This is how stupid liberals are: They think banning fossil fuels, like natural gas, will lead to less carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It doesn’t. Citywide (and soon statewide) bans preventing the use of natural gas for cooking and home heating actually force the use of *more* natural gas, not less. We explain how and why below.
Read More “Natural Gas Bans in Cities Lead to the Use of MORE Natural Gas”
According to S&P Global Platts, natural gas production from the Marcellus/Utica in 1Q21 is up nearly 1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), now averaging 33.2 Bcf/d. That’s an increase of 2.8% compared with 1Q20. The problem is the interstate transmission pipelines flowing M-U gas are nearly full and the increase in production means we are beginning to see too much natgas piling up, leading to lower spot prices here in the northeast. However, not all sub-regions in the M-U are seeing an uptick in production.
Read More “M-U Production Up, but Lack of Pipe Capacity Keeps Gas Prices Low”
Republican U.S. Senators (at least a few) have noticed the alarming situation at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) under new Chairman Richard “Dick” Glick. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Sen. John Barrasso is questioning FERC over its recent decision to reconsider whether or not the Weymouth, Mass. compressor station should have been approved. That’s after the station has been up and running with no problems. It is not right for a new administration to reopen an already-approved (under a different administration) project and threaten to cancel it. It’s not fair nor right in anybody’s book. It’s lawless. Sen. Barrasso tells FERC it has some splainin’ to do. Read More “GOP Senator Questions FERC on Weymouth Compressor Rehearing”
In February Chesapeake Energy finally emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy shedding $7.8 billion worth of debt (see Chesapeake Emerges from Ch. 11 Bankruptcy, Stock Restarts Trading). Also in February, the company announced it would end its ill-advised dalliance with trying to convert the company from exploring for natural gas to oil, refocusing back on natgas (see Chesapeake Refocuses on NatGas, Offers $1B in Post-Bankruptcy IOUs). Chesapeake is one of the biggest drillers in the Marcellus of northeast Pennsylvania, so any major changes it makes to the way it drills and completes wells is big news for us.
Read More “Chesapeake Energy Shifting to “Wet Sand” for All Well Completions”
Joe Biden visited Pittsburgh yesterday to make a major policy announcement. Fortunately, he was lucid enough to actually know which city he was in! Biden unveiled a $2 trillion “American Jobs Plan” which raises corporate and individual tax income rates. It is half of his total package (another plan with another $2 trillion is coming in a few weeks). The Jobs Plan is supposed to be a plan to rebuild roads and bridges and other infrastructure. The Jobs Plan is misnamed. Much of the money has nothing to do with infrastructure and jobs. Instead, it’s the Green New Deal under another name, targeting the elimination of fossil energy in the name of saving the planet.
Read More “Biden $2T Jobs Plan the Green New Deal Repackaged – a DISASTER”
Epsilon Energy concentrates most of its effort on the Marcellus in Susquehanna County, PA. Epsilon doesn’t typically do its own drilling. The company joint venture partners with (gives money to) other companies, like Chesapeake Energy, and the other company typically does the drilling. Epsilon, according to its website, owns ~4,000 net acres in the PA Marcellus. Epsilon sued Chesapeake Energy earlier this month over lack of access to drill wells on acreage Chesapeake says it doesn’t want to drill. A Texas bankruptcy court judge has tossed Epsilon’s lawsuit. Looks like bankruptcy is a “get out of your contracts for free” card for Chesapeake.
Read More “Epsilon Sues Chesapeake to Drill 4 Marcellus Wells, Court Overrules”
Shale and conventional oil and gas drillers in West Virginia listen up: If you file for a modification to a previously filed permit request, it’s going to cost you $2,500. Currently, it costs nothing. Two weeks ago we told you about Senate Bill (SB) 404 (see WV Bill Creates New $2,500 Fee for Modifying O&G Well Permits). WV Gov. Jim Justice signed SB 404 into law on Monday. It goes into effect on June 16, 2021. You might want to file any change requests you have now, while it still costs nothing.
Read More “WV Drillers Must Now Pay $2,500 Fee to Modify O&G Well Permits”
Stiff opposition from officials in Marcellus/Utica-producing counties in West Virginia has flared up over House Bill (HB) 2581 (see WV House Advances Bill to Change How O&G Wells Valued for Taxation). The bill, passed by the House of Delegates yesterday in a 66-34 vote, changes how the State Tax Department values producing oil and gas wells for property tax purposes. Some officials say it will create a critical shortfall in revenue.
