Invenergy Caves to Pressure and Cancels Allegheny Gas-Fired Plant
In January 2016, Invenergy announced its intention to build a natural gas-powered electric plant in rural Elizabeth Township, in Allegheny County, PA (see Invenergy Eyes SWPA for Second Marcellus-Powered Electric Plant). It took a few years, a lawsuit, and a new location, but eventually, Elizabeth commissioners approved Invenergy’s plan in December 2018 (see Elizabeth Twp in Allegheny Co. OKs Invenergy Gas-Fired Plant). In June 2021, the Allegheny County Health Department’s permitting section held a hearing to discuss potential emissions from the plant. The Health Department subsequently issued an installation (but not an operating) air permit. A mishmash of Big Green groups promptly challenged the installation air permit (see Anti Groups Challenge Permit for Invenergy Gas-Fired Plant in SWPA). Sadly, Invenergy has just thrown in the towel, canceling the project.
Read More “Invenergy Caves to Pressure and Cancels Allegheny Gas-Fired Plant”
In January, Ohio House Bill (HB) 507 became law with the signature of Gov. Mike DeWine (see 
Freeport LNG’s export facility on Quintana Island, TX, is again experiencing problems. Freeport LNG’s export terminal with three liquefaction “trains” shut down in June 2022 after an explosion and fire (see 
In May, the Bidenistas at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a hellscape of new regulations called the Clean Power Plan 2.0, aimed at forcing coal- and natural gas-fired power plants to close (see 
According to the prognosticators at the U.S. Energy Information Administration, North America’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity will expand to 24.3 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) by 2027 (four years from now) from the current 11.4 Bcf/d we see today. However, the increase will not all come from the United States. Both Mexico and Canada are due to place their first LNG export terminals into service in the next few years. By the end of 2027, EIA estimates LNG export capacity will grow by 1.1 Bcf/d in Mexico, 2.1 Bcf/d in Canada, and 9.7 Bcf/d in the U.S. from 10 new projects across the three countries.
The North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) is sounding the alarm that more than half of the U.S. and parts of Canada, home to around 180 million people, could fall short of electricity during extreme cold again this winter. Why? If you read certain leftwing publications, they will say we’re heading for blackouts due to an overreliance on natural gas. According to NERC and its just-released 2023–2024 Winter Reliability Assessment, the coming outages are because we don’t rely ENOUGH on natural gas! That’s right. NERC (and FERC) say we need more pipelines and natural gas to shore up a lack of supplies during the worst cold snaps. The lack of natural gas leads to a lack of fuel for electric power plants (and for people who use it to heat their homes). Both agencies, but NERC in particular, say we need more pipelines, and we need them NOW.
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Exxon aims to become a top lithium supplier for EVs by 2030; BofA takes lead in $1.5B natural gas bond sale for BP; NATIONAL: Shale billionaire Hamm tackles ‘generation 3’ rock; Biden’s latest plan to wipe out fossil fuels should raise alarms; Sierra Club’s boss is at war with his staff; INTERNATIONAL: Capital Product Partners to buy 11 LNG carriers; Kerry’s promise of ‘millions’ for climate damages criticized by activists; Coming soon: more oil, gas and coal.
In September, Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), which has been hassled and harassed endlessly by so-called “protesters” and foreign-backed Big Green groups, sued some 40 protesters and two Big Green groups for $4 million for their ongoing illegal activity to block the final bits of the 303-mile project (see 
Epsilon Energy, a relatively small company, used to concentrate most of its effort on developing Marcellus Shale wells. However, over the past year or so, the company has expanded into other plays and now owns assets in the Anadarko (Oklahoma and Texas) and the Permian (Texas and New Mexico). Epsilon typically does not do its own drilling. The company joint venture partners with (gives money to) other companies, like Chesapeake Energy (in the Marcellus), and the other company typically does the drilling. The company’s net gas production during 3Q23 was 2.0 Bcfe (billion cubic feet equivalent) in total, NOT per day. That amounts to an average of 21.5 MMcfe/d (million cubic feet per day), down 14% compared to 2Q23 due to seven PA wells being offline for workover operations. Epsilon generated revenues of $6.3 million for 3Q23, down 3% from 2Q23.
ECA Marcellus Trust I, the royalty interest holder in some of the wells drilled and maintained by Greylock Energy in Greene County, PA, announced it would issue six-tenths of a penny ($0.006) dividend to unitholders for 3Q23. The company paid out 4.3 cents per unit in 1Q23 and nothing in 2Q23 (see 
The U.S. rig count fell again last week, dropping another two rigs to 616 active rigs — the lowest rig total this year and the lowest count since February 2022. The count in the Marcellus/Utica stayed the same at a collective 40 active rigs. However, the M-U mix changed once again. Pennsylvania lost another rig, going from 20 to 19 last week, after dropping two rigs the week before (see 
Score one for the good guys! We (collectively in the Conservative movement) have defeated Joe Manchin (Democrat) and his potential run for another term as Senator from West Virginia. Manchin, in our opinion, lost the moral authority to run again when he sold out the country and his fellow West Virginians by voting to approve Joe Biden’s Green New Deal disaster, otherwise known as the Inflation Reduction Act (see 
Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass LNG export facility recently received Federal Energy Regulatory Committee (FERC) authorization to place the final three liquefaction blocks (7-9) into service (see 
Looking for a great job in the oil and gas industry? From apprentices and graduate opportunities to highly skilled professionals in IT and technology, sales and marketing, finance, upstream, and trading, bioenergy, EV charging, hydrogen… even so-called renewables and power — six oil and gas supermajors are hiring. They include BP, Shell, TotalEnergies, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and (yes, even our enemy) Saudi Aramco. They all want new employees. Find out more below.