Energy Transfer Joins Environmental Partnership to Lower Emissions
America’s natural gas and oil industry announced “a landmark partnership” in late 2017 called The Environmental Partnership, to “accelerate improvements to environmental performance in operations across the country” (see NatGas, Oil Industry Partnership to Accelerate Methane Reductions). The latest O&G company to join up and help reduce methane and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions is…Energy Transfer, the builder of the Mariner East and Rover pipelines.
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We happen to think the oil and gas industry has sort of lost its collective mind. We’ve lost the battle over fossil fuels by conceding that carbon dioxide, the stuff you emit with every breath you take, is somehow polluting the planet. If we concede that point, it’s all downhill from there. Environmentalist wackos will not stop until all fossil fuels are permanently eliminated from the energy mix–which will be devastating to humankind. But they don’t care. Still, you can’t miss the fact that O&G is “doing its part” to reign in carbon and methane emissions, playing along with the demands of the left. ESG has become a more common phrase in the quarterly updates of O&G companies than barrels of oil and thousands of cubic feet of natural gas. What is O&G doing with respect to ESG, hydrogen, and carbon capture sequestration? And where is it all heading? Will O&G companies actually hit net carbon zero?
In June MDN brought you the news that Enbridge’s Texas Eastern Transmission (TETCO) pipeline is being flow-restricted by the Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA). Some 40% of the Marcellus/Utica molecules that flow through TETCO’s pipeline to destinations in the southeastern U.S. disappeared and were predicted to stay that way until the end of September (see 
Three weeks ago MDN told you about Equitrans’ plan to buy indulgences, er, a, carbon offsets for its 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project (see 
The anti-fossil fuelers of Nicetown, PA (near Philadelphia) aren’t so nice. Even though a Marcellus gas-fired power plant in Nicetown has already been built by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) and is currently in operation (has been since last November) providing cheap electricity for railroads and heat for a local bus depot, antis want it all shut down. They claim it’s racist to have the facility located in the community where it’s located. The Joe Biden EPA is investigating Nicetown with an eye to shutting it all down. What a tragedy on so many levels. Once again energy has been politicized by the left in this country.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is moving to revise a two-decade-old standard that guides approval of proposed interstate natural gas pipelines. FERC Chairman Richard “Dick” Glick informed a congressional panel last week of the impending changes. Glick wants to permanently change the standards used so future FERC commissioners will be handcuffed to his twisted view of global warming when considering whether or not to approve a pipeline project.
Seneca Resources, the drilling arm of utility giant National Fuel Gas Company, is conducting its first experiment with electric fracking. We’re aware of at least three other Marcellus/Utica drillers that currently use electric fracking: Range Resources, CNX Resources, and Olympus Energy (former Huntley & Huntley). Seneca, like Range, will use U.S. Well Services to provide e-fracking. Seneca is conducting a field trial for a 6-well pad in Lycoming County, PA.
It seems to be the season of not only second quarter updates, but also 2020 ESG (environmental, social, governance) updates, often referred to as corporate sustainability or social responsibility reports. There are half a dozen different phrases and terms used to describe the same thing. Yesterday Equitrans Midstream Corporation (the former EQT Midstream) issued its 2021 Corporate Sustainability Report, covering activity for the calendar year 2020.
The latest weekly Enverus U.S. rig count shows total rigs in use retreating just a bit. For the week ending July 28, the rig count stood at 599, down 5 rigs from last week’s post-pandemic high of 604 (see 
On Tuesday the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that due to rising spot demand in both the winter and summer months from Asia and Europe, and lower natural gas prices here in the U.S. versus the price elsewhere, LNG exports in the U.S. hit record hights for the first half of this year. That’s good news for Marcellus/Utica drillers and landowners. LNG exports jumped to an average of 9.6 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) between January and June 2021, up by 42% compared with the first half of 2020.
Yesterday pipeline giant Williams released its 2020 Sustainability Report, which is another name for ESG (environmental, social, and governance). The company says it will be net carbon zero by 2050, but in the meantime, they will meet other important targets long before that date. While it would be easy to dismiss this report as yet another 126-page manifesto in gobbledegook aimed at placating the global warming gods, when we began to dig into the report we found some interesting bits of information and statistics.
Every now and again we’ll pick up and run a press release from a company looking to sell something to the M-U energy space. This is one of those times. We spotted a release from a company that has launched an online platform used by natural gas buyers to manage their purchases (i.e. trades). Mickey is an online commodities trading platform that connects buyers and sellers of natural gas (in addition to other commodities). Mickey’s platform enables domestic natural gas buyers to source supplies from small-to-medium-sized producers in the U.S. The platform currently offers energy supply sourcing in New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania–with plans to expand over time.
In June MDN brought you the news that three Democrat judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit overturned a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approval for a long-completed and flowing natural gas pipeline in the St. Louis area that flows Marcellus/Utica gas to residents, businesses, and electric generating plants throughout the region (see