4th Circuit Judges Hand Rare Permit Victory to Mountain Valley Pipe
It’s a miracle, A true blue spectacle, A miracle come true… (Lyrics from Barry Manilow’s tune, It’s a Miracle) In a 3-2 vote taken in December 2021, the Virginia State Water Control Board granted a permit (under the Clean Water Act) for Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) to cross about 150 streams and wetlands in Southwest Virginia (see Victory! Virginia Water Control Board Votes to Approve MVP Permit). Naturally, the foreign-backed Sierra Club and its Big Green cronies sued in federal court, claiming the permit somehow violates the Clean Water Act (see Enviro Radicals Ask 4th Circus Clowns to Toss MVP Va. Water Permit). A three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals (all Democrats) handed down a decision yesterday…upholding the Va. Water Board’s decision to grant the permit. It’s a miracle!
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This is a good news/bad news article. The good news is that the Marcellus/Utica region remained the top-producing natural gas region in the U.S. in 2022, supplying some 29% of all the natural gas produced in the U.S. –averaging 34.6 Bcf/d (billion cubic feet per day). The bad news is that the M-U’s new growth in 2022 was minuscule–just 100 MMcf/d (million cubic feet per day) over 2021 volumes. The Permian Basin (oil-focused) added roughly 2.5 Bcf/d of new natgas production in 2022. The Haynesville, the M-U’s chief competitor, added nearly 2 Bcf/d of extra production last year. Even the Eagle Ford and Anadarko plays added more natgas production last year than did the M-U. Why?
Anderson King Energy Consultants, based in Dallas, Texas, advises clients in the oil and gas space on a variety of issues including acquisitions and divestitures, valuations of assets, and company strategy. AK provides its expertise to a number of companies, major companies with names you would recognize. Randy King and Jon Dormer, managing partners at AK, recently sent MDN a brief report that advises drillers to choke back their wells by 50% in order to boost the commodity price of natural gas to levels that are profitable once again.
The mighty Shell ethane cracker has had “issues” getting and staying fully up to speed. Since it officially went online last November, Shell has received three separate notices of violation (NOVs) for exceeding allowable air pollution limits, largely related to repeated flaring episodes (see 
No one with a brain would deny government spending in Washington, D.C., is completely out of control. The Biden administration is spending more money than any previous administration in history. Biden’s incompetent Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, can’t even keep track of all the spending and earlier this year (out of the blue) she announced the country has hit its debt limit and that the limit needs to be raised–so that we can spend even more! Republicans are getting smarter. Speaker McCarthy is playing political hardball with sleepy Joe, telling Biden if he wants the debt limit raised, he’s going to have to pay. The price for a higher debt limit (or risk a catastrophic default) will be to adopt pipeline permitting reform and to finish the Mountain Valley Pipeline project.
The Ohio Natural Energy Institute (ONEI), formerly the Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program (OOGEEP), recently issued a press release to point out that between 2010 and 2021, Ohio’s oil and gas sector has paid a cumulative $755 million in taxes which supports local schools, municipalities, counties and other services in Ohio. Hey, how much in tax revenue have anti-fossil energy groups (like the Sierra Club) paid during that time to support the Buckeye State? That’s right: $0. Instead, anti groups have destroyed jobs and companies, resulting in less taxes paid.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Pittsburgh to get $1.5M for electric vehicles, natural gas trucks; Attempts to ban natural gas in budget will hurt New Yorkers; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Natgas flows to Freeport LNG export plant in Texas rise – Refinitiv; NATIONAL: Expiring April natgas futures fall below $2 on downward price pressure; Which president had the biggest impact on US oil production?; Activity stalls in top U.S. oilfields, outlook sours – Fed survey; INTERNATIONAL: US has replaced Russia as Europe’s top crude oil supplier.