3 Years Later, Freeport LNG Returns LNG Storage Tank to Service
Freeport LNG’s export terminal with three liquefaction “trains” completely shut down (all three trains) in June 2022 after an explosion and fire (see Explosion Rocks Freeport LNG Export Plant – Offline for 3 Weeks). What was initially thought to be a three-week outage lasted for ten months. The plant finally returned online in March 2023 (see Freeport LNG Plant Back to Full Capacity Using 2.1 Bcf/d of NatGas). Since that time, one or more Freeport trains have been offline more times than we can count. Freeport announced yesterday that, finally, after three years, it has restored full operations to the last remaining component that was still offline since 2022—an LNG storage tank. Read More “3 Years Later, Freeport LNG Returns LNG Storage Tank to Service”
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is looking to overhaul repair requirements for natural gas and carbon dioxide pipelines. The PHMSA is asking the industry (and the public) how to make standards that have remained unchanged for more than 40 years more cost-effective. This effort marks the second in a series of high-priority PHMSA actions to implement the President’s “Unleashing American Energy” Executive Order. 
If you’ve ever run a business or have been self-employed, you know how important it is to claim every legitimate deduction on your tax return. Anyone with a brain knows that wages, fuel, and repairs are expenses, the “cost of doing business”—especially in the oil and gas business. Yet in their zeal to destroy fossil energy, the Bidenistas inserted new regulations in the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a law made possible by the single vote of former West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin (who will live in infamy for his vote), relabeling such deductions as “subsidies” for the oil and gas industry (but no other industries). The Bidenistas eliminated those legitimate deductions so that O&G companies could no longer claim them as deductions, at least not the full value in the year in which they are spent. It’s nuts! There’s a new bill in Congress to correct this attack against the fossil energy industry. 
It is “The Art of the Deal” with Donald J. Trump. Only DJT could pull off such a miracle. We are referring to a deal just struck (on Monday) with New York Governor Kathy Hochul. Trump will allow New York to blow $5 billion on an idiotic offshore wind project (off the coast of Long Island) in return for Hochul allowing the construction of two long-stalled pipeline projects: The Constitution Pipeline and the Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) Project, part of the Transco pipeline system. We had no idea NESE was on the table as part of a potential deal! 
In early April, President Trump signed four executive orders (EOs) dealing with energy issues (see 
The Marcellus/Utica region is the United States’ top natural gas production area, accounting for about one-third of the country’s daily output. Natural gas production in the M-U has soared from 2 Bcf/d (billion cubic feet per day) to over 33 Bcf/d today in the past 15 years. Growth has slowed in recent years due to pipeline constraints, but new pipeline projects, rising Gulf Coast LNG demand, and in-basin data center development could drive a resurgence. Despite past challenges like canceled pipelines and a focus on the Permian, our region’s vast potential and improving infrastructure suggest a breakout, according to RBN Energy. However, low gas prices and regulatory hurdles remain big concerns, though data centers and LNG exports could boost demand significantly. 
The oil and gas industry is large and complex, including how companies raise money to drill new wells. One of the ways companies get financing to drill is via partners that invest but don’t take an active role. It’s called being a non-operated (non-op) owner or partner. A company (another driller, an investment company, bank, etc.) will give an active driller money and, in return, will receive a percentage ownership in the well and its production. North Hudson Resource Partners, a Houston-based energy investment firm, is one such company. North Hudson has, in the past, raised multiple rounds of money from investors and invested that money in different plays, including the Utica Shale. 
Gas-fired power plants in the Marcellus/Utica region (and beyond) continue to change hands at a dizzying pace. Last week, MDN brought you the news that NRG Energy agreed to acquire LS Power’s portfolio of natural-gas power plants in a deal valued at roughly $12 billion, including debt, that will expand NRG’s footprint in Texas and along the East Coast (see 
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” That quote is attributed to Adolf Hitler, a master of lying propaganda. The environmental left is also a master at lying propaganda. Like this lie: “
In March 2024, we reported that two Democrats and one anti-drilling RINO who run Bucks County, PA government (a Philadelphia suburb) fell for the bait by Big Green and filed a lawsuit against Big Oil companies for supposedly, knowingly, causing the Earth to toast to a cinder (see 
Yesterday, the NYMEX “front month” natural gas price index got whacked and whacked good. The price sank $0.221 from the previous day, down to a closing price of 3.113/MMBtu. Below-average temperatures are forecasted in most of the eastern half of the country over the next 6-10 days, meaning less use of natgas for cooling. Production is steady, and gas heading into storage is forecasted to be high. The bottom line is that too much supply for not enough demand is sinking prices. The question is, how low will the price go? Will we once again break through the $3 barrier? 
In January, MDN brought you the news that TECfusions, based in Tampa, Florida, had purchased 1,395 acres in Upper Burrell (Westmoreland County), PA, for a groundbreaking data center project called TECfusions Keystone Connect (see 
The data center high tide is lifting all gas drilling boats. That’s according to a new study from S&P Global Commodity Insights that finds the expectations of a coming boom in demand for electricity for data centers, which will create a boom in demand for natural gas to produce the electricity, is causing gas drilling companies to increase in value. It’s hard to accurately quantify the value for private companies, but for public companies (those with stock that trade on the open market), we can confirm that over the past year, the value for drillers with significant operations in the Marcellus/Utica has, on average, risen dramatically. 
In January 2024, the sleazeballs that operated Joe Biden’s autopen slapped a “pause” on allowing the Department of Energy (DOE) to review and issue export approvals for any new LNG export facilities (see 
The U.S. national rig count lost two more rigs last week, going from 578 to 576, tying January 24th of this year as the lowest national rig count in the past 12 months. Rigs targeting the Marcellus layer remained the same with 25 rigs last week, while the Utica (in Ohio) picked up one rig and now operates 11 rigs for a combined total of 36. Pennsylvania was static with 18 rigs, Ohio moved up from nine to ten rigs, and West Virginia remained the same with eight rigs. 
Last November, MDN brought you the great news that MPLX (aka MarkWest Energy) would file to build an expansion at its existing Harmon Creek facility in Smith Township, Washington County, PA (see