EIA DPR 12-2021: M-U Gas Production Still Lower than One Year Ago
Six of the seven largest shale plays in the U.S. will see an increase in natural gas production in January according to the latest monthly Drilling Productivity Report (DPR) issued by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The Marcellus/Utica, collectively lumped together as “Appalachia” in the report, will see an increase of 78 MMcf/d (million cubic feet per day) in production next month. The M-U’s chief rival, the Haynesville, continues to see big growth, with an increase of 104 MMcf/d next month. The oil-based Permian will see an increase in natgas production of 115 MMcf/d due to associated gas coming out of the ground along with oil. The Permian’s oil production is set to hit a new all-time high this month, in December, and hit (for the first time ever) 5 million barrels of production per day in January.
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A long-fought-over wastewater injection well in Plum Boro (Allegheny County, Pittsburgh suburb) finally opened for business earlier this year, having overcome all sorts of smears and slanders and lawsuits by the enviro-left (see 
Nuverra Environmental Solutions (formerly Heckmann) is one of the largest companies in the United States that handles the transportation and disposal of shale drilling wastewater and leftover rock and dirt from drilling. The company has major operations in the Marcellus/Utica region. Because of the company’s major operations in the M-U, we keep track of its performance. Quarter after quarter after quarter, for well over a year, the company has lost money (
S&P Global Platts and its analytics division is a powerhouse provider of information, analysis, and benchmark prices for the commodities and energy markets. We often bring you their insights. Yesterday Platts Analytics released their 2022 energy outlook. Next year, Platts Analytics expects supply will catch up and exceed demand. Let that sink in. In 2022 we will see an increase in LNG exports, a rebound in U.S. shale oil, shale gas, and shale NGLs production–and the return of investment in non-OPEC production. You can guess what all that means for prices…
In August of this year, co-CEO of Energy Transfer, Tom Long, said “the final phase of the Mariner East Pipeline is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2021” (see 
Far-left Democrat and so-called civil rights “leader” Rev. William Barber II “preached” to a crowd of fellow lefties on Saturday. The topic of the reverend’s sermon? The evil, racist Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). We bet you didn’t know that MVP is “an abusive sin,” did you? Yeah, it’s right there in Revelation. That’s what Rev. Barber told his audience. That evil ole’ snaking pipeline will “harm the poor” and people of color. The rally was arranged ahead of this week’s Virginia State Water Control Board vote (on Tuesday) to allow MVP to cross minor creeks and swamps in the state.
Last week MDN told you about two smaller, privately-owned Marcellus/Utica drillers (both with their own pipeline gathering operations) that have contracted with certification authorities to certify their natural gas as responsibly produced (see 
The hypocrisy of Joe Biden and his administration continues. Biden has repeatedly begged Saudi Arabia and OPEC+ to increase oil production, while at the same time shutting down pipeline projects and disallowing new leases and drilling on public lands here at home. He then blames our domestic producers for not ramping up production! Here’s the latest: The Biden administration has *ordered* U.S. government agencies to *immediately* stop financing new “carbon-tensive fossil fuel projects” overseas and instead begin to push unreliable so-called renewable technology, like Chinese-manufactured solar and wind technology.
A natural gas pipeline project management company based in Canonsburg, PA, GW Ridge LLC, ceased all operations in November and filed for bankruptcy in a Texas federal court. Creditors owed money filed a competing Chapter 7 bankruptcy action against the company in Pittsburgh and GW Ridge withdrew its Texas filing and agreed to allow the Pittsburgh case to proceed. A Chapter 7 (as opposed to a Chapter 11) means the company has stopped all operations and its assets will be sold or auctioned and the money given to creditors. GW Ridge is no more.
MDN first told you about plans to build the Chickahominy Power Station, a 1,650 megawatt state-of-the-art natural gas-fired power plant in Charles City County, VA, in June 2018 (see 
Diversified Energy, which owns close to 8 million acres of leases with some 67,000 (mostly) conventional oil and gas wells (with over 400 Marcellus/Utica shale wells), made 2021 the year to expand–outside the M-U region. The company purchased major assets in the Cotton Valley/Haynesville region of Lousiana, the Barnett play in Texas, and most recently, in the Mid-Continent in Oklahoma. Diversified announced it has closed on its fourth purchase for 2021 in the Mid-Continent.
Southwestern Energy announced in early November it had struck a deal to buy GEP Haynesville, a subsidiary of GeoSouthern (see 
Speakers on a panel at the recent 23rd World Petroleum Congress, held in Houston, TX, made a strong case for natural gas as the only legitimate “green” alternative to power the world. At least for the next couple of decades. The panel was called “Can Natural Gas, Including LNG, Deliver on the Promise of a Clean & Affordable Transition Fuel?” Charif Souki, Chairman of Tellurian and founder of Cheniere Energy, along with Jim Teague, Chief Executive of Enterprise Products Partners, made some great points. Souki asked the question, why in the world would we “trade” dealing with OPEC for dealing with (subjugation to) China?
An issue we’ve written about over the years is the problem of some (certainly not all) so-called climate activists (those who believe in man-made global warming) tipping over from being boisterous and loud and making silly asses of themselves into something more: becoming violent. Thankfully such violent/terroristic episodes have been few and far between. But something is changing. Some leaders of the modern environmental left are beginning to advocate for violence–like blowing up pipelines. They justify their calls for terrorism as somehow heroic or necessary to save the planet.