S&P Study: U.S. LNG Would “Significantly Lower” World GHG Emissions
The nonpartisan S&P Global released Phase 1 of a study on LNG exports last December on the very same day the Biden/Granholm Department of Energy released its LNG export “study” (see S&P Study: More U.S. LNG Exports WON’T Raise Domestic Gas Prices). The S&P study, which came out a few hours earlier than the DOE study, said more U.S. LNG exports will NOT raise the domestic price of natural gas, at least not appreciably. The Biden-corrupted DOE report said the opposite, that more LNG exports will cause domestic natural gas prices to go through the roof (and consequently, we shouldn’t build more LNG export facilities). Thank God nobody listened to that claptrap. S&P is back with Phase 2 of their comprehensive LNG study. Phase 2 (full copy below) says U.S. LNG capacity additions would *significantly* lower GHG emissions compared to alternatives. Read More “S&P Study: U.S. LNG Would “Significantly Lower” World GHG Emissions”
Sometimes you have to toot your own horn, especially when the legacy media (which nobody watches, reads, or listens to anymore) won’t do it. On Tuesday, President Trump gave a joint address to Congress. We won’t rehash the endless coverage of that event and the juvenile (quite despicable) performance by Democrats in attendance. One of Trump’s main themes for the talk was energy. Just ahead of his speech, The White House issued a statement to identify the many ways in which his administration is “unleashing American energy.” That was the toot-your-own-horn bit. It’s a great list and his work thus far is not getting the attention it deserves. Trump has done so much in such a short time, it’s hard to keep up with it all. Let’s go through it chapter and verse… 
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. 
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. 
In January 2023, Ohio House Bill (HB) 507 became law with the signature of Gov. Mike DeWine (see 
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. 
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. 
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 
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. 
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. 
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! 
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. 
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 
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