New Study Proves Fossil Fuels NOT Source of Methane in Atmosphere
How often have we told you the mainstream media lies to you about fossil energy? Maybe a bazillion times, right? Today, we have a case that incontrovertibly proves our point. Last Friday, researchers from Colorado University at Boulder (CU) and collaborators from several other institutions published a new study in the peer-reviewed Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The study proves that so-called fugitive methane floating in the atmosphere is NOT coming from fossil fuels. At least, the contribution from fossil fuels is minor and nonconsequential. Where DOES fugitive methane come from? The researchers can’t be 100% sure (yet), but they say it’s either natural (Mom Earth, things like wetlands) or agriculture (cow burps and rice paddies). And where are the stories in mainstream media about this earth-shattering discovery? NOWHERE. It’s crickets. You can’t FIND a mainstream article that covers this study. Nothing in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Miami Herald, Houston Chronicle, AP, UPI, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, etc. Read More “New Study Proves Fossil Fuels NOT Source of Methane in Atmosphere”
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Trump pledges to slash energy costs, lift LNG pause, and ‘frack, frack, frack’; DEP extends air quality permits for temporary operation of Shell cracker; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: South Dakota Supreme Court deals setback to CCS pipeline; Transparency and technology are transforming permitting in Virginia; NATIONAL: Analysts look at natural gas price rise; Suddenly energy realism is a winning political issue; Harris wears the mask of an energy moderate as a ploy to attract votes; INTERNATIONAL: Oil prices continue to yo-yo; European gas industry abandons deal to retrain workers for low carbon economy. 
For the week of Oct 14 – 20, there were 14 permits issued to drill Marcellus/Utica wells, up from 10 permits issued the prior week. The Keystone State (PA) had just four new permits (down from six the previous week), with three going to Southwestern Energy (now Expand Energy) in Susquehanna County and one for Seneca Resources in Lycoming County. The Buckeye State (OH) had seven new permits, with six going to Encino Energy (EAP) for two pads in Carroll County. The other OH permit was for Ascent Resources in Harrison County. The Mountain State (WV) issued three new permits, with all three going to Southwestern Energy (now Expand Energy) in Marshall County. 
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that U.S. natural gas production from shale and tight formations declined by about 1% from January through September 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. Most of the decline comes from two shale plays—the Haynesville in Louisiana and Texas (down 12%) and the Utica Shale in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia (down 10%). Although the EIA’s analysis (below) is excellent and instructive, it misses one important detail about the decrease in Utica Shale gas production. 
Yesterday, MDN reported on Range Resources’ third quarter update (see 
The Biden-Harris administration continues to spend money like drunken sailors. They can’t hand it out fast enough ahead of November 5th. We can’t even count how much has been doled out just this week—certainly several billion dollars. Some of the money flowing out of D.C. this week ($44 million) will go to a project that is part of the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2) to establish new carbon dioxide injection wells, one in Marshall County, WV, and one in Belmont County, OH. 
As we outline in a companion post today, the Biden-Harris Department of Energy is investing $44 million in a project to drill two carbon dioxide injection wells, one in West Virginia and the other in Ohio (see DOE Spends $44M on Drilling CO2 Injection Wells in WV & OH). Some companies are ready to dive into the CCS pool. Others in our region are also exploring the carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) space but are proceeding a bit slower, dipping their toes first. Power plant and energy-trading giant Tenaska and Marcellus/Utica driller EQT are “cautiously moving ahead with plans to develop carbon storage projects in the region.” Both indicate it will take “years to develop” carbon injection wells. They both plan to have carbon wells operating in the next 5-10 years. 
Last week, MDN brought you a story about a developing issue of who, ultimately, should pay to build out new electricity sources for data centers (and AI) that increasingly use huge amounts of power (see 
Encino Energy wants to establish new oil and gas wells on Leesville Lake lands owned by the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD) in Carroll County. The conservancy district’s board of directors is expected to consider a lease agreement with the company’s Ohio affiliate at its meeting tomorrow. The left is apoplectic. The MWCD manages over 54,000 acres of land in Ohio. Over the past decade, the MWCD has leased over half of that land for shale drilling. This isn’t the conservancy’s first rodeo with shale drillers. Encino is one of four operators the MWCD has leased with and is the largest of the four that leases MWCD-owned acreage. 
What seemed like a failed exploration in the early 2000s turned into a global economic and geological treasure that helped turn the U.S. into the largest natural gas producer in the world. Thanks to the grit, determination, and belief that there was more to explore, the Range Resources team of 2004 successfully completed the first viable Marcellus Shale exploratory well – the Renz #1 – in Mt. Pleasant Township, Washington County, PA. Range personnel and other officials gathered earlier this week to mark the anniversary and view a new historical landmark plaque that will be installed at the Renz well site next spring. 
Range Resources Corporation, the very first company to drill a shale well targeting the Marcellus Shale layer in Pennsylvania (in 2004), issued its third quarter 2024 update yesterday. Range produced 2.2 Bcfe/d in Q3. The company said it now expects 2024 production to average 2.17 Bcfe/d, up ~2% over the last three years as a result of well performance and optimized gathering and compression. Liquids are expected to comprise more than 30% of production and a big reason why the company made $50.6 million in profit for the quarter. 
Yesterday, EQT announced that the company had reached so-called “net zero” emissions for Scopes 1 and 2 more than a year earlier than planned. The milestone includes assets purchased and added to the company from Alta Resources and Tug Hill/XcL Midstream. However, it does not include the assets added from the Equitrans Midstream merger in July. The company has replaced over 9,000 pneumatic devices, electrified its fracking fleet, and implemented new technologies to monitor methane emissions. According to EQT, it has paid off. 
Here’s something the radical left in mainstream media that demagogues LNG-by-rail either doesn’t know or is covering up: There are some trains *already* transporting LNG on rail cars today, despite a ban on the practice by the Bidenista. How? Some trains use LNG as fuel for the locomotive engines that pull the train. The LNG is stored in a specially outfitted rail car, the same type of car now banned by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). LNG-for-fuel is being used by at least one railroad (in Florida) every single day. Meaning all of the howling from the left about “bomb trains” hauling LNG through populated communities is nonsensical garbage.