Antis Pressure OH Gov. to Veto Bill Extending Fracking of State Land
One week ago, MDN told you that Ohio House Bill (HB) 308 had passed votes by both the full House and Senate and was heading to the desk of RINO Gov. Mike DeWine for his signature (see OH Senate Passes Bill Extending Time Drillers Can Frack State Land). HB 308 extends the standard lease terms for drillers who want to drill under (not on) state-owned land from three to five years. The bill also extends the total amount of time fracking operations can last from six to eight years. Sensible increases in both cases. This morning, the radicals of Save Ohio Parks (and their friends) issued a press release demanding (notice the left always demands) that Gov. DeWine veto the bill. Because they say so. Read More “Antis Pressure OH Gov. to Veto Bill Extending Fracking of State Land”
The price of natural gas, both the Henry Hub NYMEX futures price and the spot price, essentially drives more (or less) drilling for natural gas. Hence our frequent coverage of the price, at least when that price is over $3 per million British Thermal Units (MMBtus). The “front month” NYMEX contract closed higher again yesterday at $3.374/MMBtu. Over the past two days, the price has gone up a cumulative total of $0.16, or roughly 5%. The price has gone up four of the past six trading days and is now at the fourth-highest closing price for all of 2024. The question is, why? 
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 
You’ve always known that there’s corruption in the federal government, right? With that much money sloshing around, people with sticky fingers show up and grab some of it for themselves. Today’s story of government corruption will blow your mind. Thanks to the Biden Infrastructure Law and the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act, some $385 billion was earmarked to be given out as “loans” to so-called “green” projects (kickbacks to political donors). The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Programs Office (LPO) was delegated the responsibility to get the money distributed. So the LPO hired a bunch of independent contractors to help distribute the money, and the contractors (in some cases) are double-dealing—they are serving both the LPO *and* they are representing and serving the borrowers of that money. The DOE’s own Inspector General office is sounding the alarm and telling the LPO it should cease and desist from distributing another dime until safeguards are put in place and contractors with a conflict of interest are removed. 
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 
An op-ed appearing on The Center Square website says Donald Trump’s pick to head the Department of Energy, Chris Wright, will lead an American energy u-turn upon taking office. The first sentence begins this way: “The United States is about to witness a complete energy reversal.” Amen to that! We have just lived through four years of an energy nightmare under the gross incompetence of both Joe Biden and Jennifer Granholm. 
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. 
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. 
This is VERY interesting. The nonpartisan S&P Global, which never (we mean NEVER) seeks to ruffle political feathers, released a study on LNG exports on the very same day as the Biden/Granholm Department of Energy released its LNG export study. The S&P study, which came out a few hours earlier than the DOE study, says more U.S. LNG exports will NOT raise the domestic price of natural gas, at least not appreciably. The Biden-corrupted DOE report says the opposite, that more LNG exports will cause domestic natural gas prices to go through the roof (and consequently, we shouldn’t build more LNG export facilities). Who do you believe? The company that is one of THE largest financial analysis companies in the world, that manages the S&P 500 Index and S&P credit ratings? Or lying, sore-loser politicians like the ditsy Jennifer Granholm and Joementia Biden? 
JobsOhio
The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) released its 2024 Long-Term Reliability Assessment (LTRA) yesterday. The LTRA highlights *critical* reliability challenges that the power industry is facing over the next 10 years, including satisfying escalating energy growth, managing generator retirements, and removing barriers to resource and transmission development. The LTRA concludes that well over half of the continent is at elevated or high risk of energy shortfalls over the next 5 to 10 years. 
“The science is settled on climate change” is not so settled after all. Researchers in Spain have found that global emissions of a sulfur gas produced by marine life have a previously unknown cooling effect on temperatures. It has long been known that oceans capture and redistribute the sun’s heat. However, there is more to the story. A study published Nov. 29 in the journal Science Advances noted that oceans, notably in the Southern Hemisphere, produce gases known as marine sulfur. And one of these gases, methanethiol, influences the climate in a way that has gone unnoticed. Until now. The study finds that our fear over the planet’s health may be “greatly overestimated” given the cooling effects of methanethiol. 
The left can no longer hide the truth, as they have tried to do for years. The truth is, with the advent of data centers and artificial intelligence and their enormous demand for new electricity, there is only one solution that will work, at least in the next 10-20 years: natural gas power. A Democrat-controlled panel from the Virginia legislature commissioned an independent study of how to power data centers. Northern Virginia has the highest concentration of data centers globally and remains the fastest-growing market for data centers in the country. The state must plan for how to get power to operate all of those installations. The independent study concluded that the only practical solution is to use natural gas-fired power plants. 
Oil wildcatting is the process of drilling exploratory wells in areas with little to no history of oil and gas production. Wildcatting is a high-risk activity that involves drilling in unproven or fully depleted areas. Wildcat wells are often drilled far from other wells and without the use of well logs or other geological data. Wildcatting can be profitable—or spectacularly unprofitable. A recent Hart Energy article reports that “wildcatting is back.” The very first part of the article focuses on wildcatting that is happening in the Ohio Utica Shale. 
MDN reported that in early October that Infinity Natural Resources (INR) filed an IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) hoping to raise $100 million (see 
Iroquois Gas Transmission’s Enhancement by Compression (ExC) project would increase horsepower at three compression stations — two in New York and one in Connecticut — by an extra 125 MMcf/d, to flow more Marcellus/Utica gas into New York City and New England. The two NY compressors include one in Dover and one in Athens. The CT compressor is located in Brookfield. The left, via the odious Food & Water Watch, has made a concerted effort to block the two NY compressor station upgrades (see