NGSA Research: Price of NatGas This Winter Same as Last Winter
The price of natural gas isn’t going anywhere fast during winter 2015-2016. That’s the takeaway MDN gets from an analysis just released by the Natural Gas Supply Association (NGSA). The NGSA’s 15th annual Winter Outlook assessment (full copy below) says we have record production on the way, record amounts of gas in storage, and according to the National Weather Service, a winter that will average around 7 degrees warmer than last year. NGSA also says demand for natgas from electric generating plants and other users will tick up a bit. So on balance, NGSA says there will be “neutral pressure” on this winter’s natural gas prices compared to the winter of 2014-2015. In other words, the price isn’t going anywhere–likely to stay in the same neighborhood of last winter’s average Henry Hub price of $3.21 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf). MDN points out the price of gas varies widely depending on what part of the country you’re in. Although gas sold at the Henry Hub delivery point for an average of $3.21/Mcf last winter, gas selling at the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Zone 4 Marcellus delivery point was less than half that–around $1.50/Mcf last winter. NGSA is saying: What you saw last winter for prices is what you’re likely to see this winter…
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One reason why it takes so long to build a pipeline is the litigation necessary to make it happen. In September 2014, Dominion committed full force to building a 550-mile, $5 billion natural gas pipeline that will run from West Virginia, through Virginia and into North Carolina (see 
EQT and NextEra US Gas Assets plan to build the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), a 330-mile pipeline from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA. There’s been plenty of pushback from landowners who won’t allow MVP access to survey (see 
Last November, MDN told you about an innovative plan by PECO, a utility company based in Philadelphia serving some 500,000+ natural gas customers in southeastern PA, to allow customers to sign up for its natural gas service and spread the cost over 20 years (see 
From time to time we bring you news of top management at drillers (upstream) or pipeline companies (midstream) who either buy or sell large blocks of their own company’s stock. It’s always hard to divine what someone’s motivation is when buying or selling. We typically take it to be a good sign when top management or board members buy stock–it shows they believe in the company they run, enough to put their own money on the line. We have another case–this time a company’s top lawyer selling stock in one of the top drillers in the Marcellus. Cabot Oil & Gas’ General Counsel, George Kevin Cunningham, sold 3,623 shares of Cabot stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 29th. He got $81,046.51. But lest you view the transaction negatively, consider this: Cunningham still owns 42,210 shares worth nearly a million bucks. Looks to us like maybe he’s sending a kid off to college or remodeling the house with this sale…
Once again the great people at Cabot Oil & Gas have done it again. Back in 2012 the company helped raise $4.4 million for a local hospital in Susquehanna County, PA, with half of the money contributed by Cabot (see 
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: breakeven prices in the Marcellus; OH severance tax study late; is the Utica shrinking?; natgas price hits 3-year low; EPA tightens ozone standards; shale drilling in 2016 will be down, but production up; House committee passes natgas export law to speed it up; and more!
Finally a spot of good news in the never-ending battle to keep the federal government out of the business of regulating oil and gas drilling. Going all the way back to 2012, the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM), an agency that sits under the umbrella of the U.S. Dept. of Interior (DOI), proposed draft rules for fracking on federally-controlled land (see 
Kinder Morgan continues to fight an uphill battle to get its Northeast Energy Direct (NED) pipeline project accepted and approved. In March MDN noticed that Kinder had failed to sign up any new customers in the previous eight month period, with commitments remaining at 500,000 dekatherms per day, equivalent to 1/2 Bcf/d (see 
Countless times MDN has told you that in rare cases, injecting fracking wastewater into a deep, underground Class II injection well (for disposal) can cause earthquakes–if the injection well is located over a fault. When you inject fluids under high pressure into rock formations with a fault it can act like a lubricant, allowing the rocks to slip and slide–causing a low-level earthquake. It’s happened in Ohio. It’s happened (a lot) in Oklahoma. It’s happened in Texas. And in other states too. Thirteen oil and gas states joined together with the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC) and Ground Water Protection Council (GWPC) to form the StatesFirst Initiative, a working group to pool their knowledge and try and figure out how, and under what conditions, injection wells cause earthquakes. Co-heading the initiative is Ohio’s Chief for the Division of Oil & Gas Resources Management (Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources), Rick Simmers. Rick and the working group have just released a 150-page Primer (copy below) to help regulatory agencies evaluate and develop good policies to mitigate and prevent earthquakes from injection wells…
Perhaps we now know the real reason why a group of anti-fossil fuel protesters decided to abandon their protest at the headquarters of PennEast Pipeline’s main sponsor, UGI. MDN told you yesterday how mainstream media in the New Jersey market covered a “massive” protest (of 35 people) who showed up at the Statehouse in Trenton during the day–with obviously nothing better to do–to protest against the PennEast Pipeline (see 
PA Gov. Tom Wolf has dropped all pretense of being a nice guy and has turned into a mafioso bully because he can’t get his own way. We understand. He made a back-room deal with teachers’ unions and they delivered him an election victory. He owes them and the only way he can pay them off is by taxing the Marcellus Shale industry into oblivion. Wolf’s latest tactic is to call the Republicans who won’t go along with his Marcellus-killing severance tax “the bad guys” and appeal to RINOs in the House and Senate–those like Rep. Gene DiGirolamo (from the Philly area)–those he calls “good Republican legislators”. Wolf plans to make the RINOs an offer they can’t refuse in order to support a severance tax. Will they bow to pressure from the don?…
Warren Resources, a small, independent exploration and production company has been headquartered in New York City–until now. Warren has ongoing drilling programs in California, Wyoming, and in the Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale. Warren’s Marcellus program is very small–they previously announced they would drill and complete two Marcellus wells in 2015. In July the company began a search for a new CEO, a process that continues (see 
In an unusual move, the Wayne County (OH) Board of Commissioners has written to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to oppose having Energy Transfer’s ET Rover pipeline come through the southern portion of their county, as currently planned. ET Rover is a 711-mile Marcellus/Utica natural gas pipeline that will serve mostly U.S. customers that will cost $3.7 billion to build and run from PA, WV and eastern OH through OH into Michigan and eventually into Canada. The bulk of the pipeline would run through Ohio, including southern Wayne County. The Board of Commissioners’ objection is unusual because Wayne is a mostly rural county with farms. Farmers, while not always welcoming of pipelines running through prized hay fields and crops, can sure use the money that would come from such a project. Farmers typically do support pipelines–and drilling. The commissioners cite safety concerns and damage to farmland in their letter to FERC…