Lowering Conn. Electric Rates Requires More NatGas, Not Renewables
Connecticut has the fifth highest electricity rates in the U.S., right behind two of its neighbors, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Only Hawaii and California have higher rates outside of New England. Two different pipeline companies—Iroquois Gas Transmission and Algonquin Gas Transmission—have proposed projects to expand existing pipelines to bring more natural gas to the region, which would help lower the cost of electricity. Yet anti-fossil fuel zealots are pressuring Connecticut to block both projects. Talk about DUMB. Read More “Lowering Conn. Electric Rates Requires More NatGas, Not Renewables”
The SHALE INSIGHT® 2024 event was held from September 24 to 26 at the Bayfront Convention Center in Erie, PA. Attendees got an insider’s view from the nation’s foremost energy leaders and experts on shale development, environmental protection, pipeline investment, energy-driven manufacturing, and in-demand jobs. We brought you a few news items we noticed in mainstream media from the event, one about antis protesting outside the event (see 
We happened to come across two articles casting doubt on so-called “green” hydrogen, both from far-left media outlets (Bloomberg and POLITICO). Which kind of surprised us. The left believes hydrogen is the savior that will move the world to net zero carbon emissions and finally drive a stake in the heart of fossil energy. But there’s a problem with hydrogen for the left. Today, 95% of all hydrogen is produced by using natural gas as the feedstock. The brainiacs on the left believe passing an electric current (from electricity provided by solar and wind) through water to create hydrogen at scale (called “green” hydrogen) is the solution to replace natgas as a feedstock (called gray or blue hydrogen, depending on whether or not CO2 is captured). However, according to a new Harvard University study, producing green hydrogen isn’t economically feasible (and won’t be for decades) due to transportation and storage costs, two items overlooked in most green hydrogen scenarios. 
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Trump promises to ‘frack, frack, frack’ if he wins; Natural gas, hydrogen training center in WV dedicated to labor leader; Grant funds available for emergency responders to prepare for gas well incidents; NATIONAL: Regulation-by-litigation disregards the democratic process, undermines justice. 
Once a month, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) analysts issue the agency’s Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), their best guess about where energy prices and production will go in the next 12 months. What did the October 2024 STEO, issued yesterday, show? EIA’s analysts believe U.S. natural gas production will decline in 2024 while demand will rise to a record high this year. EIA predicts the average spot price for natural gas for all of 2024 will end up being $2.30/MMBtu, up $0.10 from its prediction last month. The agency said the average for 2025 will be $3.10/MMBtu, which is the same prediction as last month. 
The stakes in this November’s election are incredibly high—for the country as a whole and for shale energy everywhere, including here in the Marcellus/Utica. Pennsylvania has been the focus this election season due to the presidential race. However, there is another M-U state, Ohio, where the outcome of a statewide race is also very important: that of the Ohio Supreme Court. There are seven judges on Ohio’s high court, with Republicans holding a slim 4-3 majority. There are three seats up for election. It is anticipated that the Ohio Supreme Court will handle an appeal by anti-fossil fuel zealots of the state’s law that allows drilling under (not on) state land and state parks. If the high court tips to the radical left, drilling under state land is in jeopardy. 
If you live in Pennsylvania, particularly in an urban area, and happen to be black, Asian, or Native American, and you own an Apple product and like to do things outdoors, you can expect a knock on your door by the Democrat anti-shale/global warming squad hoping to recruit you to become a Kamala Harris zombie voter. The younger or older you are, the better (especially under 25 and over 65). The Dems never see people in all of their complexity as individuals who can be reasoned with rationally—they only see groups that can be herded given the right fear-tactic stimuli, like schoolyard bullies from the fourth grade. That’s how they hold on to power. 
Venture Global’s Plaquemines LNG export facility (Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana) has consistently received small gas deliveries since mid-September from an interconnect with the Texas Eastern Transmission Company (TETCO) pipeline. However, the 2.6 Bcf/d Plaquemines terminal has not yet begun to produce its first LNG. Gas deliveries will increase this fall as commissioning activities ramp up. The question is, will Venture Global screw its Plaquemines contracted customers the way it has its Calcasieu Pass customers? 
In June 2019, a series of explosions and a massive fire occurred at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) Refining Complex (see 
Hardly a day goes by that we don’t cover at least one story about a gas-fired power plant that will get fed with Marcellus/Utica molecules (
MDN reported a few weeks ago that EQT Corporation, now the U.S.’s second-largest natural gas producer (following the merger of Chesapeake Energy and Southwest Energy to form the country’s largest producer), was about to ship a fully-MiQ-certified LNG cargo to Germany (see 
You know you’re a loser when you can’t even spin the results of your own rigged push poll. The Ohio River Valley Institute (ORVI) is nothing more than a front group, another name for the ultra-left, biased, and virulent anti-fossil fuel Heinz Endowments. ORVI pokes its head up periodically to issue “reports” (i.e., propaganda) bashing fossil energy. Sometimes, they conduct slanted push polls to try and further pollute the news with false claims, as was the case with a recent poll (with results released yesterday) by ORVI surveying 700 Pennsylvanian voters on the topic of fracking and energy. Interestingly, the ORVI couldn’t hide the fact that 58% of those surveyed (a strong majority) are opposed to banning fracking, and 75% support the continued use of natural gas. 
Parts of Ohio (like other areas in the northeast) have experienced a moderate drought over the past several months. The Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD) manages ten lakes and four dry dams in southeastern Ohio for purposes of flood control, recreation, and conservation. One of its biggest customers for water sales is the shale oil and gas industry. With the ongoing drought, MWCD recently stopped water sales from Atwood Lake, a popular boating and fishing spot southeast of Canton that has experienced a foot-and-a-half drop in water levels over the past few months. It is the only location where MWCD has had to stop water sales. 
U.S. utilities and investors plan to add 133 new natural gas-fired power plants to the nation’s grid, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. Duke Energy alone has ten such plants either under construction or planned—all of which will use Marcellus/Utica molecules. In fact, when we look at a map by S&P showing where the 133 plants are located, it’s obvious that the vast majority of the new plants will be fed in full or in part by M-U molecules. It’s hard to overstate the importance of gas-fired power plants for M-U drillers (and, by extension, landowners).