ESG

ESG | Industrywide Issues | Research

AGA Study: NatGas Essential to Reaching Goal of Net-Zero Carbon
February 10, 2022February 10, 2022

A new study published by the America Gas Association (AGA) details how America’s natural gas, natural gas utilities, and delivery infrastructure will be *essential* to meeting our nation’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals, including achieving net-zero emissions. Natural gas is used by some 187 million Americans each and every day. The AGA study (full copy below) outlines several scenarios and technology opportunities available to help the country reach mythical net-zero emissions by 2050. Natural gas plays a starring role!
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Encino Energy | Energy Companies | ESG | Industrywide Issues | Meetings | Ohio | Stark County

Shale Conference Focused on ESG Coming to Canton, OH
February 9, 2022February 9, 2022

By now you know we’re not the biggest fans of ESG (environmental, social, and governance) initiatives. ESG efforts by shale companies (for us) smacks of attempting to pacify leftist wackos who will never be satisfied with any environmental efforts by “filthy” oil and gas companies. We ARE, however, in favor of strong environmental standards and believe most M-U companies already achieve them! However, ESG programs and certifications are here, likely to stay, and Marcellus/Utica drillers and pipeline companies (and the companies servicing them) must play the game if they want to sell natural gas. MDN’s good friend Joe Barone from ShaleDirectories.com is hosting an ESG-focused conference on Friday, March 25, at the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, OH. The conference is called the Utica Green Upstream & Midstream Conference. If you’re serious about ESG–investigating it, considering it, maybe even wanting to push your own ESG efforts forward–this is the conference for you to attend.
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Energy Companies | ESG | Industrywide Issues | Range Resources Corp

Range Cuts Deal with ENGIE to Market Responsibly Sourced Gas
February 8, 2022February 8, 2022

Last June, Range Resources announced it had joined the Project Canary TrustWell™ Responsible Gas Program (see Range Forms ESG Committee, Joins ‘Responsibly Sourced’ Gas Program). At that time Project Canary was monitoring two Range well pads with the hint that more production would (eventually) be included in the program. Range also held out the carrot of selling its responsibly sourced gas (RSG) to “a European multinational energy utility.” We now know who the buyer is.
Read More “Range Cuts Deal with ENGIE to Market Responsibly Sourced Gas”
Energy Companies | Energy Services | EQT Corp | Equinor/Statoil | ESG | Industrywide Issues | Marathon Petroleum | MarkWest Energy | Shell

EQT, Shell, Others Launch CCUS/Hydrogen Hub Initiative for OH-PA-WV
February 4, 2022February 4, 2022

EQT, Equinor, Shell Polymers, U.S. Steel, and several other companies with either a base of operations or major interest in the Marcellus/Utica region, yesterday announced a new initiative to establish a carbon capture, utilization & storage (CCUS), as well as hydrogen production and utilization hub. A CCUS/H2 hub, if you will. While no specifics were announced, the aspiration seems to be establishing several facilities that capture, store or reuse carbon dioxide created during industrial activities, and figure out how to create more hydrogen (H2) and use it as a power source and (perhaps) as a raw input for manufactured products. Ultimately the aim of the group is to generate more business in the Appalachian region by committing to reduce CO2 emissions.
Read More “EQT, Shell, Others Launch CCUS/Hydrogen Hub Initiative for OH-PA-WV”
Carbon Capture | Electrical Generation | ESG | Industrywide Issues

UPenn: Carbon Capture for Gas-Fired Plants Can be Economical
February 4, 2022February 4, 2022

Gas-Fired Allam Cycle Power Plant (credit: POWER magazine, click for larger version)

University of Pennsylvania researchers recently published a study that looks at how using existing methods of removing carbon dioxide from natural gas-fired power plants can be made economical to operate for large power plant operations. Coincidentally we also spotted news about a pilot project to develop new technology to do the same thing. Our conclusion: Despite the insistence of left-wing radicals that all gas-fired power plants are irredeemable and should be closed, reasonable and rational people are looking for ways to solve the problem of CO2 emissions. It is a solvable “problem”…
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Energy Companies | Equinor/Statoil | ESG | Industrywide Issues

