Trump PHMSA Signals Effort to Overturn Ban on LNG by Rail
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) under Donald Trump is making a renewed effort to allow the transportation of LNG (liquefied natural gas) by specially-manufactured rail cars (super safe). In September 2023, the PHMSA under President Autopen issued a federal rule suspending a 2020 authorization of LNG transportation in rail tank cars granted under the first Trump administration (see LNG-by-Rail Officially on Hold with PHMSA, Agency Will “Study” It). The suspension (ban) was to remain in effect until either a permanent rule regarding LNG rail tank car transportation is proposed and finalized — or June 30, 2025. Read More “Trump PHMSA Signals Effort to Overturn Ban on LNG by Rail”
Anyone with half a brain in the energy space has seen and predicted (for years) a coming imbalance between electricity generation and electricity demand here in the U.S. When you don’t have enough production (generation) for increasing demand, there is a temporary cushion in the way of “peaker” plants that come online to bridge the gap. However, when huge new demand suddenly emerges, such as for AI data centers, and that demand is ongoing, peakers can’t meet the demand. The result is a power outage. The policies of Lord Obama and President Autopen, in promoting wind and solar while throttling natural gas, have set us up for a disaster, with an inability to meet sudden new demand for electricity. Unreliable renewables are NOT up to the task. That is the conclusion of a new report issued by the Department of Energy (DOE) called “Report on Evaluating U.S. Grid Reliability and Security” (full copy below). 
On Monday, President Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) to end market-distorting subsidies for unreliable wind and solar. The EO directs the Secretary of the Treasury (Scott Bessent) to terminate the clean electricity production and investment tax credits for wind and solar facilities and implement the enhanced Foreign Entity of Concern restrictions as identified in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The EO also directs the Secretary of the Interior (Doug Burgum) to revise regulations and policies to eliminate preferential treatment for wind and solar facilities compared to reliable, dispatchable energy sources. 
In early April, MDN brought you the exciting news that THE largest gas-fired power plant in the country, along with a MASSIVE data center complex, will be built at a former coal-fired power plant site in Indiana County, PA (see 
The lawfare battle brought by radical green groups in New Jersey, including Food and Water Watch, the NJ Highlands Coalition, and the Sierra Club, aimed at overturning the decision to permit and build an electric compressor station and a pipeline that connects to it, is over. Done. Finished. Can we please stick a fork in it? We’re talking about the battle to block a compressor project in West Milford, NJ, part of Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) East 300 expansion project, an upgrade of TGP to deliver an extra 115 MMcf/d of natural gas to Consolidated Edison and its customers in New York City and surrounding suburbs. The radicals just flamed out in a NJ appeals court and have no options left to challenge it. 
When referring to Big Green groups in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, we often label the groups as “colluding,” meaning they coordinate their legal and public relations attacks against fossil fuel companies. It is something we have long suspected but (unfortunately) can’t prove definitively. We had hoped Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) was about to prove it (see 
MDN recently brought you the news that the Trump administration was blocking cargoes of ethane to China (see 
Quick! Somebody grab a tourniquet and tie it to the Baker Hughes U.S. rig count. The count has been hemorrhaging large numbers of rigs for 10 consecutive weeks. Last week (an early week with the count issued on Thursday), the U.S. rig count declined by another eight rigs to its lowest level since October 2021, ending the week at 539 active rigs. You have to go back to the dark days of the pandemic, July 2020, for the previous 10+ consecutive weeks of decline in the rig count. The Marcellus/Utica was clipped by one rig (in Pennsylvania), falling from a combined 36 to 35. 
In April, MDN told you that EQT Corporation, the second-largest natural gas producer in the country (and the largest producer in the Marcellus/Utica) was buying out and merging in Olympus Energy for $1.8 billion (see 
A kerfuffle has erupted in Morgan Township (Greene County), PA, between drilling and pipeline giant EQT Corporation and the town over the issue of hauling heavy equipment on Morgan’s roadways. Morgan supervisors prohibited EQT from using local town roads to haul heavy equipment to work sites. On June 18, EQT filed a lawsuit against the town, which the town is sure to lose (copy below). There is word that an agreement is already in the works to settle the dispute. 
The special court established in Pennsylvania to hear appeals of Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) decisions, known as the Environmental Hearing Board (EHB), didn’t please anyone with a decision it rendered several weeks ago. We previously reported that the EHB had ruled in favor of CNX Resources to allow two previously permitted wells to move forward with construction (see 
Miracle of miracles, President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill was passed and signed into law by the President last Friday. Somehow, the Republicans got out of their own way to unite and pass it. There’s lots NOT TO like about the bill, but there is also lots TO like. And remember, this is just the beginning. More bills (and Executive Orders) will come along. When the full effect of this bill begins to take hold and the economy soars and people are keeping more of their own money (less taxes), we predict not even the lying Democrats will be able to cover up the good news. The bill contains numerous provisions related to energy issues, including the oil and gas industry and the unreliable renewable energy sector. A significant portion of the bill focused on gutting President Autopen’s Green New Deal (also known as the Inflation Reduction Act). So, how will this bill (now a law) benefit the O&G sector?