U.S. NatGas Production Hits 2-Mo High Thx to Marcellus/Utica
Everyone is scratching their heads trying to figure out why, given the price natural gas is fetching in both the futures and physical spot price market, natural gas drillers don’t drill more wells. The excuse given is that budgets are cast, plans made, and by gosh companies are finally showing fiscal discipline and sticking to their plans because if they don’t, investors will scream bloody murder. The last time we checked investors don’t mind spending a little more money to drill new wells if it puts more money in their pockets! That message finally seems to be getting through. Yesterday U.S. natural gas production surged to its highest level since late August (when Hurricane Ida struck, shutting down natgas production in the Gulf). Most of the gains came from more production in the Marcellus/Utica.
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In August, Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP, owned by Equitrans Midstream) filed a subpoena in federal court to find out who recklessly promoted a meeting of a group of anti-pipeline zealots, encouraging them to gather close to (50 feet from) explosives being used to blast through rock to install MVP, putting themselves and workers in harm’s way and causing delays to pipeline construction (see 
Another MVP (Mountain Valley Pipeline) story in the news today. In August 2018 MDN told you about a group of six Franklin County, VA landowners who sued to block the construction of MVP across their property (see 
In July the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved a plan by Dominion Energy to clean up and “undo” the work done for the company’s previous Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) project (see 
In the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s latest Winter Fuels Outlook, the EIA forecasts that U.S. households that primarily use natural gas for space heating will spend an average of $746 on heating this winter (October-March), which is $172, or 30%, more than last year. Natural gas is the primary heating fuel for nearly half (48%) of U.S. homes. This situation of high prices for American consumers is NOT because we are exporting LNG. It’s happening for a variety of reasons that can be boiled down into two main causes: (1) not enough pipelines, and (2) pressure by woke, pimple-faced Millennial investors to divest from oil and gas companies, meaning lack of capital and lack of will on the part of drillers to drill more wells.
Two weeks ago MDN brought you a summary of the latest efforts in the Marcellus/Utica midstream and upstream to create so-called responsibly sourced gas (see 
What role do hydrogen (H2) and carbon capture and sequestration (CSS) play in the future of the Marcellus/Utica (and all oil and gas)? That’s the gajillion-dollar question. Will H2 and CSS play a big role? Minor role? Is H2 the fuel of the future, really? No one knows, but we can’t afford to ignore it. The number one source for the manufacture and creation of H2 is…natural gas. If the H2 market takes off, it could be an important new customer for M-U molecules. You can get a front-row seat to learn more about H2, CSS, and the intersection of them with the M-U at the 
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Spending in Pennsylvania’s high court race blows past $5M; INTERNATIONAL: Russia close to using natural gas as weapon in Europe’s gas crunch.