LANL Invents Clever Way to Sniff Out Fugitive Methane Leaks
Researchers with the Dept. of Energy’s (DOE) Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico continue to make big oil and gas industry breakthroughs. Two weeks ago we told you about LANL’s breakthrough discovery about pressures used when fracking in the Marcellus (see DOE Marcellus Research Finds High Frack Pressure Keeps Gas Trapped). A different group of LANL researchers have discovered a way to sniff out fugitive methane, perhaps cutting emissions up to 90%.
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Every now and again we hear from MDN readers who mildly (or strongly) disagree with our politics and view of the leftwing Democrat Party and the frail, mentally-challenged Joe Biden (who won’t last two years in office before he’s pushed out for medical and/or mental reasons). They tell us a Biden presidency isn’t the end of oil and gas, and maybe he will even help our industry! (Even though Biden promised to “transition away from oil” in his last debate appearance.) We’re mystified that anyone can hold the view that Biden will be good for O&G, but there are people (in our audience) who do hold that view. The article below does a good job of capturing their viewpoint and thinking about the incoming Biden administration.
“OK Jim, what’s *really* going to happen to the oil and gas industry under a Joe Biden presidency? None of your apocalyptic B.S. please.” We’ve heard that sentiment/question expressed on occasion by MDN subscribers. Last week the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank and the Kansas City Reserve Bank hosted a virtual conference titled, “Energy and the Changing Economy: Navigating the Changing Energy Landscape.” Some of the best experts in the industry (some of them Biden supporters) delivered their best guess as to what will realistically happen over the next four years to the oil and gas industry under a Biden administration…
When a pipeline company considers whether or not to build a new pipeline, the company conducts an “open season”–a time when drillers (producers), traders, buyers and others who want guaranteed capacity along that pipeline can sign long-term contracts. Such contracts guarantee pipeline companies will be able to make back the considerable amount of money they have to spend to build the pipeline. What happens when those 5-, 10-, and 20-year contracts expire?
The plot thickens in the $60 million FirstEnergy nuclear subsidy bribery scandal. Last week MDN brought you the news that Ohio’s Attorney General, David Yost, had filed a second lawsuit to stop the collection of money from ratepayers that funds $150 million annual payments to FirstEnergy provided for under the law known as House Bill 6 (see 
The natural gas industry is proving effective at policing itself–far more effective than having the jackboots of the federal government step on its neck. Case in point: an industry group called Our Nation’s Energy Future (ONE Future), a coalition of 32 natural gas companies, released its 2019 report (below) that shows member companies collectively beat the group’s methane intensity goal by 67% for the year.
Kimmeridge Energy Management Company is a private equity investment firm focused on the upstream energy sector (drillers). Last week the firm published a white paper entitled, “Bringing Alignment and Accountability to the E&P Sector” (full copy below). The thesis of the paper is this: the alignment between drilling company executives and shareholders is “broken” and “a root cause” for the problem of poor earnings at drilling companies.
Earlier this month the Sierra Club filed yet another lawsuit (we’ve lost count of how many they’ve filed) attempting to block construction of the final 8% of Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). The Clubbers asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to “temporarily” block a permit issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (see 
Believe it or not, there are still two environmentalist wackos living up a tree in Montgomery County, Virginia, preventing work crews for Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) from cutting trees to clear a path for the pipeline. This has been going on for years and frankly, everyone is tired of it. A county judge has found the two cowards not willing to reveal their names (known as Tree-sitter 1 and Tree-sitter 2) in contempt of court. Starting today if they don’t come down, they are both on the hook for a $500 per day fine.
We were wrong. In August MDN told you that the tenth and final mini-train had gone online at Kinder Morgan’s Elba Island, Georgia LNG export facility (see 
Antero Resources, one of the largest drillers in the Marcellus/Utica, working primarily in West Virginia, has just won a major sales tax case in the WV Supreme Court that affects the entire oil and gas industry, including M-U drillers.
The Enverus U.S. rig count rose by 3 to 382 over the past week. Prior to that, the count rose by 20, 11, 11, and 13 for each of the four weeks prior, respectively. That’s up 58 rigs over the past five weeks! The Marcellus and Utica each remained constant last week (same as the week before), not adding and not dropping. The Marcellus stands at 27 rigs, and the Utica at 6.
The Dept. of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) is actually five laboratories, including locations in Pittsburgh, PA, and Morgantown, WV. The current director is West Virginian Dr. Brian J. Anderson (great guy!). NETL recently published a notice on its website to talk about the “generational opportunity” to leverage the superabundance of natural gas in the Marcellus/Utica. NETL, says Anderson, is on the case and has a new initiative to leverage M-U gas.
Eastern Shore Natural Gas Company (ESNG), a subsidiary of Chesapeake Utilities Corporation, filed a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in Sept. 2018 to build 19+ miles of new pipeline, called the Del-Mar Energy Pathway Project, in Delaware and Maryland. Last week the Maryland Dept. of the Environment (MDE) approved the project. Now the project must pass by the Board of Public Works (BPW). We give it a 50/50 chance of getting approved by the three libs on the BPW.