Southern NatGas & Elba Look to Expand Southeast Pipe by 1.3 Bcf/d
Last August, MDN told you about several potential new pipeline projects under consideration to help feed new data centers and artificial intelligence (AI) operations, most of them located in the southeastern U.S. (see Big Midstream Companies Eye Data Center/AI Market for New Pipes). One of the projects we mentioned in passing was Kinder Morgan’s South System Expansion 4 (SSE4) Project, a $3 billion project to construct fourteen new natural gas pipeline loops (noncontiguous) of various diameters totaling approximately 279 miles primarily along Southern Natural Gas Company’s (SNG) existing South Mainline in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. Landowners in Alabama got to ask questions about the project at a recent open house in Tuskegee. Read More “Southern NatGas & Elba Look to Expand Southeast Pipe by 1.3 Bcf/d”
A key issue has come about with the rapid increase in carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) projects around the country, including here in the Marcellus/Utica region. Where does one store (sequester) all that carbon dioxide (CO2)? The answer is underground in a Class VI injection well. Class VI wells are a relatively new classification for injection wells, created by the federal EPA in 2010. Who regulates Class VI wells is a flashpoint of controversy. Until yesterday, the EPA was the primary regulator (has “primacy”) in regulating Class VI wells in all but three states: North Dakota, Wyoming, and Louisiana. Yesterday, West Virginia was added to the Class VI primacy list. 
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.