Mom Earth is Farting Methane Faster than Warmers Thought
It seems old Mom Earth has a major case of flatulence (i.e. farting). Researchers who have been mapping the ocean floor have discovered “an active strip of seafloor called the Cascadia Subduction Zone is bubbling methane like mad” off the coast of Washington, Oregon and California. [Quick, somebody call Cornell prof Bob Howarth! There’s fugitive methane escaping!!] Big Green advocates get their knickers in a twist over fugitive methane because, ‘ya know, it causes global warming. But this time mankind is nowhere to be found as the cause. This massive methane leak off the West Coast is Mom Earth, all by herself, farting away and killing herself without even knowing it. How tragic. And how funny!…
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MDN’s favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration, has just published a brief article denoting a milestone: the amount of natural gas in storage has reached a new, record high of 4.017 trillion cubic feet (Tcf). Our country does not use as much natural gas as we produce during the months of April through October–which is the time when we store the extra gas in (mostly) underground salt caverns. From November to March, when it’s cold, we withdraw gas from storage because we’re using more than we produce. Over the past few years we have produced, and stored, far more gas than we can use–leading to a crash in natgas prices. A buildup in storage is a signal to the market that once again we have too much supply and not enough demand. Which furthermore is a signal that the recent rise in prices for natgas (over $3/Mcf) isn’t likely to last. In fact, the price of gas over the past month has gone from $3.25/Mcf to (today) $2.75/Mcf–a $0.50 drop. Storage is a big part of the reason why. Here’s what the EIA had to say…
In March we highlighted the issue of abandoned oil and natural gas wells in Pennsylvania (see 
While the worldwide Baker Hughes rig count slide back a bit in October, from 934 in September to 920 in October, the rig count in the U.S. once again, for the fourth month in a row, went up. The average U.S. rig count for October was 544, up 35 from the 509 counted in September. However, the rig count was down 247 from the 791 counted in October 2015–so we still have a long ways to go. The Marcellus/Utica rig count was up for the third month running. In October the M/U rig count went up by 4 with 3 additions in PA (now 25 rigs) and 1 in WV (now 10 rigs). OH stayed even running with an average of 14 rigs…
IHS Markit, an information and analytics company that keeps a close eye on the energy industry, says its analysis shows natural gas production in the U.S. went down “nearly 2%” in October from September. It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s a big deal. Production levels in South Texas and the Northeast, according to VP Jack Weixel, “fell off a combined 1.3 Bcf/d from September to October.” That is the largest regional month over month decline IHS Markit has seen since it began tracking these numbers. What does it mean? Typically it means higher prices are coming–less supply, the same or increasing demand equals higher prices (classic economics 101 stuff). However, there are so many complex and contributing factors, it’s not as simple as less supply = higher prices. Not anymore! Here’s what IHS Markit is saying…
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently launched a “What If…?” series to counter the radical “keep it in the ground” movement–a movement that irrationally hates the use of fossil fuels. In August the Chamber released their first such report, titled “What If…Energy Production was Banned on Federal Lands and Waters?” (see 
As we near the end of this year, analysts and consultants inevitably turn their attention to next year, 2017. Will oil and gas drillers spend more money next year on their drilling programs? The consensus appears to be a resounding “Yes!” The question is, how much more? Anyone’s guess. But analysts like to guess. One those analyst firms is Evercore ISI, an investment banking advisory firm founded in 1995. Evercore’s smarties are predicting drillers will spend 25% more next year than they did this year on drilling–with a total collective spend across the industry of ~$110 billion. Here’s their thinking…
MDN editor Jim Willis recently had the pleasure of addressing the Petroleum Club at the University of Pittsburgh’s Bradford, PA campus. Not in person, but via Skype video. When Jim asked the group, most of them in their second year of a two-year petroleum technology program about future job prospects, he got the impression they are concerned. The Marcellus industry has not been immune to layoffs. Graduating with a degree in an industry that’s seen 300,000+ layoffs over the past two years might make some question the wisdom of entering the program in the first place. Jim’s message to these eager young people bursting with potential? Don’t give up–and be encouraged. At the recent Shale Insight event and Benposium East event (both held in September), Jim had a number of conversations with those who either work in or invest in the o&g industry. His conclusion after speaking with industry insiders? Things are beginning to turn around. In fact, we can’t count the number of stories that talk about the coming shortage of good workers in the o&g industry. Today we spotted a press release from Energent Group promoting new research and wanted to highlight some of the information in that release–information that may be helpful to our new young friends at Pitt-Bradford, and for others in the industry looking for work. The research highlights the fact there are many drilled but uncompleted wells (DUCs), in all shale plays–but particularly in the oily Permian and Eagle Ford shale plays. According to the Energent research, workers probably stand the best chance of getting a job with a frac crew–because companies will first work on completing the already-drilled wells by fracking them. Makes sense to us!…
Black & Veatch, a global engineering, consulting, construction, and operations company that is a major player in the oil and gas market, has just-released a new report: 2016 Strategic Directions: Natural Gas Industry Report (see a copy below). The new report tackles market outlooks for the upstream, midstream and downstream segments. One of the sections that caught our eye: power market opportunities, which explores how coal plant retirements and lower operating dispatch costs have moved natural gas to its place as the primary energy source in the United States. Also in the report, the attitudes of those working in the industry is optimistic. But the report authors issue a note of caution: “Yet, this optimism may be masking some substantial warning signs, particularly for upstream and midstream players. Tight controls on capital investments, tied to the low margins inherent in today’s pricing environment, have constrained new projects. Lower crude oil prices have revitalized petrochemical projects in the downstream sector, particularly in international markets, but investors still question long-term viability. This raises a key question for how organizations are, or are not, positioned to take advantage of an eventual pricing correction.” In other words, drillers and pipeline companies shouldn’t be popping the cork on the champagne bottle just yet. Here’s the fifth annual natgas update from B&V…
For years now the radical Park Park Foundation has been buying its research from a few select professors at a few select universities. One of the scientists for sale is Avner Vengosh, professor of geochemistry and water quality at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment (see 
Anti-fossil fuel zealots have long attempted to scare the masses with false claims about fracked shale gas in the Marcellus. Early on radical environmental organizations tried to scare people in New York City, telling them they’ll get lung cancer from radon in Marcellus gas if they use it (see