O&G Group’s Annual Report Shows Production Up, Emissions Down
America’s natural gas and oil industry announced “a landmark partnership” in late 2017 called The Environmental Partnership to “accelerate improvements to environmental performance in operations across the country” for lowering methane emissions (see NatGas, Oil Industry Partnership to Accelerate Methane Reductions). The group, which includes most Marcellus/Utica drillers and pipeline companies, just released its sixth annual report (below) demonstrating that the U.S. oil and natural gas industry’s actions in reducing methane emissions are working. The O&G industry’s methane emissions dropped 37% across all U.S. onshore production regions between 2015 and 2022, even as oil and natural gas production hit record highs each year.
Read More “O&G Group’s Annual Report Shows Production Up, Emissions Down”
In early 2018, the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) collected a whopping $1.7 million fine from Energy Corporation of America (ECA) for violations at 17 well sites in Cumberland, Jefferson, and Whiteley Townships in Greene County, and Goshen Township in Clearfield County (see 
CNX Resources released its first Radical Transparency™ assessment report yesterday. The initial results of nine months of continuous air emissions monitoring at natural gas well sites and compressor stations in southwestern Pennsylvania indicate that CNX natural gas development poses no public health risk. Period. The data is collected and disseminated to the public by an independent third-party contractor. This is objective, you-can’t-argue-with-it data shows CNX is not causing any kind of public health hazard. Big Green isn’t happy that their lying narratives are now countered by objective (truthful) data.
We spotted some news that, on the surface, may not appear to be connected to the Marcellus/Utica, but we think it is. The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) is investing approximately $843 million (CAD 1.2 billion) in Denver, Colorado-based Tallgrass Energy. CPP is a major investor in the Utica Shale (via Encino Energy), and Tallgrass is the owner and operator of the Rockies Express (REX) pipeline that flows Marcellus/Utica gas to the Midwest.
In December 2022, Rice Acquisition Corp II, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) started by the Rice brothers (Danny, Toby, and Derek), announced a deal to acquire NET Power — an electric power developer with revolutionary new technology to capture every last molecule of carbon dioxide from natural gas-fired power plants (see 
On May 31, Constellation Energy shut down and permanently retired the natural gas-fired Mystic Generating Station it owned and operated in Charlestown, Massachusetts, on the north side of Boston (see 
For some time, we’ve brought you news of the coming expansion of new data centers due to the rapid (explosive) spread of AI or artificial intelligence. Every time you type a query into ChatGPT or another AI engine, a process runs on a computer in a data center somewhere. That computer uses electricity. The electricity comes from somewhere — most of the time from natural gas being burned in a power plant. More AI queries equals more computers (and data centers) needing more energy. Just two days ago, we told you that most of the big pipeline companies in the country, including Williams, Energy Transfer, Kinder Morgan, Enbridge, and TC Energy, are telling investors of this coming expansion as an opportunity (see 
The Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC) continues to do its job. Yesterday, the group held a meeting and awarded five contracts for drilling and fracking UNDER (not on) several state-owned lands, including a contract with EOG Resources to drill under 85 acres in Keen Wildlife Area in Washington Township, Harrison County, for $211,650 ($2,500/acre). Also of interest at yesterday’s meeting was that 40 parcels of land in Salt Fork State Park and Salt Fork Wildlife Area were removed from the committee’s agenda. Apparently, the nominating company withdrew its application for those tracts.
Yesterday, the “front month” NYMEX natural gas contract for Sept. delivery gained 4.60 cents per million British thermal units (MMBtu), rising 2.15% to $2.1890/MMBtu. Hey! Above $2 for five consecutive trading sessions! How long will the price stay above $2? Zacks.com took a stab at answering that question.
One of the pleasures we’ve had over the years in writing MDN and attending various industry events is meeting the great people who either work in or support the oil and gas industry. One of those people is Alex Epstein, author of the book, “
What had been a regular stream of talk about providing power to data centers and artificial intelligence (AI) has become a torrent. There is a clear connection between data centers and the natural gas industry. This most recent round of quarterly financial updates by the biggest of the big pipeline companies (all of which have a huge presence in the Marcellus/Utica) reveals a new opportunity: building natgas pipelines directly to data centers. Why? Because increasingly those data centers are considering making their own power.
The mighty Shell ethane cracker plant in Monaca (Beaver County), PA, has a new person in charge: Emma Lewis, senior vice president of U.S. chemicals and products at Shell. We told you Lewis had replaced Hilary Mercer back in January (see