Digging Deeper into EIA’s Replacement for Drilling Prod. Report
Yesterday, MDN told you that the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has decided not to produce its monthly Drilling Productivity Report (DPR), a report that delves into the latest numbers for each of the seven major shale plays in the U.S. (see Biden EIA Dumps Detailed Monthly U.S. Shale Drilling Report). Instead, EIA said it would publish the data found in the DPR in the monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO). Yesterday, the EIA published a blog post to say the change has resulted in *expanded* coverage of oil and natgas production, which we found odd.
Read More “Digging Deeper into EIA’s Replacement for Drilling Prod. Report”
Venture Global has been screwing its contracted customers by denying LNG shipments to them from its Calcasieu Pass (CP) LNG export facility for over two years, instead shipping over 200 cargoes to other buyers (at higher prices) rather than honoring its contracts. So why in the world would ANYONE sign a new deal with Venture Global for LNG shipments, given the company’s history of screwing its contracted customers? As Phineas Taylor Barnum is reputed to have said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” This time, it’s DTEK Group of Ukraine.
NATIONAL: The Gensler SEC loses again; The latest on the war against internal combustion vehicles; Fossil fuels – the best-kept secret in our world today; INTERNATIONAL: China is main beneficiary of West’s futile energy transition push.
Wonder of wonders. Yesterday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) granted its permission for the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) to begin flowing natural gas. YES!!!! We are elated! Finally, nine years after MVP filed for permission to build, the pipeline is now (or soon will be) flowing Marcellus/Utica gas to the Southern U.S. This is a great day for all of the Marcellus/Utica.
In July 2022, MDN brought you news of a possible frac-out, or “inadvertent return” that happens when drilling mud pops out of places where it’s not supposed to — places outside the borehole being drilled (see 
It is the sad end of an era brought about by the Bidenistas at the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). For years, since the very first Drilling Productivity Report (DPR) issued by the EIA, MDN has brought you the monthly DPR, a report that delves into the latest numbers for each of the seven major shale plays in the U.S. The monthly DPR reported estimates of production for each play each month, along with DUC (drilled but uncompleted well) counts and other vital statistics. But, no more. We checked the 
Ameren Missouri, a subsidiary of Ameren Corporation, recently filed an application with the Missouri Public Service Commission to build an 800-megawatt, simple-cycle “peaker plant” powered by natural gas to serve as a reliable backup source of energy, ready to use when customers need it most. The Castle Bluff Energy Center is designed to bolster grid reliability, deliver energy on the hottest summer days and the coldest winter nights, and complement the increasing amount of renewable energy generation being added to the grid.
Since April, mainstream media has been abuzz with the ironic conundrum that there are huge quantities of lithium in shale brine/wastewater (see 
A once-respected oil and gas consultancy has become a petty partisan purveyor of pap. We’re referring to Wood Mackenzie, the “global insight business for renewables, energy and natural resources.” In a recently released report, WoodMac analysts make this partisan statement: “A Republican victory in 2024 could roll back decarbonisation policies and usher in a delayed energy transition for the US.” The not-so-subtle implication is that if you care about the planet and the mythical “energy transition” that must take place (or else)…you’ll vote Democrat in November. What a huge, stinking pile of B.S. WoodMac has become as corrupted and unreliable as the International Energy Agency (IEA) with its pronouncements of doom and gloom to the planet if we don’t ban fossil energy now. Shame on WoodMac for becoming partisan hacks.
Is today the day we’ve been waiting and writing about for the past nine years? Possibly! Yesterday, Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), the 303-mile, 2 Bcf/d pipeline from Wetzel County, WV, to Pittsylvania County, VA, filed a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to say the pipeline is now mechanically complete, meaning the pipeline is in the ground, covered up, fully tested, and ready to begin operations. MVP asked FERC to allow it to begin flowing gas TODAY, June 11. At best, it’s a 50/50 shot that FERC will allow it to begin operations today. No matter. Whether today, tomorrow, or next week, MVP is done and will begin. WE WON!
Natural gas utility Peoples Natural Gas (headquartered in Pittsburgh) is working with Pittsburgh startup company H Quest and the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering to test new technology from H Quest that microwaves natural gas (CH4), turning it into clean hydrogen (H2) and carbon black. No carbon dioxide (CO2) is released in the process. The H Quest tech is housed in what looks like a tractor-trailer container unit that is powerful enough to “decarbonize more than 1,000 residential households in one go.”
We have been tracking and reporting on the drama surrounding Austin Master Services (AMS), a radiological waste management solutions company in Martins Ferry (Belmont County), Ohio, located close to the Ohio River, since the Ohio Attorney General lodged charges against the company back in March (
Anti-fossil fuelers can’t protest specific projects that are part of the ARCH2 (Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub) initiative because the projects are still being fleshed out. There aren’t any specifics yet to share, which makes antis mad. As soon as they know what projects are planned, they will use considerable sums of money (from dubious sources) to try and defeat, block, and oppose those projects because they irrationally hate natural gas, which will be the feedstock used in ARCH2.
Did you know that the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) is responsible for processing and issuing some 800 different types of permits? Does that not seem a bit excessive? (Is there a permit for applying for a permit?) Being responsible for issuing 800 permits sure sounds like government run amok. Big government. PA State Rep. Jim Struzzi (Republican from Indiana County) announced the introduction of House Resolution 468 last week. The legislation directs the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee (LBFC) to conduct a survey of the PA DEP’s permitting processes.