Sources: EQT Offering $750M for Chevron’s Marcellus/Utica Assets
Last December Chevron announced it was writing down over $10 billion worth of its U.S. onshore shale assets, with $6.5 billion of that number coming from its Marcellus/Utica assets. Also in December, the company posted for sale ALL of their M-U assets (see Chevron Confirms M-U Assets for Sale, Asks Vendors to Avoid Media). In February Chevron hired investment bank Barclays to help shop their M-U assets with the bids due in August (see Bids for Chevron’s 550K M-U Acres & 500 Wells Due in Mid-August). “Sources” talking to Reuters have let it leak that EQT has offered $750 million for Chevron’s $6.5 billion worth of assets.
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What started out as a spat between two companies that used to be one and the same, EQT and Equitrans, has quickly turned into open warfare that’s heading for court. We’re talking about the flap over whether or not EQT has the right to buy out Equitrans’ Hammerhead pipeline, and turn around and sell it, as EQT is now trying to do (see 
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is making official what has, until now, been unofficial (but enforceable via court orders)–state environmental agencies have exactly one year to dither around and then either grant or reject issuing a Section 401 permit for pipelines (and other projects) to cross rivers and streams and wetlands. Last week FERC issued a Notice Of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) to make the one-year time limit (a part of law under the Federal Clean Water Act) an official part of FERC regulations too.
There are at least a few honest politicians in Columbus, Ohio. Last week several Ohio state legislators made the case to overturn House Bill (HB) 6. Last year FirstEnergy Solutions (now called Energy Harbor) allegedly paid $60 million in bribes to (now former) Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and four of his associates to gain their assistance in passing the hugely unpopular HB 6 (see 
The American Energy Alliance (AEA), a “pro-consumer, pro-taxpayer, and free-market energy organization,” has just released its 
In May, Australian company LNG Limited (LNGL) found a buyer for its Magnolia LNG export project, located in Louisiana, for $2 million (see 
As we told you on Monday, the Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board (EQB), a powerful committee operating under the larger umbrella of the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), held a hearing and cast a vote yesterday on whether or not PA should join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a tax on carbon for power generators (see 
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from the U.S. came from literally zero in early 2016 to a total theoretical capacity today of 8.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d). The first three months of this year saw U.S. LNG exports average 7.9 Bcf/d–almost full capacity! Since then, our LNG exports have gone over a metaphorical cliff. In June, U.S. LNG exports averaged 3.6 Bcf/d. The turning point came in April.
Emboldened by Dominion Energy’s decision to abandon its 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) from West Virginia to North Carolina, anti-fossil fuel zealots are trying to force Equitrans Midstream to abandon its 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) from West Virginia to Virginia. But there’s a big difference between the two: While ACP had less than 50 miles built, MVP is now 92% done and in the ground, with just a little bit left to go. Even so, it’s not stopping a small group of antis, including the well-funded Sierra Club, from attempting to kill MVP.
Have you caught yourself thinking lately (as we have), “When in the world is the price of natural gas (and oil) going to go up again?” And, “Why is more drilling not happening?” Perhaps you answer yourself with the obvious answer: It’s the pandemic, stupid. If you have said/thought that, you are correct. But what is there about the pandemic (which seems to be getting better) that is causing this ongoing slowdown and low prices for oil and gas?
There’s trouble brewing in EQT-land. Once upon a time, EQT was both a producer (drilling) and midstream (pipeline) company. But then so-called activist investors forced the company (after its merger with Rice Energy) to split in two–drilling and pipelines. The split happened in November 2018 (see 
Yesterday our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), issued our favorite monthly report, the Drilling Productivity Report (DPR). The DPR estimates how much oil and natural gas each of the country’s seven largest shale plays produced in the previous (i.e. current) month, and how much each will produce in the coming (i.e. next) month. The September report, which predicts production for the coming month of October, estimates natural gas production in the Marcellus/Utica will decrease by 162 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d)–the eighth month in a row the M-U has seen a production decrease.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has just published its 2019 Oil and Gas Annual Report. This is the fourth year in a row the DEP has published the report in an interactive, electronic (i.e.online) format ONLY. What does the 2019 report show? While permits issued and number of new wells drilled have both gone down (again), gas production has gone up (again)–to a new record high.
Last week MDN brought you the news that the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) had, once again, caved to pressure from radicalized environmental groups by suspending (for now) a permit they previously issued to allow New Fortress Energy (NFE) to build a dock in the Delaware River to load ships with LNG (see 
S&P Global Platts published analysis last Friday looking at supply and demand for natural gas in the Midwestern region of the country. Platts says supplies to the region from places like the Bakken, Midcontinent (SCOOP/STACK), and Rockies will decrease this winter–by a lot. But then, demand in the region will decrease too, given the slumping economy because of the coronavirus pandemic. However, it looks to us like maybe there’s an opportunity for Marcellus/Utica gas, which travels to the Midwest via several pipelines, to make up the difference between supply and demand. The region will still need more gas than supplies available.