Chemical Industry Investment Linked to Shale Gas Tops $200 Billion
Yesterday the American Chemistry Council (ACC) declared its undying love for homegrown, American shale gas. The ACC announced that U.S. chemical industry investment linked to plentiful and affordable domestic supplies of natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs) has topped $200 billion. ACC recognized this historic milestone by reemphasizing the benefits of shale gas to the U.S. economy and the ways in which it supports the energy transition and a so-called lower-emissions future.
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Every “game” comes to an end when play must stop and a winner, and a loser, are declared. If you watch basketball you know that the final couple of minutes can last what seems like a lifetime. One team, up by 2 or 3 points, gains possession of the ball and they are in the lead. What do they do? Play keep-away. Run the clock down so the opponent can’t score to tie or pull ahead. What does the opponent do? Try to foul the person with the ball, or call for a time-out, in order to stop the clock and (hopefully) when the ball is thrown in and play resumes, regain possession and score. In a sense, that’s what is happening with the 94% complete Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project, a 303-mile pipeline from West Virginia to southern Virginia. Right now anti-American Big Green groups have possession of the ball (having co-opted leftist judges) and they are ahead by one point, hoping to end the game by running out the clock. Will they succeed?
Last year the Bidenistas initiated a massive power grab of transferring the right of individual states to regulate local natural gas gathering pipelines to the federal government, which is set to happen on May 16 of this year (see 
The editorial writers at the Wall Street Journal have taken notice of something MDN has been trumpeting for more than four years: The same three Democrat judges who sit on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit keep killing U.S. energy projects. Specifically, they’re prejudiced against natural gas pipeline projects. We’re talking about Judge Stephanie Thacker, appointed by Barack Hussein Obama; Judge James Wynn, appointed by Barack Hussein Obama; and Chief Judge Roger Gregory, appointed by William Jefferson Clinton. These three leftwing judges find the smallest, nitpicky things to use as an excuse to block the completion of the 94% completed, 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). Enough!
As we told you last week, Energy Transfer, during its first quarter update, spoke about the now-completed Mariner East pipeline system that flows NGLs, including ethane, propane, and butane, from eastern Ohio and southwestern Pennsylvania all the way to southeastern PA and the Marcus Hook terminal (see 
In December, Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP), a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan, filed a proposal with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to implement a “responsibly sourced natural gas (RSG) supply aggregation pooling service” at select locations across the TGP system (see 
LNG seems to be the word on everyone’s lips these days–everyone in the oil and gas space, that is. Two weeks ago TC Energy (formerly TransCanada), a huge midstream/pipeline company, issued its first quarter update and held a conference call with analysts. We’re just now learning about some of the chatter coming from that update–very interesting chatter. LNG was a hot topic–flowing more molecules, especially Marcellus/Utica molecules–to LNG export facilities along the Gulf Coast. TC Energy CEO Francois Poirier said during a conference call that roughly one-quarter (25%) of all the molecules that flow to U.S. LNG export facilities get to those facilities by traveling through TC’s pipelines.
Energy Transfer, one of the biggest pipeline and midstream companies in the U.S., issued its quarterly update yesterday. Of particular interest to us was the honorable mention the Mariner Easter (ME) project received. Construction of the final phase of the Mariner East project was completed in 1Q22, bringing Energy Transfer’s total NGL capacity on the Mariner East pipeline system to more than 365,000 barrels per day, including ethane. NGLs, including those flowing through the ME system, along with LNG, were the two dominant themes running through yesterday’s update.
Yesterday MDN brought you the news that Equitrans Midstream, builder of the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project from West Virginia to southern Virginia, has decided to roll the dice for a third time with the radical judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit by applying for a new permit to cross 3.5 miles of the Jefferson National Forest (see 
With all due respect, Equitrans Midstream, builder of the 94% completed Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), is making a big mistake, in our humble opinion. Equitrans issued its first quarter 2022 update this morning. The big announcement from the update is that the company plans to file for new permits from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to allow MVP to build through 3.5 miles of the Jefferson National Forest. The radically left U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (4th Circuit) has ruled against MVP and those same permits twice before. Equitrans CEO Thomas F. Karam says he thinks the third time will be the charm. We say, don’t hold your breath.
Reuters has noticed that the rate of growth in the production of natural gas has slowed nationally, even though the price for natural gas is at a 14-year high and even though other countries, particularly Europe, are begging for our gas. Why? Lack of pipelines. We have the ability to produce far more natural gas than we do now, but Big Green (funded in part by foreign countries and bad actors) successfully defeats new pipeline projects with a barrage of lawsuits.