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Haynesville & LNG the Main Driver of Chesapeake/Southwestern Deal
Even though separately (and together) Chesapeake Energy and Southwestern Energy own MORE assets in the Marcellus/Utica than in the Haynesville shale play, the main driver to do a merger between the two companies is the Haynesville and that play’s close proximity to LNG export facilities along the Gulf Coast. That is the conclusion of most analysts based on comments made yesterday by Chesapeake and Southwestern in announcing a $7.4 billion deal to combine the companies (see Deal is Done! Chesapeake & Southwestern Announce $7.4B Merger). So, the big question is, What does that mean for the Marcellus/Utica?
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Hyperion Midstream LLC, a subsidiary of Olympus Energy, is seeking a special exception to a Penn Township (Westmoreland County) zoning ordinance so it can build a six-generator compressor station along Wilderness Road over the next four years. Last night, Hyperion representatives and witnesses testified at a township zoning hearing in favor of the plan. Those who spoke said the proposed compressor site would not create a problem for the air and water quality of that area.
On Wednesday, PJM Interconnection, the largest U.S. power grid operator, asked (more like begged) Talen Energy to delay retiring several fossil fuel-powered plants in Maryland by three years. Why? PJM is afraid of blackouts due to unreliable “renewables” like wind and solar. Talen notified PJM last October that it intends to retire three oil-burning units and one natural gas-burning power unit at its Herbert A. Wagner Generating Station outside of Baltimore by June 2025.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) published a post yesterday on the agency’s newly revamped Today in Energy website to announce it expects the Henry Hub natural gas spot price to average under $3.00/MMBtu in 2024 and 2025. What joyous news (not). The post explains the reasoning and thinking of EIA analysts and why they believe the price of natural gas will be, sadly, lower for longer.
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Once a month, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) analysts issue the agency’s Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), their best guess about where energy prices and production will go in the next 12 months. The EIA issued the January STEO yesterday. Among its latest predictions is that the growth rate for natural gas production will slow this year and next. Production will still grow, just not as fast as it did in 2023, says EIA. As for prices, EIA says the average Henry Hub price in 2024 will turn out to be around $2.70/MMBtu, which is dismal (but higher than 2023’s $2.54/MMBtu). They predict the price will rise to an average of $3/MMBtu in 2025 — still far below where it needs to be.
For years, anti-fossil fuel haters have made the same false claims: Drilling and fracking will destroy the environment, contaminate your water, make you sick, and create death and destruction everywhere it’s tried. Then, a responsible driller, like Olympus Energy, comes along and drills wells not far from the lefties in Pittsburgh, and none of those things happen. The air is fine, the water is fine, and nothing gets polluted or contaminated. In other words, the left’s wild claims are exposed as outright lies. But that doesn’t stop the left, funded by shadowy sources, from continuing to sue and challenge time and again — even AFTER shale wells are already drilled and online!
It’s hard to underestimate the influence and role of Pennsylvania on the world’s energy sector, especially over the past 19 years with the rise of the Marcellus Shale. However, advocates for fossil energy (like the American Petroleum Institute) are expressing concerns that PA’s dominant role may change to one with far less influence. Why? Lack of pipelines to transport PA’s production to other regions (or to export plants). Their concerns are valid (see 
If you’re a high school senior in Ohio looking for help paying for advanced education or training — whether it’s college, university, technical or trade school — listen up! The Ohio Natural Energy Institute (formerly called the Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program, or OOGEEP) is now accepting