Low Prices Prompt “Fresh Cutbacks” in NatGas Production Says WSJ
Despite one of the hottest summers on record, natural gas prices are in the crapper. The abysmal price situation is causing big drillers in the Marcellus/Utica, like EQT and Coterra, to cut back even further on natural gas production, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal. Coterra CEO Tom Jorden recently told investors that “gas markets are oversupplied,” and his company will trim production by an extra 325 MMcf/d (see Coterra 2Q – Trimming Another 325 MMcf/d of Marcellus Gas).
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In March, we reported that two Democrats and one anti-drilling RINO who run Bucks County, PA government (a Philadelphia suburb) fell for the bait by Big Green and filed a lawsuit against Big Oil companies for supposedly, knowingly, causing the Earth to toast to a cinder (see 
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Refrigeration wars in New York; NATIONAL: Anti-oil groups spend big to boost Harris campaign; Top Kamala surrogate says Green New Deal will happen under Harris; American natural gas is America’s clean energy standard; DOT proposes fee to review expensive LNG projects; INTERNATIONAL: Santos says natural gas demand will remain strong after 2050; Oil slips amid Gaza talks and demand outlook fears. 
We spotted news that the Cambridge City School District (in Guernsey County, Ohio) has signed a second lease with Encino Energy (EAP Ohio LLC) to allow shale drilling under 4.8 acres. The first lease (which we missed) was signed in February of this year, allowing Encino to drill under 182 acres. The land is located along Wills Creek Valley Drive, often called the main campus. EGADS! Drilling *under* little chil’ren? Monstrous! (That’s sarcasm, folks. We know of other wells drilled directly next to schools in PA, with zero health and safety effects on the kiddies.)
In late 2021, Diversified Energy (formerly Diversified Gas & Oil) announced it had purchased Next LVL Energy, a well-plugging company that concentrates on plugging mainly old conventional oil and gas wells in Appalachia (see 
According to an announcement from Georgia Natural Gas (GNG), the utility company’s “Greener Life” program, which helps customers make their natural gas usage carbon neutral, has reached a new milestone of 500 million pounds of carbon emissions offset from the atmosphere. That amount is equivalent to taking over 50,000 cars off the road for a year. GNG buys natural gas from producers (in the Marcellus/Utica) that certify their gas as low-emissions using the MiQ protocol.
For a leftist, the glass is always half empty, and the pie is always a fixed size. Conservatives, on the other hand, believe in human ingenuity and the American spirit of bigger and better and can-do and let’s get it done. It’s a stark contrast. Here’s the perfect example. Big pipeline companies and others are touting the coming rapid expansion in data centers due to artificial intelligence (AI). Instead of this being good news — the prospect of helping humans make new leaps in technology and breakthroughs in medicine and other sectors — leftists view AI expansion as a threat because it will use more electricity…electricity generated by dirty, evil fossil fuels.
Powerhouse consulting and accounting firm Ernst & Young (EY) has just published its annual study, “US Oil and Gas Reserves, Production and ESG Benchmarking Study” (full copy below). The EY study reveals an industry with “remarkable resilience and financial performance” despite facing a challenging economic landscape in 2023. The study, which examines the 50 largest publicly traded exploration and production (E&P) companies, highlights the industry’s ability to navigate price fluctuations and maintain a trajectory of growth and profitability. 
We’re forced to report on a bill in New York State that is so stupid, it’s beyond words. We’ll do our best. The Democrats in the NY legislature passed a bill earlier this year that would create a “superfund” (big old pot of money) to be fed by slapping an illegal tax/fee on oil and gas corporations. The fee is to “pay back” the state for causing mythical global warming. (Create a mythical problem out of nothing, then create a faux cause of that problem — burning fossil fuels — in order to justify shaking down specific companies.) The NY bill would extract an astonishing $75 billion over the next 25 years — roughly $3 billion a year. It will never happen (never work) because O&G companies will fight it in court for years to come, but perhaps that is the point: to tie up O&G in court and encourage them to leave the state. You see, NY is closed for business. 
In May 2023, the Dept. of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued a proposed new rule that would slap onerous and very expensive new requirements on pretty much all natural gas pipelines in the country, including 2.7 million miles of gas transmission, distribution, and gathering pipelines; 400+ underground natural gas storage facilities; and 165 liquefied natural gas facilities (see 
Have you ever noticed how anti-drilling leftists demand the right to mouth off whenever and wherever they want? If you deny them that opportunity, they get grumpy, fast. Last Friday, representatives from the U.S. Dept. of Energy and private company Allegheny Science and Technology (coordinating the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub, or ARCH2) held a virtual briefing about the ARCH2 project. So-called concerns and questions were not addressed until 40 minutes into the briefing, and then, only about 10 of the hundreds of questions antis flooded the call with got addressed. That ticked off the antis.
Add Virginia to the list of states refusing to invest in companies and investment funds that push so-called ESG investing. Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares issued an official Attorney General’s Opinion on the permissibility of basing Virginia Retirement System (VRS) investment decisions on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria. The Opinion confirms that the VRS Board of Trustees must prioritize financial returns and the best interests of beneficiaries above ESG policies when making investment decisions. Virginia joins a growing list of states, including West Virginia, Texas, and Tennessee that eschews investing in funds and companies that advocate anti-fossil fuel positions.
According to an analysis by Reuters, U.S. electricity generators consumed a record amount of natural gas in the first four months of the year as prices dropped to the lowest level in real terms for more than half a century. Ultra-low prices encouraged more power production from some of the least-efficient single-cycle gas and steam turbines at the expense of coal. From January through April 2024, natural gas was the #1 source of fuel used to generate electricity with 42% of all electricity generated coming from natgas. Coal was used to produce 15% of all electricity, meaning between the two fossil fuels, 57% of all electricity came from fossil fuels. Further meaning your EV runs on fossil fuels, not “batteries.”