PA State Sen. Yaw Proposes Creation of Independent Energy Office
Pennsylvania State Sen. Gene Yaw (Republican from Lycoming County), the Majority Chair of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, announced last week that he intends to introduce legislation to establish an Independent Energy Office (IEO). The IEO would be established along the same lines as state’s successful Independent Fiscal Office (IFO). The IEO would, like the IFO, be a neutral agency that does not support or oppose the policies it analyzes.
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The Bidenistas have taken notice that shale companies are beginning to use various private NGOs to certify the production of natural gas as responsible. There are currently four such independent certification authorities. The effort is picking up steam, and the Bidenistas don’t like the fact they are not in control. They can’t call the shots and determine what is and what is not “green enough” for them. So the Bidenistas are “holding talks” to try and establish a national (international) standard. Are they talking to the existing four certification authorities? No. They’re talking with “global energy companies and foreign officials in an effort to set standards for certified natural gas.” Yeah, the Bidenistas are talking with our competitors and our enemies to establish a new standard. Typical.
West Virginia Senate Bill (SB) 188, the Grid Stabilization and Security Act, is aimed at making WV more competitive with its neighbors–Pennsylvania and Ohio–with respect to siting more gas-fired power plants in the state. While there was a lot of early momentum to pass the bill, it came to a screeching halt early last week in the House of Delegates (see 
Will the third time be the charm? Probably not. On Wednesday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) issued a 297-page biological opinion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s (MVP) potential impact on threatened and endangered species if the 94% complete pipeline is allowed to finish. We have a full copy of the opinion below. It finds that completing the MVP project will NOT harm protected species. Two other times USFWS issued this same report, and two times the radical judges of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals (three Democrats) have overturned the opinion and blocked a permit needed to allow MVP to finish. Will it happen again?
In 2022, 897 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of interstate natural gas pipeline capacity was added from five projects to the interstate gas pipeline system, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). That is the least amount of capacity added to the interstate natural gas pipeline system since the EIA began data collection in 1995. This ignominious achievement happened under the Bidenistas, while Richard “Dick” Glick was Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
We’ve criticized BlackRock, the world’s largest investment firm with $10 trillion under assets, due to CEO Larry Fink’s insistence that public companies adopt ESG (environment, social, governance) policies that include reducing CO2 emissions. Fink’s demands are tantamount to divesting (or refusing to invest in) any company that produces or heavily uses oil and natural gas. A number of Republican-controlled states, including Texas, West Virginia, and Florida, have begun the process of dumping all BlackRock investment funds. Fink is worried–as he should be. He’s losing business. So he’s now doing what sleazy, corrupt leftists always do–resort to bribery.
Range Resources Corporation, the very first driller to sink a Marcellus shale well back in 2004 in western Pennsylvania, issued its fourth quarter and full-year 2022 update yesterday. During 2022, Range generated record cash flow from operations of $1.9 billion and produced an average of 2.1 billion cubic feet equivalent per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas. The company spent $492 million on drilling in 2022. Of keen interest to us was a response by Range’s CEO about the rumors that Pioneer Natural Resources is interested in buying or merging with Range.
Freeport LNG continues to rapidly ramp up its liquefaction and export capability. The facility experienced an explosion and fire in June 2022. It was just over a week ago that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) granted the facility permission to restart two of three liquefaction trains (see 
According to a recent Reuters article, “A 46% drop in natural gas prices this year is rippling across the U.S. shale patch, threatening to slow drilling and chill deal-making in a move unthinkable six months ago as global demand soared.” Although the Henry Hub price for natgas rose over the past few days with the changeover to the NYMEX April contract, the price is still well below $3/Mcf. At that price, natgas drillers (in the Marcellus/Utica and elsewhere) are dialing back their drilling programs–essentially maintaining the status quo with production volumes. And at current low prices, mergers and acquisitions activity has pretty much dried up.