Pitt Tries to Recruit SWPA Families for Flawed Fracking/Cancer Study
What if we gave the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) a $2.5 million grant to study a link between peanut butter and childhood cancer? Researchers could only use the money to study any potential link between peanut butter and kids getting rare cancers. Sounds absurd, right? What if there is NO link between peanut butter and cancer in kids? What if there IS a link to some other environmental factor like, say, an old uranium dumpsite nearby? But the remit is to ONLY research peanut butter. Sound silly? Sound stupid? Substitute “shale drilling” for “peanut butter,” and you can see how absurd it is for Pitt to study a single potential cause for rare childhood cancers in southwestern PA. Yet they are. Pitt is studying a link solely between fracking and cancer in kids. They are now trying to recruit local families to participate in this sham they call science.
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In February, three Democrat FERC commissioners voted to adopt onerous new regulations to use global warming considerations when approving (more like disapproving) pipeline projects (see 
This one is a “learn from your enemies” lesson. It has long been known that heating shale rock can free up oil and gas–something called in situ upgrading (ISU). But such a practice has not been economic, at least that was the thinking. A new study published by researchers from (get this) Northeast Petroleum University in China (no way an American university would ever name itself after fossil energy!) looked at the different techniques that can be used to heat shale rock–the most economical ways–and published their findings in a paper for the world to read. It is just Chinese Communist propaganda? We don’t think so. The Chicoms know the West is so thoroughly brainwashed against using fossil energy that our own scientists and citizens won’t even pay attention to this important new study that discusses how to get more mileage from existing shale deposits.
One step forward and two steps back. That country tune went through our head as we read about the progress being made by Williams with its Regional Energy Access Expansion Pipeline project in Pennsylvania. The project, aimed at competing with the now-dead PennEast Pipeline project by flowing gas from northeastern Pennsylvania to the Trenton, NJ area, will get a virtual public hearing by the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection on Wednesday, October 5.
In early August, the attorneys general from 19 states, headed by Arizona AG Mark Brnovich and Texas AG Ken Paxton, sent a letter to the world’s largest investment firm, BlackRock, to say the company’s pressure on investors to divest from fossil energy companies based on so-called ESG (environmental, social, governance) criteria may, in fact, be illegal (see 
The Enverus rig count, as of Wednesday, stood at 871, up by three from the week before. We are now 33 rigs ABOVE the pre-pandemic high of 838 rigs. Finally! Last week the Marcellus operated 46 rigs (up by one), and the Utica operated 11 rigs (also up by one), for a total of 57 active rigs in the M-U. Rigs chasing oil declined by four leaving 662, while natural gas-prone rigs gained seven for a total 209. The Haynesville, which is the chief competitor to the Marcellus/Utica, had 75 active rigs operating last week. The Haynesville continues to beat the pants off the M-U with respect to rigs and drilling new wells.
Yesterday MDN brought you the news that EQT Corporation is buying the West Virginia assets of Tug Hill Operating–the company’s THQ Appalachia operation–for $5.2 billion (see 
We will continue to update MDN readers throughout the month of September as U.S. Senator Joe Manchin’s huge gamble of trading away the future of the country to finish the Mountain Valley Pipeline plays out. We spotted a story that quotes powerful Democrat members of the U.S. House of Representatives saying they have no allegiance to a deal made in the Senate–even though Speaker Nancy Pelosi promised support. A radical organization called Earthjustice (an adjunct of the Democrat Party) will hold a rally in the D.C. swamp today to oppose Manchin’s “save MVP” bill. You can expect a fierce battle against Manchin’s plan. Even if he wins (we hope he does) and MVP gets done, Manchin still traded away our country’s future to get it done. It’s not a good bargain, in our humble opinion.
The Bidenistas are at it again. The radicals that now occupy the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have denied a request by Cheniere Energy (THE largest LNG exporter) to exempt compressor turbines at its Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi facilities from an obscure but onerous new regulation cooked up by the left. Cheniere currently exports 56% of all exported U.S. LNG. The EPA decision means Cheniere and other LNG exporters with large turbines will have to scale back exports to comply with this new reg–which is the intention. Bottom line: Biden is now screwing Europe as our exports will decrease at the very time Europe needs them the most. Go Joe!
Once a month, the analysts at the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) grab the official Henry Hub pricing dart board and play a quick game to determine what price they will predict for the average Henry Hub spot price for natural gas for the rest of this year, and an average price for all of next year. Last month the Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) prediction for Henry Hub natural gas in 2H22 was $7.54 per MMBtu, and for all of next year $5.10, due to an increase in production (see 
The U.S. natural gas NYMEX futures price for the “front month” October contract lost another 3.8% on Tuesday, hitting a four-week low, closing at $7.84/MMBtu. The NYMEX price is down over 13% over the past week. However, gas storage inventories are 11% below their five-year average. So what gives? Why is the price crashing, yet inventories (supplies) are low? It’s back to economics 101–supply and demand. The overall supply (production) of natural gas has gone much higher, according to recent EIA reports. Because of cooler temps (less demand for natgas at power plants), there is less demand overall. More supply with less demand equals lower prices.
Perhaps it’s not polite to say so out loud, but anyone who says New England needs to end its reliance on natural gas used to produce electricity, with winter about to begin and unreliable renewables not capable of making up the shortfall, is a lunatic. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is holding a forum today in Burlington, Vermont, to discuss New England’s electric grid. ISO-New England, the region’s grid operator, will argue that natural gas supplies and grid reliability go hand-in-hand. A group of lunatics, including the Northeast Clean Energy Council, will argue that natgas should be cut off, forcing the region to adopt other sources of electricity. To which we say, why don’t they go first? The lunatics advocating to cut off natgas should unhook themselves from the electric grid in the dead of winter and see how that works out for them. Show us how it’s done.
The rumors were right. Yesterday we brought you the news (rumors), as reported by both Reuters and Bloomberg, that EQT Corporation was about to seal a deal to buy Tug Hill’s THQ Appalachia operation with major assets in West Virginia (see 
Located in Lusby, Maryland, Cove Point LNG is the first major LNG export facility to locate on the East Coast. It is recognized as one of the most technically advanced and environmentally sensitive LNG facilities in the world. The Cove Point LNG Terminal has a storage capacity of 14.6 billion cubic feet (Bcf) and a daily send-out capacity of 1.8 Bcf. The owners/managers of Cove Point recently filed a preliminary request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to increase export capacity by an extra 20 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) by installing a small liquefaction unit to capture “boil off gas” the plant currently evaporates during normal operations.