| | |

Trump Commerce Sec. Pushes Back on Europe Methane Regs re LNG

The European Union’s idiotic methane regulations will be enforced beginning this year. Domestic (European) oil, gas, and coal companies must monitor, measure and report their emissions. The same restrictions will also apply to energy imports coming from other countries, including the U.S. (see Europeans Presume to Impose Their Regulations on American Gas). The arrogant Europeans presume to tell us that we must follow *their* regulations! To which we say (multiple expletives deleted). Don’t worry, President Trump’s new Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, is on the case and pushing back—hard. Read More “Trump Commerce Sec. Pushes Back on Europe Methane Regs re LNG”

| | | |

Some LNG Customers Reject New Contracts with Venture Global

The chickens are coming home to roost for Venture Global, an LNG export company that uses loopholes and excuses to avoid selling LNG cargoes to the companies that signed contracts to buy those cargoes. The company recently launched an initial public offering (IPO), hoping to raise $2.3 billion (see Unashamed Venture Global LNG Plans Huge $2.3 Billion IPO). It ended up raising $1.75 billion, or 24% less than it wanted. That’s one chicken roosting. But another, much bigger chicken, is now roosting: Large LNG buyers, like French energy giant Total, are refusing to sign any deals for Venture Global’s LNG. Why? They don’t trust Venture Global. Read More “Some LNG Customers Reject New Contracts with Venture Global”

| | |

Dept. of Energy Reverses Biden LNG Pause, Extends Comment Period

One year ago, the sleazy Joe Biden slapped a “pause” on allowing the Department of Energy (DOE) to review and issue export approvals for any new LNG export facilities (see White House Makes it Official – Biden Declares War on LNG Exports). The move profoundly and negatively affected our domestic natural gas industry, putting some 17 or more multi-billion-dollar projects on hold. The pause was supposed to last until a so-called “study” was completed evaluating LNG exports’ potential global warming and economic impacts. The “study” was released in December (see Biden/Granholm DOE Releases Garbage Anti-LNG Exports “Study”). The pause remained—until this morning when the incoming Trump DOE officially reversed the pause and told staffers to quickly get back to approving new LNG exports. Read More “Dept. of Energy Reverses Biden LNG Pause, Extends Comment Period”

| | |

Feedgas Flowing to Cove Point LNG Slipped on Cold Wx, Back Now

LNG exports have become an important (even critical) part of the natural gas sector in the U.S. Feedgas flowing to LNG facilities is closely watched by many people, including traders and industry analysts. As we pointed out yesterday, lower feedgas flows to a single LNG facility can lower the NYMEX natural gas futures price (see NYMEX Gas Price Slips Due to Lower Feedgas to Freeport LNG). Little did we know, but feedgas flowing to the Cove Point LNG facility along the shoreline of Maryland dropped early last week due to cold weather. It has since rebounded. Read More “Feedgas Flowing to Cove Point LNG Slipped on Cold Wx, Back Now”

| | |

NYMEX Gas Price Slips Due to Lower Feedgas to Freeport LNG

Based on comments in two different Reuters articles published yesterday, the Freeport LNG export facility is again experiencing an outage. It appears to be a partial outage. Freeport, in typical tight-lipped fashion, refuses to say anything. According to Reuters, flows to the 2.1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) Freeport facility were on track to drop to 1.4 Bcf/d yesterday, down from 1.6 Bcf/d on Sunday and an average of 2.1 Bcf/d over the prior seven days. Here we go again. Read More “NYMEX Gas Price Slips Due to Lower Feedgas to Freeport LNG”

| | |

U.S. LNG Industry, Pipelines Prepare for Boom Years Under Trump

The U.S. LNG industry and natural gas pipeline operators expect the incoming Trump Administration to launch a new wave of capacity expansions that would cement America’s position as the world’s largest LNG exporter. President-elect Donald Trump is preparing an energy package to expand domestic oil and gas drilling on federal lands and offshore lease sales, in addition to expediting LNG export permits. You can expect Trump to unpause Biden’s pause on new LNG export approvals, likely on his first day in office. Read More “U.S. LNG Industry, Pipelines Prepare for Boom Years Under Trump”

| |

Unashamed Venture Global LNG Plans Huge $2.3 Billion IPO

Venture Global, which uses loopholes and excuses to avoid selling LNG cargoes to the companies that signed contracts to buy those cargoes, is about to launch an initial public offering (IPO). According to Reuters, Venture Global will pitch investors in its IPO this week. The company hopes to raise $2.3 billion, which values the company at $110 billion. Read More “Unashamed Venture Global LNG Plans Huge $2.3 Billion IPO”

| | | |

Court Rulings & Regs Cause Delays in New LNG Export Plants

RBN Energy recently concluded a two-part series on LNG delays and what’s causing delays in bringing more export capacity online. Friday’s Part 2 of the series looks at recent court rulings and regulatory issues and their impact on U.S. LNG development. Yes, Joe Biden’s ill-timed “pause” on the Department of Energy issuing new export approvals certainly had a big impact (see White House Makes it Official – Biden Declares War on LNG Exports). But, there were other regulatory and court-related issues in 2024 that also had an impact on the slowdown in new LNG exports. Read More “Court Rulings & Regs Cause Delays in New LNG Export Plants”

