AI, Data Centers Go Mainstream – Big Do at WH re $500B Investment
We flipped on the TV to Fox News yesterday in the late afternoon. Much to our delight, President Trump talked about AI (artificial intelligence) and a massive new investment in AI data centers from a consortium that includes OpenAI (ChatGPT), SoftBank, and Oracle. All big and important companies. When we heard the amount the group pledges to invest in the next four years, $500 billion (half a trillion dollars!), our jaw hit the floor. As we point out in a companion post today, these data centers are HUGE new natural gas customers because gas will generate the electricity they need to operate. We mean, WOW, can you imagine how much gas will be needed to power $500 billion worth of new data centers? Read More “AI, Data Centers Go Mainstream – Big Do at WH re $500B Investment”
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: PJM prepares for high electricity demand; Hochul must abandon ALL her insane climate-change tax grabs; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Fight over CT’s energy future; NATIONAL: Foreign billionaire is behind effort to take down ExxonMobil using courts; IPAA says “misguided, irrational energy policies are done”; API applauds President Trump’s Day One energy executive orders; Oil majors flirt with electricity; INTERNATIONAL: Europe gas jumps as Germany seeks to subsidize storage refills; EU is set to shrink ESG reporting rules amid French demands; Habeck urges Europe to limit reliance on US energy; Iran’s energy crisis. 
Our heads are officially blown! Did you catch any of yesterday’s inauguration? WOW!!! We have NEVER been more proud to be an American than we were yesterday. President Trump hit the ground running so fast the left’s heads were spinning around like Regan’s head in 
One year ago, the sleazy Joe Biden slapped a “pause” on allowing the Department of Energy (DOE) to review and issue export approvals for any new LNG export facilities (see 
According to an article in the Dominion Post, horizontal gas well permits in West Virginia dipped to “an all-time low” in 2023 and 2024. The Dominion Post talked with the Gas & Oil Association of West Virginia (GO-WV) about the numbers, the trends, and what might be ahead for the industry. Has shale drilling already seen its best days in the Mountain State? 
After losing five rigs two weeks ago, the Baker Hughes national rig count lost another four last week. The number of rigs nationally now stands at 580, the lowest since Dec. 2021 (over three years ago). The Marcellus/Utica rig count was a combined 34 last week—the same number for five weeks in a row. PA has operated 15 rigs for the past ten weeks, with the exception of one week, when the number briefly increased to 16 rigs (the week ending on Dec. 6). OH has operated nine rigs for the past seven weeks, and WV has operated 10 rigs for an astonishing 19 weeks in a row, going back to Sep. 13. 
The experts at RBN Energy recently analyzed the Q3 2024 financial results for the gas-focused producers the company tracks (mainly Marcellus/Utica producers). The gas-weighted E&Ps RBN follows had the best total shareholder return performance of the three peer groups they tracked through the first nine months of 2024, with a median gain of 14%. On the high side, CNX Resources’ share price was amazing, up more than 60% for the first nine months of last year. On the other end, Coterra Energy’s share price lost value. 
On Friday, three leftist judges who sit on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (DC Circuit), one appointed by Joementia, one by Lord Obama, and a third by George H.W. Bush (Bush the 1st), threw out a rule the U.S. Department of Transportation had adopted during President Trump’s first term which allowed liquefied natural gas (LNG) to be transported by train. We warned you back in September the judges were signaling their intent to overturn LNG-by-rail during oral arguments (see 
Since it is a stock exchange holiday, and to honor the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and because it is the second inauguration of Donald J. Trump, MDN is taking today off, Monday, Jan. 20. It’s going to be a busy day with over 200 Executive Orders, many of them related to energy. We’ll keep track of developments and report in on Tuesday!
For the week of Jan 6 – 12, permits issued in the Marcellus/Utica to drill new shale wells remained healthy. There were 27 new permits issued last week, down three from 30 issued the week before. The Keystone State (PA) issued 13 new permits, with four going to Snyder Brothers in Armstrong County, four going to Coterra Energy in Susquehanna County (must be Coterra has restarted drilling), three for Infinity Natural Resources (INR) in Indiana County, and two for Range Resources in Washington County. 
Baby, it’s cold outside! And it’s getting colder beginning this weekend and moving into next week. The cold weather, combined with less natural gas in storage (less than the average), has increased the NYMEX “front month” futures contract for natural gas. Yesterday, the NYMEX price closed at $4.2580 per million British thermal units (MMBtu), the highest close since Dec. 30, 2022. Temps across the eastern half of the country (especially in the northeast) are set to hit lows not seen in years beginning next week. We think prices for NYMEX and many spot prices at trading hubs will spike higher. 
Marathon Petroleum’s MPLX, formerly MarkWest, operates five complexes in the Marcellus shale. One of the five is the Bluestone Complex in Butler County, PA. Bluestone gathers 200 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of natural gas. Bluestone processes 400 MMcf/d of natural gas, separating methane from other hydrocarbons. The facility then further separates ethane (C2H6) from other NGLs like propane and butane in a process called C2+ fractionation—producing some 81,000 barrels per day. Yesterday, MPLX announced that the Bluestone plant has become the only U.S. natural gas processing facility to achieve the EPA’s ENERGY STAR Challenge for Industry. 
In most states, when a deed or lease agreement is signed for mineral rights, it includes natural gas and oil on the theory that the gas and oil come from a mineral—shale rock. But that has not been the case in PA. Going back to a case in 1882, PA has had “the Dunham rule,” which separates natural gas rights from the broader concept of mineral rights (for background on the Dunham rule, see the MDN article 
Louisville Gas and Electric Company (LG&E) announced a contract to supply electricity to its first hyperscale data center customer yesterday. A joint venture between PowerHouse Data Centers and Poe Companies is developing a cutting-edge 400-megawatt (MW) data center campus in Louisville. The first 130 MW will be available in October 2026. While no mention was made in the announcement, we’re pretty sure Marcellus/Utica molecules will power this new data center via the electricity generated by LG&E and Kentucky Utilities (KU).