10 U.S. Plants Experiment with Blending Hydrogen & Natural Gas
Last week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) highlighted efforts to blend hydrogen (H2) with natural gas (CH4) in power-generating plants. By EIA’s reckoning, ten power plants scattered across the country are either experimenting with mixing hydrogen with natgas right now or soon will. We have covered several of these projects here at MDN, including efforts by the Long Ridge Energy Terminal in Monroe County, OH, to blend Utica shale gas with hydrogen (see OH Long Ridge Energy Power to Blend Hydrogen with Utica Gas). Where else is this happening? And what have been the results? Read More “10 U.S. Plants Experiment with Blending Hydrogen & Natural Gas”
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Middle River Power reverses plan to shut 540-MW plant amid record PJM capacity prices; Gas stoves in California may soon come with a tobacco-style health warning label; ExxonMobil hydrogen hub attracts billions from major investors; NATIONAL: FERC greenlights BlackRock’s $12.5B purchase of GIP; Chevron and MOL to install Wind Challenger on LNG carrier; INTERNATIONAL: Aramco inks agreements expanding AI deployment across its operations; The Hague becomes world’s first city to ban oil ads; Gag on climate reporting is another French obscenity. 
For the week of Sept. 2 – 8, 14 permits were issued to drill new shale wells in Marcellus/Utica, less than half the previous week’s 32. The Keystone State (PA) had 13 new permits. PA’s top recipient was Seneca Resources, with six permits issued in Tioga County. Range Resources was #2 with four permits for Lycoming County. Chesapeake Energy had two permits in Bradford County, and Inflection Energy had a single new permit in Lycoming County. 
According to Pennsylvania regulation 25 Pa. Code § 78a.122(b)(6)(iv), a drilling company must provide a list of the chemicals intentionally added to the stimulation [fracking] fluid by name and chemical abstract service (CAS) number in a Completion Report. The PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) says Apex Energy failed to provide that information on its reports for 37 shale wells in Westmoreland County drilled between March 20, 2018, and February 17, 2024. The DEP issued a NOV (Notice of Violation) to Apex on Sept. 9. 
Cove Point LNG is an LNG export facility located in Lusby (Calvert County), Maryland. It is one of the most technically advanced and environmentally sensitive LNG facilities in the world. We recall as Dominion Energy was building the facility, environmental wackos uttered shrill warnings of habitat destruction coming for the Chesapeake Bay (where it’s located) should the facility go into production (see 
It’s really fascinating to watch this presidential election. Yes, we’ve promised to try and keep the politics to a minimum, but we must report on things we notice that have the potential to affect the shale drilling industry in general, and the Marcellus/Utica in particular. Here’s an issue we cannot keep silent about. As we’ve pointed out repeatedly, Kamala Harris hates fossil fuel energy and wants to eliminate it. She told a CNN moderator in 2019 that she favors “a ban on fracking.” Period. For the entire country. Yet now, because she must win Pennsylvania in order to win the race, she professes she is against a ban on fracking (see 
“We believe in using the resources we have in this basin to build a stronger tomorrow, without ignoring the critical realities of today,” said Marcellus Shale Coalition President Dave Callahan during his opening remarks at SHALE INSIGHT® last year. The MSC convenes its 14th industry-leading conference on September 24-26 at the Bayfront Convention Center in Erie, PA. Be sure to 
As you know, last year at about this time, the Bidenistas announced seven winners of the Hydrogen Hub Hunger Games contest (see 
MDN will not publish on Friday, Sept. 13. Hey, it’s Friday the 13th! No, we’re not superstitious (at least too much). We do have a memory that ties in with Friday the 13th, which we share below. We’re not publishing because editor Jim Willis is taking a rare day off to spend with family. Jim’s son is taking him to a professional baseball game in Philadelphia, the Mets vs. the Phillies. Jim is a die-hard Mets fan—please don’t hold it against him!
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) released production numbers for the second quarter of 2024 yesterday. The story the numbers tell continues to be about Utica oil, which continues to rise each quarter. Ohio’s total oil production during 2Q24 was 8.01 million barrels, up 23% from 2Q23’s 6.5 million barrels and up 11% from 1Q24’s 7.2 million barrels. The story of oil in the Buckeye State can’t be told apart from Encino Energy (EAP), which produced nearly half of all the state’s oil during 2Q24. As for natural gas production, it’s no surprise it went down slightly in 2Q24, given the current low price for gas. The state produced 526.6 Bcf in 2Q24, down 3.7% from 2Q23’s 547.0 Bcf, and down 1.4% from this year’s first quarter number of 534.0 Bcf. MDN pulled the numbers from the ODNR quarterly report and produced top 25 lists for both gas and oil wells.
In July 2022, MDN brought you news of a possible frac-out, or “inadvertent return” that happens when drilling mud pops out of places where it’s not supposed to — places outside the borehole being drilled (see 
On July 12, Williams asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for permission to bring the final pieces of the Regional Energy Access Expansion (REAE) project online by the end of July (see 
Once a month, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) analysts issue the agency’s 
The RealClear Media Group has a suite of online publications that are just terrific. Among them is 
In January, Joementia announced he would “pause” any approvals for new LNG export plants (currently 17 requests in the pipeline) for at least one year while his people fart around pretending to figure out how to measure global warming as a new consideration for whether or not to approve such projects (see