Coterra Stops Drilling New Wells in Marcellus, Fracking Ends Soon
We never thought we’d see the day when we would write the headline that Coterra (nee Cabot Oil & Gas) was pulling all of its active rigs in the Marcellus in Susquehanna County, PA. But today is that day. It makes us profoundly sad (and the primary reason we opposed the merger of Cimarex and Cabot, see Markets “Baffled” by “Unexpected” Cabot Merger with Cimarex). Coterra CEO Tom Jorden was interviewed during a session last week at the Barclays 38th Annual CEO Energy-Power Conference. As part of the Q&A, Jorden confirmed (dropped the bombshell) that his company has just “released our last rig in the Marcellus.” Read More “Coterra Stops Drilling New Wells in Marcellus, Fracking Ends Soon”
The Board of Supervisors for Cecil Township in Washington County, PA, caved to pressure from radical leftists and, by a vote of 3-2, instructed the town’s solicitor to prepare a new zoning ordinance that increases setbacks from “protected structures” from 500 feet to 2,500 feet (a half a mile!), and add a setback of 5,000 feet from schools and hospitals (almost a full mile!). It is a ban on new shale drilling in the township, plain and simple. In May, the supervisors favored a setback of 1,500 feet, which is still too far and onerous, but not an outright ban like 2,500 feet (see 
Dominion Energy plans to build four small “peaker” electric generating plants in Chesterfield County, VA, near Richmond (see 
The liberal judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued a string of rulings this year that have greatly damaged the country’s LNG export industry. Those rulings, if left unchallenged, put future LNG growth in this country in doubt. So says energy expert David Blackmon, writing for the Forbes magazine website. The D.C. Circuit has been coloring WAY outside the lines by using White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) criteria for what should be included in environmental reviews conducted under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
The price of natural gas is the foundation for our entire industry. If the price is too low, as it is right now, drilling falls off (see today’s lead story about Coterra doing NO new drilling in the Marcellus). If there’s no (or little) new drilling, everything else suffers. Landowners’ royalty checks shrivel, oilfield services companies don’t have work and lay personnel, pipelines are used less, and new pipelines don’t get built. It all comes down to price. So, we closely monitor the price and where it’s heading. Is there a way, short of hauling out the dusty crystal ball, of knowing where the price is heading in future months, even in future years? Sort of. It’s called the forward market. 
The federal government is spending BILLIONS of dollars on a huge gamble: hydrogen energy. This raises an important question: Will low-carbon-intensity (LCI) hydrogen make economic sense or not? In November 2021, the Department of Energy (DOE) asked the National Petroleum Council (NPC) to take a deep dive into that very topic. The NPC is appointed by the Secretary of Energy and privately funded, with 200-plus members combining diverse experiences across industries and consumers, including the oil and gas industry. The NPC recently issued its 800+ page final report, Harnessing Hydrogen: A Key Element of the U.S. Energy Future. Today, we look at one aspect of the larger question about hydrogen — how can hydrogen be transported and stored (and does it make economic sense to transport and store it)?
NATIONAL: Presidential debate: let’s talk energy; US natgas prices fall 5% as hurricane threatens LNG and power demand; Harris buries her ‘clean energy’ agenda while Trump goes big on fossil fuels; Talking points on Kamala Harris’s fracking reversal; UTulsa tests optimal mix of hydrogen and natural gas; 2024 American Energy Scorecard for the House of Representatives.