OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Michigan AG plans to sue Big Oil for “climate change”; NATIONAL: Poultry industry launches “Manure-as-a-Service” platform; Oil falls as high US inflation persists; Schumer tells regulator to bin Chevron-Hess merger; INTERNATIONAL: OPEC+ reopens debate over its members’ oil production capacity; Suez Canal sees significant decrease in shipping traffic.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Wed, May 15, 2024”
On May 1, a section of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) near Roanoke, VA, failed (ruptured) during pressurized water testing conducted to ensure that there were no leaks or flaws (see Section of MVP Ruptures Near Roanoke Under Water Pressure Test). All testing was temporarily stopped. We have several updates: (1) Since the May 1 rupture, MVP has replaced and retested the affected section, along with restarting tests on other sections. (2) On Friday, May 10, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) cited MVP for environmental violations. And (3) A recently obtained report filed by MVP with the federal PHMSA shows there were 70 “indications” or signs of possible flaws with the pipe after an in-house evaluation late last year. After investigating those flaws, 15 sections were cut out and replaced.
Read More “MVP Testing Showed 70 Potential Flaws, 15 Sections Cut & Replaced”
Is there a crack of light, a sliver of hope, that a bill passed by both the New York Assembly and Senate to ban carbon dioxide “fracking” will NOT be signed into law by New York’s left-leaning Governor, Kathy Hochul? The bill was passed by the Senate on March 20 after already passing in the Assembly (see Radicals Win in NY – Senate Passes Permanent Ban on CO2 Fracking). We checked today, and the bill *still* has not even gone to the Governor’s desk for consideration. Once it does hit her desk, she has ten days to decide whether or not she will sign it into law. If she signs it, all hope for landowners in the Southern Tier to profit from their own land is gone.
Read More “2 Mo. After NY Legislature Passed CO2 Frack Ban, Gov Hasn’t Signed”
Last week, in reporting on pipeline giant Williams’ first quarter 2024 update, we told you about a major new project Williams has begun to replace (upgrade) 112 mainline compressor units with state-of-the-art low-emission turbines and electric drive units on the Transco and Northwest Pipe (see Williams 1Q Revenue Up 8%, Replacing 112 Compressor Units). Instead of leaving the information about the compressor replacement project buried in the quarterly update, Williams published a full press announcement yesterday to trumpet the news.
Read More “Williams Project to Replace Mainline Compressor Units on Transco”
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 first quarter 2024 update yesterday to inform investors of its progress.
Read More “NET Power NatGas Plant with Zero Emissions Provides 1Q Update”
In March, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro traveled to Scranton, PA, to announce a proposal to “immediately pull Pennsylvania out of a multi-state carbon cap-and-trade program” (the so-called Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI) and instead enroll PA in its very own RGGI-like carbon tax program (see PA Gov. Shapiro Proposes Own Version of Marcellus-Killing Carbon Tax). Same end result: It would kill Marcellus-fired power plants in the state, forcing them to close and relocate to West Virginia and Ohio, states that don’t engage in the lunacy of taxing carbon emissions from power plants. The Shapiro plan also includes a provision to FORCE the state to get 35% of its electricity from unreliable renewables, and FORCE it to get 50% of its electricity “from a diverse range of energy resources” by 2035, just over ten years from now. Shapiro recently found legislators dumb enough to introduce his plan in the form of four bills (see Extremist Democrats Intro Gov. Shapiro’s Energy Plan with 4 Bills).
Read More “PA Gov. Shapiro Energy Policy – Formula for Expensive Electricity”
In late 2015, MPLX (i.e., Marathon Petroleum) bought out and merged in the Utica Shale’s premier midstream company, MarkWest Energy, for $15 billion (see MarkWest Energy Investors/Unitholders Approve Merger with Marathon). The “new” MarkWest, aka MPLX, plays on a much larger stage now, including ownership and operation of major assets in the Permian Basin and in the Bakken Shale, in addition to the Marcellus/Utica. Big news: MPLX CEO Mike Hennigan is stepping back and will be succeeded by Maryann T. Mannen, currently President of Marathon Petroleum.
Read More “Change at the Top of MPLX, the Former MarkWest Energy”
American LNG exports are a true success story. We have shale drilling to thank for LNG exports. The U.S. went from importing LNG a few short years ago to exporting 11.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of LNG in 2023. But baby, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet! U.S. LNG exports in 2024 are forecast to hit an average of 14 Bcf/d. And because of facilities currently under construction or will soon be under construction, U.S. LNG exports are forecast to hit an average of 25 (!) Bcf/d by 2028, some 80% more than this year!
