NYMEX NatGas Price Flirts with Going Below $3.00, Settles at $3.01
Energy analysts say the front-month contract for NYMEX natural gas (for May) is “flirting with [the] $3.00 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) psychological level.” At one point during trading yesterday, the price tested an intraday low of $2.995. Yuck. Are we heading back below $3 again? Unfortunately, analysts are saying that although $3 is a strong psychological barrier, “technicals indicate further weakness ahead.” Sounds a bit ominous. Read More “NYMEX NatGas Price Flirts with Going Below $3.00, Settles at $3.01”
Reuters is reporting that the European Union (we call them ‘Euro weenies’) is looking at ways to make it easier for U.S. LNG exports to comply with its onerous new methane emissions regulations. The EU is earnestly trying to avoid a trade war with President Trump, according to sources speaking to Reuters. What’s happening is that Europe is trying to figure out how it can not block U.S. LNG based on its cockamamie new regulations and save face at the same time. 
The research continues to roll in that deeply blue Democrat states that insist on forcing their citizens to convert to so-called green energy are driving them out of those states. Last week, we brought you an analysis of counties along the Pennsylvania/New York border, on either side (see 
NATIONAL: Amazon has paused some data center lease commitments; Recruitment experts reveal biggest oil, gas hiring surprises of 2025 so far; WTI rebounds 2% on supply, geopolitical shifts; Big Oil is offshoring its prized engineering jobs to India; LNG exports won’t increase U.S. gas prices – infrastructure bottlenecks will; How much oil is the USA producing right now?; On Earth Day, we finally have a president who follows science; The bright future of natural gas; U.S. LNG dealmaking picks up with benefits for midstream; U.S. LNG feedgas slipped last week; Extreme climate activists aren’t going away; Gas up, emissions down – the future of transportation; INTERNATIONAL: China-owned supertankers face $5.2 million in fees per USA call; Earth Day 2025: Our Power, Our Planet, Our Propaganda. 
The West Virginia Supreme Court was scheduled to hear two significant oil and gas royalty disputes during a morning session today. Both cases center on whether natural gas companies can deduct post-production costs from royalty payments and, if so, under what circumstances. The stakes are incredibly high for both landowners and drillers. The first case, Kaess v. BB Land LLC, we had not previously heard about. The second case, Romeo v. Antero Resources Corporation, we have heard about. We first reported on that case back in 2017 (see 
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), and its Regional Entities recently issued a report stating that the country’s bulk-power system performed well during successive cold weather events in January 2025, without major issues in either the natural gas or electric systems. The system’s performance, according to the joint report, demonstrates the benefits of actions taken in response to recommendations from prior winter storm reports and the need for continued coordination between natural gas and electric systems in preparing for and responding to extreme cold weather. No word in the report on unreliable renewables because, well, they don’t matter. Natural gas power is what really matters. 
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) was created to help advance clean-energy infrastructure and technologies that allegedly had the potential to be adequate energy resources but struggled to secure private investment. In reality, LPO is a taxpayer-backed ATM for unreliable energy technologies and infrastructure that can’t compete without federal funding. It’s a Biden-era boondoggle, and it’s time to scrap it. 
Today is the annual day when environmental wackos demand fealty to Mother Earth. You WILL bow down and worship the creation (instead of the Creator) or risk being excommunicated from polite company. We thumb our noses at Earth Day worshipers and declare our love for the miracle of fossil energy on this Earth Day. We invite you to join us in celebrating the greatest invention of mankind–fossil fuels! 
The Baker Hughes U.S. national rig count recovered somewhat last week, adding two rigs after losing seven rigs two weeks ago. The U.S. count now stands at 585 active rigs. There was big news for the Marcellus/Utica. The combined M-U rig count was 38 last week. That is the highest M-U combined count in almost one year—since May of 2024. The Marcellus added the one rig it lost the prior week and now stands at 25 rigs across the three M-U states of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. Rigs focused on the Utica added two, and now stands at 13 rigs. PA was a big winner, adding two rigs, now with 18 active rigs — the highest number it has had since last August. However, OH also added two rigs and now operates 12, the most active rigs in the Buckeye State in over a year. 
The NYMEX natural gas price for May delivery (referred to as the “front month” contract) decreased by 28.20 cents per million British thermal units (MMBtu), or 8.0%, last week. Over the past three weeks, the NYMEX price has trended down, losing 82 cents or 20.2%. What the heck is going on? Analysts say it’s a mix of “shifting fundamentals, cash market weakness, and uncertainty caused by President Trump’s tariff campaign.” 
Local townships, whether governed by a majority of Republicans or Democrats, typically reject proposals to install massive, ugly, bird-killing (and filled with toxic chemicals) solar farms, no matter where they are tried (red or blue states). It’s a problem for the tone deaf environmental left. Solar farms are even rejected in blue New York! Another such installation tried to gain approval in Stark County, Ohio, recently. The Ohio Power Siting Board, citing local opposition, rejected a permit for a 150 megawatt solar farm that would have gobbled up 860 acres in Washington Township. 
U.S. marketed natural gas production remained “relatively flat in 2024,” according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Gas production last year grew “by less than 0.4 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) compared with 2023 to average 113 Bcf/d,” according to EIA’s latest Natural Gas Monthly report. Translated another way, production grew around 400 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) last year. Statistically, it’s about three-tenths of one percent, which rounds to zero. Still, it GREW. It did not shrink. And that’s what should be emphasized.