Chesapeake Cuts Back on Marcellus, Signs Haynesville LNG Deal
Two weeks ago, MDN brought you a summary of the latest quarterly update from Chesapeake Energy, which includes guidance (a forecast) for what the company plans to do in 2023 vis-à-vis drilling in the Marcellus and the Haynesville (see Chesapeake Energy Update: Cutting Rig Count & Production in 2023). We told you that Chesapeake plans to scale back drilling, and production, in the Marcellus. Since that update, Chesapeake announced a 15-year deal to provide natural gas for LNG exports to Gunvor Singapore Pte. Guess where the gas will come from? Hint: Not the M-U.
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We have been closely tracking the restart of the shuttered Freeport LNG export terminal following its emergency shutdown in June 2022 after an explosion and fire. Most recently, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) granted permission for Freeport to restart two of three liquefaction “trains” at the facility (see 
An anchor from a local ABC television affiliate in Maine somehow wandered into the truth about New England’s lack of natural gas pipelines. (He may not have a job much longer.) As we have been stating (screaming about) for years, New England politicians have blocked new gas pipelines from Pennsylvania from delivering critically-needed natural gas supplies to the region. It’s only a matter of time before New England experiences repeated blackouts due to the lack of natgas for power-generating plants. It’s coming. And yet the Democrat politicians who have an iron grip on the region refuse to see reason. What is their solution to a lack of natural gas? Turn down your thermostat and sit in the cold. And if you complain about it, they (meaning people like Maine Gov. Janet Mills) will label you a racist, bigot, homophobic Republican who must be silenced at all costs. This is our very broken system of governance today–at least in New England.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) sent a new round of questions yesterday to Freeport LNG. The questions must be answered before the two agencies give their final blessing for Freeport to bring online its third and final train of LNG production. Which seems a bit odd to us. FERC previously granted Freeport permission to restart two of three LNG liquefaction trains, two of three LNG storage tanks, and one of two LNG births for ships to tie up and load (see 
Freeport LNG continues to rapidly ramp up its liquefaction and export capability. The facility experienced an explosion and fire in June 2022. It was just over a week ago that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) granted the facility permission to restart two of three liquefaction trains (see 
Isn’t it typical for Democrats to try and use a crisis that has nothing whatsoever to do with shale and natural gas to block shale and natural gas? Seven members of Pennsylvania’s Congressional delegation, every single one of them a Democrat, sent a letter (copy below) to another Democrat, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg (an incompetent nincompoop), asking him to permanently delete a rule adopted during the Trump administration that allows LNG to be safely transported by special rail cars. The reason cited for banning LNG by rail? The train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio–an event that has nothing whatsoever to do with shale energy.
The Sabine Pass LNG terminal, owned and operated by Cheniere Energy, is spread over an 853-acre site in Cameron Parish, Louisiana. The facility is the largest receiving and regasifying terminal in the world with a total send-out capacity of 4 Bcf/d (billion cubic feet per day) and a storage capacity of 16.8 Bcf. The “nameplate” capacity of the facility with six trains operating is roughly 30 mtpa (million tons per annum). Last Thursday, Cheniere announced it has pre-filed to expand its Sabine Pass operation significantly, by another 66% to around 50 mtpa. This is good news for the Marcellus/Utica.
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, along with Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), and John Kennedy (R-La.), reintroduced the Natural Gas Export Expansion Act, which would expedite the federal approval process for exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) and increase free trade, particularly as European countries are looking for new sources of clean, reliable energy.
Finally! The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has granted permission to the Freeport LNG facility, located in Quintana, Texas, to restart two of three liquefaction “trains,” two of three LNG storage tanks, and one of two LNG births for ships to tie up and load. While the third train and third storage tank will need further FERC permission, Freeport predicts the entire facility–all three trains and the infrastructure that supports them–will be online and producing the maximum 2 Bcf/d (billion cubic feet per day) within “the next several weeks.”
UGI, a diversified energy company with midstream (pipeline) operations and one of PA’s largest utility companies, is planning to build a second LNG peak shaver. The peak shaver will be located in Middlesex Township in Cumberland County, PA. In November 2020, UGI launched the operation of a new 2 million gallon LNG peak shaver in Bethlehem, PA (see 
Earlier this week, we reported the exciting news that two shipments of LNG had been loaded and sailed from the Freeport LNG facility, which (until now) has been out of commission since June 2022 due to an explosion and fire (see 
Yesterday we reported the surprising news that a load of LNG had left the Freeport facility, even though the facility has not been fully blessed to restart operations (see 
There are a (very) few Democrats in Washington, D.C., who still support natural gas. It seems most national Democrat leaders (in Congress and beyond) have been coopted by the radical left of the party and now endorse the national suicide of dumping fossil energy. But not all Dems. A group of so-called moderate Democrats who aligned themselves with Bill Clinton formed a think tank in 1989 called the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI). The PPI recently published an issue brief (report) called “The Climate Case for Expanding U.S. Natural Gas Export.” The report says expanding U.S. LNG exports can lower global greenhouse gas emissions significantly, especially if fugitive emissions of methane are deeply reduced. The report even supports the construction of more pipelines here in the U.S. Imagine that! A group of Dems who support natgas and LNG exports. It’s like spotting a unicorn in the wild.