| |

Venture Global’s Plaquemines LNG Ships First Cargo to Germany

At the end of December, Venture Global’s Plaquemines LNG export facility officially shipped its first cargo…to Germany. Unfortunately for Venture Global’s contracted customers, they will have to wait to receive their legally contracted shipments. Venture Global has admitted it will (as it has with the its Calcasieu Pass facility) pretend the Plaquemines LNG is not “commercially ready,” allowing the company to cream the market and make more money for the first couple of years (see Plaquemines LNG Coming Online, Will Hose Customers for 2 Years). It’s a disgusting business practice. Read More “Venture Global’s Plaquemines LNG Ships First Cargo to Germany”

| | |

U.S. Natural Gas Markets (and Prices) Now Linked with Rest of World

According to CME Group, the worldwide natural gas market has evolved, and trading activity has grown in the past few years. The trading volume of Henry Hub Natural Gas (NG) futures during non-U.S. hours has more than doubled from a couple of years ago. We are truly interconnected worldwide. However, there are implications and consequences to being interconnected. Namely, the U.S. gas market is less shielded from global events due to the global linkage created by our LNG exports. It becomes imperative for U.S. gas traders to understand and monitor what’s happening around the globe and how world events may cause volatility. Traders need to monitor for sudden shifts in global demand-and-supply balance, changes in weather patterns, and geopolitical risk. Read More “U.S. Natural Gas Markets (and Prices) Now Linked with Rest of World”

| |

U.S. LNG Feedgas Demands Hits New All-Time High Last Day of 2024

U.S. natural gas demand from LNG plants (the feedgas that flows to the plants) hit a new all-time record high on Tuesday, Dec. 31st, the last day of the year. Feedgas flows climbed to 15.2 billion cubic feed (Bcf) in a sign of a strong year ahead from the startup of two new gas-processing plants. Venture Global LNG’s Plaquemines plant in Louisiana and Cheniere Energy’s Corpus Christi Stage 3 expansion in Texas recently came online (at least partially), driving feedgas flows higher. Read More “U.S. LNG Feedgas Demands Hits New All-Time High Last Day of 2024”

| | | | | |

Energy Transfer’s Lake Charles LNG Still Alive – Deal w/Chevron

Just as the pandemic began to unfold in early 2020, Shell pulled out of a 50/50 joint venture partnership with Energy Transfer (ET) to build a new LNG export facility in Lake Charles, Louisiana (see Shell Pulls Out of Lake Charles LNG Project, Energy Transfer Stays). Kind of a boneheaded move on Shell’s part, if you ask us. Since that time, ET has continued to build support for the project. ET still has not made a final investment decision (FID) to commit billions of dollars, but each year that goes back gets the company closer to an FID. Yesterday, ET announced a new customer for its LNG when/if the plant gets built: Chevron. Read More “Energy Transfer’s Lake Charles LNG Still Alive – Deal w/Chevron”

| | |

Reuters Claims U.S. LNG Exports to Hit New All-Time Avg High 2024

Two days ago, MDN brought you analysis from RBN Energy that said U.S. LNG feedgas demand in 2024 would average “just under” the average from 2023, the first time since we began exporting LNG in 2016 that we have not grown our exports year over year (see Biden LNG “Pause” Caused 2024 Exports to Decrease from 2023). However, we have new analysis from Reuters that says 2024 *will* see a slightly higher average than 2023—a new all-time high average for LNG exports. Read More “Reuters Claims U.S. LNG Exports to Hit New All-Time Avg High 2024”

| | |

Energy & Business Groups Respond to Biden/Granholm LNG “Study”

Yesterday, MDN brought you the news that the Biden Department of Energy (DOE) and its grossly incompetent leader, Jennifer Granholm, released a fake “study” that recommends not approving any more LNG export facilities, claiming we already have enough in the pipeline to last us forevermore (see Biden/Granholm DOE Releases Garbage Anti-LNG Exports “Study”). The study claims authorizing more LNG exports will raise the price of natural gas here at home. Interestingly, on the same day the DOE issued its fake study, S&P Global issued its own study that finds more LNG exports will NOT raise domestic natural gas prices (see S&P Study: More U.S. LNG Exports WON’T Raise Domestic Gas Prices). We brought you some initial reactions (via various news articles) to the DOE study as part of our coverage yesterday. Today, we have the reaction of O&G and other aligned groups. Read More “Energy & Business Groups Respond to Biden/Granholm LNG “Study””

| | |

Global Natural Gas Markets are “Fragile” – Trump-Vance is the Fix

According to Dan Eberhart, CEO of Canary, LLC (the sixth-largest wellhead services company in the U.S.), the world is bracing for another energy crisis this winter, with natural gas markets “teetering” on the brink of volatility. It would not take much to push the world into another run on natural gas supplies, which would push prices to “multi-year highs.” The “looming crisis” underscores the urgent need for robust and consistent American energy policies—something the Biden administration’s recent pause on new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export approvals has failed to deliver. The antidote, the fix for this fragile market, is the incoming Trump-Vance administration. Read More “Global Natural Gas Markets are “Fragile” – Trump-Vance is the Fix”

| | | |

Biden/Granholm DOE Releases Garbage Anti-LNG Exports “Study”

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), headed by the ultra-dumb Jennifer Granholm, issued a bogus “study” (copy below) arguing that no new approvals should be granted for additional LNG exports. The report (and Granholm, in a cover letter) argues that “the amounts [of LNG export facilities] that have already been approved will be more than sufficient to meet global demand for U.S. LNG for decades to come.” In other words, the so-called elites know better than the free market how many LNG export plants the country should support. Granholm argues in favor of a command-and-control approach (i.e., Communism) over a free market, free enterprise approach to approving new LNG exports. Read More “Biden/Granholm DOE Releases Garbage Anti-LNG Exports “Study””