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WV Adds Citigroup, HSBC, TD Bank, Northern Trust to ESG Banned List

In February, West Virginia State Treasurer Riley Moore sent notices to six financial institutions warning them of potential inclusion on the state’s Restricted Financial Institution List (can’t do business with the state) after his office made an initial determination that the institutions appear to be engaged in boycotts of fossil fuel companies as defined under state law (see WV Warns 6 More Banks They are in Danger of Blacklist re ESG). Four of the six, including the Chinese-owned HSBC, were just added to the list. It’s lights out for these four companies as far as doing business with the State of West Virginia.
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The Many Lawsuits Challenging Woke SEC’s Climate Disclosure Reg

Earlier this month, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), corrupted by the Bidenistas, voted 3-2 (three Democrats vs. two Republicans) to issue a final regulation that will force all publicly traded companies to disclose their so-called greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the imaginary climate risks their businesses face (see Woke SEC Adopts Modified Version of Climate Disclosure Reg). The end result of the Biden SEC’s new regulations will be to “kneecap” oil and gas companies (see SEC Reg Requiring Disclosure of Climate Change Risk “Kneecaps” O&G). And that’s the purpose. The Bidenistas and the left are looking to close down fossil fuel companies by using regulatory agencies like the SEC. Not so fast. A plethora (too many to count) of companies, organizations, and states are suing the SEC in an attempt to overturn the new reg.
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Mississippi Issues BlackRock Cease & Desist Order re ESG Investing

BlackRock, the largest investment firm in the world with over $9 trillion in assets under management, continues to reap the bitter fruit of its woke ESG investment strategies. Last week, we told you that Texas has pulled some $8.5 billion away from BlackRock over its ESG ways (see Texas Yanks $8.5 BILLION Out of BlackRock re ESG). Yesterday, the State of Mississippi sent BlackRock a “cease and desist” order accusing the company of fraud in its representations to Mississippi investors. Larry Fink (CEO of BlackRock) is up to his rear-end in alligators.
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BlackRock Pitches a Fit Over Texas $8.5B Divestment Due to ESG

The State of Texas just dropped a major bombshell last week. The Texas Permanent School Fund (PSF) pulled $8.5 billion of its investments away from BlackRock, the world’s biggest investment firm, over the state’s determination that BlackRock is engaged in a boycott of energy companies by pressuring companies to avoid the fossil fuel sector by using ESG (environment, social, governance) litmus tests (see Texas Yanks $8.5 BILLION Out of BlackRock re ESG). BlackRock is “pushing back with force,” claiming it has $320 billion in energy investments and is not hostile to Texas oil and gas. Nice try, BlackRock, but no cigar.
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Appalachian Methane Initiative Concludes 2023 Test, Expands in 2024

In January 2023, three Marcellus/Utica companies — Chesapeake Energy, EQT, and Equitrans Midstream — launched the Appalachian Methane Initiative (AMI), a coalition committed to further enhancing methane monitoring throughout the Appalachia Basin and reducing methane emissions throughout the region (see EQT, Chessy, Equitrans Form M-U Methane Monitoring Club). The initial pilot campaign from 2023 is done, and the results are in (below). In addition, four more M-U companies are joining the original three for the 2024 campaign.
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Texas Yanks $8.5 BILLION Out of BlackRock re ESG

The State of Texas just dropped a major bombshell on investment manager BlackRock and the entire so-called ESG (environment, social, governance) space. The Texas Permanent School Fund (PSF), created in the 19th century to support the state’s public schools, has pulled $8.5 billion of its investments away from BlackRock over the state’s determination that BlackRock is engaged in a boycott of energy companies by pressuring companies to avoid the fossil fuel sector. The Texas PSF has $53 billion in invested assets. Investing $8.5 billion of it with BlackRock represents 16% of the entire fund.
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MiQ Launches “Supply Chain Protocol” for LNG Exporters & Buyers

MiQ is one of two major gas certification authorities and is used by nearly every Marcellus/Utica driller. Last October, MDN brought you information about the two major gas certification authorities, MiQ and Project Canary, and the effort by drillers to get their gas officially certified as responsibly sourced (see Former “Responsible Gas” Becoming “Certified” or “Differentiated”). At this week’s CERAWeek confab in Houston, Texas, MiQ unveiled a new Supply Chain Protocol aimed at providing in-depth methane emissions intensity data for the entire natural gas supply chain for LNG exporters and importers.
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Utilities Charge More for “Certified Gas” – Will Consumers Pay It?

