) to change drilling methods to cross creeks and rivers from open-cut trenching to underground horizontal directional drilling. It just became exponentially harder for MVP to finish its 92% completed pipeline project.
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The KeyState Zero petrochemical plant project that includes natural gas synthesis and carbon storage (coming to Clinton County, PA) just gets more fascinating every time we read or hear about it. We spotted a new article with more details about the project, like the fact LNG is already being produced at the site. In addition to carbon capture, the new petchem plant will produce four products…
We’ve noticed a flurry of new “notes” (i.e. bonds) being offered by Marcellus/Utica companies. We call notes/bonds IOUs. Typically a company will issue new notes (a promise to pay in the future, with interest) in order to retire older notes coming due. Notes are a form of self-financing by using debt instead of issuing new shares of stock (diluting existing shares). M-U drillers Range Resources and Antero Resources both quickly sold out of their recent note offerings at higher prices than originally requested. According to S&P analysts, the Range and Antero fast sellout is proof that credit is loosening for drillers in the M-U and in other shale plays.
Yesterday our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), published our favorite monthly report, the Drilling Productivity Report (DPR). The latest DPR, which shows estimates for oil and gas production from the seven largest shale plays in the U.S., shows a drop in shale gas production across all plays (including the Marcellus/Utica) coming in February–except for an increase in gas production in the M-U’s primary competitor, the Haynesville.
The Trump administration worked for four long, hard years against the radicalism of leftist Democrats to overturn what was called Obama’s “Clean Power Plan” (CPP)–an odious and misnamed plan that assassinates coal and mortally wounds natural gas power generating plants (see 
Our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), is forecasting less power generation from natural gas in 2021, largely as a result of rising fuel costs. EIA says electric power generation by gas-fired plants will decrease by 8% this year. The biggest winner in 2021? Coal-fired generation will expand and produce 14% more electricity this year than it did last year.
Two of three M-U drilling states received permits last week. Pennsylvania scored 14 permits to drill new shale wells. Ohio received no new permits for Utica wells. West Virginia received 5 new permits to drill new shale wells.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: PA House reintroduces bill to limit regs as part of 2021 environmental agenda; NATIONAL: Largest single shipment of ethane heads to China after loading at US export facility; President Biden has limited flexibility in moving against oil industry; Validere and Xpansiv partner to attach ESG attributes to energy products; Fossil fuels’ place in a low-carbon future; INTERNATIONAL: U.S. imposes sanctions on vessel set to work on Nord Stream 2 pipeline; Canada pushes back on Biden plan to cancel Keystone XL.