Update on Virginia’s Progress in Exiting Costly RGGI Carbon Tax
In early December, Virginia’s newly-elected governor, Glenn Youngkin, said that as soon as he took office he would use his executive power to withdraw Virginia from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (see VA’s New Republican Gov Pledges to Cancel RGGI Carbon Tax). RGGI is an obscene, very expensive carbon tax on coal- and gas-fired power plants. Youngkin’s pledge was a nice sentiment from someone not yet in office. Since taking office, Virginia’s leftist Attorney General told Youngkin the law does not permit the governor to use an executive order to undo a legislative action (see Va. Gov. Youngkin Can’t Use Exec Order to Block RGGI Carbon Tax). Where do things stand? And how much progress has Youngkin made in removing Virginia from this odious tax?
Read More “Update on Virginia’s Progress in Exiting Costly RGGI Carbon Tax”
The Bidenistas fight dirty. Last week MDN told you about a federal court ruling against Biden’s plan to use the so-called global “social cost of carbon dioxide” emissions as a new filter for all sorts of government agencies when considering whether or not to approve projects and activities, like drilling for oil and gas on federally-owned land (see 
A former wind lobbyist and friend of Chuck Schumer, Richard “Dick” Glick, took over as chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) under Joe “Dementia” Biden. Glick is a radical leftist, a swamp-dwelling D.C. Democrat. Under his oversight, the five-member FERC board (three Democrats, two Republicans) voted 3-2 last week to begin using global warming factors when reviewing new natural gas pipeline projects (see 
So far two states (that we are aware of) are either threatening, or already are, removing state investments from any funds managed by BlackRock Inc. Other states are considering it. We told you about West Virginia removing its investments with BlackRock back in January (see 
Antero Resources, one of the biggest Marcellus/Utica drillers with 3.2 Bcfe/d (billion cubic feet equivalent per day) of production, issued its fourth-quarter and full-year 2021 update yesterday. The company earned $901 million in 4Q21, up from $70 million in 4Q20, but still lost $187 million for the full year due to hedges gone bad. Antero generated $237 million and $849 million of Free Cash Flow during the fourth quarter and full year of 2021, respectively. The company placed 10 Marcellus wells and four Utica wells online to sales during 4Q. Antero plans to drill 60-65 new wells in 2022.
The West Virginia Senate Energy, Industry and Mining Committee had two bills on its agenda for consideration this past Tuesday related to funding the state’s “cash-strapped” oil and gas well inspection unit. One of the bills, Senate Bill (SB) 480 was signed off without discussion and moved along to its next stop before a vote, which is the Senate Finance Committee. The other bill, SB 613, was held over for a future meeting. It got the cold shoulder.
In years gone by, when oil drilling in the Texas/New Mexico Permian, Texas Eagle Ford, or North Dakota Bakken picked up, the increase in oil drilling came with an increase in natural gas production–something called “associated gas” because the gas is not produced for its own sake but as a byproduct of oil drilling. With tightening environmental laws that require oil drillers to capture instead of burn off or flare the gas, those oil drillers looked for markets to sell their associated gas. All of that extra associated gas would compete in the market with Marcellus/Utica gas, because our gas and the associated gas often flows to the same Midwest and Gulf Coast markets. Prices crash due to an abundance of supply with the same (or even less) demand. This time around, things have changed.
The West Virginia Public Energy Authority is a seven-member board that aims to make the best use of WV’s abundant natural energy resources. State code gives the board power to buy, lease, and issue bonds to build electric power plants and natgas transmission projects. Gov. Jim Justice reactivated the board last summer after it had been dormant for upwards of a decade. The first meeting of the new board is next Wednesday.
Frankly, we sometimes wondered if we would ever see this day! Fantastic news: The Mariner East Pipeline system, including Mariner East 1 (ME1), Mariner East 2 (ME2), and Mariner East 2X (ME2X), is now completely built and in the ground. According to an update by builder and owner Energy Transfer issued yesterday, the company is in the process of commissioning and bringing the remaining bits online. The entire system will be online during the first quarter of this year–no later than March 30th. Hallelujah!
There was a time in the Marcellus/Utica when, if the price of natural gas went above $3/Mcf, drilling companies would drill like crazy. Cabot Oil & Gas (now Coterra Energy) would routinely drill wells when the price in the region was less than $1/Mcf! And somehow they made money. With prices hitting above $4/Mcf routinely, even flirting with $5/Mcf, you would think M-U drillers would ramp back up and try to make hay while the sun shines. But M-U drillers are not. They are showing remarkable restraint in NOT expanding their drilling programs. Why?
According to the Bureau of Labor Statics, the oilfield services and equipment industry grew by over 7,000 jobs in December 2021. Marcellus/Utica companies can’t find enough workers to fill all of the open positions in our region, especially in Pennsylvania. According to an article in the Wellsboro Gazette (Tioga County, northeastern part of the state), companies in Tioga and Potter counties can’t fill all of their open positions.
Founded in 1946, the Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Association (TIPRO) represents nearly 3,000 individuals and companies from the Texas oil and gas industry. TIPRO is one of the country’s largest oil and gas trade associations and a strong advocacy group representing both independents and royalty owners in Texas. TIPRO generates some great research reports, including their latest annual “State of Energy Report” for 2022. The report, which looks at oil and gas across the country (not just Texas) finds that the O&G industry supported a total of 832,869 direct jobs in the U.S. last year. The U.S. O&G sector paid a national annual wage averaging $115,166 during 2021, 76% higher than average private sector wages!
Two days ago the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) gave a briefing and delivered a report to the PA Environmental Quality Board (EQB). Kurt Klapkowski, Director of the Bureau of Oil and Gas Planning and Program Management, said the state’s conventional oil and gas drilling companies only paid $46,100 of the $10.6 million it cost for the DEP to regulate that industry in FY 2020-21. That’s a pretty serious deficit. What is DEP suggesting as a fix?