Every major (and most minor) drillers in the Marcellus/Utica have, over the past couple of years, signed on to one or more of the responsible gas certification authorities. Responsible or “certified” or “differentiated” gas is gas that is produced with lower methane emissions as certified by an outside organization like Project Canary, MiQ, or Equitable Origin. Given certification reviews cost big money, you would think (hope) there are actually customers on the other end who *want* to buy the certified natgas, and may be willing to pay a premium to get it. Utility companies are some of those customers who want to buy certified gas in order to comply with various mandates to lower emissions. But certified gas comes at a price — a price that gets passed on to end-user customers. How do they feel about paying more for certified gas?
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WV Warns 6 More Banks They are in Danger of Blacklist re ESG

West Virginia State Treasurer Riley Moore has sent notices to six additional financial institutions warning them of potential inclusion on the state’s Restricted Financial Institution List (can’t do business with the state) after his office made an initial determination that the institutions appear to be engaged in boycotts of fossil fuel companies as defined under state law. This is not the first time Moore has put Big Banks on the blacklist (see WV Ends Business with 5 Banks Guilty of Boycotting Fossil Fuels). We have the list of companies Moore contacted…
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ESG Investment Funds Crashing & Burning – $5.1B Gone in U.S. 4Q

Amid all the bad news of the constant attacks by the Bidenistas against fossil energy (see today’s lead story about Biden attacking LNG), here is a story to warm your heart on a cold January day. So-called ESG funds set up to invest in companies that proclaim fealty to Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices are crashing and burning at a rapid pace. In the fourth quarter of 2023, U.S. fund clients withdrew a net $5.1 billion from ESG funds.
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DC Circuit Dismisses Case Against TGP Brought by Antero & EQT

Shippers, including drillers, utility companies, and others that buy and sell natural gas, are now free to buy and sell producer-certified gas (PCG) or responsibly sourced gas (RSG) at all pooling points across the Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) system following a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (DC Circuit). The judges of the DC Circuit dismissed a case brought by Antero Resources and EQT Corporation attempting to block TGP’s plan. We will explain.
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Seneca Gets “A” Grade Certification for 100% of Its M-U Production

Another noteworthy achievement for Seneca Resources, the wholly-owned shale drilling subsidiary of National Fuel Gas Company (NFG). All of Seneca’s natural gas production, approximately 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day (Bcf/d), has received an “A” letter grade under Equitable Origin’s EO100™ Standard for Responsible Energy Development certification. In August 2022, Seneca’s production received a “A” grade under the MiQ Standard for Methane Emissions Performance (see MiQ Certifies 100% of Seneca Resources’ 1 Bcf/d of M-U Production). The Seneca “student” is getting straight A’s!
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Tennessee Sues BlackRock for Misleading Investors re Aggressive ESG

BlackRock is the largest investment firm in the world, with around $9 trillion of investments under management. Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, has pushed the so-called ESG (environment, social, governance) agenda for years. What the left and people like Fink mean by ESG is don’t invest in or use fossil fuel energy (E), everything is racist (S), and the government is always right when Democrats are in charge (G). Fink said earlier this year he would stop using the ESG term, although he continues to push the ESG agenda of divesting from fossil fuel companies (see Unrepentant BlackRock Won’t Use ESG Term, Still Forces Divestment). A number of states and even Republicans in Congress have pushed back against BlackRock’s ESG agenda, causing it to lose money. Now the company has a new concern: The State of Tennessee is suing BlackRock for violating consumer protection laws.
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Will New Biden EPA Methane Rule Kill Responsible Gas Certifications?

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EPA Administrator Michael Regan used a considerable amount of fossil energy and emitted billows of carbon dioxide to jet over to Dubai to participate in the COP28 confab where he released a final rule that was “two years in the making” to force the U.S. oil and gas industry to cut methane emissions by using budget-busting new technologies and onerous (frequent) inspections (see Bidenistas Unleash Hellscape of U.S. Methane Regs at COP28). Here’s a question: If the feds require every producer to phase out flaring, install new equipment, and meet new, aggressive standards for emissions monitoring and leak detection and repair, will there still be a need for entities like MiQ, Equitable Origin, and Project Canary (which together certify most M-U production) to score or assess the lower-emissions natural gas produced by E&Ps?
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Two Opposite Perspectives on COP28 “Phase-Out” of Fossil Fuels

Do you see an old hag or a beautiful young woman?

OPEC+ single-handedly changed the language in a final communique issued by the UN COP28 delegates that was supposed to call for the phase-out of fossil fuels worldwide (see Enemy of My Enemy – OPEC Successfully Blocks Anti-FF Text at COP28). Instead of using language about a “phase-out” of fossil fuels, the language was modified to say, “reducing both consumption and production of fossil fuels, in a just, orderly and equitable manner.” The reaction since the conclusion of the jet-setting affair has been interesting. Some see fossil energy’s coming (rapid) destruction in the agreed-to statement. Others read it and declare the planet will now burn to a cinder because fossil fuels are allowed to live on, at least for the foreseeable future. The same statement, two wildly different reactions.
Read More “Two Opposite Perspectives on COP28 “Phase-Out” of Fossil Fuels”

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Williams CEO Tells COP28 Delegates NatGas Will Fuel Transition

Williams is a powerhouse pipeline company. Williams operates more than 33,000 miles of pipelines in the U.S. and flows approximately one-third of the natural gas used in our country through those pipelines. Massive! The CEO of Williams, Alan Armstrong, is (or was) in Dubai for the United Nations COP28 climate meeting. He was there to preach the gospel of natural gas as the best way, the near-term way, to lower carbon dioxide emissions across the planet. He has proof to back up his claims. The U.S. is the only major country on earth to lower CO2 emissions since 2005. How? By switching from coal to natural gas for power generation.
Read More “Williams CEO Tells COP28 Delegates NatGas Will Fuel Transition”