NFG Quarterly Update – Seneca M-U Production Up Big 11%
National Fuel Gas Company (NFG), headquartered in Buffalo, NY, is the parent company for Marcellus/Utica driller Seneca Resources and the parent of midstream company NFG Midstream (and subsidiary Empire Pipeline). Last week, NFG issued its latest quarterly update. During the quarter (considered the company’s first quarter), Seneca produced 100.8 Bcf (billion cubic feet) of natural gas, an increase of 10.2 Bcf, or 11%, from the prior year, mainly due to production from new Marcellus and Utica wells in Seneca’s Eastern Development Area (EDA).
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The Iroquois Gas Transmission pipeline project called Enhancement by Compression (ExC) increases horsepower at three compression stations — two in New York and one in Connecticut — by an extra 125 MMcf/d, flowing more Marcellus/Utica gas into New York City and New England (see 
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Colorado Democrats push for ban on new oil and gas drilling in the state; Texas wildcatter hits gusher in $26 billion sale of oil company; NATIONAL: Constraining LNG exports prompts widespread concern; Liquefied natural gas projects are of public interest; Biden admin hit with legal challenge re offshore drilling permits.
Last Thursday, 29 far-left nutball groups wrote Mike Rolband, Director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), demanding that he issue a stop work order for the 99% completed Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) due to “repeated and widespread violations and damage to waterbodies and private property.” This isn’t the first time these groups have demanded regulators intervene to block MVP based on flimsy grounds. The 29 radical groups include Wild Virginia, The Wilderness Society, Virginia League of Conservation Voters, West Virginia Rivers Association, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, and others (most of them obscure, one-person “groups” pretending to be bigger than they are).
In early December, MDN updated you on the very real possibility that Everett LNG import terminal (Boston area), which accepts and regasifies foreign-sourced natural gas, may shut down this May following the closure of New England’s biggest natural gas-fired power plant, the Mystic Generating Station in Everett, MA (see 
Hyperion Midstream LLC, a subsidiary of Olympus Energy, is seeking a special exception to a Penn Township (Westmoreland County) zoning ordinance to build a six-generator compressor station along Wilderness Road over the next four years. In early January, Hyperion representatives and witnesses testified at a township zoning hearing in favor of the plan (see 
U.S. natural gas production in the Lower 48 states is once again very close to all-time high levels, contrary to the blatherings of groups like the International Energy Association (IEA), which continues its meme that both oil and natgas either already have or will soon peak in demand. That’s just not happening here at home. Natural gas production is up to nearly 104.5 Bcf/d (billion cubic feet per day) over the last week, not far off from the all-time highs of nearly 105.7 Bcf/d recorded in December, according to data from S&P Global Commodity Insights.
Last week, the Baker Hughes rig count added four rigs after losing two rigs the week before. The count went from 619 active rigs two weeks ago to 623 last week. We continue to see the national count stay roughly around 620-630 active rigs. The Marcellus/Utica gained two active rigs and now sits at 44 — the most active rigs we’ve had since last August! Two rigs were added to Pennsylvania, while Ohio and West Virginia each maintained the same count as the previous week.
There were 20 new permits issued to drill in the Marcellus/Utica during the week of Jan. 29 – Feb. 4, versus 27 permits issued during the prior week. Pennsylvania issued 12 new permits last week. Ohio issued 6 new permits. West Virginia issued 2 new permits last week. We had a tie for the company receiving the most permits. Seneca Resources received 4 permits to drill in Tioga County, PA, and Ascent Resources received 4 permits to drill in Harrison County, OH.
The NYMEX Henry Hub futures price closed lower once again yesterday, at $1.92 (down a nickel from the previous day). These are prices we haven’t seen in three years. The current crash in price is prompting analysts to speculate (with good reason) that it will result in less new gas well drilling in gas-focused plays, including the Marcellus/Utica and the Haynesville. However, gas volumes won’t necessarily decrease, corresponding to less gas drilling. Why? Because oil is all the rage right now. With more oil drilling comes more associated natural gas production.
Tenaska, one of the largest privately operated companies in the U.S., announced it has purchased six 21-megawatt (MW) natural gas power plants in Northeast Pennsylvania from IMG Energy Solutions. Tenaska currently operates approximately 22,000 MW of natural gas-fueled and renewables electric generation. We don’t know where the time has gone, but the last time we wrote about IMG was nearly seven years ago! MDN first told you about IMG (then called IMG Midstream) in August 2014 (see 
A leftist anti-fossil group calling itself Protect PT, in Penn Township (Westmoreland County), PA, backed with big money from Big Green groups, has for years challenged Penn Township ordinances that allow Apex Energy and Huntley & Huntley (now Olympus Energy) to drill and operate shale wells. Protect PT finally struck out legally at the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in May 2020 (see 
Anti-fossil fuel zealots (climate catastrophists) have set their sights on blocking drilling and fracking under (not on top of) Ohio’s state-owned land, including several state parks. Their favorite tactic is to lie and smear the companies that seek to do such drilling. One tiny problem (for the zealots): they don’t know which companies are bidding to do the drilling. And that drives them even more crazy. So the zealots, with the help of mainstream media, are trying to paint the process as “secretive” — like there’s something nefarious that the fracking industry wants to hide. In reality, the identity of the winning bid is kept “secret” until the deal is officially announced because IT’S STATE LAW.