According to Platts Analytics, natural gas deliveries to Elba Island LNG, located along the shore near Savannah, Georgia, totaled 230 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) yesterday, up from 150 MMcf/d the day before and some 41% higher than the average use of 163 MMcf/d over the previous 30 days.
Read More “Elba Island Ramps Up LNG Production, Uses 230 MMcf/d”
Early last week MDN shared the great news that Enbridge’s Weymouth, Mass. compressor station finally, after years of government delays in building it, went online (see Weymouth, MA Compressor Station Now Online – Will it Stay Online?). As our headline last week teased, the question now is whether or not it will remain online. What could possibly cause it to shut down again? The answer may surprise you.
Read More “Antis Pressure FERC for Hearing to Shut Down Weymouth Compressor”
Earlier this week MDN brought you the big news that the U.S. Supreme Court has decided to hear the PennEast Pipeline vs. New Jersey eminent domain case (see BREAKING: U.S. Supreme Court to Decide PennEast Pipeline Case). Read that previous post for background on why this is a critically important case. In December the Trump Solicitor General’s office filed a brief in the case, at the request of the Supremes (see Trump Solicitor General Supports PennEast Pipe Case in Supreme Crt). It’s no surprise that the Trump administration supported the PennEast position. What IS a surprise for us is that the Biden administration will likely support PennEast’s position too.
Read More “Biden Justice Dept. Likely to Support PennEast in Supreme Crt Case”
On Joe Biden’s first day in occupying the White House, he signed an Executive Order (EO) suspending new oil and gas leasing while the Interior Department reviews existing leases and permitting practices for 60 days. The aim is to make the federal lease ban permanent. However, some permits on existing leases will continue to be issued during the 60-day review period. You may think Biden’s federal lease ban does not affect the Marcellus/Utica region. You would be wrong.
Read More “How Biden’s Drilling Ban on Federal Lands Affects the M-U”
Over the past week, the Enverus U.S. rig count jumped up by another 14 active rigs, making the new count 456. That’s the highest the rig count has been since April 2020 when the count began to drop like a rock as the coronavirus pandemic began to bite deeply. While the dry gas Marcellus lost one rig, the wet gas Marcellus gained one rig and the Ohio Utica also gained one rig, for a net +1 gain to 43 active rigs in the M-U combined region.
Read More “Enverus U.S. Rig Count Up Another 14 to 456, M-U Gains 1 in Utica”
Northern Oil and Gas, Inc., a company that invests in non-operated oil and gas assets (they let others do the drilling), announced yesterday it has purchased 64,000 net acres producing ~120 MMcfe/d (million cubic feet equivalent per day) in the Marcellus/Utica from Reliance Industries Limited (RIL). The cash purchase price is $250 million.
Read More “Northern O&G Buys 64K Acres of RIL’s Non-Op M-U Assets for $250M”
Doug Lawler, CEO of Chesapeake Energy, has swung his ax once again and is firing (i.e. laying off) another 220 employees–just as the company exits from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Most of the layoffs are happening in Chessy’s headquarters located in Oklahoma City.
Read More “Doug “the ax” Lawler Lays Off Another 220 Chesapeake Employees”
Mansfield Energy Corp, with products and services that span fuels, natural gas, diesel exhaust fluid, data management, and price risk management tools, announced it is buying out and merging in eServices Energy Management, a natural gas marketing, logistics, and trading organization headquartered in Glen Allen, Virginia with a presence in Pittsburgh, PA and Houston, Texas. According to Mansfield, the deal expands the company’s reach to Marcellus and Utica shale producers.
Read More “Mansfield Energy Buys M-U Gas Marketer eServices Energy Mgmt”
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf is openly admitting that his cockamamie plan to force PA to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI)–a carbon tax scheme that will cost PA residents $2.36 billion over ten years–will in fact cause the closure of coal and gas-fired power plants throughout his state. Wolf’s brilliant plan to overcome the big negatives of power plant closings? A new government program, funded by taxpayers.
Read More “Gov. Wolf Admits Carbon Tax Will Close Coal, Gas-Fired Plants”
Last week MDN told you about a spike in natural gas and electric rates in New York City and New England, thanks to the cold snap and lack of natural gas pipelines into the region (see NatGas Prices in Boston, NYC Double in One Day, Electric Up 55%). Natgas spot prices at Algonquin Citygate (Boston) had spiked to $9.69/Mcf. This week the price is up again–now at $11.97! It’s the same pattern for NYC.
Read More “NatGas, Elec Prices in Boston, NYC Continue to Soar – Lack of Pipes”
Yeah, well, you can’t say we didn’t warn you (and President Trump) about former NRDC lawyer and extremist radical Allison Clements. Clements should never have been appointed to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) as a commissioner by Trump (see U.S. Senate Confirms Radical NRDC Lawyer as FERC Commissioner). In a recent “wide-ranging” interview, Clements trash-talked both the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) and PennEast Pipeline projects and said the process for permitting all natural gas pipelines is “broken.” And she’s just the person to “fix” it. Neuter is more like the word.
Read More “FERC Commissioner Clements Trash Talks MVP, PennEast, All Pipes”
Yesterday our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), released its “Annual Energy Outlook 2021.” One of the main themes of this year’s AEO is the profound impact COVID-19 has had and will continue to have on energy usage worldwide. EIA says it will likely take a decade or more for energy usage to return to the pre-pandemic levels of 2019.
Read More “EIA Annual Energy Outlook 2021: COVID Impact at Least 10 More Yrs”
HUGE news! This morning the U.S. Supreme Court decided to hear the PennEast Pipeline case. The case appeals a lower court ruling that disallows PennEast from using eminent domain to build across land owned or controlled by the State of New Jersey. The court’s acceptance of the case is an excellent sign PennEast will win the case–which is important not only for PennEast but all future pipeline projects in “blue” states.
Read More “BREAKING: U.S. Supreme Court to Decide PennEast Pipeline Case”
Zenith Energy, based in Houston, TX and Metuchen, NJ, announced yesterday it has purchased the bulk terminal storage operations of Guttman Energy in three locations: Aurora, Ohio, Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, and Star City, West Virginia. Zenith says the reason for buying the terminals is to support customers in the Marcellus/Utica. What, exactly, is Zenith selling to M-U customers?
Read More “Zenith Energy Buys Guttman Energy Terminals in PA, OH, WV”
The Monroe County, OH Port Authority has scored close to $3 million in grants and loans to fund a development project located at a former CONSOL Energy coal mining site south of Clarington, OH. The money will be used to build an access road and repair eight of 12 existing barge cells on the Ohio River. The end game is to “lease the property to companies that provide support services to the shale gas industry.”
Read More “Monroe County, OH Developing Ohio River Site to Help Utica Shale”
We continue to peel back the layers of the rotten, smelly, stinky onion that is Ohio’s House Bill (HB) 6, a law granting billions (plural) to FirstEnergy in an attempt to prop up the company’s economically failing nuclear power plants. FirstEnergy is accused of bribing legislators to pass, and keep passed, HB 6 by paying out $60 million (see FirstEnergy Involved in Bribery Scheme to Pass $1B Nuke Bailout Law). It is the biggest bribery scandal in Ohio history. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has been hammering FirstEnergy with lawsuits since the bribery scandal was first revealed. It looks like Yost (and consequently Ohio residents AND the Ohio Utica Shale industry) has won.
Read More “Ohio AG Succeeds in Blocking $2B in Nuke Payments to FirstEnergy”