Read More “U.S. LNG Export Capacity Forecast to Rise 80% by 2028”
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Biden bribes PA voters with $17 billion; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: The LNG industry has revived my community; NATIONAL: Trump vows Day One executive order targeting offshore wind; We are not prepared to meet rising energy needs; Biden is not refilling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve; Geothermal energy talk rises to the surface at OTC; INTERNATIONAL: New Bloomberg study warns of $150 oil.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Tue, May 14, 2024”
The Bidenistas at the EPA attacked coal and gas-fired power plants in April, threatening to destabilize the existing electric power grid with new regulations (see EPA Rolls Out Final Regs Attacking Coal & Gas-Fired Power). Using 1,020 pages of new regulations, which will go into effect this year, all coal-fired plants that are slated to remain operational in the long term and all new gas-fired power plants will be required to control (capture) 90% of their carbon emissions using expensive and unproven technology. Translation: New gas-fired plants won’t get built, and most, if not all, coal plants will shutter, with the result that electricity will, by necessity, be rationed (see WSJ Calls Biden EPA Power Plant Regs a Plan to “Ration Electricity”). But that won’t happen if West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and the AGs for 24 other states have their way. Last week, Morrisey and other AGs petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, asking the court to invalidate the EPA’s new finalized power plant regulation.
Read More “25 States Led by WV Ask DC Circuit to Overturn EPA Power Plant Reg”
This story gets a little complicated, but we’ll do our best to explain. The Algonquin Gas Transmission (AGT) pipeline (owned by Enbridge) transports up to 3.09 Bcf/d through 1,131 miles of pipeline. Algonquin connects to Texas Eastern Transmission (TETCO), Millennium Pipeline, and Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline and supplies New England with critically needed natural gas supplies for power generation and consumer use. Anti-fossil fuel fanatics who see carbon dioxide molecules under every rock and lurking in every shadow claim a tiny upgrade to an AGT regulating station (costing $15.7 million) in Connecticut is part of Enbridge’s Master Plan to expand AGT throughout the region. Led by the radicals of the Sierra Club, protesters will hold a meeting on Thursday to oppose the upgrades to a regulating station that does nothing more than aim to keep the gas reliably flowing through existing pipes.
Read More “Radicals Organize Protest Against Tiny New England Regulating Stn”
According to recently released data, water sales for fracking activities throughout Westmoreland and its neighboring counties represent only a tiny portion of what is distributed daily to local residential, commercial, and industrial customers. Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County (MAWC) said water purchased by local energy companies, which includes shale and conventional drillers, accounts for just 4% of the more than 11.5 billion gallons that were sold over the preceding 12 months. Whoops! Another lie of the environmental left — that fracking is soaking up all of our precious water supplies — is now exposed.
Read More “Marcellus Drillers Use < 4% of Water Sold by Westmoreland County"
Every four years, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) must approve plans by PECO, Pennsylvania’s largest electric and natural gas utility, delivering power to nearly 1.7 million electric customers and more than 545,000 natural gas customers in southeastern Pennsylvania. The plans under review are for how PECO, a fully regulated utility, will procure (buy) electricity for the next four years. In February, PECO filed its 1,235-page purchase plan with the regulators. The company plans to do what it has been doing (i.e., what’s been working), which is to obtain the least expensive electric supply and purchase 8% of its power from renewable sources, including 0.5% of solar energy generated within the state. Anti-fossil fuel nutters are having a cow, demanding (they always demand) that PECO buy far more unreliable renewable electricity, skyrocketing the cost to consumers.
Read More “Activists Try to Force Higher Electric Prices on Philly Residents”
Last week, the Baker Hughes U.S. rig count lost another two rigs, down to 603, the lowest the count has been since January of 2022. Since last October, the national count had gone as low as 616 and as high as 629, and that was it — a fairly narrow band. That is, until three weeks when it crashed through the floor and went lower, down to 613. Then, two weeks ago, it was down to 605. And now, it has gone even lower, down to 603. Will we see it go lower than 600?
Read More “Baker Hughes U.S. Rig Count Drops 2 @ 603, M-U Even @ 40”
The NYMEX futures price for natural gas has been trending higher lately. It closed down a nickel on Friday, but overall, the trend has been up, up, and away. Since price is so important, we cover the topic frequently. Lately, we’ve made the following points (in various posts): (1) Natural gas production is declining, thanks to drillers like EQT, Chesapeake, and Antero curtailments. (2) LNG export demand is increasing with Freeport back online and a couple of new plants coming online soon. Both of those factors combine to drive the price higher. However, there’s another factor at work to keep prices lower.
Read More “Can Low NatGas Production & Strong LNG Exports Keep Prices High?”
Former President Donald J. Trump met with members of the oil and gas industry last month at his Mar-a-Lago estate. According to snitches at the event, after one of the O&G big whigs complained about Biden’s attack on the fossil fuel industry, DJT made them all a deal: Raise $1 billion for his reelection campaign and on “Day One” of a new term, DJT will set about fixing the damage done by Biden to the industry. Sounds like a good deal to us!
Read More “Trump Promises to Undo Biden Regs if O&G Raises $1B for Campaign”