Read More “WV House Passes Bill Changing How O&G Wells Valued for Taxation”
For years PA’s small, independent conventional oil and gas drillers have objected to the one-size-fits-all regulations concocted by the Wolf DEP that applies the same regulations to small conventional drillers as those used for big shale drillers. The two types of drilling are apples and oranges. Making small conventional drillers jump through the same hoops as big shale drillers will bankrupt many of the smaller companies. As in previous years, a bill will soon be introduced to separate the regulations for the two…
Read More “PA Bill Reintroduced to Split Shale & Conventional Regulations”
Elon Musk is like a god to the wacko environmental movement. For those who don’t know, Musk founded PayPal in 1999. He then founded SpaceX in 2002 and Tesla Motors in 2003. Tesla manufactures electric-only cars. Musk became a multimillionaire in his late 20s when he sold his start-up company, Zip2, to a division of Compaq Computers. In January 2021, Musk reportedly surpassed Jeff Bezos as the wealthiest man in the world. But some of the bloom is coming off the rose of Elon Musk–at least for woke leftists. You see, Elon has a nasty natural gas habit. The god has fallen…
Read More “Even the Great Elon Musk Can’t Build E-Cars Without Natural Gas”
Hey, it’s that time of year when thoughts turn to the events of some 2,000 years ago and a Jewish rabbi named Jesus who was raised from the dead. Although nowhere near as world-changing as that event, we have another rise-from-the-dead situation: Williams’ Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline project. We told you in May of last year after the corrupt Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, and Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey refused to grant permits to build NESE, that Williams had walked away form the project (see Cuomo Rejects NESE Pipe Again, Williams Walks Away). We considered the project dead. But what’s this? It’s not dead after all…
Read More “NESE Rises from the Dead! Williams Petitions FERC for More Time”
The Virginia Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is purposefully dragging its feet in an attempt to derail Equitrans’ Mountain Valley Pipeline project. DEQ is telling the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that it will take the rest of this year to review and plan for roughly 120 stream crossings in the state, requesting a time extension of at least six months to do so. If the Army Corps (now controlled by Joe Biden) agrees to DEQ’s request, there is no way MVP, currently 92% complete, can reach 100% completion by the end of this year.
Read More “Va. DEQ Refuses to Issue MVP Stream Permit Until Winter”
Eureka Resources currently operates three frack wastewater treatment facilities in the Marcellus Shale, two in Williamsport (Lycoming County), PA (where the company is headquartered), and one in Wysox (Bradford County), PA. In October 2019 the company began extracting lithium from Marcellus wastewater at its Wysox facility (see Marcellus Wastewater Plant in PA Extracts 1st Batch of Lithium). Eureka can currently provide up to 25% of the entire country’s demand for lithium, just from Marcellus wastewater (see Eureka Can Supply 25% of US Lithium Demand from Marc. Wastewater). Eureka has just announced it is expanding current operations in Wysox and will soon begin construction of a new facility in Dimock (Susquehanna County), PA.
Read More “Eureka Building Marcellus Wastewater Recycling Plant in Dimock, PA”
Pipelines are necessary and critical to move supplies of gas (and oil) from where the product is extracted to where it’s needed. In the case of Marcellus/Utica natural gas, there is demand from markets in Canada, the Midwest, the Gulf Coast, and the Southeast. There are six major interstate pipelines that flow our gas to Gulf Coast and Southeast. The big question is, will those pipes max out again this spring? It’s a distinct possibility according to the experts at RBN Energy.
Read More “Will M-U Gas Pipes to Gulf Coast & Southeast Max Out Again?”
Cheniere Energy built and operates two LNG export facilities, one in Sabine Pass, Louisiana (just across the border from Texas), and the other in Corpus Christi, Texas. The company announced yesterday that the third (and final) train at the Corpus Christi facility came online March 26. Marcellus/Utica gas flows to both the Sabine Pass and (potentially) to the Corpus Christi facility, hence our interest in these huge LNG facilities along the Gulf Coast.
Read More “Cheniere’s Corpus Christi LNG Fully Online with Train 3, M-U Gas”
MDN friend Tom Shepstone has published a fascinating confessional from an attorney who used to be a committed “environmentalist” but who has left the left and now calls himself a conservationist. This is an important article to read because it captures the essence of everything that is wrong with the environmental left in this country and around the world. It chronicles the change in the environmental movement over the past 20-30 years. It illustrates the difference between reasonable and unreasonable.
Read More “Transformation from Environmental Radical to True Conservationist”