Equinor Partners with Battelle to Explore CCS in Marcellus/Utica
February 3, 2022February 3, 2022

click for larger version

Equinor, Norway’s largest oil company (state-owned, used to be called Statoil before they became ashamed to have the word “oil” in their name) is partnering with Columbus, Ohio-based Battelle to conduct feasibility studies to examine the regional potential for carbon capture and storage (CCS) facilities in the Marcellus/Utica region. What is CCS and why is the Equinor/Battelle project potentially important?
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Armstrong County | Beaver County | Butler County | Energy Companies | ESG | Industrywide Issues | Lawrence County | PennEnergy Resources | Pennsylvania | Westmoreland County

PennEnergy Receives “Responsibly Sourced Gas” Rating for Most Wells
January 31, 2022January 31, 2022

PennEnergy Resources LLC, which according to the Pittsburgh Business Times is the 11th largest shale driller in Pennsylvania (with 405 active shale wells), has achieved responsibly sourced natural gas certification from Project Canary on nearly all of its wells. Project Canary has issued its top “Gold” and “Platinum” ratings on 375 of PennEnergy’s wells.

NOTE: This article was revised from an earlier version after MDN received a copy of the official press release.
Read More “PennEnergy Receives “Responsibly Sourced Gas” Rating for Most Wells”
CNX Resources | Energy Companies | ESG | Industrywide Issues

CNX CEO Slams ESG Investors – Says NatGas Not Just a Bridge
January 27, 2022January 27, 2022

Nick DeIuliis

Nick DeIuliis, CEO of CNX Resources, is hands-down our favorite Marcellus/Utica CEO. Yes, we have favorites! Why is Nick our favorite? Because he is unafraid to call out the environmental left and expose the left’s silly, intellectually bankrupt philosophies that all fossil fuels are evil. DeIuliis is critical of ESG (environment, social, governance) “investors” who demand virtue signaling from the companies they invest in rather than real solutions to climate issues. In a recent interview, DeIuliis explains the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to ESG. He also states flatly that (we love this), that natural gas is “not a bridge that’s going to go away; it’s the present and it’s the future.” Go Nick!
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Energy Services | ESG | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Pipelines | Tennessee Gas Pipeline

Controversy Erupts Over TGP’s Responsible Gas Pooling Service
January 24, 2022January 24, 2022

In December, Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP), a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan, filed a proposal with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to implement a “responsibly sourced natural gas (RSG) supply aggregation pooling service” at select locations across the TGP system (see Tennessee Gas Pipeline Announces Responsible Gas Pooling Service). Utilities and other buyers will be able to buy RSG-certified natural gas for their customers, costing them more money. The TGP proposal at FERC is getting serious pushback from both Big Oil companies and some smaller independents.
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Energy Companies | EQT Corp | ESG | Greene County (PA) | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Washington County

NatGas for Nation’s #1 Producer, EQT, Now Certified Responsible
January 18, 2022January 18, 2022

EQT Corporation, the largest natural gas producer in the United States, announced last Friday that all of its natural gas produced in Washington and Greene counties in Pennsylvania (the majority of its production, some 4 Bcf/d) is now officially certified as “responsibly produced” gas by two different certification organizations: Equitable Origin and MiQ. That 4 Bcf/d of certified gas represents 4.5% of all natural gas produced in the U.S.
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Energy Companies | ESG | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Seneca Resources | Statewide PA

Seneca Awarded EO100™ Responsible Gas Cert for All M-U Production
January 12, 2022January 12, 2022

