What Happens if No New Gas Pipes Get Built in U.S. Thru 2050?
In early March, our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), released its “Annual Energy Outlook 2022” report (see EIA Annual Report Says U.S. O&G Use Will Grow Each Year Thru 2050). One of the main findings of this latest look forward is that the use of oil and natural gas will grow steadily and gradually from now until 2050–over the next 30 years. As part of their prediction modeling, EIA uses three scenarios or “cases”–a “reference” case (what they believe is most realistic), a low economic growth case, and a high economic growth case. EIA has just released a very interesting fourth case: What would happen if no new interstate natural gas pipelines were built from 2024 through 2050? How would that affect natural gas production and consumption?
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In what appears to be an adoption of talking points from left-wing Democrats like Sen. Elizabeth “Pocahontas” Warren, the normally-balanced Wall Street Journal is blaming LNG exports for higher natural gas prices here at home. The article attempts to make the case that a gradually increasing amount of LNG exports has led to high electric prices in the U.S. The article is flawed in many ways.
PTT Global Chemical has reimbursed JobsOhio, the state’s private economic development office, $20 million for failing to make a final investment decision (FID) to build a multi-billion-dollar ethane cracker plant project in Belmont County, OH. JobsOhio paid Bechtel Corp. $20 million in 2019 to complete site engineering and site preparation for the project, with a promise from PTT that it would soon make an FID and move forward with construction. That never happened, so PTT is paying up because it didn’t live up to its end of the bargain. Interestingly, PTT maintains it is “committed to building the multi-billion dollar project.” Right.
Democrats are SO predictable. They use the same playbook they’ve used for the past 50+ years. The minute they can’t defend their indefensible, nonsensical ideologies, they resort to calling their opponents bigots and sexists. It happened again Tuesday when northeastern Pennsylvania State Senator John Yukichak, an Independent who used to be a Democrat (but couldn’t stomach the extremism in the party anymore), called out PA Democrats and their environmental “hysteria” for defeating both the PennEast Pipeline project and the New Fortress Energy LNG export plant (both located in northeastern PA). Two PA Senators who happen to be women from the Philadelphia area trotted out the “he’s attacking the girls, he’s a misogynist and sexist” false claim. Typical.
It’s about to get a lot harder to drill a well or build any kind of pipeline in Pennsylvania, if the swamp dwellers at the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) get their way. The DEP recently released a draft Environmental Justice Policy set of regulations that will empower the radical left to block new drilling and new pipelines by using claims of racism.
Since Russia illegally and immorally invaded Ukraine on February 24, the stock price for Marcellus/Utica natural gas drillers has skyrocketed based on the fear that Russia will cut off natural gas to Europe in response to their response to the war (sanctions on Russia). The Russia/Ukraine war has stoked concerns that Europe will need much more natgas from the U.S. and therefore the U.S. will have to drill and pump more gas to supply it, making gas drillers an attractive investment.
Last December the Democrats who sit on the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board rejected issuing an air permit for a compressor station in southern Virginia for the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) Southgate extension that will run 75 miles from Virginia into North Carolina (see 
Epsilon Energy concentrates most of its effort on the Marcellus Shale in Susquehanna County, PA. Epsilon doesn’t typically do its own drilling. The company joint venture partners with (gives money to) other companies, like Chesapeake Energy, and the other company typically does the drilling. Epsilon issued its fourth quarter and full-year 2021 update last week. The company’s Marcellus net gas production was 2.6 Bcf (billion cubic feet) in 4Q21. The company generated revenues of $13.8 million during 4Q21, compared to $5.9 million for 4Q20. Realized natural gas prices averaged $3.65/Mcf including hedges, and $4.36/Mcf excluding hedges.
Radical green groups, including the Sierra Club (
Pipeline giant Energy Transfer (builder of the Rover and Mariner East pipelines here in the M-U) is planning a large-scale LNG export facility in Lake Charles, Louisiana located on the Calcasieu ship channel. The project will convert Energy Transfer’s existing Lake Charles LNG import and regasification terminal to become an LNG export facility. Yesterday ET announced it has signed a pair of 20-year deals with ENN, a Chinese company, to deliver a total of 2.7 million tonnes (mt) per year to the ChiComms (Chinese Communists).
For nearly 10 years MDN has tracked a Canadian LNG export project in Nova Scotia planned by Pieridae Energy. The project is called Goldboro LNG. Last May the company said a final investment decision (FID) would happen no later than June 30, 2021 (see 
There is a practice called “sue and settle” used by swamp dwellers in the federal government, financed by taxpayers (you) that will make your blood boil. It’s not new. It’s been going on for years. Sue and settle was frequently used during the bad Obama years. When Donald J. Trump took over at the White House he brought in Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to run the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) where sue and settle was the normal routine. Scott drained the swamp and stopped the practice. Guess what? Like a bad yeast infection, the swamp dwellers are back and they’re bringing back sue and settle to the EPA. Surprised? We aren’t.
It’s been about 3½ years since Encino Energy in partnership with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board closed on buying Chesapeake Energy’s Ohio Utica assets for $2 billion (see 
Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s (TGP) plan to flow more Marcellus gas to Westchester and New York City is called the East 300 Upgrade Project. The project involves upgrades at two existing compressor stations (in Pennsylvania), along with building a brand new compressor station in West Milford (Passaic County), just across the border and not far from Westchester County, NY. Radicalized fossil fuel haters at Food & Water Watch, one of the worst of the worst anti groups, is challenging the all-electric, no-emissions compressor station planned for Passaic County in New Jersey Supreme Court.