Other Stories of Interest: Mon, Dec 18, 2023
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Look at the evidence; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Chevron slashes Calif. spending on ‘adversarial’ fossil fuel policies; NATIONAL: Biden govt sets only three fossil fuel leases for 2024–29; America was in a better position when Trump was president; Democrats revolt against Biden plan for expanded gas exports; INTERNATIONAL: US frackers return to haunt OPEC’s pricing strategy; SNB told to end fracking investment in petition signed by 60,000.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Mon, Dec 18, 2023”
New shale permits issued for Dec 4 – 10 in the Marcellus/Utica were up by 2 over the previous week. There were 27 new permits issued last week versus 25 issued two weeks ago. However, there was a major surprise! Last week’s permit tally included 8 new permits in Pennsylvania, 9 new permits in Ohio, and 10 new permits in West Virginia. The pattern is typically the opposite, with PA receiving the most permits and WV the least. The company receiving the most permits last week was EQT Corporation, with all 10 of WV’s permits all on the same well pad in Marion County.
The Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) “temporarily” suspended the operations of four fracking waste injection wells in Athens County in September (see 
Yesterday, representatives from Tenaska gave a presentation to the Hancock County (WV) Commission detailing the company’s plans to drill carbon dioxide (CO2) injection wells in West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. The company anticipates drilling seven CO2 injection wells/sites in WV, 12 wells/sites in OH, and three wells/sites in PA. Tenaska has established an office in Weirton, WV, as it works toward establishing its carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) process in the region. It hopes to have wells operations by 2027.
Earlier this week MDN told you that two of Gulfport Energy’s major investors were conducting a sale of what amounts to 3.5% of the company’s stock (see 
EPA Administrator Michael Regan used a considerable amount of fossil energy and emitted billows of carbon dioxide to jet over to Dubai to participate in the COP28 confab. At that event, Regan released his agency’s latest attempt to illegally regulate the oil and gas industry (see 
Freeport LNG’s export terminal with three liquefaction “trains” shut down in June 2022 after an explosion and fire (see 
S&P Global Commodity Insights, one of the biggest and best in the energy information business, issued its annual Energy Outlook for 2024 yesterday. It’s an interesting read. S&P analysts say “uneven balances and OPEC+ resolve to remain key risks to markets,” and “coal, gasoline entering peak demand years.” Yep, the mighty S&P has bought into the “peak” theory (which has been wrong every single time it’s been announced). It would be fun to revisit some of the predictions a year from now, including the prediction that worldwide coal demand will decrease in 2024 and that 20% of all cars sold in 2024 will be electric. Color us skeptical.
Reuters is reporting a rumor, based on “people familiar with the matter,” that EQT Corporation, the largest natural gas driller in the United States (by production), is shopping its 25% non-operated interest in a number of producing gas wells in northeastern Pennsylvania for $3 billion. Chesapeake Energy is the majority owner and operator of the wells.
Pennsylvania assesses an impact fee (PA’s version of a severance tax) on shale drillers, raising revenues that are paid to local municipalities and to the black hole of Harrisburg politicians. Yesterday, the PA Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) issued an estimate for how much the impact tax will raise this year, to be distributed next year. The IFO says it thinks, based on the price of low natural gas and number of new and existing wells, that PA will generate $174.0 million from the impact tax in 2023, a decrease of $104.8 million (38%) from 2022. What the heck happened?
Earlier this week, Pennsylvania State Senator Katie Muth, a virulent anti-shale hater from the Philadelphia suburbs, held a press conference with a so-called investigative reporter from the Public Herald and two former employees from the Eureka Resources’ Williamsport frack wastewater treatment facility. The employees and reporter leveled some extremely serious accusations about the safety and working conditions at the facility. Exposure to toxic substances and even to low-level radiation is alleged. Four former workers sent a letter to the Lycoming County District Attorney asking him to launch a criminal misconduct investigation.
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. Last month, the report predicted the price for Henry Hub natural gas futures would average $3.40 this winter (see 
Riddle me this: Why is oil and gas production rising when rig counts are falling? The U.S. is poised to set new oil and natural gas production records in 2023. Yet the rig count crashed this year! And the rig count continues to stay loooooow. So, how do we square these two seemingly contradictory facts? Robert Rapier, a chemical engineer in the energy industry for 25 years, tackles that question and answers it in an article on the Forbes website.
Free speech, the freedom to say (and think) what you want, is the bedrock, the foundation of a free society. The founders of the United States understood this and enshrined it in the U.S. Constitution under the First Amendment. Unfortunately, due to a lack of education (or worse, miseducation) in our country, many of our fellow citizens no longer believe in the First Amendment and its right to free speech. Free and open ideas are a threat to the left, especially when free speech contradicts their views. For example, we have the God-given right to believe that mankind is NOT catastrophically warming the earth into a cinder, and to say so publicly. And to offer evidence to support our beliefs. But if the left gets its way, they will take that right away. Preparatory to denying you your free speech rights are attempts to brainwash you. Hey, if they can get you to believe in global warming without having to resort to violence, so much the better. To that end, researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) have developed and tested six “psychological interventions” on nearly 7,000 participants from twelve countries, designed to make people believe in man-made, catastrophic global warming.