Freeport LNG Still Mostly Shut Down – 5 Days in Row at < 5% of Gas
The problem-plagued Freeport LNG export plant remains out of order. The plant had been mostly offline following an episode of cold temps in January (see Freeport LNG Repairs Won’t be Done Until May – 2 Trains Offline). Freeport announced that two of the three trains at its facility would remain out of service for testing and repairs through May. In late March, Train 3 at the plant came back online (see Freeport LNG Maintenance Work Continues – Gas Flows to One Train). However, a new problem at Train 3 took it offline last week (see NatGas Flows to Freeport LNG Export Plant Drop to Near Zero, Again). According to Reuters, as of Monday this week, the plant has remained offline for five days running.
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OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Cheap natgas means lower electricity prices except in Texas; Illustrating the absurdity of New York’s energy transition; New BLM drilling rule could put Wyoming O&G on life support; NATIONAL: Biden admin pressured Snopes to change fact-check rating on gas stove ban; Mandating social changes to achieve net zero emissions is a fool’s game!; INTERNATIONAL: Oil shows little change awaiting Israel response; China imported record amounts of crude oil in 2023.
We now have more insight (possibly) into why radioactive frack wastewater handler and processor Austin Master Services (AMS) is in trouble with the Ohio Attorney General. Three weeks ago, Ohio AG Dave Yost took legal action seeking to force AMS to correct “egregious violations of Ohio law” regarding the storage of oil and gas waste that he says threatens the Ohio River and Martins Ferry’s drinking water supply (see 
We tried to cram the gist of the news into the headline but found we could not. This is a big story, for multiple reasons. Most news outlets are reporting (and this is not incorrect) that EQT pulled off a big deal to divest a good chunk of its nonoperated assets (acreage and functioning wells in which EQT owns a minority stake) in northeastern Pennsylvania, trading those assets for 10,000 operated acres in Lycoming County, PA (in northeastern PA), plus 26,000 operated acres in Monroe County, OH, plus receiving $500 million cash, in a deal with Norway’s Equinor (formerly Statoil). EQT divesting from its nonop assets is a big deal. However, the bigger news, in our humble opinion, is that Equinor has (with this deal) completely exited all operated assets in U.S. shale. The company wants to keep its fingers in the U.S. shale pie, but only as a nonop operator — that is, investing in wells that other companies drill and maintain.
An injection well in Southington (Trumbull County), Ohio, is generating complaints. According to a news report from Youngstown TV station WFMJ, some of the neighbors claim when it’s warm outside, or when it rains, a strong odor emanates from the injection well. The well is located near a school and near homes. The local NAACP is making noise about it, claiming this is an “environmental justice” issue, meaning the well is racist. The left often trots out the racism argument when it’s losing in a bid to bully the other side to cave on a given issue. So we are immediately suspicious when we read about an injection well (a) causing odors, and (b) being an environmental justice issue.
The United States exported 10% more natural gas in 2023 than it did in 2022 — a record of 20.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Natural Gas Monthly report. U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports accounted for more than half of all U.S. natural gas exports, and natural gas exports by pipeline to Canada and Mexico accounted for the remainder. You don’t often think about the fact that we export a huge amount of natural gas to our two neighbors via pipeline — Canada in the north and Mexico in the south. We exported 8.9 Bcf/d to Canada and Mexico combined (43% of all exported gas) and 12.0 Bcf/d via LNG (57%).
BMI, a Fitch Solutions company, hauled out its hefty crystal ball to make predictions about the “front month” contract price for NYMEX natural gas (based on the Henry Hub) for the next five years, beginning with 2024. BMI’s report also includes an aggregation of predictions by Bloomberg called the Bloomberg Consensus. What does it show? If the predicted average price in 2024 comes to be, we’ll need to see a pretty stiff rise in the price soon!
CNX Midstream, a subsidiary of CNX Resources, plans to construct two 13.9-mile-long, 24-inch-diameter steel natural gas pipelines and one approximately 3.9-mile-long, 20-inch-diameter high-density polyethylene (HDPE) permanent waterline in Westmoreland County, PA. The aim is to support new shale well drilling by CNX in the region. The reason we know about the project is from a notice by the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) in the weekly Pennsylvania Bulletin inviting the public to comment on a Chapter 105 Encroachments Permit for the proposed construction.
Welcome to Paradise, where natural gas is the fuel of choice to generate electricity. In 2017, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) held a dedication ceremony for the Paradise Combined Cycle Gas Plant in Drakesboro, Kentucky (see 
Although we support Donald Trump for President in 2024, this site is not and will not become a campaign site for Trump and the Republicans. We will, however, bring you news of Trump (and Biden) announcements with respect to energy and policies that impact the Marcellus/Utica in particular, and oil and gas in general. Trump was at a rally in Schnecksville (Lehigh County), PA, on Saturday. Trump said at the rally that on “day one” of a second term (if he wins), Joe Biden’s “insane electric vehicle mandate” and his “natural gas export ban” will be gone. Trump said Biden is currently waging war on PA energy. We agree.
Last week, the Baker Hughes rig count dropped three more rigs. It is the fourth week in a row the count has dropped. The count went from 620 active rigs two weeks ago down to 617 last week. Since last October, the national count has gone as low as 616 and as high as 629. And that’s it. No higher and no lower. The national count is 18% lower than this time last year (down 131 rigs). The Marcellus/Utica remained the same last week at 42 active rigs — the fourth week in a row for that count. Pennsylvania operates 22 rigs; Ohio operates 12 rigs; and West Virginia operates 8 rigs.
Robert Bryce is an American author and journalist based in Austin, Texas. His excellent articles on energy, politics, and other topics have appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Real Clear Energy, Counterpunch, and National Review. Bryce also writes on his own Substack site. Last week, he posted a column called “Natty Nation: These 11 Charts Show Why The U.S. Is A Natural Gas Superpower.” Bryce completely delivers on the promise of the headline. In the leadup to sharing 11 great charts, he says this: “The notion that the U.S. should get rid of natural gas or that doing so would be a “bonanza” is — to use a technical term — total bonkers crazy town.” About 47% of all the homes in the U.S. rely on natural gas furnaces for heating. Heating with gas is far cheaper than heating with electricity. Yet the Bidenistas and the environmental left are attempting to force the entire country to give up natural gas. TOTAL BONKERS CRAZY TOWN.
So often, we bring you news of Big Banks (and investment firms like the odious BlackRock) screwing fossil fuel companies either by refusing to lend to them or by pressuring other companies to “reduce” emissions (i.e., stop using fossil fuels). Last month, the State of Texas pulled $8.5 billion out of BlackRock over that company’s use of ESG (environment, social, governance) litmus tests for the companies it invests in and controls (see 
In 2015, greedy lawyers, using a group of 21 Oregonian children, filed a lawsuit against the United States (President Obama at the time) for not doing enough about mythical man-made global warming. The lawsuit eventually made its way to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 2019 (see