WSJ Agrees with MDN on Josh Shapiro’s Blame Shift re Electric Rates
Do the editors of the Wall Street Journal read Marcellus Drilling News? No, we don’t expect they actually do. Although the editorial published by the editors of the WSJ on Feb. 4 looks like it could have been written by your humble MDN editor—because it says all the things we’ve said for months about Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and his attempt to blame the PJM Interconnection grid for causing high electricity prices that have, in reality, been caused by Shapiro and his “green” policies. Read More “WSJ Agrees with MDN on Josh Shapiro’s Blame Shift re Electric Rates”
At the end of the last legislative session in December, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, an extremist liberal, signed into law a new climate bill forcing a short list of Big Oil companies to pay $75 billion in “recovery” assessments over the next 25 years for their alleged role in causing mythical global warming (see 
Two weeks ago, MDN brought you the news about a mind-blowing announcement from the White House that OpenAI (ChatGPT), SoftBank, and Oracle have pledged to spend $500 billion (with a “b”) to build new data centers to support artificial intelligence (see 
The oil and gas business is still a great place to get a job. A high-paying job. However, knowing what kinds of companies to contact and what kinds of jobs are available at those companies can be a challenge. Rigzone President Chad Norville recently highlighted some of the latest U.S. oil and gas hiring trends his organization has noticed. He says larger producers are taking a “wait and see” approach to new hiring right now, but medium and smaller producers are fast-tracking new projects and actively hiring. So perhaps focus your search on the medium and smaller producers. 
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 
As we reported yesterday, Chris Wright, now-former CEO of Liberty Energy (big fracking company), was confirmed on Monday to be the new Secretary of Energy (see 
Energy Sec. Chris Wright’s opening day directive (yesterday) to employees at the DOE got a fair bit of media attention (see today’s companion post). A day earlier, Lee Zeldin, the new Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, issued a similar directive to EPA employees. Zeldin announced the agency’s “Powering the Great American Comeback Initiative,” to achieve the agency’s mission while energizing the greatness of the American economy. The plan includes five pillars that will guide the EPA’s work over the first 100 days and beyond. The mainstream media has been completely silent on Zeldin’s plan. No coverage that we could find. 
Donald Trump threatened and was prepared to implement a 25% tariff on both Mexico and Canada, including a 10% tariff (tax) on incoming oil and natural gas (and other energy) from Canada (see 
According to an analysis by S&P Global Commodity Insights, U.S. natural gas output stands near an all-time high as a period of strong demand and improved prices enable a production resurgence. Output averaged 106 Bcf/d (billion cubic feet per day) over the latest weekend. In the Marcellus/Utica, production over the last seven days has come in at nearly 36 Bcf/d, up about 1.7 Bcf/d, or 5%, compared with the prior week. Single-day volumes at 36.3 Bcf over each of the last several days mark highs not recorded since winter 2023-2024. 
The environmental left is panicked that it may be losing one of its bluest strongholds—the State of Maryland—with the introduction of a new bill by state Democrats (!) that would make it easier to build new natural gas-fired power plants. Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson and House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones, along with other Maryland Democrats, held a presser on Monday in the state capitol of Annapolis. Without revealing the actual language, the pair unveiled a new plan (bill) to reduce energy costs “while furthering the state’s clean energy ambitions” by building more “dispatchable” power. The enviro-left rightly assumes dispatchable means building gas-fired power plants. 
Arguably the most qualified person to ever become Secretary of the Department of Energy, Chris Wright (CEO of Liberty Energy, a fracking company) was confirmed on Monday by the full U.S. Senate (59-38 vote), replacing arguably the most unqualified person to ever hold the position, Jennifer Granholm. The comparison is striking. Chris Wright not only headed a major oil and gas company, but he also has experience with the nuclear energy space and advanced degrees in electrical AND mechanical engineering. Smart guy. Granholm, on the other hand, was a complete political hack picked by Biden to do the bidding of the radicalized left. She’s been a political hack her entire adult life, first as Attorney General and later as Governor of Michigan. She didn’t know (still doesn’t) a darned thing about energy, which is quite obvious. 
Prior to last week, the Baker Hughes national rig count had been in a freefall for weeks, dropping to a 3+ year low of 576 (see 