NATIONAL: How many people did USA oil and gas employ in 2024?; U.S. butane exports reached a new record in 2024; Wright, Burgum visit Louisiana liquefied natural gas facility amid $18B expansion; INTERNATIONAL: European Commission schedules new round of coordinated gas deals. Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Fri, Mar 7, 2025”
There are deadbeats in every industry, including (unfortunately) the oil and gas industry. Some O&G producers in West Virginia are gaming the system by not paying landowners/rights owners the royalties they are due. Typically, this does not apply to shale drillers, mostly larger companies. However, with (some, very few) smaller conventional drillers, they just don’t pay royalties owed. And if the check is for under a hundred bucks, what can a landowner do? Hiring a lawyer to litigate would cost more than the money received. A new bill making its way through the WV Senate would fix the situation. Read More “WV Legislature Advances Bill to Fine Drillers for Royalty Nonpayment”
In January 2023, Ohio House Bill (HB) 507 became law with the signature of Gov. Mike DeWine (see OH Gov. Signs Bill Expanding Drilling in State Parks, NatGas “Green”). The law allows shale drilling under (but not on top of) Ohio state-owned land, including state parks. HB 507 encourages (pushes for) more drilling under state-owned land. Since that time, lefty Democrats have tried their best to bully, berate, and otherwise block drilling under (not on) state-owned land. Their histrionics can be quite amusing (take a gander at the nutballs pictured in this post: Ohio O&G Commission Approves More Fracking Under State Lands). The newest tactic from the left comes via a Democrat member of the Ohio House who introduced legislation requiring oil and gas well owners to publicly disclose chemicals used in drilling operations within state parks before they drill or frack. Read More “OH Dem Intros Bill to Force Disclosure of Frack Chemical Names”
Dominion Energy plans to build small “peaker” electric generating plants in Chesterfield County, VA, near Richmond (see Dominion Plans to Build 1,000-MW Gas Peaker Plant Near Richmond, VA). The Chesterfield Energy Reliability Center (CERC) calls for building four 250-megawatt gas-fired power plants (1,000 MW total) that can jump into action during the coldest and hottest days of the year to help supply enough electricity for 250,000 homes—to keep the lights on because solar and wind are not up to the task. Even though these clean gas-fired plants will replace dirty coal-fired plants, anti-fossil fuelers, flying under the banner of Friends of Chesterfield, oppose the project (see Anti-Fossil Fuelers File Appeal Against Chesterfield Power Plant). We don’t see the Friends volunteering to unhook themselves from the grid to prevent blackouts. The time for frittering and placating nutters who will never compromise or meet in the middle is over. Dominion filed a request with the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) for permission to move forward and build the project. Read More “Dominion Asks Va. SCC to Approve Chesterfield Gas-Fired Peaker Plan”
How often have we read that shale energy doesn’t create jobs and isn’t the economic boom to local communities as advertised. The enviro-left peddles the lie that oil and gas companies get fat on profits while everyone else suffers. We have the perfect story that exposes the left’s lies about the economic benefits of shale energy—and it comes from Youngstown, OH. Dearing Compressor & Pump designs and manufactures compressor packages for three major business lines including natural gas pipelines. Read More “Shale a “Game Changer” for Youngstown, OH Compressor Company”
In 2009, during the Obamadroid years, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) adopted a major regulatory rule called the “endangerment finding.” The finding concluded that six so-called greenhouse gases — carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) — constitute an endangerment to public health and welfare due to their contribution to global climate change. The finding gives the EPA the power to regulate those gases under the umbrella of the Clean Air Act. The Trump administration is about to make a run at overturning the endangerment finding. This is REALLY BIG news. Read More “EPA Head Zeldin Recommends Trump Overturn Endangerment Finding”
The European Union’s idiotic methane regulations will be enforced beginning this year. Domestic (European) oil, gas, and coal companies must monitor, measure and report their emissions. The same restrictions would apply to energy imports from other countries, including the U.S. (see Europeans Presume to Impose Their Regulations on American Gas). The arrogant Europeans presume to tell us that we must follow *their* regulations! But then Trump took command of the White House and everything changed. Read More “Europe Begins to Back Down from Imposing Their Regs on Our LNG”
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Frack, Kathy, frack or New York will continue to be held over an energy barrel by Canada; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: US approves LNG export extension for Golden Pass; NATIONAL: EPA cancels 21 additional grants totaling $116M in 3rd round of cuts; USA Energy sec says we’re at the start of a new Manhattan Project; Honeywell to acquire Sundyne for $2.16B; Jump-starting a new era of energy realism; States rethink failed energy policies; INTERNATIONAL: Enverus downgrades Brent price forecast; China looks to derail the West’s strategy to replace Russian gas supplies. Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Thu, Mar 6, 2025”