Seneca Resources, the drilling subsidiary of National Fuel Gas Company, announced yesterday it has achieved certification for 100% of its Marcellus/Utica natural gas production–over 1 billion cubic feet of gross production per day (Bcf/d)–under Equitable Origin’s EO100™ Standard for Responsible Energy Development. Getting gas certified as “responsible” gives drillers another marketing tool in their arsenal.
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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | ESG | Industrywide Issues

Chesapeake Gets “A” on Responsible Gas Report Card in Haynesville
December 22, 2021April 20, 2022

Break out the party hats and noisemakers. Yesterday Chesapeake Energy announced it has, after just five months, achieved both MiQ and Equitable Origin “responsibly sourced gas” certification for the natural gas it produces in the Haynesville Shale. Don’t worry, Chessy plans to certify its PA Marcellus gas production too.
Read More “Chesapeake Gets “A” on Responsible Gas Report Card in Haynesville”
Energy Services | ESG | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Tennessee Gas Pipeline

Tennessee Gas Pipeline Announces Responsible Gas Pooling Service
December 16, 2021December 16, 2021

Yesterday Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP), a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan, filed a proposal with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to implement a “responsibly sourced natural gas (RSG) supply aggregation pooling service” at select locations across the TGP system. Translation: Utilities and other buyers will be able to buy RSG certified natural gas for their customers, costing them more money.
Read More “Tennessee Gas Pipeline Announces Responsible Gas Pooling Service”
ESG | Industrywide Issues

Certifiers Tell M-U Drillers: No RSG Cert, You Won’t Sell Gas
December 13, 2021December 13, 2021

Last week MDN told you about two smaller, privately-owned Marcellus/Utica drillers (both with their own pipeline gathering operations) that have contracted with certification authorities to certify their natural gas as responsibly produced (see Olympus Using Proj Canary to Monitor Drilling & Pipes for Methane and Tug Hill and XcL Midstream Using Project Canary for RSG Cert in WV). At last week’s DUG East event in Pittsburgh, one of the organizations that perform RSG (responsibly sourced gas) certifications tried to sell the line that if all drillers don’t fall into line with certification, they may not be able to sell their gas.
Read More “Certifiers Tell M-U Drillers: No RSG Cert, You Won’t Sell Gas”
Energy Companies | Energy Services | ESG | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Tug Hill Operating | West Virginia | Wetzel County | XcL Midstream

Tug Hill and XcL Midstream Using Project Canary for RSG Cert in WV
December 9, 2021December 9, 2021

Project Canary, a program that certifies natural gas drillers and pipeline companies as producing responsibly sourced gas (RSG), continues to make big inroads in the Marcellus/Utica. Earlier this week MDN told you that Olympus Energy will use Project Canary to certify both its drilling and (believed to be a first in the country) its gathering pipeline system (see Olympus Using Proj Canary to Monitor Drilling & Pipes for Methane). We have another pair of M-U customers vying to be the first driller/midstream combo operation to get Project Canary approval: Tug Hill Operating along with Tug Hill’s pipeline sister company, XcL Midstream Operating.
Read More “Tug Hill and XcL Midstream Using Project Canary for RSG Cert in WV”
Diversified Energy | Energy Companies | ESG | Industrywide Issues

Diversified Investing $9M for Aerial Scans to Detect Methane Leaks
December 9, 2021December 9, 2021

Bridger Photonics LiDAR detection (click for larger version)

In November Diversified Energy announced it is expanding methane emissions detection at the company’s operations in the Appalachian Basin by deploying an extra 500 handheld detection devices (in addition to 100 already in use) at its worksites (see Diversified Uses Handheld Devices to Detect, Eliminate Methane Leaks). Diversified owns close to 8 million acres of leases with some 67,000 (mostly) conventional oil and gas wells (with over 400 Marcellus/Utica shale wells). The company has just announced it will further expand its methane detection efforts by investing $9 million over the next three years to use LiDAR detection.
Read More “Diversified Investing $9M for Aerial Scans to Detect Methane Leaks”