14 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Sep 4 – 10
New shale permits issued for Sep 4 – 10 in the Marcellus/Utica continued to be in the crapper. There were 14 new permits issued last week, up 1 from 13 issued two weeks ago, and down from the 16 issued three weeks ago. Not so long ago we routinely saw 30+ issued each week. Last week’s permit tally included 8 new permits in Pennsylvania, no new permits in Ohio, and 6 new permits in West Virginia. The top permittee for the week was Antero Resources, which received six permits in WV.
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OTHER U.S. REGIONS: TVA to study carbon capture at two natural gas-fired plants; NATIONAL: Biden admin continues anti-democratic ‘sue-and-settle’ masquerade; INTERNATIONAL: Chevron Australia LNG keeps up exports despite outage, strikes; OPEC pointedly rejects IEA ‘peak oil’ projection amid rising crude prices.
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 latest monthly report, issued Tuesday, predicts that U.S. natural gas production AND demand will rise to record highs in 2023. EIA projects that dry gas production will end up at 102.69 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2023 and rise to 104.93 Bcf/d in 2024. The current record high is 98.13 Bcf/d, set in 2022.
Three days ago, the feedgas (natural gas) flowing to the Freeport LNG export facility on Quintana Island, TX, dropped to roughly 622 MMcf/d, which is 31% of the facility’s normal capacity of 2 Bcf/d (see 
New Fortress Energy (NFE) plans to build an LNG liquefaction facility in Bradford County, PA–in the northeastern part of the state (see 
The nutters are out in full force, particularly in Pennsylvania, using fraudulent “studies” by the Ohio River Valley Insititute (ORVI) and (sadly) the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) to call for an end to the Marcellus industry in the great Keystone State. A recent “letter to the editor” appearing in the Sunbury (PA) Daily Item is a perfect example. On Sept. 3, the Daily Item ran an op-ed titled “Is fracking good for Pennsylvania,” concluding that it is not. It was written by a member of the Climate Reality Project, a far-left organization that irrationally hates fossil energy. The typical references were made to the fraudulent ORVI and Pitt studies. Ten days later, another op-ed appeared in the Daily Item, written by David Callahan from the Marcellus Shale Coalition, setting the record straight.
The Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) has “temporarily” suspended the operations of four fracking waste injection wells in Athens County. ODNR says the wells present an “imminent danger” to health and the environment. One of the wells, owned by Reliable Enterprises LLC, is located in Rome Township. The other three are owned by K&H Partners and located in Torch.
Two days ago, the natural gas (feedgas) flowing to the Freeport LNG export facility on Quintana Island, TX, had dropped to roughly 31% of its potential capacity (see
In August 2022, Columbia Gas Transmission (a subsidiary of TC Energy) filed 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
Actions have consequences. Environuts, like the lefties in Maine, seem to forget that. In early 2021, Summit Natural Gas of Maine, a regional utility company, announced plans to extend its service territory into Maine’s Midcoast region with a $90 million pipeline project (see
The United States exported more liquefied natural gas (LNG) than any other country in the first half of 2023, displacing both Australia and Qatar, which previously rotated in holding the top spot. The U.S. exported 11.6 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) during 1H23, up 4% (0.5 Bcf/d) from 1H22. Australia was #2 in 1H23, exporting 10.6 Bcf/d. Qatar was #3 with 10.4 Bcf/d.
Earlier this year, Sempra Infrastructure, a subsidiary of Sempra, announced it had reached a positive final investment decision (FID) for the development, construction, and operation of the Port Arthur LNG Phase 1 project in Jefferson County, Texas (see