Think About Energy Briefing – Coming May 24 in NEPA
For those who live in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre orbit, MDN is pleased to call attention to a free shale energy seminar being held next Wednesday (May 24) in Dallas, PA. Borton-Lawson, Cabot Oil & Gas, UGI Energy Services, UGI Utilities, Williams, and in conjunction with ACT for America and the Back Mountain Chamber of Commerce, will host the “Think About Energy Briefing” on Wednesday, May 24 from 8-10am at Misericordia University. Natural gas will be the main topic of discussion. At the event presenting will be MDN friends Bill desRosiers (Cabot O&G) and Mike Atchie (Williams), among others. Here’s the deets for how you can attend…
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Yesterday MDN editor Jim Willis had the pleasure of attending, and moderating two panel sessions, at the Oil & Gas Awards 2017 Northeast Industry Summit in Pittsburgh. (Jim is back in Binghamton today, very tired!) When the sessions are made available via video, Jim will post them here on MDN. In the meantime a few words about the sessions and presenters, and about what we consider some pretty big news coming out of yesterday’s meeting. The day began with MDN friend George Stark, Director of External Affairs for Cabot Oil & Gas, making an impassioned plea for everyone in the industry to get involved with telling the great story of our beloved industry. Don’t think it’s someone else’s role–it’s the role of every single person in the industry, from janitor to secretary to CEO. George gave a rousing, opening address. George was followed by a panel discussion led by MDN friend Charlie Schliebs, Managing Director of Stone Pier Capital. Charlie’s panel tackled some interesting topics about mergers and acquisitions, bankruptcies, and where they see the price of natural gas going over the next several years. After Charlies panel was a panel discussing pipeline projects. The moderator was Fred Lowther, a partner at powerhouse energy law firm Blank Rome. Fred, who once worked on the Iroquois Gas Transmission Pipeline project when it was being built, said over the years since that pipeline was built he’s often joked they failed to do a “celebrity impact statement” when building it. Liked that line! After Fred’s panel was a talk given by Michael Krancer, also with Blank Rome (and former Secretary of the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection). Mike is always a take-no-prisoners presenter. We’ve always loved the way he thinks and expresses himself. Yesterday was no different. It was during Mike’s talk that we found what we believe was the most important thing said yesterday. It has to do with PA’s proposed General Permit 5A. Mike said if GP-5A is enacted as written, it will result in a 12-18 month moratorium on production in Pennsylvania…
If you have an interest in the Shell (and PTT, and Braskem and other) ethane cracker plants–listen up. There is a conference coming in Pittsburgh in June you may want to consider attending. 
Hart Energy’s Marcellus-Utica Midstream Conference and Exhibition was held this week in Pittsburgh. Although MDN could not be there in person, there are plenty of reports about what was said. Perhaps the most interesting we’ve read are comments by keynoter Alan Armstrong, CEO of Williams. Among the startling remarks Armstrong made: He expects natural gas production in the Marcellus/Utica to grow by 65% over the next five years–from 23 to 38 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d). Yikes! He also said there are currently 60 rigs operating in the M-U, which is “not nearly enough.” In order to meet growing demand, Armstrong says some 100 rigs are needed. Double yikes! Here’s some more pickings from what was said at the conference…
A special offer to MDN readers from the Appalachian Pipeliners Association (APA). MDN readers are invited to the January 2017 APA Dinner Meeting and Presentation: Oil & Gas Journal’s Forecast and Review–2017. Presented by Oil & Gas Journal Editor, Bob Tippee, the presentation (on Jan. 17) is sure to benefit industry operators and suppliers interested in learning more about what’s in store for the year ahead. MDN readers get a special discount to attend…
Last week MDN editor Jim Willis attended the “Platts Global Energy Outlook Forum 2016,” held at the beautiful Cipriani, located across the street from the iconic bull that sits on Wall Street. As in previous years, this year’s event featured a number of big names in the oil and gas industry. Most notable was the opening keynote address and Q&A with Harold Hamm, CEO of oil driller Continental Resources (and an adviser to Donald Trump). The luncheon featured the former Secretary General of OPEC. As you can surmise, this year’s event, unlike previous years, was mostly about oil. The recent OPEC agreement to cut production among member states by 1.2 million barrels per day, and a follow-on agreement by non-OPEC members (like Russia) to cut another 600,000 barrels per day, was the topic du jour for speakers and audience members alike. Below are MDN’s notes from Harold Hamm’s address and Q&A session…
On Sept. 30 MDN editor Jim Willis attended S&P Global Platts’ 
