NYMEX NatGas Futures Hit 2-Year High, Closed at $4.35/MMBtu
Is this the beginning of the “running of the bulls” with respect to natural gas traders? According to a senior market analyst at the PRICE Futures Group, quite possibly. Yesterday the NYMEX Henry Hub “front month” futures price closed up 22.8 cents at $4.35/MMBtu—the highest closing price since Dec. 30, 2022 (more than two years). Typically, weather, like a major cold snap, is the driver. But not this time. According to PRICE Futures Group, lower natgas inventories (in storage), higher demand from Europe for our LNG, and the prospect of a dry, hot summer have combined to drive prices higher. Add to that, we now officially have a tariff trade war with Canada, with our friends to the north slapping an export tax on electricity and natural gas flowing to our country, and the gas trading bulls were on a stampede. Read More “NYMEX NatGas Futures Hit 2-Year High, Closed at $4.35/MMBtu”
Gulfport Energy, the third-largest driller in the Ohio Utica Shale (by the number of wells drilled), reported its fourth quarter and full-year 2024 numbers last week. The company drills Utica and Marcellus wells in Ohio. It also has an active drilling program in the Oklahoma SCOOP shale play. Gulfport’s net daily production in 4Q24 averaged 1,055.5 MMcfe/d (1.06 Bcfe/d), down slightly from 4Q23’s average of 1,063.3 MMcfe/d. Gulfport’s net daily production for the full year of 2024 averaged 1.05 Bcfe/d, consisting of 841.7 MMcfe/d in the Utica and Marcellus and 212.4 MMcfe/d in the SCOOP. Put another way, the M-U produced 80% of the company’s production. For the full year of 2024, Gulfport’s net daily production mix comprised approximately 92% natural gas, 6% NGLs, and 2% oil and condensate. According to the 4Q update, Gulfport plans to boost liquids production by 30% in 2025. 
In something of a bombshell announcement, the CEO of Mon Power parent First Energy said the company plans to replace its West Virginia coal plants with natural gas plants. Mon Power’s Harrison and Fort Martin coal-fired plants are scheduled to shut down between 2035 and 2040. The company will construct 3 to 4 gigawatts (GW) of combined cycle natural gas plants to replace them, beginning in the next five years. That will use somewhere between one-half and three-fourths of a billion cubic feet of Marcellus/Utica natural gas to power these beasts. This is big news indeed! 
The number of rigs deployed to drill for natural gas in the United States decreased over the last two years, according to stats from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). U.S. natural gas-directed rigs decreased 32% (50 rigs) between December 2022 and December 2024. The decline was concentrated in the natural gas-rich Haynesville and Marcellus/Utica regions, where the combined natural gas rig count declined by 34% during 2023 (43 rigs) and by 24% during 2024 (21 rigs). In the M-U region, rigs declined 37% since December 2022 (19 rigs). However, it’s not the end of the world. Don’t jump off that cliff just yet. 
In May 2024, more than 50 “groups” colluding with ringleader Ohio River Valley Institute (ORVI) sent a letter to the Department of Energy (DOE) calling for the suspension of the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2), falsely claiming an “extreme lack of transparency” and lack of “meaningful community engagement” during project negotiations (see 
Kentucky has seen unprecedented economic growth in recent years, like other southern states. Data centers are looking to Kentucky for future expansion. Last fall, Louisville Gas and Electric Company (LG&E) and Kentucky Utilities Company (KU), both part of PPL Corporation, forecasted in their Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) the need for additional power generation due to the expected influx of data centers and economic development across their service territories (see 
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Trump touts plans to spur mammoth Alaska gas export project; NJBIA urges policymakers to allow for immediate in-state natgas generation; NATIONAL: Alpha-Otto Technologies unveils successful hydrogen engine test; Yes, coal and natural gas remain much cheaper than wind and solar; The greatest scientific fraud of all time — part xxxiii; Don’t let this be America’s ‘Germany moment’ on energy; Ghost grids – a conservative call to reclaim America’s power; INTERNATIONAL: Oil drops as tariffs and OPEC+ supply shake markets; Ireland approves emergency floating LNG facility to address gas supply risks.