U.S. Henry Hub Natural Gas Prices in 2023 Lowest Since Mid-2020
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is out with official numbers for 2023 concerning the price of natural gas traded at the benchmark Henry Hub in southern Louisiana. The Henry Hub natural gas price averaged $2.57 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) in 2023, about a 62% drop from the 2022 average annual price. Bear in mind Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022, sending the natural gas market into a steep climb due to worries that Europe would run out of gas if Putin decided to cut them off.
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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 
In September 2022, MDN told you about a relatively modest-sized gas-fired power plant planned for Superior, Wisconsin, called the Nemadji Trail Energy Center (see 
Wow! That was fast! On Dec. 27, pipeline giant Williams issued a press release to announce a deal to buy six underground natural gas storage facilities located in Louisiana and Mississippi with a total capacity of 115 billion cubic feet (Bcf), as well as 230 miles of gas transmission pipeline and 30 pipeline interconnects, for $1.95 billion. Some of the interconnections connect to the Williams Transco pipeline system, a huge system that transports Marcellus/Utica gas to the Gulf Coast area. One of the big reasons for the deal, according to Williams, is to connect more gas supplies to LNG export markets. Yesterday, Williams issued a second press release to say the deal is already done! Williams now owns the assets.
Shell, one of the contracted customers to receive LNG from Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass LNG export facility, added its voice to BP’s request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to release documents from Venture Global related to an ongoing delay in making the plant commercial. The Calcasieu Pass LNG export facility recently received FERC authorization to place the final three liquefaction blocks (7-9) into service (see 
The two biggest enemies of the United States, Russia and China, are attacking our country and its fossil fuel infrastructure using proxies — nonprofit groups — funneling money to said groups that use the money to finance a blizzard of lawsuits and other activities aimed at destroying our fossil energy industry. We’re in a war, and we don’t even know it! Just the News, one of the best independent news sites on the web, has an expose focusing on China’s role in funding Big Green groups that, in turn, attack our fossil energy industry.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: NY House delegation urges Hochul to protect gas wells; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Chevron recognizes up to $4B in impairments, losses; APA Corp to acquire Callon Petroleum in $4.5 bln deal; NATIONAL: 9 consequential energy predictions for 2024; INTERNATIONAL: China regains top LNG buyer position.
Big news broke yesterday about the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) Southgate project. In 2018, Equitrans Midstream, the builder of the 303-mile MVP, proposed to extend the pipeline by an extra 75 miles from the current MVP terminus in Pittsylvania County, VA, to Alamance County, NC, to provide natural gas for heating and electric generation. The 75-mile extension is called MVP Southgate. Yesterday, various media outlets noticed and reported on a recent filing by Equitrans with the Securities and Exchange Commission. An Equitrans Form 8-K filing from Dec. 29 highlights a major change in the proposed MVP Southgate project.
Diversified Energy Company, with major assets in the Appalachian region (including the Marcellus/Utica), announced yesterday the company had sold a majority stake in an unspecified number of Appalachian conventional oil and gas wells to an investment company called DP Lion Equity Holdco, for $200 million. 
The New Year brought with it four new members of the Philadelphia City Council. All four are radical leftists who want to destroy the city-owned Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) by forcing it to dump sales of natural gas. The inmates are running the asylum! Three of the four new members are radical left Democrats. One is from the Working Families Party — essentially the same thing as the Communist Party (and no, we’re not exaggerating). The new council members say the city (the world) is “in an emergency place” and “we’ve got to take emergency, immediate actions” in order to save the planet. Is anyone listening to these nutters? How in the world did they get elected?
How was 2023 with respect to the return on investment (ROI) in the stocks of gas-focused (largely Marcellus/Utica) drillers? Of the three classes of O&G companies — oil-focused, diversified, and gas-focused — it was the gas-focused drillers who had the best stock returns in 2023, according to an analysis by RBN Energy. Gas-weighted E&Ps posted a 7% median gain last year, according to RBN. Most of the companies in RBN’s list of gas-focused drillers have major operations in the M-U. Let’s have a look at how each one did.
U.S. oil production increased by 21% over the past five years. According to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), in 2023, U.S. oil producers set a new annual all-time high production record. The increase in U.S. oil production is driven by a surge of production in a handful of states. We have a list of the Top 11 oil-producing states over the past year. One of the states on the list is a Marcellus/Utica state. Can you guess which one? Hint: It’s NOT Pennsylvania…
Zacks is one of the top investment research firms focusing on stock research, analysis, and recommendations. A new alert issued by Zacks asks this question: Is Natural Gas Poised for a Turnaround After 2023 Slump? The article recaps what happened to the price of natural gas in 2023 and what may happen in 2024. Interestingly, the author says the natural gas space “is currently quite unpredictable and spooked by the sudden changes in weather and production patterns. As such, investors are clueless about what to do.” Boy, that about sums it up, right? Even without a clue about the future, Zacks makes a couple of stock pick recommendations (of M-U companies) that it feels are safe bets…
U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports hit monthly and annual record highs in December, according to tanker tracking data reviewed by Reuters. Analysts say the data shows the United States leapfrogged both Qatar and Australia to become the largest exporter of LNG in 2023. The two main factors for the U.S. achieving the #1 position are (a) Freeport LNG returned to full service after being down for 10 months following an explosion and fire, and (b) Venture Global LNG’s Calcasieu Pass facility adding more capacity to a facility that it still claims is not commercially ready.
Well, you knew it was just too good to be true, right? When Santa Biden promised *billions* of dollars of “government” (i.e., your) money to prime the pump on establishing regional hydrogen hubs, with at least one of those hubs using natural gas as the primary feedstock to produce the hydrogen (