Crash in NatGas Price Likely Means Cut in New M-U Drilling
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.
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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.
There is no doubt that recently issued regulations by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) aimed at reducing methane emissions are having a deleterious effect on the Marcellus industry in the Keystone State. The Bidenistas are proposing a huge tax on oil and gas drillers that will drive some companies out of business (see 
Dozens of conservative organizations have banded together to provide Trump a road map — known as Project 2025 — if he prevails in November. It outlines a series of steps that the former president could take to (among other things) reverse the climate actions taken by the Biden administration. The Washington-based Heritage Foundation (fantastic organization!) worked with conservative organizations to produce Project 2025, which offers 920 pages of policy prescriptions to ensure the chaos of Trump’s first term is not repeated if he gets a second term (full copy of Project 2025 is embedded below). Among the 920 pages are sections addressing policy prescriptions for the Dept. of Energy, EPA, Interior, and other agencies that touch on energy issues, including oil and gas.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Far-left groups oppose bill to block RGGI in PA; NATIONAL: Natgas futures crumble to fresh lows amid storage overhang; INTERNATIONAL: Nuclear reactor restarts in Japan reduce LNG imports for powergen; Green activists are a menace to society; Barclays to adopt fresh curbs on oil and gas financing.
Two days ago, Range Resources, the very first company to sink a Marcellus shale well (back in 2004), issued fourth-quarter 2023 expectations for production and pricing along with details about the company’s proved reserves. Range doesn’t issue its official 4Q update until later this month (Feb. 21). The preliminary numbers show the company, when converting all production to gas equivalent, produced 2.2 Bcfe/d (billion cubic feet equivalent per day) during 4Q23. The company received an average of $2.68 per Mcf (thousand cubic feet) for its gas.
Although oil and natural gas output is still increasing ever-so-slightly, according to experts like Rystad Energy, the rate of production growth has slowed. And because production is slowing, “investments in the shale patch are not expected to grow in 2024, keeping activity and output relatively flat” this year. How does slowing activity in 2024 affect employment in O&G in 2024? Rigzone asked a couple of experts. One comment in particular caught our attention because it has implications not only in the Texas oil patch, but also in the M-U gas patch.
The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy, Climate and Grid Security held a hearing on Tuesday to challenge Joe Biden’s so-called pause on new LNG permits to non-free-trade partners as it “studies the impacts,” including on climate change, of LNG use. Republicans blasted the Bidenistas for the havoc they have created with the announcement. Democrats on the subcommittee defended Biden’s pause (go figure), arguing now is the time to reevaluate new LNG exports. The Dems are oblivious to the tangible harm this pause is causing (see 
Politicians on Capitol Hill aren’t the only people taking aim at Joe Biden’s pause on LNG export approvals (see today’s companion story, Repubs Attack, Dems Defend Biden LNG Pause at House Hearing). Some 23 “red” state Attorneys General wrote a letter to President Biden and the nutty Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, to inform them that this LNG approvals pause violates federal law. The not-so-subtle threat is that unless Biden “changes course” and reverses the pause, he’s facing a lawsuit by half of the states in the country.
EPA Administrator Michael Regan used a considerable amount of fossil energy and emitted tons of carbon dioxide to jet over to Dubai in December to participate in the COP28 confab, where he released a final rule that was “two years in the making” to force the U.S. oil and gas industry to cut methane emissions by using budget-busting new technologies and onerous (frequent) inspections (see 
Do you remember those Ball mason jars your mom used for canning when you were growing up? Well OK, maybe we’re dating ourselves. Trust us, it’s a thing (see the image to the left). Here’s the interesting bit: Ball Corporation not only makes mason jars and other packaging solutions for beverage, personal care and household products customers, it also has an aerospace division that manufactures satellites! Ball is a $14 billion company. One of the company’s projects was to manufacture and deliver a satellite that would sniff out fugitive methane. The satellite was just delivered to Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California, and will launch next month.
For climate change catastrophists and “peak gas” proponents who read MDN, please tell us yet again how natural gas (and oil) are on the way out. Remind us of how unreliable renewables are taking the country by storm and that pretty soon (any year now), we won’t need natgas anymore. We need a good laugh! Here’s the reality: On January 16, 2024, the U.S. Lower 48 states consumed 141.5 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas, exceeding the previous record set on December 23, 2022. That is a new, all-time, record-high natural gas consumption record in this country for a single day. So yes, tell us again how natgas is quickly fading away (LOL)…