Marcellus Drilling News

Industrywide Issues | Research

Record High NatGas Production & Demand in 2023 – EIA Sept. STEO
September 14, 2023September 14, 2023

Once a month, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) analysts issue the agency’s Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), their best guess about where energy prices and production will go in the next 12 months. The latest monthly report, issued Tuesday, predicts that U.S. natural gas production AND demand will rise to record highs in 2023. EIA projects that dry gas production will end up at 102.69 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2023 and rise to 104.93 Bcf/d in 2024. The current record high is 98.13 Bcf/d, set in 2022.
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CNG/LNG | Exporting | Industrywide Issues

Freeport LNG Cancels 3-4 Cargoes Due to Outage, Now in 6th Day
September 14, 2023September 14, 2023

Three days ago, the feedgas (natural gas) flowing to the Freeport LNG export facility on Quintana Island, TX, dropped to roughly 622 MMcf/d, which is 31% of the facility’s normal capacity of 2 Bcf/d (see Feedgas to Freeport LNG Dropped Last Weekend, Down 69% Yesterday). Two days ago, feedgas flows to Freeport dropped all the way to zero (see Freeport LNG Feedgas Drops to Zero, Indicates Ongoing Outage). Yesterday, feedgas flows resumed, but at a trickle–370 MMcf/d, or roughly 18% of total capacity. Reuters and Bloomberg are reporting Freeport has canceled at least three and possibly four cargo ships that would have loaded at the facility due to the ongoing reduction/outage, which is now in its sixth day.
Read More “Freeport LNG Cancels 3-4 Cargoes Due to Outage, Now in 6th Day”
Berkshire Hathaway | CNG/LNG | Energy Services | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Maryland | Regulation

With Cove Point LNG Imports Ended, Owners Want Regs Changed
September 14, 2023September 14, 2023

Cove Point LNG

Cove Point LNG exports roughly 1.8 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of Marcellus/Utica gas from the Maryland coast. The LNG export plant was conceived and built by Dominion Energy. However, Dominion has (stupidly) decided to divest from natural gas pipelines and other ventures and sold its ownership in Cove Point to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Energy. Here’s one thing you may not have known… Cove Point existed for decades as an LNG import facility before it was expanded to handle exports. Cove Point began to receive LNG imports in 1978. With long-term import contracts at Cove Point now expired, the owners want the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to change the regulatory statutes governing the facility’s older (import) parts.
Read More “With Cove Point LNG Imports Ended, Owners Want Regs Changed”
CNG/LNG | Energy Services | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | New Fortress Energy

New Jersey Newspaper Endorses NFE’s Gibbstown LNG Export Plan
September 14, 2023September 14, 2023

New Fortress Energy (NFE) plans to build an LNG liquefaction facility in Bradford County, PA–in the northeastern part of the state (see Big News! Marcellus LNG Export Plant Coming to Landlocked NEPA). NFE’s plan is to transport LNG made at the plant by truck and rail to a loading dock on the Delaware River at a former Dupont dynamite factory site in Gibbstown, NJ. Radicalized antis jumped all over NFE’s plan, saying “bomb trains” would be rolling through population centers like Scranton and Philadelphia (see Here We Go Again – Sending LNG Safely by Rail Called “Bomb Train”). The Bidenistas recently announced they were canceling LNG-by-rail permits issued under President Trump to NFE, and putting any more permits on hold (likely forever) to further “study” the issue (see LNG-by-Rail Officially on Hold with PHMSA, Agency Will “Study” It).
Read More “New Jersey Newspaper Endorses NFE’s Gibbstown LNG Export Plan”
Ethane | Industrywide Issues

U.S. Ethane Production Hits New All-Time High of 2.7M B/D
September 14, 2023September 14, 2023

Ethane molecule (C2H6)

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is reporting ethane production reached a new monthly record high of 2.7 million barrels per day (b/d) in April 2023. EIA said increased natural gas and ethane production in the Permian Basin is the main reason. But don’t overlook the Marcellus/Utica! Our region has routinely hit new highs for ethane production, too. Ethane is one of the hydrocarbons that comes out of the ground along with oil and natural gas. Ethane can be cracked and turned into ethylene, which is the raw feedstock used to make plastics.
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Is Fracking Good for Pennsylvania? MSC Destroys Anti-Fracking Screed
September 14, 2023September 14, 2023

The nutters are out in full force, particularly in Pennsylvania, using fraudulent “studies” by the Ohio River Valley Insititute (ORVI) and (sadly) the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) to call for an end to the Marcellus industry in the great Keystone State. A recent “letter to the editor” appearing in the Sunbury (PA) Daily Item is a perfect example. On Sept. 3, the Daily Item ran an op-ed titled “Is fracking good for Pennsylvania,” concluding that it is not. It was written by a member of the Climate Reality Project, a far-left organization that irrationally hates fossil energy. The typical references were made to the fraudulent ORVI and Pitt studies. Ten days later, another op-ed appeared in the Daily Item, written by David Callahan from the Marcellus Shale Coalition, setting the record straight.
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Industrywide Issues | Pipelines

NETL Researchers Use Fiber Optics to Detect NatGas Pipe Corrosion
September 14, 2023September 14, 2023

Advanced sensors developed by researchers at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) can detect and predict corrosion in natural gas pipelines and prevent ruptures and leaks that release methane. Their invention combats corrosion in natural gas pipelines through early detection using either optical fiber-based or passive wireless sensing technology. The invention received a patent in August. This is just one more example of how the oil and gas industry keeps evolving and getting better year after year.
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Best of the Rest

Other Stories of Interest: Thu, Sep 14, 2023
September 14, 2023September 14, 2023

OTHER U.S. REGIONS: CorEnergy announces continued listing notice from NYSE; NIPSCO files plans to build $644 million natural gas peaker; Potential natural gas generator draws opposition from clean energy activists; NATIONAL: Analysts expect 47 billion-cubic-foot rise in U.S. natural-gas inventories.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Thu, Sep 14, 2023”