5 Trends Poised to Have Biggest Impact on Energy Sector in 2024
Veteran equity oil and gas analyst Jeff Robertson, managing director with Water Tower Research (WTR), recently compiled an outlook report with the 5 trends he says are poised to have the biggest impact on the energy sector next year. WTR was kind enough to share it with MDN. One of Robertson’s predictions involves a Henry Hub price prediction (which immediately caught our eye). Other predictions involve world tensions, the consolidation trend, and more. It’s a short and enlightening read.
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Happy Thanksgiving! MDN is taking both Thanksgiving Thursday and Black Friday off. While you’re taking time to be thankful for your friends, family, food, drinks, and other luxuries, take a moment to say THANK YOU to the resources that make this holiday so wonderful: fossil fuels! Below is a video from our friends at Clear Energy Alliance. Watch it (under 4 minutes) to learn just how much oil, natural gas, and coal bring to the table during the holiday season — and every other day of the year.
NATIONAL: There’s a whole lot going on here!; Natgas combined-cycle power plants increased utilization; Is NRDC a mouthpiece for Communist China?; 20 biggest midstream companies by market cap; INTERNATIONAL: 20 countries with largest natgas reserves in 2023; Exxon CEO argues capitalism is the solution to global warming; Argentina’s new chainsaw wielding president aims to trigger energy boom.
Some exciting news to share. Earlier this month, midstream giant Williams gave a green light to proceed with a new Transco pipeline expansion project called the Southeast Supply Enhancement. The project will flow an extra 1.4 Bcf/d (billion cubic feet per day) of Marcellus/Utica molecules southward along the Transco pipeline system, to deliver those molecules to states in the southern U.S. Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) will flow an extra 2 Bcf/d of M-U molecules to southern Virginia. Williams’ Southeast Supply Enhancement promises to flow some of those molecules further south (and southwest). This is a major new pipeline initiative that snuck up on us.
A month ago, MDN shared the rumor that Chesapeake Energy Corporation is sniffing around Southwestern Energy, looking to buy out and merge in its closest O&G peer (see 
Three weeks ago, MDN warned you about delays with LPG (propane) and LNG ships transiting the Panama Canal (see 
Have you ever noticed how the wacko leftists of the so-called environmental movement behave (and talk) as if they are members of a religion? They use religious language all the time to describe their holy mission of cleansing the earth of evil and sinful fossil energy. Check this out. Environuts say an Indiana utility company is “backsliding” on its clean energy goals with its plan to build a gas-fired peaker plant — a plant that makes unreliable renewables (like solar and wind) possible.
Nearly 14 years after the Gasland fake documentary was released, dozens of studies have contradicted its claims about fracking. Gasland’s dire predictions didn’t come to pass. The 2010 documentary, which was written and directed by Josh Fox, portrayed fracking operations as poisoning groundwater, killing wildlife, and making people sick while corrupt oil companies profited. Remember the famous scene where a Colorado man lights his tap water on fire? It turns out it was natural methane in his water, not methane from fracking. Just one of the lies exposed about the film.
Stupified and dumbfounded. Those are the words that come to mind when reading of a so-called climate pact agreed to by Joe Biden with Chinese dictator Xi Jinping in California last week. And then we got really, really angry. Biden is consciously (or perhaps unconsciously?) choosing to sentence our country to energy dependence on our #1 enemy in the world by forcing our country away from using fossil energy in favor of unreliable, so-called renewable energy. China is also pledging to scale down fossil energy. Of course, China is lying. We have proof.
A lawsuit of interest for all landowners is playing out in West Virginia between a class of landowners and EQT Corporation, the largest natural gas producer in the country. We searched our extensive archives high and low and found no mention of this lawsuit! Somehow, it has escaped our attention — until now. As these cases often are, this one is long and complicated. However, the nub of the case, the essence of the dispute, is whether or not EQT can pay royalties to landowners based on the “raw” gas that comes out of the borehole (methane plus NGLs) or whether, as the plaintiffs argue, EQT should pay royalties based on the post-processed gas and NGLs (presumably at a much higher rate).
In August 2022, Columbia Gas Transmission (a subsidiary of TC Energy) filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to build the Virginia Reliability Project (VRP), which includes two new compressor units and the replacement of existing pipeline (see 
Last week, the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County (MAWC) issued a water conservation warning asking more than 56,000 MAWC customers to conserve water due to the lack of rainfall and the low level of the Beaver Run Reservoir. MAWC provides water to more than 122,000 customers in Westmoreland, Allegheny, Armstrong, Fayette, and Indiana counties. When full, Beaver Run Reservoir holds about 11.4 billion gallons. Over the last several years, dry conditions have steadily reduced the reservoir’s volume. As of last Friday, the reservoir only had about 5.5 billion gallons in it. Two of the customers who sometimes use water from the reservoir (for fracking and drilling) are Olympus Energy and CNX Resources. Both companies are currently (temporarily) suspended from using water from the reservoir.
In December, Murrysville (PA) Council members will make a decision about leasing land for shale drilling under Duff Park (234 acres) and Murrysville Community Park (305 acres). Murrysville is located in Westmoreland County in the southwestern part of the state. Olympus Energy is interested and has pitched proposals to lease under both parks, using their adjacent leased acreage (on private land) to set up rigs to drill under the parks. However, Murrysville recently sought proposals from other drillers to avoid any appearance of insider deals (see