WVU Gets $1.3M Grant to Research Ways to Use More NatGas In-State
West Virginia University (WVU) is a research powerhouse. They have lots of researchers doing important work in a variety of disciplines. One of those disciplines is natural gas. WVU founded the Center for Innovation in Gas Research and Utilization (CIGRU) to “conduct transformative, fundamental, research directed at innovative pathways for shale gas utilization and upgrading.” CIGRU, along with two other non-shale related research programs, have just collectively received a $3.9 million Research Challenge Grant from the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission. The WVU press release doesn’t say how each of the three different recipients (CIGRU being one of them) got, but we figure they likely divided it evenly, hence our assumption that CIGRU got $1.3 million. And what will CIGRU do with the money? Figure out ways to keep more of the Marcellus/Utica gas coming out of West Virginia’s rocks in the state–used by residents and businesses who reside in WV. They want to grow the “downstream” sector of end users of natural gas and other byproducts from shale drilling…
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Researchers at Tufts University say they have found a better, cheaper way to convert methane (i.e. natural gas) directly into methanol. “The direct oxidation of methane—found in natural gas—into methanol at low temperatures has long been a holy grail,” so says the Tufts announcement. A group of chemical engineers say they have found a way to do it. What’s the big deal about methanol? Methanol plants convert natural gas into methanol, used as a chemical feedstock (or raw material) to create other things, like gasoline, antifreeze, plastic bottles–even LED and LCD screens. In August 2016 MDN was the first to share the news that US Methanol is building at least two, rumored up to five, methanol plants in West Virginia (see 
The number crunchers have been crunching away at our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration. And what have they found in crunching shale-related numbers? The Marcellus/Utica (i.e. the Appalachian region) is a monster. In 2012 the M-U produced a cumulative 7.8 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas production. Now, in 2017, it’s producing 23.7 Bcf/d. That’s triple the volume in just five years! No other shale play comes close. When you look at the EIA chart (below) you easily see that Appalachia, the Marcellus/Utica, is THE big kahuna of shale plays…
Methane (i.e. natural gas) is often made out to be a bogeyman by radical environmentalists. They’d have you believe a single molecule wafting into the air will cause global warming and make Mom Earth fry. It’s bunkum. However, the fairy tales we grow up with exert a strong control over us later in life. The hew and cry of so-called environmentalists is that extracting natural gas leads to fugitive methane in the atmosphere–and fugitive methane diminishes the benefits of using natural gas. Some quacks like Cornell professors Tony Ingraffea and Robert Howarth actually say burning dirty coal is better than extracting and using clean-burning natural gas (see 
Researchers with Halliburton and EQT have created a new friction reducer, testing it in three Marcellus wells. What’s a friction reducer? It is a chemical substance used to reduce the amount of friction water (or other liquids) encounters in a pipe. Lots of water (and recycled wastewater) is pumped down the bore hole to frack a Marcellus well–upward of 5 million gallons. About 20% of that water comes back out of the hole and is recycled and used again for more fracking. The problem is, the wastewater has a lot of minerals in it, i.e. it’s super “salty.” In order to keep recycling and using the wastewater to frack more wells, typically fresh water has to be added because as the wastewater gets more salty, it encounters more friction along the pipe. So a friction reducer is needed to keep the liquid flowing fast along the pipe. The innovation–the breakthrough that Halliburton has pioneered–means that drillers won’t have to add fresh water to recycled wastewater for fracking. They can now use 100% recycled wastewater with no fresh water added. Even as the wastewater is reused again and again, getting more salty, it can still be used without mixing in fresh water…
The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) is an organization you may not have heard much about. NARUC is a non-profit organization representing state public service commissions who regulate the utilities that provide essential services such as energy, telecommunications, power, water, and transportation. NARUC has just done us all a favor. On Monday NARUC released a new report on best practices and recommendations for state regulators to promote and support the expansion of natural gas service in unserved and underserved areas, including rural areas. “Report of the NARUC Task Force on Natural Gas Access and Expansion” (full copy below) is a 57-page report for state public utility/service commissions that includes eight recommended ways states can grow natural gas use to those not currently served by it…
Each year (for the 11th year running) the Canadian-based Fraser Institute surveys petroleum industry executives and managers (333 of them for 2017) asking them their opinions on the barriers to investing in exploration and production in various geographies across the globe. That is, what makes them more likely or less likely to spend money drilling in a particular location? The Global Petroleum Survey (full copy below), tallies the survey responses and ranks each geography from most desirable place to invest, to least desirable. The rankings for this year are interesting and illustrative that politicians’ words and regulatory environment have a direct bearing on where, and how much, drilling companies are willing to spend. No money spent, no drilling. The barriers to spending in a given geography include: high tax rates, costly regulatory schemes, uncertainty over environmental regulations and the interpretation and administration of regulations governing the petroleum industry, and security threats. Only one state in the Marcellus/Utica ranked in the Top 10 “most attractive” jurisdictions for oil and gas investment–West Virginia…
