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No Change in M-U, Nat’l Baker Hughes Rig Counts 2nd Week in a Row
The venerable Baker Hughes national rig count was 589 active rigs last week—which is FIVE weeks in a row. Very unusual. The Marcellus/Utica rig count was a combined 34 last week—the same number for FOUR weeks in a row. The national count remains rangebound between 581 and 589 since June 2024 (except for Sep. 13, when it hit 590 for a single week). The M-U remained static last week, with PA at 15 rigs, OH at 9 rigs, and WV at 10 rigs. Read More “No Change in M-U, Nat’l Baker Hughes Rig Counts 2nd Week in a Row”
It’s always a red-letter day here at MDN HQ when we happen across a new pipeline project in the Marcellus/Utica region. Today is one of those days! Eastern Gas Transmission and Storage, a subsidiary of billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Energy (BHE), filed a new project with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in December to beef up three existing compressor stations in Centre County, Clinton County, and Franklin County in Pennsylvania, and one existing compressor station in Loudoun County, Virginia, with the aim of flowing more Marcellus molecules to the Washington, D.C. area. 
Last August, MDN told you that the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2) officially received its first $30 million from the Bidenistas (see 
We’re just now learning the good news about decisions by two different North Carolina agencies to approve four new gas-fired power plants that utility giant Duke Energy wants to build at two different N.C. sites. In early December, the N.C. Utilities Commission issued orders deeming the gas plants necessary at both sites. Then, on Dec. 20, the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality granted air quality permits for the four plants. All four will be fed by Marcellus/Utica molecules and are important new customers for our gas. 
Dominion Energy plans to build small “peaker” electric generating plants in Chesterfield County, VA, near Richmond (see 
Yesterday, the Northeast Power Coordinating Council (NPCC) announced the completion of the NPCC Northeast Gas/Electric System Study. Initiated in 2023, the study evaluated New York and New England gas supply and gas pipeline constraints for extreme and protracted winter events during the peak heating season, from December through February, for three time periods: 2024/25 (short-term), 2027/28 (mid-term) and 2032/33 (long-term). It shows that if we get an extended (more than three-day) cold snap, those of us living in NY or New England will be in trouble. 
NATIONAL: Choice Hotels brags it is “responsible” for cutting natgas use by 20%; EnerGeo Alliance opposes Biden’s decision to block oil & gas exploration and development; Oil, gas execs reveal where they expect WTI oil price to land in the future; Trump weighing executive order protecting gas stoves; INTERNATIONAL: European gas storage sites dwindle at fastest pace since 2018; Oil prices slip on glut fears.