NYMEX Gas Futures Price Soars to Close at $4.2580 MMBtu
Baby, it’s cold outside! And it’s getting colder beginning this weekend and moving into next week. The cold weather, combined with less natural gas in storage (less than the average), has increased the NYMEX “front month” futures contract for natural gas. Yesterday, the NYMEX price closed at $4.2580 per million British thermal units (MMBtu), the highest close since Dec. 30, 2022. Temps across the eastern half of the country (especially in the northeast) are set to hit lows not seen in years beginning next week. We think prices for NYMEX and many spot prices at trading hubs will spike higher. Read More “NYMEX Gas Futures Price Soars to Close at $4.2580 MMBtu”
Marathon Petroleum’s MPLX, formerly MarkWest, operates five complexes in the Marcellus shale. One of the five is the Bluestone Complex in Butler County, PA. Bluestone gathers 200 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of natural gas. Bluestone processes 400 MMcf/d of natural gas, separating methane from other hydrocarbons. The facility then further separates ethane (C2H6) from other NGLs like propane and butane in a process called C2+ fractionation—producing some 81,000 barrels per day. Yesterday, MPLX announced that the Bluestone plant has become the only U.S. natural gas processing facility to achieve the EPA’s ENERGY STAR Challenge for Industry. 
In most states, when a deed or lease agreement is signed for mineral rights, it includes natural gas and oil on the theory that the gas and oil come from a mineral—shale rock. But that has not been the case in PA. Going back to a case in 1882, PA has had “the Dunham rule,” which separates natural gas rights from the broader concept of mineral rights (for background on the Dunham rule, see the MDN article 
Louisville Gas and Electric Company (LG&E) announced a contract to supply electricity to its first hyperscale data center customer yesterday. A joint venture between PowerHouse Data Centers and Poe Companies is developing a cutting-edge 400-megawatt (MW) data center campus in Louisville. The first 130 MW will be available in October 2026. While no mention was made in the announcement, we’re pretty sure Marcellus/Utica molecules will power this new data center via the electricity generated by LG&E and Kentucky Utilities (KU). 
Here’s a story that illustrates how the radicalized left continues to destroy jobs and the economy with its kneejerk reaction against *any* fossil fuel pipeline, no matter how large or small. Some five years ago, Dominion Energy announced the River Neck to Kingsburg project, a short 15 miles of 16” natural gas transmission main line that would run in an existing right-of-way with another pipeline along Old River Road near Pamplico in Florence County, SC. It was supposed to be built and flowing in 2022. Dominion still hasn’t built a square inch, thanks to the lawfare launched by the anti-fossil fuelers of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League. 
Yesterday, U.S. Senator Ed “Lackey” Markey (Dem from Mass.), a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, and Senator Jeff “Malarkey” Merkley (Dem from Ore.) reintroduced the Banning In Government Oil Industry Lobbyists (BIG OIL) from the Cabinet Act, which would prohibit the appointment of executive officers and lobbyists of fossil fuel entities or trade associations as the heads or political appointees of certain government departments that work on issues related to American energy policy for a 10-year period. Curiously, the bill does not include the same ban on radicalized leftists from Big Green in the 10-year ban. Can anyone say HYPOCRITES? 
Hart Energy is reporting some startling statements from Bernstein Research in a new report. One insight (statement) offered by Bernstein is that U.S. natural gas will average $5/Mcf in 2025 and 2026, and that’s “conservative, in our view.” Bernstein predicts “a coming U.S. gas super-cycle.” The Bernstein team expects U.S. gas demand will grow from some 120 Bcf/d today to 150 Bcf/d by 2030 as new AI data centers and LNG export trains come online. 
The Texas Eastern Transmission Pipeline Company (aka TETCO) recently filed a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to make a change in its plans related to upgrades at the pipeline’s Entriken Compressor Station located in Todd Township, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. Several years ago, TETCO (owned by Enbridge) filed to build the Appalachia to Market II Project (A2MII) and the Entriken HP Replacement Project (see 
Going back perhaps more than a decade, we have told you about the shortcomings of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) regarding the timely review and issuance of permits used during the drilling process. A Chapter 102 Erosion and Sedimentation Permit or Chapter 105 Water Obstruction and Encroachment General Permit could take two, three, or even six months for approval — instead of the policy-mandated 14 days. Current Gov. Josh Shapiro made it a goal to “fix” the permit issue when he assumed office two years ago. In November, the DEP announced it had eliminated its permit backlog (see 
A judge has dismissed New York City’s lawsuit seeking to hold Exxon Mobil, BP, and Shell liable for misleading the public about their products and claims that their commitment to renewable energy and fighting climate change are false. The case was so weak not even a Democrat judge appointed by Kathy Hochul could stomach it. In her ruling, Justice Anar Rathod Patel told the city it could not have it both ways. The city claimed its residents knew about mythical climate change and how it is caused by burning nasty fossil fuels. Yet the city’s lawsuit claims Big Oil has tricked people into using fossil energy with false and misleading advertising. Patel wrote, “The city cannot have it both ways.” Touché! 
Two days ago, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its latest monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), which we reported on yesterday (see 
The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced yesterday that it had issued an oil and gas wastewater injection well permit to Seneca Resources to continue operating well #38268 in Highland Township, Elk County. The EPA permit allows Seneca to inject up to 75,000 barrels monthly (3.125 million gallons). This well is one of two injection wells Seneca operates at that location. It was a long road for Seneca to get these two wells online, and a welcomed development that the EPA is extending the well’s operating permit. 
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 
Maryland is a sad state. It’s completely ruled by leftists who seek to impoverish its residents by forcing them to use expensive and unreliable renewable energy. There is actually some Marcellus/Utica shale under Maryland (in a couple of far-western counties), but the state outlawed shale fracking nearly 10 years ago when then-Gov. Larry Hogan (a RINO and Trump-hater) allowed a Maryland bill to become law that bans fracking in the state (see