OTHER U.S. REGIONS: EIA forecasts Alaska crude oil production will grow for first time since 2017; Fate of fracking in California in the balance in court case; NATIONAL: Chevron buys 5 pct of Hess via open market; Energy fantasy versus reality in woke-land — Part III; Trump’s tariff stick strikes unease among oil and gas giants; EPA plans to cut scientific research program. Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Thu, Mar 20, 2025”
This is a big deal. Shipping giant Crowley, with over 170 vessels mostly in the Jones Act fleet and approximately 7,000 employees around the world (employs more U.S. mariners than any other company), announced it has launched a Jones Act-compliant LNG carrier, U.S.-built and crewed, that will carry LNG from Gulf Coast export facilities to Puerto Rico (P.R.). Since P.R. is a U.S. territory, any U.S. LNG arriving on its shore must be transported on an American crewed and built ship to comply with the century-old Jones Act. Otherwise, the LNG must come from another country. Yeah, screwed up, royally. But, now, there is one ship that can carry LNG from the U.S. to P.R. Finally! Read More “Crowley Launches 1st U.S. Jones Act LNG Carrier to Serve Puerto Rico”
Yesterday, West Virginia Governor Pat Morrisey stood with the natural resource industry and educational leaders to ask the West Virginia Legislature to pass the Power Generation and Consumption Act (House Bill 2014) to expand data center development in the state. The bill will allow companies to develop independent energy grids using natural resources, including coal and gas, and positions West Virginia as a prime location for data centers, AI processing, and cloud computing. Morrisey said the legislation would “attract significant investment to the state.” Read More “WV Gov. Backs Energy Bill to Attract Data Centers, Use Coal & Gas”
Forbes reports that when Memphis, Tennessee’s grid couldn’t provide all the electricity needed to power Elon Musk’s xAI’s new Colossus data center, the company turned to “a quick and dirty solution” of using mobile natural gas turbines. The Forbes reporter says these power plants on wheels are “usually a last resort during emergencies” and not a permanent solution. Data centers nationwide have started using them as a stopgap solution. At least four mobile units are at the xAI site in Memphis, possibly more. The concern is that they not only generate lots of electricity but also pollutants like nitrous oxides (NOx) and formaldehyde. Read More “Elon Musk’s xAI Data Center in Memphis Uses Mobile Gas-Fired Power”
Pipeline giant Williams, owner and operator of the mighty Transco pipeline system, deployed its top executives to speak at last week’s CERAWeek by S&P conference in Houston. On hand at the event were CEO Alan Armstrong, VP of New Energy Ventures, Jaclyn Presnal, and VP of Environmental, Regulatory and Permitting, Mark Gebbia. The three made a strong case that permitting reform is urgently needed if the country wants to deploy more natural gas for power generation and data centers. Read More “Williams Made Case at CERAWeek Permitting Reform Urgently Needed”
Earlier this month, MDN reported that S&P Global had released Phase 2 of an LNG study that shows U.S. LNG capacity additions would *significantly* lower global GHG emissions compared to the alternatives (see S&P Study: U.S. LNG Would “Significantly Lower” World GHG Emissions). Phase 1 of the study (last December) found more U.S. LNG exports will NOT raise the domestic price of natural gas, at least not appreciably (see S&P Study: More U.S. LNG Exports WON’T Raise Domestic Gas Prices). The good folks at Cove Point LNG sent MDN a copy of a study the owners commissioned specifically looking at the environmental impact of Cove Point. Rather than use modeling, Cove Point engaged ICF to look at the data from the facility’s first five years of exports, including the source of the gas, where it was shipped, and how it was used (often to offset coal and oil). The results (full report below) are tremendous! Read More “Research Shows Cove Point LNG Lowered Global GHG Emissions 7 MMt/Yr”
An explosive expose appearing on the Daily Caller website confirms rumors from last year that the Biden Department of Energy “intentionally buried” a final draft version of a study that would have undermined its January 2024 decision to pause approvals for liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects. Last October, we brought you the rumor that a study had been circulated at DOE that shows LNG is NOT bad for the environment and was subsequently covered up (see Biden-Harris DOE Covering Up Study Conducted Before LNG “Pause”). DOE personnel, speaking with the Daily Caller, confirm it happened. Read More “Biden Admin ‘Intentionally Buried’ Study Favorable to LNG Exports”
The environmental left (at least some of them) is finally admitting what everyone with a brain already knows: Solar and wind power cannot meet the rapidly increasing demands for electricity coming from existing and soon-to-be-built AI data centers. What’s a lefty to do? We’ve been telling you (for years) that natural gas-fired power, which is “dispatchable” and on-demand, is a good backup for solar and wind. The left is finally holding its nose and saying maybe “dirty” natgas “peaker” (on demand) gas plants aren’t so bad after all. Read More “Left Caves, Says OK to Pair Wind & Solar with “Dirty” Peaker Plants”
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Are climate lawfare activists trying their hand in Pennsylvania (again)?; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Michigan claims immunity in natural gas pipeline interference lawsuit; DC Circuit reverses course on vacating FERC approvals of 2 LNG sites; Plaquemines Terminal, the newest kid on the block, boosts U.S. LNG feedgas; NATIONAL: America’s energy grid faces unprecedented threat; Energy chief praises research hub that Trump once sought to ax; GE Vernova shortlisted for supply of geothermal power to US military; Wind and solar firms pitch to Trump: ‘You’re going to need us’; The U.S. needs to drill smarter, not harder; US natural gas prices up on record flows to LNG export plants, cooler weather; Natural gas, not oil, may be the real winner of Trump’s EPA overhaul; Price rally sets the stage for U.S. natural gas boom; INTERNATIONAL: Natural gas may be first to offer a hint when Russia-Ukraine peace deal is near; Russia is wooing Arctic gas buyers with life after US sanctions; GASCADE to convert 249 miles of natural gas pipeline in Germany for hydrogen. Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Wed, Mar 19, 2025”
