BLM Plan to Plug 20 Orphaned O&G Wells in Mercer County, PA
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is seeking public input on four draft environmental assessments evaluating potential impacts from the proposed plugging of orphaned oil and gas wells on public lands in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. One of the assessments seeks public input on plans to cap twenty abandoned gas and oil wells along the river flowing into the Shenango River Lake in Mercer County.
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MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Utica Shale Academy expands welding program with $2.5M state funding; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Chicago mayor’s plan to end natural gas hookups is dead; NATIONAL: Collapse of key natgas trade points to massive supply glut; AI needs so much power it’s overwhelming the electrical grid; Are AI data centers sparking a bullish case for natural gas?; Trump’s VP pick is a climate skeptic and the knives are out; INTERNATIONAL: Germany accused of hoarding gas meant for Czech Republic; Satellite shows large oil slick in Red Sea after Houthi attacks.
It pains us to write these kinds of posts, but we can’t ignore the bad news that the futures price for natural gas (NYMEX Henry Hub, front-month) is once again crashing. It closed down just above $2.00 yesterday. Will the price actually sink below $2 once again? It’s possible. The question is, why? What is driving this latest round of low prices even as the weather has been hot, hot, hot? We almost saw prices above $3 not long ago, and yet here we are, bumping along near $2 once again. The NYMEX price has closed down (lower than the previous day) in 19 of the last 24 trading sessions.
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. That appears to be the philosophy of a group of radicalized “environmental” groups attempting to pressure Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro to veto a new bill sitting on his desk, Senate Bill (SB) 831, the Carbon Capture & Sequestration (CCS) Act. Last week, a strong bipartisan majority in the PA legislature ignored the same group that had asked Democrat legislators to block the bill (see 
Yesterday, Range Resources, the very first driller to sink a Marcellus shale well back in 2004, released its 2023-2024 Corporate Sustainability Report (CSR). Some companies call these CSR or sustainability reports, while others still use the now hugely unpopular ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) label. We’re glad to see Marcellus/Utica drillers moving away from using the ESG label. In this latest report, Range says it has made “significant strides” in meeting its emissions targets, including progress towards its goal of net-zero scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 2025.
Kinder Morgan (KM), owner and operator of the mighty Tennessee Gas Pipeline along with many other pipeline systems, issued its second quarter update yesterday. It was clear from the materials and the comments made during the conference call that KM is high on natural gas. The company believes natgas has a rosy future, and KM is investing to expand pipelines to flow more natgas. On the call, company CEO Kim Dang said, “[W]e’re having commercial discussions on over 5 Bcf a day of opportunities related to power demand, and that includes the 1.6 of data center demand.” She went on to say the company believes the growth in natural gas production and use between now and 2030 will be “well in excess of the 20 Bcf a day.” Another 20 Bcf/d in the next five years!
In November 2022, all five members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), including three Democrats, voted to approve an order allowing the proposed Commonwealth LNG export plant on the Calcasieu River in the Gulf of Mexico near Cameron, Louisiana to get built (see 
Last fall, MDN shared the sad news that Pennsylvania State Rep. Charity Grimm Krupa (Republican In Name Only from Fayette County) had turned against the Marcellus industry (see 
The left sees its hegemony over political power slipping away along with the fading memory of Joe Biden. Biden was their guy as long as he could deliver a win and keep them in power. If he can’t win, the left will turn on him and eat him alive. While it’s too soon to declare the November election over, it’s clear that the Democrat Party is in disarray and believes it will likely lose. There is a fracture running through the Dems, with half wanting to ride the nearly-dead horse of Biden to “victory” (or defeat) in November and the other half advocating to chuck Biden over the side now. The divide is clearly seen in the radicalized environmental movement, where Biden has suddenly lost the support of some big names in the Big Green movement.
The Republican platform is a breath of fresh air with respect to where our country needs to go with its energy policies. You may or may not agree with some of the non-energy planks in the platform, but if you support oil and gas, you will LOVE what this document says about energy. In fact, of the 5,000 or so words in the Republican platform, 400 of them (8%) deal in some way with energy. Below, we have a copy of the full platform and a review of those sections that deal with energy. You’re gonna love it!