Range CEO Jeff Ventura Retiring, COO Dennis Degner to Replace Him
This is huge news. Range Resources dropped the bombshell yesterday that long-time CEO Jeff Ventura (65 years old), who has been with the company for almost 20 years (started out in 2003 as Chief Operating Officer), and the guy who drilled the very first Marcellus Shale well ever (in 2004), is retiring in June. Equally big news is that Dennis Degner (50 years old), our favorite “top driller” (Chief Operating Officer and Executive VP), someone who knows the Marcellus/Utica as well as, maybe better than anyone alive, is going to replace Ventura as the CEO.
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National Grid is desperately trying not to run out of natural gas for its customers in Brooklyn and Queens (on Long Island). For several years the company has fought a battle to run a tiny pipeline to its Greenpoint, Brooklyn facility to provide extra natural gas. National Grid has a backup plan in case it can’t complete the pipeline project–add two extra LNG vaporizers to the Greenpoint facility to turn trucked LNG back into gas that can flow through the system. A so-called independent consultant reviewed the plan and filed a report last November with the state Public Utility Commission saying National Grid’s vaporizers aren’t needed (see 
Last September, Spanish oil and gas drilling giant Repsol, which owns the St. John, New Brunswick (Canada) LNG facility, filed an application with the Canada Energy Regulator (CER) to export up to 300 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of natural gas from the St. John facility (see 
GAIL (formerly known as Gas Authority of India Limited), is a huge natural gas and petrochemical company located in India. The country of India owns and operates GAIL. It is the largest natural gas utility company in the country. Earlier today, GAIL signed an agreement with Shell for Shell to source and supply ethane that GAIL can import and use to replace natural gas and naphtha as feedstock for its petrochemical plants. Last month GAIL invited companies to bid on providing it with a very large ethane carrier (VLEC) for 20 years starting mid-2026 so it can import ethane from the U.S.
We’re always a sucker for a good price prediction. Everybody and his brother (and sister) loves to predict where the price of the NYMEX Henry Hub will go in the next few months, or even for the next few years. Ratings agency giant Fitch, which owns the Fitch Solutions subsidiary, is the latest organization out with a prediction of where natgas prices will end up in 2023. Fitch says the NYMEX average for this year will be $3.60/MMBtu. Which is interesting, given for the past couple of months the price can’t get much above $2.50. Fitch must think the price will go quite a bit higher at some point this year in order to average out at $3.60 by year’s end.
Unfortunately, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) seems to have been co-opted by the Bidenistas. It used to be the EIA was independent no matter if Democrats or Republicans controlled the White House. Even when Obama occupied the White House, EIA remained independent. No longer. It’s evident in the EIA’s Annual Energy Outlook 2023, released yesterday, that things have changed at the EIA. Last year EIA showed a chart called U.S. energy consumption by fuel source, 2010-2050 (see 
New shale permits issued for Mar. 6-12 in the Marcellus/Utica increased by one from the prior week. There were 30 new permits issued in total last week, including 21 new permits for Pennsylvania, 5 new permits for Ohio, and 4 new permits issued in West Virginia. Last week the top receiver of new permits was EQT with 7 new permits–all of them (interestingly) issued in Lycoming County, PA. The second highest number of permits went to Repsol, with 6 permits in Bradford County, PA. Chesapeake Energy came in third with 5 permits for Bradford County, PA.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: New York state relights the gas stove wars; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: San Francisco to phase out natgas furnaces and water heaters; Public comment portal on Va.’s proposed withdrawal from RGGI closing soon; NATIONAL: Chefs and restaurant-goers agree natgas helps restaurants thrive; Greenhouse gases and the refining industry; Leaders must stand up, make case for U.S. natural gas, says EQT exec; GOP Senators send letter to Sec. Yellen re admin’s latest attack on American energy; INTERNATIONAL: Oil set for worst week this year as bank turmoil takes its toll.