Fake Harvard Study Says Old Folks Living Near Fracked Wells Die More
A new study out of Harvard University purports to link fracking with early deaths of senior citizens. It is fake research. Here’s the main finding of the study: Senior citizens who lived closest to fracked shale wells (including seniors in the PA Marcellus) had an early death risk 2.5% higher than people who did not live close to the wells. If it were an opinion poll we would say it’s within the margin of statistical error. In other words, these “researchers” didn’t find a darned thing. And yet the headlines have already begun in fake news media…
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You have GOT to be kidding! In 2015 Energy Transfer’s Rover Pipeline purchased an old house in Ohio that was crumbling and falling down, intending to fix it up and use it for offices. The company later decided to demolish it. The old house was on a list to be considered as a National Historic Place, even though the local fire department considered burning it down as a training exercise it was so dilapidated. Because this particular old house was potentially considered “historic,” Rover went through all sorts of hell and ended up paying a $2.3 million fine. Then Richard “Dick” Glick took over at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and decided to drag that case out yet again, this time fining Rover $20 million for something long ago settled (see 
PennEnergy Resources LLC, which according to the Pittsburgh Business Times is the 11th largest shale driller in Pennsylvania (with 405 active shale wells), has achieved responsibly sourced natural gas certification from Project Canary on nearly all of its wells. Project Canary has issued its top “Gold” and “Platinum” ratings on 375 of PennEnergy’s wells.
Last week we brought you the bitterly disappointing news that the clown judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (the 4th Circus) have, for a second time, overturned permits for Mountain Valley Pipeline (94% complete!) to build through 3.5 miles of Jefferson National Forest (see 
Last week MDN told you about S&P data showing a decrease in production for Marcellus/Utica drillers in January (see 
Last week MDN brought you the news that Chesapeake Energy is buying Marcellus driller Chief Oil & Gas (plus associated non-operated assets from Tug Hill Operating) for $2 billion in cash and approximately 9.44 million common shares (see 
Yesterday afternoon the price of the NYMEX Henry Hub “front month” February futures contract for natural gas went on a wild ride. The February contract, due to expire at the end of trading, at one point sold for $7.40/MMBtu, up some 72% in a single day! The price finally settled at the end of trading at $6.265/MMBtu, up $1.99 (46%) from the previous day. It was the single biggest spike in the price of the front contract ever, since the contract launched in 1990 and the largest one-day gain on record. What in the world happened? And is this an indicator of higher prices to come?
On Wednesday the Pennsylvania State Senate passed Senate Bill (SB) 806, a bill aimed at providing clarity in the royalty payment statements landowners receive from oil and gas drillers. Sometimes deductions are posted on royalty statements with very little (if any) description of what those deductions are for. SB 806 will clear up the confusion. PA Senator Gene Yaw is the prime sponsor of the bill.
Powerhouse data analytics firm GlobalData, based in London, recently published a report on the Marcellus/Utica region. Among the findings, GlobalData analysts project M-U natural gas production will increase at the average annual rate of 5.1% from this year through 2025. They forecast natgas production will hit 38.3 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) by 2025. Are they right?
According to ISO New England, the electric power grid manager for New England, short-term power demand forecasting shows projected peak load reaching 19,250 MW on Jan. 29, because of the coming winter storm. The grid’s expected winter power demand peak, or what they plan for at the maximum, is 19,710 MW. That’s really too close for comfort. Electric power and natural gas prices are currently spiking to insanely high levels because of the coming storm, and because there’s not more capacity to send natural gas to the region.
Pennsylvania’s Pipeline Investment Program (or PIPE) issues grants covering part of the cost for building new natural gas pipelines to connect homes and businesses, typically in rural parts of the state, to homegrown Marcellus Shale gas supplies. We’ve written about many of the PIPE grant projects in the past (
The number crunchers at the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) have analyzed proved reserves data for 2020 (the most recent year available) and have determined proved reserves dropped by 4% in 2020. Why? Due to the lower price natural gas was fetching. In these days of natgas flirting with $4-$5/MMBtu it may be hard to recall that just a little more than a year ago gas was bumping around in the $2-$3 range.
The Barack Hussein Obama administration went crazy with over-regulation in many sectors. One of them was to redefine “waters of the United States” (or WOTUS) as everything down to, no exaggeration, mud puddles (see 
Natural gas production has taken a “precipitous drop” in the U.S. in January according to S&P Global Platts. After approaching a record high at over 96.3 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in late December, U.S. natural gas production has “tumbled since the start of the new year,” falling by over 4 Bcf/d to average just 92.2 Bcf/d in January. Why?
As predicted last week by Reuters, Chesapeake Energy announced yesterday it is buying Marcellus driller Chief Oil & Gas plus associated non-operated assets from Tug Hill Operating for $2 billion in cash and approximately 9.44 million common shares. The total purchase price (given the current CHK stock price of $67/share) is roughly $2.6 billion. The combination makes Chesapeake a powerhouse driller in the northeast Pennsylvania Marcellus with 653,000 acres of leases.