What if a couple of really smart analysts who work next to each other, guys who challenge each other every day, analysts who study and focus on natural gas production, were to pull the curtain back and reveal to the world what kinds of discussion and repartee they engage in? In particular, disclose their discussions and debate about the Marcellus/Utica? For those of us who eat/sleep/breath shale energy in the northeast, that would be wicked cool. And that’s just what MDN editor Jim Willis was treated to at S&P Global Platts’ Benposium East event in New York this past Wednesday. Luke Jackson, senior energy analyst with Platts Analytics, and Jeff Moore, also a senior energy analyst with Platts Analytics (the Bentek Products division) both live and work in Denver, CO. Their session at Benposium was titled, “Opposing Views–Northeast Production: Boom or Bust?” The two decided it would spice up what is normally a pretty dry conference presentation by standing on the stage and conducting a classic Oxford-style debate, where a motion is offered and one person argues “for” the motion, the other “against.” The motion they put forward was this: “Will Northeast production remain the sole engine of US natural gas production growth in the next 1-3 years, offsetting declines from the rest of the US and allowing overall US production to push higher?” In other words, can the Marcellus/Utica keep expanding production fast enough that it offsets declining production in other plays, or will those other plays need to increase their output too–to meet growing US demand? Luke argued for the motion and Jeff against. What was the conclusion? Keep reading! The boys used a dynamite PowerPoint slide deck. We asked for and got a copy of it and share it with you below. You need to take time to review the slides–they are awesome! Loaded with details. Below we also have some of our notes–quips and tidbits of information that caught our attention as the boys debated…
With apologies to Meghan Trainor, the second and final day at Shale Insight was “All about that Trump, bout that Trump–no Hillary.” However, as exciting as it was to hear The Donald (we’ll share the notes we took during his speech below), we heard an even better speaker yesterday: A young man (kid, really) by the name of Alex Epstein, author of the book “The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels” and founder of the Center for Industrial Progress. As we did yesterday, we will give you our highlights and impressions of sitting in on several of the days main sessions, followed by a plethora of links to stories from reporters who were there covering the event–mostly those there to cover the Trump speech. We also link to the full text of The Donald’s speech below. Buckle up! Here we go…
Day One of Shale Insight is now in the books. MDN editor Jim Willis is attending, with a booth, and had a chance to shake hands with many subscribers. A hearty and heart-felt “thank you” for the kind words to subscribers and long-time industry friends who stopped by. There is no way to sugarcoat the fact that the exhibit space (number of exhibitors) is much smaller this year than in past years. However, you just can’t replace getting face-to-face with customers and (hopefully) future customers. Although the event may be smaller in numbers, that’s not a reflection of the conference program. This year’s program is filled with terrific speakers. Jim had a chance to listen to the speakers during the main sessions in the morning and at lunch. They were some of the best he has heard in attending Shale Insight over the past five years–and that’s no exaggeration. Without a doubt the speaker from Day One grabbing the most headlines was Harold Hamm, CEO of Continental Resources and one of the drillers who figured out how to frac (with no “k”, we’ll explain below). Below are highlights only–pickings from the things Jim heard on Day One. We hope, at some point, to bring you the PowerPoint presentations and perhaps even videos for some of the talks–we’re working on it. In the meantime, here are brief highlights, things that caught our fancy, from the first day…
Welcome to Pittsburgh! MDN editor Jim Willis always enjoys the City of Bridges. Today begins Shale Insight. If you’re attending (and a number of MDN subscribers do attend), please stop by Booth 208 and say hello. There will be a number of top notch speakers both today and tomorrow. The person grabbing most of the headlines is Donald Trump, who will speak tomorrow. However, there are many other noteworthy speakers on the agenda. Harold Hamm, CEO of Continental Resources is one of them. Gary Heminger, CEO of Marathon Petroleum is another. Other standouts for MDN: Stacey Olson, the new president of Chevron Appalachia; Gladys Brown, chairwoman of the PA Public Utility Commission; Keith Burdette, Secretary of the West Virginia Department of Commerce; Camera Bartolotta, PA Senator; and Alex Epstein, author of the book, “The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels” (great book, Jim has read it). For the list of speakers and a full agenda, visit: 
By our reckoning, the 2016 Shale Insight event being held in Pittsburgh next week (Sept. 21-22) will be MDN editor Jim Willis’ fifth consecutive Shale Insight event. In past years Jim has hung out at the NGI (Natural Gas Intelligence) booth. This year Jim and Marcellus Drilling News will have their own booth: #208 (near the entrance). Jim invites MDN readers who are attending to stop by and say hello! Jim will bribe passersby with free candy, so stop by and grab a piece! What’s that? You aren’t (yet) registered to attend Shale Insight? Let’s get that rectified right now. There are many reasons to attend, including keynote addresses by Harold Hamm, CEO of Continental Resources, and a closing keynote by none other than The Donald (as in Trump). Here’s a rundown of what’s happening next week at Shale Insight…