PA EQB Rams Through VOC Reg to Control Conventional Well Emissions
Yesterday the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) and its Environmental Quality Board (EQB) rammed through (in a rush) a set of regulations to control volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and by extension methane, for conventional drilling sites throughout the site. The DEP has had SIX YEARS to get these regulations done, and has missed deadline after deadline. Now, with a Dec. 16 deadline approaching to finish up the regs or risk losing half a billion dollars in federal highway funds, the DEP is trying to bully the conventional drilling industry into accepting its onerous regulations with no comment period, no feedback, no nothing–under threat of risking half a billion dollars. It’s DEP blackmail, plain and simple. What will the conventional industry do? Take it lying down? Or fight?
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EQT Corporation filed a Form 8-K on Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission to let regulators (and investors) know that the company has lost money on derivatives. EQT told regulators that (on paper), the company lost $1.627 billion on derivatives during the third quarter of 2022, and has lost a total of $5.55 billion in total for the first nine months (quarters 1-3) of this year. But does that mean EQT has actually paid that much money out of pocket?
ShalePro Energy Services, headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA but with five regional offices scattered across seven states (including offices in each of the three Marcellus/Utica states), announced it has just closed on a deal to acquire Tight Line Services, based in Hickory, PA (Washington County). Tight Line, which provides civil construction services to the natural gas industry, is the fifth company acquired by ShalePro. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Tight Line’s seven full-time employees, along with the company’s current CEO, have joined ShalePro.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) published an article yesterday to say that according to their data, the U.S. hit a new record high for natural gas production in 2021. As part of the article, EIA points out that the Marcellus/Utica region now accounts for nearly one-third of all U.S. dry natural gas production! The chart included with the article (below) shows gas production by source, including both the #1 source (Texas) and #2 source (Pennsylvania).
The American Petroleum Institute (API) yesterday released new analyses (see the 160-page report below) on the benefits of low-carbon hydrogen produced from natural gas. The study, commissioned by API and conducted by ICF, found that hydrogen produced from natural gas with carbon capture and produced from electricity and other energy sources (so-called “blue” hydrogen) could eliminate an additional 180 million metric tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on average per year through 2050 and save over $450 billion cumulatively through 2050 when hydrogen incentives are uniformly provided based on a per ton of GHG emissions reduced. API wants the world to know, hydrogen made from natural gas (as 95% of all hydrogen is), is the way to go.
The attacks against American energy by the Biden administration come so fast and so frequently, we can’t keep up with them. Here’s one that slipped by us. On July 7, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), under the “leadership” of the very dull Jennifer Granholm, proposed rulemaking for Energy Conservation Standards for Consumer Furnaces, which would amend the energy conservation standards for non-weatherized gas furnaces and mobile home gas furnaces, eliminating natgas furnaces used in millions of American homes. The American Gas Association (AGA) filed a blistering response on Oct. 6, saying the new rule would be harmful to consumers, counterproductive to energy efficiency goals, and unlawful.
NATIONAL: Connecting “energy inflation” with “climate extremism”; A comprehensive roundup of official energy madness; INTERNATIONAL: LNG market facing its most “violent” year yet; Putin offers to boost natural gas supply to Europe.