Pipeline Companies Face Expansion Dilemma: Buy or Build New?
President Donald Trump’s pro-energy policies were meant to speed the construction of the United States’ next generation of energy infrastructure, but many oil and gas pipeline operators would still rather buy than build their way to expansion due to a host of factors impeding large projects. The proposed 124-mile Constitution Pipeline from northeastern Pennsylvania into and through New York State is a perfect example. Williams canceled the project in 2020. Trump wants it revived and built. Will Williams or someone else build it? More importantly, will it get built at all? Read More “Pipeline Companies Face Expansion Dilemma: Buy or Build New?”
The Marcellus Shale has a distinct advantage over every other gas-focused shale play in the country: It’s WAY cheaper than anywhere else to produce gas in the Marcellus. It’s called the break-even point, when a driller makes a profit after paying for expenses. The break-even in the Marcellus is *below* $2/Mcf (thousand cubic feet) for many drillers, including giants EQT and Expand Energy. Other gas-focused plays, like the Haynesville, cost a lot more—$3.50/Mcf or more for break-even. But then, the Haynesville is much closer to Gulf Coast LNG export facilities, so it costs much less to pipeline the gas. That’s OK, the Marcellus has a geographic advantage, too. 
Yesterday, the first of what will no doubt be many such events, the Appalachian AI Energy Conference (sponsored by Shale Directories) was held at the Hilton Garden Inn in Pittsburgh/Southpointe. Event speakers explored why Appalachia is uniquely suited to meet AI’s massive energy needs. CNX’s VP of sustainable development, Brent Bobsein, spoke about the region’s “massive opportunity.” 
The Algonquin Gas Transmission pipeline (owned by Enbridge) transports up to 3.09 Bcf/d through a pipeline that is 1,131 miles long. Algonquin connects to Texas Eastern Transmission (TETCO), Millennium Pipeline, and Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline and supplies New England with critically needed natural gas supplies for power generation and consumer use. As we told you in September 2023, Enbridge conducted an open season to gauge interest in expanding Algonquin’s capacity to flow more gas into New England—mainly from the Marcellus/Utica—called Project Maple (see 
Freeport LNG’s export terminal with three liquefaction “trains” completely shut down (all three trains) in June 2022 after an explosion and fire (see 
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is looking to overhaul repair requirements for natural gas and carbon dioxide pipelines. The PHMSA is asking the industry (and the public) how to make standards that have remained unchanged for more than 40 years more cost-effective. This effort marks the second in a series of high-priority PHMSA actions to implement the President’s “Unleashing American Energy” Executive Order. 
If you’ve ever run a business or have been self-employed, you know how important it is to claim every legitimate deduction on your tax return. Anyone with a brain knows that wages, fuel, and repairs are expenses, the “cost of doing business”—especially in the oil and gas business. Yet in their zeal to destroy fossil energy, the Bidenistas inserted new regulations in the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a law made possible by the single vote of former West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin (who will live in infamy for his vote), relabeling such deductions as “subsidies” for the oil and gas industry (but no other industries). The Bidenistas eliminated those legitimate deductions so that O&G companies could no longer claim them as deductions, at least not the full value in the year in which they are spent. It’s nuts! There’s a new bill in Congress to correct this attack against the fossil energy industry. 
It is “The Art of the Deal” with Donald J. Trump. Only DJT could pull off such a miracle. We are referring to a deal just struck (on Monday) with New York Governor Kathy Hochul. Trump will allow New York to blow $5 billion on an idiotic offshore wind project (off the coast of Long Island) in return for Hochul allowing the construction of two long-stalled pipeline projects: The Constitution Pipeline and the Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) Project, part of the Transco pipeline system. We had no idea NESE was on the table as part of a potential deal! 
In early April, President Trump signed four executive orders (EOs) dealing with energy issues (see 
The Marcellus/Utica region is the United States’ top natural gas production area, accounting for about one-third of the country’s daily output. Natural gas production in the M-U has soared from 2 Bcf/d (billion cubic feet per day) to over 33 Bcf/d today in the past 15 years. Growth has slowed in recent years due to pipeline constraints, but new pipeline projects, rising Gulf Coast LNG demand, and in-basin data center development could drive a resurgence. Despite past challenges like canceled pipelines and a focus on the Permian, our region’s vast potential and improving infrastructure suggest a breakout, according to RBN Energy. However, low gas prices and regulatory hurdles remain big concerns, though data centers and LNG exports could boost demand significantly. 
The oil and gas industry is large and complex, including how companies raise money to drill new wells. One of the ways companies get financing to drill is via partners that invest but don’t take an active role. It’s called being a non-operated (non-op) owner or partner. A company (another driller, an investment company, bank, etc.) will give an active driller money and, in return, will receive a percentage ownership in the well and its production. North Hudson Resource Partners, a Houston-based energy investment firm, is one such company. North Hudson has, in the past, raised multiple rounds of money from investors and invested that money in different plays, including the Utica Shale. 
Gas-fired power plants in the Marcellus/Utica region (and beyond) continue to change hands at a dizzying pace. Last week, MDN brought you the news that NRG Energy agreed to acquire LS Power’s portfolio of natural-gas power plants in a deal valued at roughly $12 billion, including debt, that will expand NRG’s footprint in Texas and along the East Coast (see 
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” That quote is attributed to Adolf Hitler, a master of lying propaganda. The environmental left is also a master at lying propaganda. Like this lie: “
In March 2024, we reported that two Democrats and one anti-drilling RINO who run Bucks County, PA government (a Philadelphia suburb) fell for the bait by Big Green and filed a lawsuit against Big Oil companies for supposedly, knowingly, causing the Earth to toast to a cinder (see 
Yesterday, the NYMEX “front month” natural gas price index got whacked and whacked good. The price sank $0.221 from the previous day, down to a closing price of 3.113/MMBtu. Below-average temperatures are forecasted in most of the eastern half of the country over the next 6-10 days, meaning less use of natgas for cooling. Production is steady, and gas heading into storage is forecasted to be high. The bottom line is that too much supply for not enough demand is sinking prices. The question is, how low will the price go? Will we once again break through the $3 barrier? 
In January, MDN brought you the news that TECfusions, based in Tampa, Florida, had purchased 1,395 acres in Upper Burrell (Westmoreland County), PA, for a groundbreaking data center project called TECfusions Keystone Connect (see