NET Power Update: 100% Clean NatGas Better Solution than Renewables
In December 2022, Rice Acquisition Corp II, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) started by the Rice brothers (Danny, Toby, and Derek), announced a deal to acquire NET Power — an electric power developer with revolutionary new technology to capture every last molecule of carbon dioxide from natural gas-fired power plants (see Dan Rice Buys Co. that Builds Zero-Carbon Gas-Fired Electric Plants). The Rice deal to buy NET Power closed in June 2023, with Danny Rice (former CEO of Rice Energy) becoming the new CEO of NET Power (see NET Power Completes $1.5B Merger with Rice Acquisition Corp.). NET Power, now a publicly traded company, issued its third quarter 2024 update last week to inform investors of its progress. Read More “NET Power Update: 100% Clean NatGas Better Solution than Renewables”
Some interesting research coming from Penn State (and Binghamton University). A paper recently published in the Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists found that companies contributing the greatest pollution and emissions were more committed to reducing pollution because they faced greater public scrutiny and risked being labeled as “greenwashers” — entities that make false claims about their environmental impact. In other words, public shaming and bullying (our words) make companies change their behavior. But there was another finding that equally intrigued us… 
The European Union’s idiotic methane regulations will soon come into full force, prompting European oil, gas, and coal companies to monitor, measure and report their emissions. The same restrictions will also apply to energy imports coming from other countries, including the U.S. (see 
Venture Global has some nerve. In August, we told you that most of Venture Global’s contracted customers for LNG from the company’s Calcasieu Pass LNG export facility in southwestern Louisiana’s Cameron Parish had filed for arbitration over Venture Global’s refusal to sell them cargoes under contract (see 
If you live in Québec, Canada, and you’re reading these words, you may want to move soon or risk freezing your derrière off in the winter because you will become a criminal if you try to heat your home or business with natural gas. The Commie province will allow folks to continue heating with so-called renewable natural gas (gas from cow and pig poop) after 2040. However, there’s not enough renewable gas to meet demand. Given the provincial government’s psychological crack with reality, we suspect that even the renewable gas loophole will be gone by the time 2040 rolls around. The government has banned the sale and installation of gas heaters in new residential constructions as of 2026. Québec is the perfect example of how free countries die and give birth to dictatorships. 
Fart vaccines, seaweed diets, burp-catching masks, ray guns, and baby kangaroo poop are just some of the crazy and nutty ways leftist global warming zealots are trying to save the earth from an overabundance of methane from cow farts and burps. And no, we’re not making any of this up or exaggerating! These people are really, truly, legitimately out of their minds. Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founder of Amazon, is funding some of this asininity. Give a guy billions of dollars, and his brain turns to mush. 
NATIONAL: U.S. ethane exports set to surge with new Gulf Coast capacity; Republican lawmakers question FTC over reviews of energy deals; Trump energy allies anticipate boom times for oil, gas, mining; Cheniere Energy wants US to remain in Paris climate agreement; INTERNATIONAL: Oil surges on geopolitical tensions and weaker dollar; Will geopolitics affect oil and gas in 2025?; COP29 climate hucksters urged to extract big money from U.S., Europe; Vomiting protesters storm EU summit in ‘colonialism’ row. 
One month ago, Pennsylvania’s rig count dropped to just 12 rigs, the lowest that state has operated in the last 17 years (see 
Environmental wackos have made building a new natural gas pipeline anywhere in the northeast (or southeast) such a heinously nasty experience with multiple and repeated regulatory challenges and a blizzard of lawsuits that nobody has ventured to propose a new “greenfield” (brand new from scratch) pipeline since Mountain Valley Pipeline, which took a decade to complete at double the original budget. We’re hopeful the situation will change under the new Trump administration. The Marcellus/Utica industry recognizes we need another new pipeline to move more of our molecules to other regions. What would be the “driving force” to prompt a company to be willing to try once again? 
The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) released its annual Winter Reliability Assessment (WRA) last Thursday (full copy below). The report expresses concern about the potential for freezing temperatures to impact the delivery of natural gas to power plants this winter. Texas has worked hard to winterize its natgas infrastructure following previous disasters. Outside of Texas, there is “little to no information to indicate that upstream gas producers, gatherers, and processors have improved winterization of their operations,” said the report. Should we be concerned? 
In 2022, after the shocking news that U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (from West Virginia) had sold out his state and the entire country by agreeing to support the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) bill, the details began to come out about just how bad this bill really is for the oil and gas industry. First and foremost, it slaps a new tax on oil and gas activities (see 
For the week of Nov 4 – 10, permits issued in the Marcellus/Utica came roaring back with a total of 34 permits issued (up from 13 issued the prior week). There were some VERY interesting things to note about some of the permits issued. The Keystone State (PA) issued 16 new permits, with five going to Range Resources in Washington County. And that’s the first of three interesting things to note. All five Range permits were issued for Cecil Township, which recently passed a ban on new fracking via a 2,500-foot setback regulation (see