BP Dumps Annual Statistical Review – Energy Institute New Publisher
Looks like the rumors were true. Last December, we told you that oil giant BP (formerly British Petroleum) was considering axing its annual Statistical Review of World Energy publication, which the company has published since 1952. Why stop publishing it? Because being honest about the data was exposing the so-called transition to green energy as the hoax that it is (see BP Considers Axing Statistical Review – It Makes Greens Look Bad). BP, a European company, has (sadly) become politically correct and unable to speak the truth–at least in public. That truth is that oil and gas have been and will continue to be the dominant source of energy in the world for generations to come. So the company wanted to dump the publication. BP has found an “independent” third party to continue publishing it–The Energy Institute.
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Consulting giant Deloitte’s new report “Oil and Gas M&A Outlook 2023: Pivoting for Change” examines the shift in the industry and the strategic pivots expected to shape the future. The report says so-called “clean energy” is now a “substantial driver” of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the oil and gas industry and signals big changes in the M&A playbook.
A University of Alberta (Canada) mechanical engineer and his team published a study last month in the journal Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews on the greenhouse gas reduction potential of blending natural gas with hydrogen in Alberta, Canada (full copy below). Albertans can replace 15-20% of the natural gas in their pipes and furnaces with hydrogen using current technology and current pipeline infrastructure. The team found that a 15% hydrogen/methane blend would cut–at most–5% off of Alberta’s carbon footprint by 2050. A nothingburger. But here’s the kicker: Blending hydrogen with methane results in higher average energy prices. Higher prices, no environmental advantages. Tell us again why we want to blend explosive hydrogen with methane in our pipelines?
According to a new report published by the International Energy Forum (IEF) and S&P Global Commodity Insights, annual upstream oil and gas investment needs to rise by 28% to reach $640 billion by 2030 to ensure adequate global supplies. If it doesn’t, the world will see shortages. The Saudi Arabia-based IEF says a cumulative $4.9 trillion (!) will be needed from now until 2030 to meet market needs, even if the growth in oil and gas demand slows down.
The Institute for Energy Research (IER) is a not-for-profit organization that conducts research and analysis on the functions, operations, and government regulation of global energy markets. IER maintains that freely-functioning energy markets provide the most efficient and effective solutions to today’s global energy and environmental challenges and, as such, are critical to the well-being of individuals and society. A new study just published by IER (below) shows how restricting oil and gas development in countries like the U.S. with strict environmental standards pushes O&G development to countries with lower environmental standards. The end result is that the worldwide environment gets worse.
Anti-drillers, with the assistance of biased “news” publications like the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, continually make false accusations against the shale industry in the southwestern Pennsylvania area, alleging that fracking is the cause of rare forms of cancer in children (see 
There are a (very) few Democrats in Washington, D.C., who still support natural gas. It seems most national Democrat leaders (in Congress and beyond) have been coopted by the radical left of the party and now endorse the national suicide of dumping fossil energy. But not all Dems. A group of so-called moderate Democrats who aligned themselves with Bill Clinton formed a think tank in 1989 called the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI). The PPI recently published an issue brief (report) called “The Climate Case for Expanding U.S. Natural Gas Export.” The report says expanding U.S. LNG exports can lower global greenhouse gas emissions significantly, especially if fugitive emissions of methane are deeply reduced. The report even supports the construction of more pipelines here in the U.S. Imagine that! A group of Dems who support natgas and LNG exports. It’s like spotting a unicorn in the wild.
Once a month, the analysts at the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) issue the agency’s Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), their best guess about where energy prices and production will go in the next 12 months or so. We sometimes poke good-natured fun at the EIA because one month, their predictions go up, the next month, down, etc. What about the latest STEO dart board, published yesterday? EIA slashed the price of natural gas at the Henry Hub another 30% from the previous monthly STEO, saying natgas will average $3.40/MMBut in 2023, down from a forecast of $4.90 the month before. EIA’s new average price, if it holds, would be 50% lower than 2022’s average of $6.42/MMBtu.
The Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Association (TIPRO) recently released the eighth edition of the organization’s “State of Energy Report” (full copy below). The report gives a detailed analysis of national and state trends in oil and natural gas employment, wages, and other key economic factors for ?the energy industry in 2022. The U.S. oil and gas industry employed 948,943 professionals in 2022, according to the report. That’s down from the all-time high of 1.3 million in 2019 but up 39,721 from 2021. When adding direct and indirect jobs, the oil and gas industry supported more than 19 million (!) jobs last year.
Sometimes we (collectively) need to zoom out for a look at the bigger energy picture. Our little piece of the energy puzzle, production of natural gas, NGLs, and even oil here in the Marcellus/Utica, is part of a much larger picture of energy supply and demand. The left has convinced most of the human population that we MUST “transition” to so-called renewables to power the world or all is lost. Because of that false narrative now embedded in the brains of most people, governments are doing crazy things like banning natural gas in new construction (ala California and New York). Private companies–drillers and midstream companies–are reticent to invest big money in more drilling and infrastructure if, in the next 10-15 years, that investment will cease to provide a return. Companies are behaving rationally, given the irrational insanity around them, by NOT investing–even if energy prices are super high right now. Who can blame them?
On December 23, 2022, natural gas consumption in the U.S. Lower 48 states reached a new, all-time daily record high of 141.0 billion cubic feet (Bcf). The previous record was set in January 2018. As you may recall, we had a cold snap and nasty winter weather in late December, driving up the use of clean, abundant, and still relatively cheap natural gas. Gas for heating saw a big increase in use, along with increased demand from gas-fired power plants. Combined, it drove usage to a new all-time high.
The mighty BP (formerly British Petroleum) is an oil and natural gas company trying to convert itself into a renewable energy company. We’d say they’re failing, big time. BP has gone screwy. It’s a European company and has bought into the false narrative that fossil energy is on the way out due to concerns over mythical global warming. In BP’s recently published Annual Energy Outlook for 2023 (full copy below), the company predicts (once again) that fossil energy is on the way out, but now it’s happening even faster than before because of (a) Putin’s war on Ukraine, forcing Europe to adopt unreliable renewables even quicker than before, and (b) Biden’s so-called Inflation Reduction Act, pouring billions into the effort to smash fossil energy and elevate electric-everything.
The number crunchers at the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) have analyzed proved reserves data for 2021 (the most recent year available) and have determined that proved reserves soared, up by 32% from the previous year. Why? Five of the eight states with the most proved reserves of natural gas each reported new record volumes, driving the growth nationally. And one of those five is a Marcellus/Utica state: West Virginia.
Purely by happenstance, we stumbled across an interesting “working paper” published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. The paper (we’d call it a study) is titled “Negotiations of Oil and Gas Auxiliary Lease Clauses: Evidence from Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale” (full copy below), first published in December but subsequently updated in January. Researchers scanned and (using software) analyzed nearly 60,000 leases signed in the Marcellus Shale Play of Pennsylvania. They learned some interesting things about PA leases. One of the main conclusions (eye-opening for us) is that getting more money for your lease is not necessarily tied to whether or not nearby wells are good producers. At best, better lease terms have a “weak relationship” to the performance of other wells in a given geography. What is the secret to getting more favorable lease terms?