Other Stories of Interest: Thu, Nov 16, 2023
INTERNATIONAL: LNG buyers in Asia look to resell supply; Cameron LNG expansion FID and LNG Canada startup in 2024.
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Shapiro’s DEP Money-Back Guarantee for Permit Delays is Bogus
Two weeks ago, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (liberal Democrat) launched, with much fanfare, PAyback.pa.gov, a new online money-back guarantee system that allows residents, businesses, charities, and schools to check their eligibility for a refund of their permit, license, or certification application fee and request a refund if they believe they are eligible. Shapiro promised individuals and businesses a money-back guarantee if the permits they applied for were not issued within the statutory time limits they were supposed to meet. We were hopeful that shale drillers would now have recourse to nudge the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) into doing its job on time. Except it’s all a sham. It’s bogus.
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Muskingum Watershed Generated $1B in Econ Impact from Utica Drilling
For more than a decade, MDN has brought you stories about shale development on and under land controlled by the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD), an agency formed in 1933 to help control flooding and promote water conservation in the Muskingum River watershed area of Ohio, an area that covers 8,000 square miles (see our Muskingum Watershed stories here). Over the years, MWCD has leased tens of thousands of acres for Utica Shale drilling and cut deals to sell water to drillers for fracking. According to a new study from Cleveland State University, the MWCD’s aggressive leasing for Utica drilling has brought more than $1 billion in economic stimulus to the region. And not one penny is government (your) money! It’s all private money being injected into the Buckeye State.
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Enbridge | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pipelines | Statewide NY | Westchester County
Big Green’s Small Protest Against Enbridge Project Maple in New York
This map shows where Enbridge plans to expand gas pipeline capacity on the Algonquin pipeline. (click for larger version) The Algonquin Gas Transmission pipeline (owned by Enbridge) transports up to 3.09 Bcf/d through 1,131 miles of pipeline. Algonquin connects to Texas Eastern Transmission (TETCO), Millennium Pipeline, and Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline and supplies New England with critically needed natural gas supplies for power generation and consumer use. As we told you in September, Enbridge is currently conducting an open season to gauge interest in expanding Algonquin’s capacity to flow more gas into New England — mainly from the Marcellus/Utica — called Project Maple (see Enbridge Open Season to Expand Algonquin Pipe in New England). Yesterday a small group of global warming nutters rallied outside the now-shuttered Indian Point nuclear plant in Buchanan to protest Project Maple.
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EIA Echoes NERC, FERC in Warning of Short Gas Supplies This Winter
Yesterday, MDN brought you the news that 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 (see NERC: Half of U.S. Faces Elec Blackouts This Winter – Lack of NatGas). FERC is also chiming in with a warning about potential blackouts. Why? Lack of natural gas pipelines to help feed gas-fired power plants.
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5th Circuit Pulls Air Permit for Under-Construction Port Arthur LNG
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 Port Arthur LNG Pulls Trigger on FID, Tells Builder to Start Work). Sempra worked out all of the remaining financial aspects of the deal, including the sale of a non-controlling piece of the project to investment firm KKR and forming a joint venture with ConocoPhillips (see Sempra Sells 42% of $13B Port Arthur LNG Phase 1 to KKR). A key permit for the project, an air permit issued by Texas, was overturned yesterday by a federal appeals court.
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OneNexus Announces New “Insurance” Policy for Plugging O&G Wells
An innovative financial solutions company based in Houston, TX, called OneNexus, just announced a new “insurance” plan for drillers called WellSecure that will pay out money to plug an old oil or gas well when it hits end-of-life. WellSecure is the only insured financial contract that provides long-term financial security for the purpose of funding oil and gas decommissioning liabilities. No more worrying about whether a company will have enough money to plug old wells. With WellSecure, the money is (literally) in the bank!
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Study Shows Real Cost to Fill Up EVs Equivalent to $17 / Gal.
