WV Adds Citigroup, HSBC, TD Bank, Northern Trust to ESG Banned List
In February, West Virginia State Treasurer Riley Moore sent notices to six financial institutions warning them of potential inclusion on the state’s Restricted Financial Institution List (can’t do business with the state) after his office made an initial determination that the institutions appear to be engaged in boycotts of fossil fuel companies as defined under state law (see WV Warns 6 More Banks They are in Danger of Blacklist re ESG). Four of the six, including the Chinese-owned HSBC, were just added to the list. It’s lights out for these four companies as far as doing business with the State of West Virginia.
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Hart Energy is know for its DUG events — Developing Unconventional Gas. In years gone by, Hart would host separate DUG events in their respective regions. This year is different. Hart combined the Marcellus/Utica (called Appalachia), which, of course, covers Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, with the Haynesville, which covers northern Louisiana and East Texas. Both are the leading natural gas-focused plays in the country. This year’s combined event, called DUG Gas+, was held two weeks ago in Shreveport, LA. One of the interesting discussions coming from this year’s event was talk about buyers (and investors) being “starved” for top-tier natural gas assets, and that Appalachia could become a dealmaking hotspot in the coming years.
Yesterday, the Pennsylvania House Republican Policy Committee held a hearing called “Fueling Pa’s Future: Liquid Natural Gas.” In January, Joe Biden announced he would “pause” any approvals for new LNG export plants (currently 17 requests in the pipeline) for at least one year while his people fart around pretending to figure out how to measure global warming as a new consideration for whether or not to approve projects (see 
We are currently mired in some of the lowest prices for natural gas in the last 27 years (see 
Depending on who you talk to, hydrogen energy will either save the world or isn’t a big deal at all. When hydrogen burns, it’s completely “clean” — meaning it doesn’t emit any carbon dioxide. Hydrogen, when burned, creates water. What could be more clean and pure and holy than hydrogen energy? Yet the 800-pound gorilla in the room is that there isn’t a market for all of the new hydrogen scheduled to come online if the so-called regional hydrogen hubs being funded by Joementia actually take off. If you produce it (more hydrogen), they will come (and buy it)? That’s what Joe and the climate hucksters are saying. Here’s a better idea: Let’s look at who uses hydrogen the most now and why. And would they use more hydrogen if it was available at a reasonable cost?
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Energy Transfer files for regulator review in pipeline spat; NATIONAL: Despite $90 crude, US oil output capped by weak natgas prices; Municipalization of Rochester Gas and Electric is wrong for consumers; Why another drawdown of America’s oil reserve could happen; Dimon calls push to stop all oil and gas enormously naïve; Improvement in job availability signals positive trend in energy sector; INTERNATIONAL: Time to stop doing business with Zurich Insurance; More Russian LNG being exported to Europe than Asia.
This is precisely what companies going through a merger DON’T want to happen. Last Thursday, both Chesapeake Energy and Southwestern Energy, which previously announced a deal to combine back in January (see 
Martins Ferry (OH) Mayor John Davies continues to make noise about the currently shuttered Austin Master Services (AMS) frack waste processing facility in his city. Two weeks ago, Ohio Attorney General 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 
In reviewing the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) Oil and Gas Workload Report for the week ending March 29, David Hess from the PA Environment Digest Blog discovered there is currently only one new shale permit under review for approval by the department. That is really low. Hess also discovered so far this year PA has received just 95 applications for new shale permits. At that rate, the state will only issue around 380 new permits in 2024 — the lowest since the modern shale era began.
This year’s presidential election may well turn on the results in the “swing state” of Pennsylvania. The Wall Street Journal has an intriguing story that looks at PA voters, who they support for president, and why. In the article ‘Now They’re Voting Red’: A Pennsylvania Fracking Boom Weighs on Biden’s Re-Election Chances, the WSJ says a slim majority of voters give Donald Trump a 3-point lead over Joementia if the election were held today. (How ANYONE could vote for Biden is a complete mystery to us.) “Economic churn” and Biden’s actions like his infamous LNG pause are pushing voters toward Trump in the Pittsburgh area, potentially overwhelming the Democrats’ base of college-educated workers. Could it be that pro-frackers in PA will hand the White House back to DJT?
Last week, the Baker Hughes rig count dropped another rig. The count went from 621 active rigs two weeks ago down to 620 last week. This is the third week in a row the national count has lost rigs. 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 Marcellus/Utica remained the same last week at 42 active rigs. However, there were some musical chairs. Pennsylvania gained one rig and now operates 22 rigs. West Virginia lost a rig and now operates 8 rigs. Ohio remained steady with 12 active rigs.
What’s below dismal? The new permits report for two weeks ago showed just five new permits, which we called “dismal” (see