M-U Rigs Down 1 @ 36; Haynesville Down 2 @ 56; Nat’l Up 3 @ 551
Last week, the combined Marcellus/Utica Baker Hughes rig count dropped by 1 rig in the PA Marcellus, leaving 36 active rigs across the three-state M-U region, down from 37 it had operated for 7 weeks in a row. The M-U’s chief competitor, the Haynesville, dropped 2 rigs to land at 56 active rigs, operating 20 more than the M-U. The national count added 3 rigs last week and now operates 551 rigs. That’s the fourth week in a row the national count has added rigs. Read More “M-U Rigs Down 1 @ 36; Haynesville Down 2 @ 56; Nat’l Up 3 @ 551”
This is HUGE and breaking news… NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy announced this morning that they will combine in an all-stock transaction, creating the world’s largest regulated electric utility business serving approximately 10 million customer accounts across Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The combined entity, operating under the NextEra Energy name, will be over 80% regulated and benefit from enhanced scale, efficiency, and diversified growth. How much is NextEra paying for Dominion? 
If you live in Auburn Township in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, it’s a pretty safe bet that either there is or soon will be shale well drilling going on near you. The PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) published notice in the May 16 Pennsylvania Bulletin announcing it has issued a permit for one aboveground water pipeline for one driller and is seeking comments on a request for a second aboveground water pipeline for a second driller, both in Auburn Township. 
In 2015, MPLX (i.e., Marathon Petroleum) bought out and merged with the Utica Shale’s premier midstream company, MarkWest Energy, for $15 billion (see 
The left and many on the right are banking on hydrogen as the next BIG THING in energy. Hydrogen fuel cell cars and burning hydrogen to heat your home are just two applications people dream will come true in the next 25 years. Of course, they’ve been dreaming about hydrogen for more than 50 years, but the history of hydrogen is for another post. We pay attention to hydrogen because 95% of all hydrogen today is produced by steam cracking natural gas. Ergo, hydrogen has the potential to be a big, important, new customer for our molecules. Everyone and his brother continues to make predictions about the hydrogen market over the next 35 years. Norwegian company DNV has its own crystal ball prediction, the “Hydrogen Forecast to 2060.” 
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Maryland regulators put controversial gas line policy on hold; NATIONAL: U.S. natural gas futures rise as weather heats up; U.S. upstream mergers hit $38B as M&A rebounds; The data center doomers must be defeated; INTERNATIONAL: Oil surges as supply risks deepen; No deal in sight to end Iran war; Miliband vows permanent shutdown of the North Sea; Strait of Hormuz will reopen ‘sometime this summer at latest’.