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EQT, TC Energy, Williams Launch Partnership to Promote LNG Exports
EQT CEO Toby Rice has been and is on a mission to spread the gospel of LNG (see EQT CEO Toby Rice Unveils Nationwide Plan to “Unleash” U.S. LNG). We call Toby the Apostle of LNG. Yesterday, Apostle Toby (representing EQT), along with two other companies, TC Energy (formerly TransCanada) and Williams, launched a new group called Partnership to Address Global Emissions (PAGE). PAGE will advocate for policies that encourage the development of the infrastructure (pipelines) needed to increase the production and exporting of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) to replace foreign coal and lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
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On Saturday, Oct. 1, Berkshire Hathaway Energy shut down the Cove Point, Maryland, LNG export facility to perform regular annual maintenance. Berkshire Hathaway (Warren Buffett), while a minority owner of Cove Point, is the operator of the facility. Natural gas flowing to the plant for liquefaction and export averaged 0.76 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in September (three-fourths of a Bcf). Those flows dropped to near zero on Oct. 1. Cove Point is typically offline for three weeks each year for maintenance. Now we hold our collective breath until it comes back online. Three-fourths of a Bcf each and every day is a lot of gas. Where will it go?
According to a column by a Reuters analyst, U.S. natural gas production will need to increase significantly to continue growing LNG exports while ensuring natgas remains affordable for domestic electric power producers, households, and industrial users. This is the first article (we’ve seen) that puts numbers to the claim that LNG exports are beginning to drive the price of domestic natgas to higher levels.
In August, Jennifer Granholm, hands down the most incompetent Secretary of Energy ever to hold the office, sent a letter to seven major refinery companies threatening them that if they don’t scale back exports of gasoline, diesel, and other liquid petroleum products, Granholm will have old dementia Joe whip up an executive order slapping a ban on such exports (see 
Yesterday was the first day of the two-day Shale Insight conference being held in Erie, PA. By all accounts, it was a great day. Among the all-stars presenting were Toby Rice, CEO of EQT Corporation, Nick Dell’Osso, CEO of Chesapeake Energy, Greg Floerke, COO of MPLX, and Neil Chatterjee, former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman. The important role of LNG, pipelines, regulations, and more were discussed. One of the themes of the day: Natural gas is not a bridge fuel, but the destination.
The price of natural gas here in the U.S. has roughly quadrupled in price over the past two years. If you are a landowner or rights owner, you’ve certainly noticed a nice increase in royalty revenue. As we have reported about publicly traded drillers in the Marcellus/Utica, profits and free cash flow over the past couple of quarters have gone through the roof–because of the high price of natgas. The question is, why have prices for natural gas gone so high? And relatedly, will they stay high?
In June, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about Germany buying LNG from Canada (see 
Quick…grab the paddles! The patient is still alive and needs to be shocked and revived! The patient we’re talking about is New Fortress Energy’s (NFE) Repauno Port and Rail Terminal on the shoreline of the Delaware River in Gibbstown, N.J. We thought the project to build a new dock for cargo ships to load and export LNG from the facility was pretty much dead after NFE withdrew a request to build an onshore LNG liquefaction plant in Wyalusing, PA, earlier this year–a plant that would have fed the export operation on the Delaware River (see 
The Bidenistas are at it again. The radicals that now occupy the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have denied a request by Cheniere Energy (THE largest LNG exporter) to exempt compressor turbines at its Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi facilities from an obscure but onerous new regulation cooked up by the left. Cheniere currently exports 56% of all exported U.S. LNG. The EPA decision means Cheniere and other LNG exporters with large turbines will have to scale back exports to comply with this new reg–which is the intention. Bottom line: Biden is now screwing Europe as our exports will decrease at the very time Europe needs them the most. Go Joe!
Located in Lusby, Maryland, Cove Point LNG is the first major LNG export facility to locate on the East Coast. It is recognized as one of the most technically advanced and environmentally sensitive LNG facilities in the world. The Cove Point LNG Terminal has a storage capacity of 14.6 billion cubic feet (Bcf) and a daily send-out capacity of 1.8 Bcf. The owners/managers of Cove Point recently filed a preliminary request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to increase export capacity by an extra 20 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) by installing a small liquefaction unit to capture “boil off gas” the plant currently evaporates during normal operations.