Other Stories of Interest: Wed, May 1, 2024
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Texas operators turn to flaring amid weak gas prices; Pipeline explosion sends natural gas prices even lower; US appeals court upholds permits for Commonwealth LNG plant; NATIONAL: A virus could help save billions of gallons of frack wastewater; Wind generation declined in 2023, first time since the 1990s; Oil sector M&A could rise by another $150 billion this year; Flush with cash, oil and gas companies need fewer loans.
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Permitting in Pennsylvania, especially permits overseen by the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), has been a hot mess for years. A Chapter 102 Erosion and Sedimentation permit sometimes takes two, three, or even six to eight months for approval — instead of the law-mandated 14 days. It got so bad that in the fall of 2019, PA State Sen. Gene Yaw introduced a bill to allow third-party reviews of these permits in an attempt to speed it up (see 
As we told you earlier this month, the radicals who run the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) are gearing up to block the Iroquois Gas Transmission system from completing its Enhancement by Compression (ExC) project (see 
Encino Energy published its annual Community Progress Report for 2023 yesterday. The report provides insight into the company’s achievements through its Community Partnership Program and highlights its investments in the communities in which it operates. In five years of active operations in Ohio, Encino has donated more than $2 million to 145 community groups and organizations in the state. In addition, Encino employees have donated more than 2,000 hours of time to volunteer. Recipients include first responders at fire and police departments, seniors groups, 4H, hospitals, and many more.
When drilling for oil (or for natural gas), quite often, the hydrocarbon you’re not drilling for comes out of the ground along with the hydrocarbon you are drilling for. Natural gas coming out of the ground along with oil (in an oil play) is called “associated gas.” And in the Marcellus/Utica, other hydrocarbons (aside from methane) come out too, including ethane, propane, butane, and isobutane — called natural gas liquids (NGLs). Production of oil and NGLs are measured in barrels (Bbl), while methane is measured in thousand cubic feet (Mcf) or million Btus (MMBtu). Years ago, the oil and gas industry created a way to evaluate the total output for a given well or wells by converting all of the hydrocarbons into one unit, called barrels of oil equivalent (Boe). Not long after that came a comparison of how much each commodity sells for on an equivalent basis.
According to S&P Global and its crack statistics unit, U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG, mostly propane) exports both hit new all-time record highs for the period of Jan. 1 through April 29 this year. And that’s despite the fact that the Freeport LNG export facility has experienced a major outage since January. And speaking of the problem-plagued Freeport facility, one of its three trains, Train 3, received around 830 MMcf of natural gas yesterday. Meaning it’s back online. Finally. Up down, up down, up down. Now, up again.
Energy comes in many forms. Most energy produced and consumed in the world comes from fossil fuels. In the United States, fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal) provided 79% of all the energy we used in 2022, according to the authoritative U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The false narrative that so-called renewables (which are unreliable) like solar and wind are about to take over is just that — completely false. The EIA published a post yesterday to note that U.S. carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions coming from the production of energy last year fell by 3% from the previous year, mainly due to the change from using coal to using natural gas to generate electricity.
Last week, CNX Resources issued its first quarter 2024 update. The company’s earnings totaled a paltry $6.8 million, or just $0.04 per share in 1Q24. That compares with $710 million, or $4.22 per share, in last year’s first quarter (down 99%). CNX’s revenue for 1Q24 fell 39% to $384.6 million from $1.28 billion last year. Production was 140.4 Bcfe (billion cubic feet equivalent) in 1Q24 — which works out to 1.54 Bcfe/d — up from 135.9 Bcfe last year (up 3%). The company announced it had delayed completion activities on three Marcellus Shale pads consisting of 11 wells “due to the challenging near term gas market conditions.” By delaying, the company will produce roughly 30 Bcfe less this year for a new target of 540 to 560 Bcfe.
Antero Resources, which is 100% focused on the Marcellus/Utica with over 500,000 net acres under lease (and the largest M-U driller in West Virginia), issued its first quarter 2024 update last week. The company reports net production averaged 3.4 billion cubic feet equivalent per day (Bcfe/d) during 1Q24, an increase of 5% year-over-year. Of the company’s 2024 production, liquids (NGLs) averaged 202 thousand barrels per day (MBbl/d), an increase of 8% from 1Q23. Natural gas production averaged 2.2 Bcf/d, up 4% from 1Q23. The company made $36 million in 1Q24 versus a profit of $213 million in 1Q23 — down a big 83% year over year.
The Bidenistas at the EPA attacked coal and gas-fired power plants last week, threatening to destabilize the existing electric power grid (see 
In addition to opposition from the editors of the Wall Street Journal to the Biden EPA plan to ration electricity by prohibiting existing coal and any new gas-fired power plants (see today’s companion story), prominent Republican legislators in Pennsylvania issued statements challenging the new regulations. The Pennsylvania Senate President Pro Tempore, Senate Majority Leader, Senate Appropriations Committee Chair, and Chairman of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee all issued statements describing how the EPA regs will kill gas-fired power in the Keystone State.
Last week, the Baker Hughes U.S. rig count lost six rigs, down to 613, the lowest the count has been since February of 2022. Since last October, the national count had gone as low as 616 and as high as 629, and that was it. No higher and no lower. That is, until last week when we crashed through the floor and went lower, down to 613. The Marcellus/Utica lost one rig last week and now runs 40 rigs. Pennsylvania lost one rig and now runs 21 rigs; Ohio (which lost one rig two weeks ago) remained static with 11 active rigs; and West Virginia remained the same with 8 rigs.
According to a Bloomberg article, Venture Global LNG Inc. expects to begin production at its second liquefied natural gas export facility in Louisiana in mid-2024. The new facility is called Plaquemines LNG, located in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, approximately 20 miles south of New Orleans. Venture Global has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for permission to import up to three LNG cargoes to test the facility before it’s ready to go. But then, will Venture Global claim it’s not ready for another 2+ years as they have with its first facility, the Calcasieu Pass LNG export facility in Cameron Parish, Louisiana?