Former Chair of PA Democrat Party Makes the Case for More Pipelines
Here’s something you don’t hear about often: A Democrat who supports fossil energy and pipelines. It’s especially noteworthy when the Democrat is the former head of the Democratic Party in Pennsylvania. In an eloquent guest editorial published in the Harrisburg Patriot-News, T.J. Rooney, former Chairman of the PA Democratic Party and a former member of the PA House, discusses (bemoans the fact) that it’s next to impossible to build a new natural gas pipeline in the Keystone State. He makes a full-throated plea for permitting reform to change that. Read More “Former Chair of PA Democrat Party Makes the Case for More Pipelines”
Fervo Energy and Youngstown, OH-based Vallourec announced a five-year supply agreement, potentially worth up to $800 million, to scale domestic geothermal infrastructure in the United States. Vallourec will exclusively supply Fervo with U.S.-manufactured tubular solutions (pipelines) and pipeline connectors, creating a fully domestic supply chain for critical geothermal well infrastructure. This collaboration aims to reduce supply chain risks, improve project timelines, and ensure cost certainty for Fervo’s deployment of standardized 50 MW geothermal units, leveraging Vallourec’s expertise in tubular solutions. Here’s the cool part: the pipelines and connectors Vallourec will manufacture for Fervo’s geothermal work were originally developed for shale energy applications. 
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: LPG exports rebound in March as East Coast cargoes surge; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Climate activists push in New York despite shifting sentiment; NATIONAL: U.S. natural gas futures fall on weather, storage data; LNG exports initiate a new era of energy abundance; INTERNATIONAL: Crude climbs as Hormuz disruptions persist; The Iran war reveals who is living in a fantasy world; Europe’s gas market faces a brutal storage refill season. 
The number crunchers in the bowels of the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) issued their latest Annual Energy Outlook (AEO) for 2026 yesterday. And, wow! We didn’t expect this! The agency predicts that natural gas production will grow significantly, from 107 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2025 to between 133 Bcf/d and 151 Bcf/d by 2050. The growth is being driven by both domestic and international demand. But here’s the interesting part: The EIA sees the coming growth in production as strongest “in the East region, which includes the low-cost Appalachian Basin.” The EIA says that to grow production in the M-U, new pipeline infrastructure will be needed to transport it to the U.S. Gulf Coast. 
The Ohio Supreme Court issued a decision in a case we previously did not know about, one with the potential to affect landowners and drillers. In the case Faith Ranch & Farms Fund, Inc. v. PNC Bank, the Supremes ruled that a former Harrison County landowner did NOT reserve underground oil and gas rights in a 1953 deed that mentioned coal and “other minerals.” Using the phrase “other minerals” may refer to oil and gas, but that isn’t necessarily the case, the justices said in a 6-1 ruling. The phrase was considered in relation to how it’s contextualized in a deed, one of the justices wrote. 
Much as the Marcellus Shale boom revolutionized Pennsylvania’s economy, a wave of data center development is poised to drive Pennsylvania’s digital future. At a Williamsport-Lycoming Chamber of Commerce panel, experts from PPL Electric Utilities, Amazon Web Services, and the government discussed the immense power demands of this transition. With AWS investing $20 billion in two Pennsylvania-based data centers, the state is racing to catch up to neighboring states in the lucrative data center market. Unfortunately, it has already fallen behind. 
In July 2024, EQT Corporation closed on a $5.4 billion deal to buy back the midstream division it had spun off in 2018 (see 
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) issued its latest monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) yesterday. The STEO is the agency’s monthly best estimate of where energy prices and production will head over the next 12 months. There was a revision to the agency’s prediction about the spot price (at the Henry Hub) for natural gas in 2026 and 2027. Just last month, EIA predicted the HH spot price would average $3.76 per million British thermal units (MMBtus) this year, and $3.85 next year (see 
The Trump administration’s proposed Fiscal Year 2027 budget would establish four Centers of Excellence at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), focusing on oil and natural gas, coal, critical minerals, and geothermal energy. Pittsburgh’s South Park facility will house the oil and gas center, while Morgantown, West Virginia, will host the coal center. NETL’s infrastructure funding will rise 2% to $58 million, but research operations will face an 8% cut to $80 million. Programs supporting coal-impacted communities and clean hydrogen hubs would be eliminated. Industry groups, including the Marcellus Shale Coalition and Pennsylvania Coal Alliance, praised the administration’s energy-focused direction. 
Caturus has reached major milestones in its “wellhead-to-water” strategy, finalizing customer offtake agreements (new customer signups) for its $12.5 billion, 9.5 MTPA Commonwealth LNG project in Louisiana. This commercialization milestone paves the way for imminent project financing and a final investment decision (FID) in the coming weeks. Key international partners, including EQT LNG Trading, Glencore, Mercuria, PETRONAS, and Aramco Trading Americas, have signed long-term Sale and Purchase Agreements. 