Best of the Rest

MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: PA DEP expands use of online tools, conference calls to hold public meetings, hearings; Beaver County plants to suspend operations, lay off more than 500; NATIONAL: We must not let the shale industry go bankrupt; U.S. rig count plummets as producers react to oil’s collapse; Google serving as NRDC outlet to promote fracking falsehoods; U.S. natural gas, oil operators said prepared to deal with coronavirus pandemic; Staring at $20 oil, exploration and oilfield services firms prepare to ‘write off’ 2020; Lower for longer: COVID-19’s impact on crude oil and refined products; Biden’s shifting energy position has oil and gas sector on edge; INTERNATIONAL: Saudis may hold out up to two years in price war, Fitch analyst says; Saudi Arabia’s oil price war is backfiring; Coronavirus shows our reliance on the ‘precautionary principle’ has ruined our ability to manage risk.
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Mon, Mar 23, 2020”

NATIONAL: U.S. oil industry could end up losing more than 200,000 jobs; U.S. natural gas tumbles to 24-year low; U.S. LNG exports rise on week; U.S. shale goes viral; U.S. shale producers cut executive pay as oil prices crash; As total U.S. crude oil imports have fallen, imports from Canada have increased; Educator turned potential profiteer in climate litigation law firm; E&Ps slashing already-weak capital spending amid oil price rout; Coronavirus won’t stop flow of FERC orders, chairman says; INTERNATIONAL: Oil rallies, with U.S. prices scoring their biggest daily percentage climb on record; Fitch sees global oil demand plunging by 7-10 million b/d in 2Q.
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Fri, Mar 20, 2020”

MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Rep. Conor Lamb supports Biden’s ‘no new fracking’ push; NATIONAL: Seven of the most prolific Texas shale drillers cut $7.6 billion from budgets as oil prices collapse; ConocoPhillips and other oil producers slash their budgets deeper; Oil’s crash is both a help and a hazard for LNG export projects; In the oil business, everything flows downstream, including the pain; Crude market vaporizes; contango and storage plays take center stage; INTERNATIONAL: Canadian heavy oil plunges to lowest price on record.
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Thu, Mar 19, 2020”

MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: EQT Corp. surges as the bearish natural gas thesis is dead; CNX Midstream Partners ‘re-evaluating’ capital allocation plans; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: FERC suspends Commonwealth LNG environmental review; Minnesota Supreme Court will review Superior natural gas power plant ruling; NATIONAL: Oil reverses deeply into the red; WTI closes at another four-year low; Estimating the possible decline of U.S. shale oil production with lower prices; Giant LNG projects face coronavirus death or delay; Natural gas price forecast – natural gas markets rollover; COVID-19, price wars and black swans: School of Energy goes virtual.
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Wed, Mar 18, 2020”

MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Dominion Energy commits $1 million to coronavirus relief efforts; All PA DEP offices statewide are closed until March 31; NATIONAL: Pioneer CEO says U.S. oil output could drop 20% on shale retreat; Big shale borrowers on fast track to junk in latest oil rout; We’re paying the price for the death of journalism; INTERNATIONAL: OPEC shift to maintain market share will cause global inventory increases and lower prices.
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Tue, Mar 17, 2020”

MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Biggest weekly gainer in S&P 500 is Cabot Oil & Gas!; Susquehanna County has more than half of top producing PA gas wells!; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Developing bottlenecks in the Louisiana gas market; NATIONAL: Oil price recovery not likely until 2022; recent pullbacks ‘just the beginning’; E&Ps, OFS operators cutting capex and salaries as Covid-19 reshapes markets; Four more producers line up to slash capex, activity in wake of low oil prices; Can shale survive another bust?; It’s not Armageddon for America’s oil and gas industry; INTERNATIONAL: Another specter rises over LNG as European demand seen threatened by coronavirus; Saudi Arabia-Russia oil price feud hits U.S. economy hard.
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Mon, Mar 16, 2020”

MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Clean Hands Andy, in stunning reversal, endorses natural gas?; DCNR, DEP are canceling or converting meetings to calls or online due to coronavirus concerns; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Judge approves $143M natural gas explosions settlement; NATIONAL: U.S. crude oil exports increased to nearly 3 million barrels per day in 2019; More U.S. oil producers slash budgets amid price rout; US oil, gas rig count drops by three on week to 835; further decline expected; Betting on a bailout, investors rush into U.S. energy funds; UW professors receive provisional patent for method to reduce gas flaring; U.S. shale oil producers aren’t as hedged as you think, implying more downside for associated gas production; Angry US landowners are killing off renewable energy projects; INTERNATIONAL: How long will the oil price war actually last?; A global natural gas market is starting to emerge.
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Fri, Mar 13, 2020”

MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Gov. Cuomo’s big promise to free the state fairgrounds of fossil fuels: What’s the status?; NATIONAL: EIA’s 50% Carbon-Free Generation side case projects little effect on CO2 emissions; U.S. LNG exports grow in a weakening, highly uncertain market; INTERNATIONAL: Prolonged oil price slide factoring more into global natural gas market, analysts say; Saudi oil price war unlikely to have quick end, says GlobalData; Portugal books US, Nigerian LNG cargoes; UAE joins battle with Saudi Arabia and Russia to grab bigger share of oil market.
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Thu, Mar 12, 2020”

MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Soaring stocks don’t fix — at least yet — what ails Marcellus; ODNR issues 4 Utica drilling permits; NATIONAL: Lower 48 E&Ps punch back by cutting capex as oil prices decimated; Don’t panic over stock market drop; The oil price collapse blame game begins.
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Wed, Mar 11, 2020”

OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Tellurian makes managements appointments; Columbia gas pleads guilty over Mass. pipeline blasts; NATIONAL: Climate change lawsuits collapsing like dominoes; Energy valuations: Freefall into bankruptcy or is this time different?; There are no winners in oil market’s price war; Brace yourself for another 33% drop in the price of crude oil; White House can lend U.S. shale a helping M&A hand; INTERNATIONAL: The coronavirus is an economic pandemic, panicking markets and slowing growth.
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Tue, Mar 10, 2020”

MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Pro-energy, pro-manufacturing approach is best for Pennsylvania; Anne Blankenship: Gas industry can drive WV’s future; Oil and gas officials, West Virginia Chamber of Commerce optimistic of pipeline continuation; Pro-fracking group backs Phillips; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Virginia moves to phase out CO2 from power plants by 2045; NATIONAL: EIA’s long-term power plant projections trade off the cost and value of new capacity; Natural gas prices may decline further, likely to hit a 20-yr low level; INTERNATIONAL: Germany proves how essential natural gas is – and the U.S. must supply; The great Saudi shale swindle.
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Mon, Mar 9, 2020”

MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: ODNR awards three drilling permits; NATIONAL: North American midstream energy companies face $123 billion of debt maturities in 2020-24; Exxon CEO dismisses rivals’ climate targets as ‘beauty competition’; INTERNATIONAL: Coronavirus leads OPEC to recommend sharper oil output reduction through June; OPEC+ proposes major cuts, but Russia may not come along; Germany sees no role for natural gas in draft plan for hydrogen.
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Fri, Mar 6, 2020”

NATIONAL: Less petroleum and other liquids consumed in the U.S. is coming from refineries; Danly’s FERC nomination moves to full Senate over Democrats’ objections; US natural gas infrastructure investment increasingly risky; INTERNATIONAL: With oil prices down 20%, OPEC pushes for stability; PetroChina suspends some gas contracts as coronavirus hits demand.
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Thu, Mar 5, 2020”

MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Trump says he’s ‘fighting’ New York to force gas pipeline; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: New infrastructure driving flow and price changes in Texas Gulf Coast gas markets; NATIONAL: U.S. natural gas consumption sets new record in 2019; Democrats threaten energy rollback; Latest gamble by restaurateur turned gas baron hits the skids; The ultimate guide to well logging.
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Wed, Mar 4, 2020”

MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: ODNR announces new chief of Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management; Nonprofit, educational organizations: don’t miss this chance to apply for environmental grants; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Cameron LNG Train 2 starts commercial operations; NATIONAL: U.S. crude oil production grew 11% in 2019, surpassing 12 million barrels per day; Trump wants to lift the ban on transporting liquefied natural gas on trains – opponents say it’s a risk; Natural gas continues to reflect seasonality; Baker Hughes: US rig count down 1 unit to 790; EV Dream (video); INTERNATIONAL: TC Energy, tribal leaders reach agreement to resume Coastal GasLink construction.
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Tue, Mar 3, 2020”

MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Utica Shale Academy students head south; NATIONAL: Coronavirus fears combine with warmer weather forecasts to send natgas below $1.70; Oil, gas operators forecast to slash E&P, project spending on coronavirus impacts; COVID-19, declining energy commodity prices and what might lie ahead; Businesses fret over potential Bernie Sanders presidency; One reason Russia might like to see Bernie Sanders elected; Was Tom Steyer’s campaign the worst in presidential history?; ‘Anointed with Oil’ review: The crude versus the refined.
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Mon, Mar 2, 2020”