A new study from the Texas Public Policy Foundation finds that the actual hidden costs of fueling an electric vehicle, which some allege equates to $1.21 per gallon of gas, is more like $17 per gallon — all things considered. In a new paper recently published called “Overcharged Expectations: Unmasking the True Costs of Electric Vehicles” (full copy below), the study’s authors argue that while the direct cost of “fueling up” to an EV owner may appear low, the real costs and considerations add up to be significantly more. The wheels are beginning to fall off EV cars.
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Other Stories of Interest: Wed, Nov 15, 2023
NATIONAL: U.S. just recorded highest oil production month in history; Midstream business strategies differ depending on corp structure; INTERNATIONAL: EU strikes deal to curb methane emissions in oil, gas supply; Geopolitical risks worst in 50 years, warns oil services boss.
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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.
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Ohio OGLMC Decides This Weds Who Gets to Drill Under State Parks
In January, Ohio House Bill (HB) 507 became law with the signature of Gov. Mike DeWine (see OH Gov. Signs Bill Expanding Drilling in State Parks, NatGas “Green”). The new law allows shale drilling under (but not on top of) Ohio state-owned land, including state parks. HB 507 encourages (pushes for) more drilling under state-owned land. The special commission created to award contracts — called the Ohio Oil & Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC) — met in September to consider 12+ “nominations” (requests to drill) received so far (see Ohio Comm. Says 12.5% Royalties for State Land Drilling Too Cheap). The meeting was beset with silly anti-fossil fuelers (most of them old hippies) behaving like the silly horse’s rear-ends they are, dressing up and parading around like five-year-olds. Embarrassing. Tomorrow, the OGLMC will announce the winners for at least some (perhaps all) of the requests to lease.
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Another Freeport LNG Outage – Not Drawing Power, Feedgas Drops
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 Explosion Rocks Freeport LNG Export Plant – Offline for 3 Weeks). What was initially thought to be a three-week outage lasted for ten months! The plant finally returned online in March of this year (see Freeport LNG Plant Back to Full Capacity Using 2.1 Bcf/d of NatGas). However, the plant is not yet back to 100% operational status. A second loading dock is still offline (see Freeport LNG Second Loading Dock Inches Closer to Restart). In September, Freeport canceled a series of cargoes due to an ongoing issue that the company never fessed up to (see Freeport LNG Cancels 3-4 Cargoes Due to Outage, Now in 6th Day).
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EIA Nov DPR: Another Big Drop in Shale Gas in M-U, Haynesville
click for larger version The latest monthly U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) Drilling Productivity Report (DPR) for November, issued yesterday (below), shows EIA believes shale gas production across the seven major plays tracked in the monthly DPR for December will *decrease* production from the prior month of November — by a significant quantity. This is the fifth month in a row that EIA has predicted shale gas production will decrease for the combined seven plays. EIA says combined natgas production will slide by 299 MMcf/d (million cubic feet per day) — nearly one-third of a billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d). The Marcellus/Utica, called “Appalachia” in the report, is predicted to decrease by a massive 189 MMcf/d in December compared with November, the biggest decrease in gas production for any of the seven plays.
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Signs that EPA is Backing Off So-Called Clean Power Plan 2.0 Regs
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 New Biden EPA Regs a “Death Sentence” for Fossil-Fuel Power Plants). The nation’s electric grid is at stake. The EPA is forcing this new regulatory plan through. The outcome is predictable: widespread blackouts regularly (see EPA’s So-Called Clean Power Plan 2.0 is a Preventable Catastrophe). It is a preventable catastrophe, but only if the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) or Congress acts to stop it. It seems that the recalcitrant leftists infesting EPA are finally getting the message from FERC, NERC, and Congress.
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EIA Predicts North American LNG Exports More Than Double by 2027
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.
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NERC: Half of U.S. Faces Elec Blackouts This Winter – Lack of NatGas
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.
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