FERC Asks Vanguard If It Forces Utilities to Dump Fossil Energy
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) two Republican members, Mark Christie and James Danly, sent a letter to Vanguard Group asking the company for detailed information about how it throws its weight around with the companies it invests in. Specifically, the two FERC commissioners want to know if Vanguard, with some $8.5 trillion (!) under management, is guilty of forcing local electric utility companies to avoid using or buying electricity that comes from natural gas power plants, under the excuse of lowering so-called greenhouse gas emissions.
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Oil and gas companies have fallen into line over the past few years, bowing to pressure to play the silly games the left sets up, including generating reports on how much greenhouse gases (GHG) a company produces. The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), an extremely arrogant organization, declares itself to be the arbiter of what is and is not acceptable for carbon dioxide and methane emissions. When oil and gas companies begin to play the game a little too well (winning the game), the left gets torqued off and attacks. Attack of the Big Green clones. Here’s an example from the Marcellus/Utica, involving Range Resources, of how Big Green attacks when companies begin to win the game…
The second-largest LNG export terminal in the U.S., Freeport LNG, located near Galveston, Texas, experienced an explosion and fire in early June (see 
While some companies (ExxonMobil, Occidental Petroleum, Diversified Energy) have sold out in return for corporate favoritism in the Manchin-Schumer so-called Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which is really just a Big Green giveaway that slaps a huge new methane tax on oil and gas companies, there are some (many) bold and brave companies that are telling Manchin and those who have caved that the “Emperor has no clothes.” This bill is terrible. Among the groups pushing back are (surprisingly) the American Petroleum Institute (API). Also among the bold and the brave are the Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association (PIOGA) and the Ohio Oil & Gas Association (OOGA). In fact, 58 major oil and gas associations and groups representing thousands of companies sent a letter yesterday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy outlining their strong opposition to Manchin-Schumer.
Global research firm Wood Mackenzie recently published an analysis of where investors are putting their money in the energy sector. Unsurprisingly (for us), WoodMac found investors are plowing money like crazy into “pure play” (meaning single focus) oil and natural gas companies instead of into companies that dabble in “low-carbon diversification” (i.e. renewables). Fossil energy companies that stick to their knitting (stay focused on fossil energy) are outperforming renewable-focused companies big time.
In June, a Shell executive told the Appalachian Energy Innovation Collaborative conference that the company’s Pennsylvania ethane cracker project was 98% done and would be fully online within “a couple of months” (see 
Last week two Ohio state House members, Reps. Jon Cross, R-Kenton, and Jay Edwards, R-Nelsonville, introduced House Bill (HB) 685 to promote the use of the state’s natural gas energy resource. The bill would create “ENERGIZEOhio Zones” to attract new investment in areas that are disadvantaged due to lack of energy resources. The designation allows natural gas infrastructure projects (like pipelines) to receive tax abatements and speed up depreciation to lower the overall cost of development.
Earlier this week MDN told you that some Marcellus/Utica operators were singing the praises of the Manchin-Schumer Keep Inflation High bill (see 
Yesterday MDN poked fun at the gyrating up-and-down predictions from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) with respect to the spot price of natural gas at the benchmark Henry Hub (see 
Select Energy Services (SES) continues to expand with mergers and acquisitions. Earlier this year, SES bought out and merged in Nuverra Environmental Solutions (formerly Heckmann) for $45 million (see 
Berkshire Hathaway Energy’s (BHE) GT&S subsidiary announced that the Cove Point LNG export facility, which BHE GT&S operates, reached a major milestone at the end of July. Cove Point has loaded its 300th commercial LNG export cargo. All of the molecules that Cove Point liquefies come from the Marcellus Shale. MDN was there from the beginning, chronicling the journey from idea to construction to (now) loading 300 cargo ships full of Marcellus LNG. What a journey!
Once a month, the analysts (interns?) at the U.S. Energy Information Administration 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 then an average price for all of next year. At least, that’s what EIA’s predictions have come to feel like. How else to describe the wild gyrations both up and down in EIA’s monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook predictions? Here’s what we mean…