In the closing hours of the 2014 West Virginia legislative session, the legislature passed Senate Bill (SB) 373, the Aboveground Storage Tank Act (see Fate of 3 WV Laws that Impact Marcellus/Utica Drilling). The bill, which was signed into law, was in response to a chemical leak that affected the drinking water for 300,000 WV residents. Even though the leak was not related to oil and gas drilling (it was related to coal mining), the new rules governing aboveground storage tanks for chemicals affect several industries, including the Marcellus/Utica (see Impact of WV’s New Chemical Tank Law on Marcellus Drillers). Over the years, several attempts have been made to relax the over-restrictive new rules for the oil and gas industry. Another attempt is underway in this year’s legislative session: Senate Bill (SB) 592. Read More “WV Senate Bill 592 Eases Oil & Gas Storage Tank Inspections”
Yesterday, MDN told you that power generation giant LS Power announced a plan to add more than 700 megawatts (MW) of new electric generating capacity across the PJM grid by modifying and expanding gas-fired plants already in existence in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Virginia (see LS Power Plans to Upgrade 2 Peaker Gas Plants in PA, OH to Baseload). Today, we have news of another power provider, Alpha Generation LLC (AlphaGen), with plans to add 450 MW of extra power in PJM at gas-fired plants in New Jersey, Maryland, and Ohio. What the heck is going on? Read More “AlphaGen Proposes 450 MW of Expaned Gas-Fired Power in NJ, OH, MD”
A guest column appearing in the Columbus Dispatch written by the president and CEO of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce makes a strong case that (a) Ohio needs more electric power generation, and (b) the perfect solution is to use “trapped” by lack of pipelines Utica Shale gas. Steve Stivers throws the weight of the Chamber behind a pair of bills that aim to make it easier to generate power in the Buckeye State, Senate Bill (SB) 2 and House Bill (HB) 15. Read More “Ohio Chamber Makes Case to Tap “Trapped” Utica Wells for Powergen”
We’ve been tracking a story that we consider an ongoing tragedy for nearly a decade. American Water Management Services (AWMS) owns a wastewater injection well in Trumbull County, Ohio, that supposedly caused a low-level earthquake (that nobody could feel) in 2014. Actually, there are two injection wells located at the site, both operated by AWMS. They were both “temporarily” shut down by the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources following the quake nobody could feel (see ODNR Temporarily Shuts Down Injection Wells After Low-Level Quake). ODNR allowed AWMS to reopen one of the injection wells but denied it the right to reopen the second well. AWMS has been locked in a legal battle to reopen the shuttered well and get compensated by the state for forcing it out of business (missed revenues). The battle continues to this day. Read More “AWMS Continues the Fight to Reopen Shuttered OH Injection Well”
After the shocking news in 2022 that then-U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (from West Virginia) had sold out his state and the entire country by agreeing to support the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) bill (better named the Green New Scam), the details began to come out about just how bad the bill (now law) really is for the oil and gas industry. First and foremost, it slapped a new methane tax on oil and gas activities (see Joe Manchin’s Green New Deal Cave Slaps O&G with Big Methane Tax). Endless lawsuits and regulatory challenges ensued. However, on their way out the door late last year, the Bidenistas pulled the trigger and implemented the tax (see Parting Shot: Biden-Harris EPA Slaps $1,500/Ton Tax on Methane). The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate voted to overturn Biden’s methane tax in late February (see House & Senate Vote to Overturn Biden IRA Methane Tax, Trump to Sign). On Friday, at a special ceremony at the White House, President Trump signed the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution overturning the methane tax. VICTORY! Read More “President Trump Signs Congress Resolution Overturning Methane Tax”
Artificial Intelligence (AI) “took center stage in many sessions” at last week’s CERAWeek by S&P conference in Houston. But maybe not for the reasons you may think. Lately, MDN has brought you a flurry of stories about AI data centers and the monsters they are with respect to the amount of energy they consume. A day doesn’t go by that we don’t see stories of plans and announcements to generate more electricity (typically using gas-fired plants) to feed these beasts. While AI data centers and the need to supply them with gas-fired power were discussed last week at CERAWeek, the AI we’re talking about is how energy companies in all sectors (upstream, midstream, and downstream) are using AI to do their jobs faster, cheaper, and better. Read More “AI Takes “Center Stage” at CERAWeek, Leads to Faster, Cheaper O&G”
This is a story from the other side of “the pond”—from the United Kingdom. But it has relevance to our own country. The ultra-liberal UK Guardian newspaper ran a story ten days ago that attempts to excuse the criminal (we’d call them terroristic) actions of so-called “protesters” who have now resorted to using sabotage in their attempt to bully and force businesses to drop support for fossil energy. The “protesters” have tipped over into full-blown criminal activity. And we’re not talking about throwing soup at paintings in museums (which is a crime, too). We’re talking about cutting internet/communications to hundreds of businesses in the middle of London and doing it in the dead of night, hiding their identities from the ever-present cameras. Read More “Climate “Activists” Turn to Criminal Sabotage Instead of Protest”