Private Cos. Now Operate 55% of M-U Rigs, Drill 25% of New Wells
There are advantages and disadvantages to being publicly or privately owned. In the oil and gas sector, most large companies are publicly owned–meaning they have a board of directors, and the “owners” hold shares of stock in the company, shares traded on public exchanges. In the Marcellus/Utica, most of the top drillers are publicly owned: Range Resources, Coterra Energy, CNX Resources, EQT Corporation, Antero Resources, Southwestern Energy, Repsol, National Fuel Gas Company (i.e. Seneca Resources), and Gulfport Energy. Several others are privately owned, including Ascent Resources (Ohio’s largest natural gas producer and the 8th largest natural gas producer in the U.S.), Greylock Energy (based in West Virginia), and Olympus Energy (which drills in the Pittsburgh suburbs).
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This morning the Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) released its latest quarterly Natural Gas Production Report for July through September 2022 (full copy below). There were 158 new horizontal wells spud (drilled) in 3Q22, an increase of 47 wells (+42%) compared to 3Q21. However, natural gas production volume was 1,878 billion cubic feet (Bcf) in 3Q22, a slight decrease (-0.8%) from 3Q21. It is the third quarterly decrease in production in a row (comparing the same quarters year-over-year). However, 3Q22 production was up slightly (+1.4%) from 2Q22.
Most New Yorkers are clueless about a law passed in 2019 called the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (or “Climate Act”), which limits carbon dioxide emissions to zero (an impossibility) by 2050 (see 
Yesterday Northwood University (in Michigan), along with the Mackinac Center for Public Policy (also in Michigan), published a new study called, “The Truth About Natural Gas: A Wellspring for the U.S. and Global Energy Future” (full copy below). The study says we ignore the many benefits of natural gas at our own peril. Flawed energy policies by the Bidenistas are harming our ability to meet everyday needs. The study looks at Europe and the boneheaded policies they adopted that reduce domestic natural gas production there. Europe’s policies have created an all-out energy crisis for its citizens (don’t blame Putin–if Europe had its own supplies of natgas it could tell Vlad to kiss off).
A new study from the American Gas Foundation (full copy below) concludes that the ability of the natural gas system to meet seasonal and peak day demands and to reliably deliver natural gas, even during high-impact events, represents an important and valuable resource that must be considered when designing future energy systems and building pathways to a low-carbon future. In other words, solar farms and windmills alone will NEVER be enough to provide reliable energy for the American consumer. If we want “resilience” (the capacity to recover quickly), we need natural gas. It’s that simple.
So much for the “peak gas” theorists out there who predict we’ve finally hit the top of natural gas usage in this country. It isn’t happening. The U.S. Energy Information Administration says, after analyzing its mountains of data, that the U.S. *increased* its usage of natural gas for all purposes, including exports, by 3.6% last year. We’re abundantly certain this year will show a similar increase.
The left, and many on the right, are banking on hydrogen to be the next BIG THING in energy. Hydrogen fuel cell cars and burning hydrogen to heat your home are just two huge applications people dream will come true in the next 20 years. Of course, they’ve been dreaming about hydrogen for more than 50 years, but the history of hydrogen is for another post. We pay attention to hydrogen because 95% of all hydrogen today is produced by steam cracking natural gas. Ergo, hydrogen has the potential to be a big, important, new customer for our molecules. Everyone and his brother is making predictions about the market for hydrogen over the next 30 years. Norwegian company DNV has its own prediction, the “Hydrogen Forecast to 2050.”
Once a month, the analysts at the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) grab the official Henry Hub pricing dart board and play a quick game to determine what price they will predict for the average Henry Hub spot price for natural gas for the rest of this year, and an average price for all of next year. Two months ago (in September), EIA predicted in its Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) that the Henry Hub average price for natural gas in the fourth quarter of this year would hit $9/MMBtu, and the average for all of 2023 would be around $6/MMBtu (see 
Fortuitously, following our rant on EQT joining the United Nations Oil & Gas Methane Partnership 2.0 (see EQT Receives United Nations “Gold Standard” Stamp of Approval), we happened across a summary of a newly published report by O&G consulting giant Wood Mackenzie on so-called Scope 3 emissions and how oil and gas companies are struggling to plan for tracking (and to reduce) Scope 3. This report confirms exactly what we are saying: Programs like the U.N.’s OGMP 2.0 will eventually (sooner rather than later) begin to put the squeeze on oil and gas to track and reduce Scope 3. The obvious conclusion is that our O&G companies will be forced to exit the oil and gas business altogether to remain compliant.
National Grid is desperately trying not to run out of natural gas for its customers in Brooklyn and Queens (on Long Island). For several years the company has fought a battle to run a tiny pipeline to its Greenpoint, Brooklyn facility to provide extra natural gas. That project is being investigated by the Biden administration on charges of racism (see 
The U.S. Energy Information Administration says natural gas consumption in all sectors in the United States was effectively flat between 2020 and 2021, down by only 0.5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d). The pandemic was to blame. Natgas usage hit a record high in 2019, just prior to the pandemic, but has decreased since that time. In 2021, natural gas used in the electric power sector (which is the largest U.S. natural gas-consuming sector) decreased by 3%. However, and this is the good news, the EIA predicts natural gas-fired generation will increase by 5% this year.
We began to see the latest fake news attacks against natural gas nearly two weeks ago. The extreme, leftwing activist group Physicians, Scientists and Engineers for Healthy Energy (PSEHE) produced a junk science report that claims the natural gas in your cooking stove is leaking gas that contains chemicals that cause cancer. Mainstream outlets, like NBC News, dutifully (without verifying it) reported this nonsense like it was legitimate science news. It is not. It’s quackery. But then NBC (and others like it) have VERY low standards. NBC is more into propaganda and advocacy than it is reporting objective, unbiased news. No worries. We will debunk it for you below.