Each year the International Energy Agency (IEA) issues a special World Energy Outlook report. The 2017 edition was recently published. This latest edition of the Outlook says the global energy market will be completely reshaped over the next 25 years by four main forces: (1) the U.S. (because of shale) will become THE global oil and gas leader; (2) the cost of renewables will fall, meaning we’ll see more renewable energy; (3) electricity’s share of the energy mix will grow; and (4) China is going greener. We don’t know about that last one. Ever visited Beijing? Don’t go outside without a gas mask–the pollution is so heavy you literally can’t breathe. Anywho…Perhaps the biggest force is the first one. In addition to leading the world in oil and gas production, the U.S. will become the world’s largest LNG exporter in the next few years–by the mid-2020s according to IEA. That changes everything. Even with the rise of natgas (via LNG) and renewables over the next few decades, IEA says it’s still too soon to hold a funeral for oil. Global oil demand will continue to grow year in and year out through the forecast period (all the way to 2040). Tell us again, green Nazis, how renewables will take over the world within a generation. (We just picked ourselves up off the floor from laughing so hard.) Oil and natural gas are the primary sources of energy for the world, and they will be after everyone reading this is long dead…
We find it particularly offensive when a liberal/leftist group, like the National Association for the Advancement of [Liberal] Colored People, or NAACP, declares a pipeline project to be racist. The far-left organization made the outrageous claim, in a report they issued yesterday called “Fumes Across the Fence-Line: The Health Impacts of Air Pollution from Oil and Gas Facilities on African American Communities” (full copy below), that Dominion’s $5 billion 594-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) will force black people in low income communities in eastern North Carolina to bear “more than their fair share” of the so-called “risks” posed by the pipeline. ACP is a natural gas pipeline that will stretch from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a final approval for ACP in October (see 
History will have been made this year in America’s shale plays. That’s according to our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Yesterday the EIA issued our favorite monthly report, the Drilling Productivity Report (DPR). The DPR is the EIA’s best guess, based on expert data crunchers, as to how much each of the U.S.’s seven major shale plays will produce for both oil and natural gas in the coming month. Last month was a record-breaker when total shale gas output blew by 60 billion cubic feet per day (see 
Black & Veatch, a leading engineering, consulting and construction company, released their “2017 Strategic Directions: Natural Gas Industry Report” earlier this week (full copy below). In the report, B&V examines how organizations are planning for long-term, sustainable operations that can handle rising supplies and deliver those supplies to markets eager to use natural gas as a cheaper and cleaner power generation source. The report finds that LNG (liquefied natural gas) is key in shifting oversupply from countries like the U.S. to growing demand centers in Asia, Latin America, India and Sub-Saharan Africa. The report emphasizes calls from the industry to fund infrastructure investments to enable increased LNG imports and exports, including floating LNG (FLNG) and natural gas-based power generating plants. There is no doubt, according to the report, that the U.S. is now in the driver’s seat with respect to LNG. Below is a summary of the key points, followed by the full report…
Even OPEC–the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries–now admits that U.S. shale energy is here to stay. At least for the foreseeable future. For OPEC, the foreseeable future is until 2025. Yesterday OPEC released its annual “World Oil Outlook 2040” (copy below). The massive 364-page report predicts that U.S. shale oil will continue to grow, and dominate the oil markets–until 2025 (eight years from now). At that point OPEC says shale oil will peak and following that, OPEC will once again be in the driver’s seat–ready, willing and able to screw Americans and everyone else who buys their oil. We think OPEC is smoking some good stuff…
Last week the University of Pennsylvania published “Pennsylvania’s Gas Decade,” a study looking at the impact of the Marcellus Shale on the state’s utility customers over a ten-year period, from 2007-2016 (full copy below). The study shows that on average, PA customers now pay 40% less for natural gas than they did ten years ago. The study also shows electricity customers are paying less–thanks to the Marcellus. Before Marcellus drilling began, PA produced 1% of the nation’s natural gas supplies. Today? PA produces 16% of our country’s natgas supplies. Thank you Marcellus! The study’s author predicts the trend toward lower natgas prices for PA residents will reverse–eventually. Why? The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved a staggering 53 interstate pipeline projects that cross PA (more than twice that of any other state). Once/if those projects are built, more gas will flow out of the state, meaning prices for gas will rise. Hey, drillers aren’t sticking around in PA just to break even or lose money. They are in the state to make money, and part of making money is getting the gas to other markets. In the meantime, before the plethora of pipelines are built, PA residents should enjoy the low prices they’re paying…
Researchers at Northwestern University have just published a new study called, “Characterization of Marcellus Shale Fracture Properties through Size Effect Tests and Computations” (full copy below). The study runs 33 pages and is highly technical. The premise of the study is to use a new/different method of testing on Marcellus Shale rock in order to more accurately describe how the rocks behave under certain conditions. We’re not scientists and don’t know whether there are important insights in this research which can help drillers, but we suspect there may be, which is why we pass it along. Any time we see hard science relating to the Marcellus that’s not colored by a fractivist agenda, we think it’s worth highlighting. Below is the abstract, followed by a full copy of the study, for our drilling engineer readers…