Is this the beginning of the “running of the bulls” with respect to natural gas traders? According to a senior market analyst at the PRICE Futures Group, quite possibly. Yesterday the NYMEX Henry Hub “front month” futures price closed up 22.8 cents at $4.35/MMBtu—the highest closing price since Dec. 30, 2022 (more than two years). Typically, weather, like a major cold snap, is the driver. But not this time. According to PRICE Futures Group, lower natgas inventories (in storage), higher demand from Europe for our LNG, and the prospect of a dry, hot summer have combined to drive prices higher. Add to that, we now officially have a tariff trade war with Canada, with our friends to the north slapping an export tax on electricity and natural gas flowing to our country, and the gas trading bulls were on a stampede. Read More “NYMEX NatGas Futures Hit 2-Year High, Closed at $4.35/MMBtu”
Gulfport Energy, the third-largest driller in the Ohio Utica Shale (by the number of wells drilled), reported its fourth quarter and full-year 2024 numbers last week. The company drills Utica and Marcellus wells in Ohio. It also has an active drilling program in the Oklahoma SCOOP shale play. Gulfport’s net daily production in 4Q24 averaged 1,055.5 MMcfe/d (1.06 Bcfe/d), down slightly from 4Q23’s average of 1,063.3 MMcfe/d. Gulfport’s net daily production for the full year of 2024 averaged 1.05 Bcfe/d, consisting of 841.7 MMcfe/d in the Utica and Marcellus and 212.4 MMcfe/d in the SCOOP. Put another way, the M-U produced 80% of the company’s production. For the full year of 2024, Gulfport’s net daily production mix comprised approximately 92% natural gas, 6% NGLs, and 2% oil and condensate. According to the 4Q update, Gulfport plans to boost liquids production by 30% in 2025. Read More “Gulfport Targets More NGLs & Crude Production in Ohio for 2025”
In something of a bombshell announcement, the CEO of Mon Power parent First Energy said the company plans to replace its West Virginia coal plants with natural gas plants. Mon Power’s Harrison and Fort Martin coal-fired plants are scheduled to shut down between 2035 and 2040. The company will construct 3 to 4 gigawatts (GW) of combined cycle natural gas plants to replace them, beginning in the next five years. That will use somewhere between one-half and three-fourths of a billion cubic feet of Marcellus/Utica natural gas to power these beasts. This is big news indeed! Read More “First Energy Plans to Replace 2 WV Coal Plants with NatGas-Fired”
The number of rigs deployed to drill for natural gas in the United States decreased over the last two years, according to stats from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). U.S. natural gas-directed rigs decreased 32% (50 rigs) between December 2022 and December 2024. The decline was concentrated in the natural gas-rich Haynesville and Marcellus/Utica regions, where the combined natural gas rig count declined by 34% during 2023 (43 rigs) and by 24% during 2024 (21 rigs). In the M-U region, rigs declined 37% since December 2022 (19 rigs). However, it’s not the end of the world. Don’t jump off that cliff just yet. Read More “M-U Rig Count Declined 37% (19 Rigs) from Dec 2022 to Dec 2024”
In May 2024, more than 50 “groups” colluding with ringleader Ohio River Valley Institute (ORVI) sent a letter to the Department of Energy (DOE) calling for the suspension of the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2), falsely claiming an “extreme lack of transparency” and lack of “meaningful community engagement” during project negotiations (see Anti-Fossil Fuel Groups Try New Effort to Cancel ARCH2 Hydrogen Hub). They’re baaaaack! But this time, the ORVI group of radicals has shrunk to just 27 “groups.” Read More “Enviro Fraudsters Attack ARCH2 Appalachian Hydrogen Hub, Again”
Kentucky has seen unprecedented economic growth in recent years, like other southern states. Data centers are looking to Kentucky for future expansion. Last fall, Louisville Gas and Electric Company (LG&E) and Kentucky Utilities Company (KU), both part of PPL Corporation, forecasted in their Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) the need for additional power generation due to the expected influx of data centers and economic development across their service territories (see Kentucky Utilities Want to Build 2 New NatGas Power Plants). The companies floated a plan to build two new natural gas combined-cycle generation units—one in 2030 and another in 2031. Those plans just got very real. Read More “Kentucky Utilities File to Build Two 645-MW Gas-Fired Power Plants”
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Trump touts plans to spur mammoth Alaska gas export project; NJBIA urges policymakers to allow for immediate in-state natgas generation; NATIONAL: Alpha-Otto Technologies unveils successful hydrogen engine test; Yes, coal and natural gas remain much cheaper than wind and solar; The greatest scientific fraud of all time — part xxxiii; Don’t let this be America’s ‘Germany moment’ on energy; Ghost grids – a conservative call to reclaim America’s power; INTERNATIONAL: Oil drops as tariffs and OPEC+ supply shake markets; Ireland approves emergency floating LNG facility to address gas supply risks. Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Wed, Mar 5, 2025”
According to the Wall Street Journal, Shell is “exploring a potential sale of its chemicals assets in Europe and the U.S.,” according to “people familiar with the matter.” The review and potential sale are part of a continuing drive to refocus the company’s business on its most profitable operations. One of the petchem assets that may be on the auction block is the recently completed Monaca (Beaver County, PA) ethane cracker complex. Our heads are officially exploding. Read More “Shocker: Shell Considers Selling Beaver County, PA Ethane Cracker”