Marcellus Drilling News

CNX Resources | Energy Companies

CNX Issues 2021 Corporate Responsibility, Vision for Future
May 18, 2022May 27, 2022

CNX Resources, an independent natural gas driller (and midstream company) based in Pittsburgh, released its annual corporate social responsibility (CSR) report for 2021 yesterday. CNX continues to walk the talk when it comes to ESG (environmental, social, governance)–one of the few (only?) companies to do so. Get this: CNX has been net carbon *negative* (pulling CO2 out of the atmosphere) for its Scope 1 and 2 operations since 2016! It is the only E&P we’re aware of that can make that claim. Everyone else is still trying to get to net carbon zero, let alone net carbon negative as CNX has done. One of the guiding tenants of the company is its “why” or purpose for existing, which is stated this way in the report: “CNX produces a product that is essential to life; without us today or tomorrow, the human condition frays and society ceases to function. What we do matters, enormously.” No shilly-shallying about the company’s commitment to natural gas and fossil fuels. We admire the company tremendously.
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Allegheny County | Beaver County | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell

Shell PA Cracker Welders Sue for Bus-Ride Overtime, Class Action
May 18, 2022May 27, 2022

As the mighty Shell ethane cracker plant complex nears 100% completion and startup, which will happen this year, there is a lingering legal issue for some of the workers who helped build the plant. Back in 2017, we alerted you that one of the biggest challenges in constructing the facility was something rather mundane, but key: finding enough parking for the thousands of workers needed to do the construction of the plant (see Shell Cracker Makes Progress; Biggest Problem So Far? Parking). Shell purchased and leased nearby land, mall parking lots, and even built a new road to get workers in and out of the site. But it still was not an easy nor quick process going to and from the site.
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Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Southwestern Energy

15-20% Inflation Hits M-U Gas Drillers, Profits Remain High So Far
May 18, 2022May 27, 2022

According to a survey of both oil and natural gas drillers, inflation began to drive up production costs during the first quarter of 2022. According to Coterra Energy Inc. President and CEO Thomas Jorden, “We are seeing significant inflation in the oilfield.” Coterra is the former Cabot Oil & Gas which drills for natural gas in northeastern PA, in addition to drilling for oil in the Permian and Midcontinent. Southwestern Energy drills for natgas in both the Marcellus/Utica and in the Haynesville. Southwestern COO Clayton Carrell says he is seeing higher prices for labor and materials in both the M-U and the Haynesville. However, high inflation also benefits drillers. How?
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Ascent Resources | Energy Companies | ESG | Industrywide Issues | PennEnergy Resources | Seneca Resources | Southwestern Energy

Project Canary Intros Freshwater Usage Metric in NatGas Cert
May 18, 2022May 27, 2022

Project Canary is one of three major “responsible gas” certification schemes. Project Canary has its TrustWell Certification program, Equitable Origin has its EO100 certification, and MiQ has its own self-named standard too. The TrustWell Certification assesses data points in 24 operational categories, ranging from water management to well integrity. Project Canary announced earlier this month that one its metrics for measuring and mitigating the effects of operations on local water resources has been peer-reviewed and published (as a study) by a third-party assessor in a leading industry journal. Several Marcellus/Utica drillers have achieved Project Canary’s Freshwater Verified Attribute as part of their TrustWell certification.
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Hydrogen | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

Blending Hydrogen into NatGas Pipelines – Hurdles & Potential
May 18, 2022May 27, 2022

Hydrogen is a topic we return to from time to time because not only are (some) leftists promoting it as a replacement for natural gas and fossil energy, many in the oil and gas space are taking an interest too. One reason why hydrogen is of interest is the opportunity to turn methane into hydrogen, capturing carbon dioxide as you do so (called “blue” hydrogen). It has the potential to be a large, new customer for M-U molecules. But lefties push the use of electricity from windmills and solar farms to produce hydrogen by passing an electric current through water–so-called “green” hydrogen. There’s still a huge problem for the left to solve even with green hydrogen: How to get that hydrogen from point A to point B without breaking the bank. Enter the latest/greatest idea…blend hydrogen with natural gas and send it down existing natgas pipelines. Maybe even take over some existing natgas pipes and repurpose them to be hydrogen-only pipes.
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

Death by Regulation – EPA Plans to Use Locals to Monitor Methane
May 18, 2022May 27, 2022

Last November the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched what we consider a full-on attack against the oil and gas industry when it floated a plan for new methane regulations (see EPA Launches Massive Power Grab, Targets O&G Methane Emissions). The Biden EPA claims by wresting control of oil and gas regulations from the states and concentrating power in the federal government, the feds will be able to save the planet from man-made global warming. The EPA will force a one-size-fits-all regulation on so-called fugitive methane emissions that all states must comply with. The problem is, EPA doesn’t have the money to monitor and enforce their lunatic plan, so they intend to farm it out to Big Green groups and the communities that border O&G activities. Big Green and the locals don’t like the sound of that because it means THEY will have to pay for it.
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Best of the Rest

Other Stories of Interest: Wed, May 18, 2022
May 18, 2022May 27, 2022

NATIONAL: USA lease sale cancellation leaves industry in limbo; Stronger U.S. dollar contributes to higher crude oil prices; Paul Ryan-led SPAC in $1.3B deal to create lower 48 E&P; Billionaire John Arnold backing energy-focused credit fund; Hot summer could push doubled natural gas prices even higher; Democrat Big Oil ‘price-gouging’ bills advance in Congress; INTERNATIONAL: PGNiG pens agreement with Sempra for 3Mtpa of LNG; European storage filling quickly as natural gas floods continent.
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