Summit Midstream Reports Significant Interest by Others in M&A
Summit Midstream Partners, formed in 2009 and headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, operates natural gas, crude oil, and produced water gathering (pipeline) systems in several unconventional shale plays, including the Marcellus and Utica. Last week, Summit issued its third quarter 2023 update. We previously reported on an early release of Summit’s 3Q operational update, which revealed the company is considering selling part or all of the company (see Summit Midstream 3Q Update – Considers Selling Part or All of Co.). Summit CEO Heath Deneke provided an update last week on the process of finding a potential suitor.
Read More “Summit Midstream Reports Significant Interest by Others in M&A”
This past May, MDN told you about a coming real-life nightmare that the Everett LNG import terminal, which accepts and regasifies foreign-sourced natural gas, may shut down following the closure of New England’s biggest natural gas-fired power plant, the Mystic Generating Station in Everett, MA (see 
Just when we were beginning to feel comfortable that maybe, just maybe, the price of natural gas would stay higher for longer instead of lower for longer, yesterday happened. Did you notice? The price for the “front month contract” of the NYMEX Henry Hub got whacked, falling a full 25 cents in a single day, closing at $3.26/MMBtu. It was the biggest one-day plunge in price since March of this year. What happened? As is typical, it’s because of the weather.
Dominion Energy plans to build a liquified natural gas (LNG) storage facility in Person County, North Carolina, to enhance natural gas service reliability for residential and business customers in the growing region. Dominion studied several potential sites and collected a boatload of data during the site selection process, including but not limited to construction feasibility, minimizing landowner impacts, connection to Dominion’s existing natural gas system, and avoiding environmentally sensitive areas. Ultimately, Dominion selected a site in the southeast corner of Person County. Mainstream media is doing its best to scare local residents, hoping to block the project.
Long-time MDN readers will know what “associated gas” is — natural gas that comes out of the same hole that oil comes from. When shale oil drillers sink a hole with the intent to get oil (one hydrocarbon), natural gas (another hydrocarbon) comes out, too. Even more hydrocarbons may also come out, including ethane, propane, and butane (NGLs). It’s natural! It happens. The “problem” for oil drillers has been what to do with “associated” natgas, which is considered a waste product for an oil driller. With new regulations adopted in recent years in places like Texas, New Mexico, and North Dakota (big oil drilling states), drillers increasingly cannot flare (or burn off) the natural gas coming out of the borehole along with the oil. It creates too many CO2 molecules floating in the atmosphere, toasting Mom Earth (as the myth goes).
According to S&P Global Commodity Insights, the next “super-cycle” of multi-billion-dollar LNG export terminal construction in North America is now getting underway. In the US, LNG feedgas demand could reach nearly 28 Bcf/d (billion cubic feet per day) by the early 2030s, up from about 13 Bcf/d in 2023. Where will all of the LNG plants come from to handle that kind of volume? S&P provides a really cool map with all current and announced/planned LNG export facilities in North America, detailing how much gas they can produce (in million metric tonnes per year) and the announced start date.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Civil & Environmental Consultants acquires Arizona firm; Isner to lead GO-WV for 2023-2024 term; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: ArcLight completes acquisition of ownership interest in Kleen Energy; NATIONAL: Congress must halt the ascendance of regulation by subsidy; “Too favored to fail” – taxpayers bailout Biden’s green friends; INTERNATIONAL: German gas storage tops 100% but winter risks remain.