OTHER U.S. REGIONS: M2X Energy makes methanol out of flared gas; NATIONAL: Biden signs order prioritizing ‘environmental justice’; For LNG developers and sponsors, it’s a tricky path to FID; INTERNATIONAL: Putin and Saudi crown prince discuss OPEC+ cooperation; Russia to boost China pipeline gas supplies by almost 50%.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Mon, Apr 24, 2023”
Yesterday the Bidenistas at the Dept. of (In)Justice (DOJ) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a “settlement” (i.e. bullying) with three pipeline companies–Williams, MPLX, and Kerr-McGee Gathering. The settlement requires the three to pay a combined $9.25 million in civil penalties and make improvements at 25 gas processing plants and 91 compressor stations in 12 states, including Ohio and West Virginia, worth another $16 million. The two federal agencies claimed the pipeline companies were violating federal and state clean air laws related to leak detection and repair (LDAR) requirements for natural gas processing plants at various facilities they own and operate across the country.
Read More “Biden DOJ, EPA Announce $25M “Settlement” with Williams, Others”
We appear to finally be at the end of an eight-year road with respect to new shale drilling regulations in Pennsylvania adopted back in 2016. Two days ago, the PA Supreme Court overturned a Commonwealth Court decision that blocked the Dept. of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) ability to control shale drilling near schools and public playgrounds. In October 2016, after five years in the making, PA adopted new shale drilling regulations called Chapter 78 (see PA’s New Chapter 78a Drilling Regs Go into Effect Oct 8).
Read More “PA Supremes Invent New DEP Power to Block Drilling Near Schools”
We sometimes ponder (and despair) over this question: Does the truth matter anymore? Do people actually care whether or not they are being lied to–by the government, by the media, by so-called experts? The trigger for our dark reflection on metaphysics comes from the news that the Pennsylvania Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) yesterday approved, by a vote of 3 to 2, a new regulation controlling volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions and by extension, methane emissions, for Pennsylvania’s conventional oil and gas drillers. How is that news event related to truth and lies? We will explain.
UPDATE added below.
Read More “PA IRRC Approves Onerous New VOC Regulation for Conventional Drillers”
Some 16 so-called “climate activists” (i.e., far-left extremists) were arrested Wednesday at the headquarters of investment giant Vanguard in Chester County, PA (near Philadelphia) for blocking the entrance to the facility. They were there to pressure and bully Vanguard to stop investing in anything remotely connected to fossil energy. Earth Quaker Action Team, a group of “non-violent” Quakers and “people of diverse beliefs” based in Philly, was behind the action.
Read More “Extremists Arrested for Blocking Vanguard HQ Near Philadelphia”
For years, going back to the time when MDN editor Jim Willis worked in Washington, D.C. during his youth (mid-1980s), the joke circulating around D.C. was, “The most dangerous place to be in Washington is between Chuck Schumer and a camera.” And that was back when Chuck was just a lowly Congressman! These days, the most dangerous place to be anywhere in the country is between an anti-fossil fuel zealot and a microphone at a public hearing. Antis DEMAND to have access to microphones anywhere and everywhere in order to spew their fossil fuel hate speech. And God help you if you deny them that “right”! Antis got denied yesterday in Philadelphia, and they are hopping mad about it.
Read More “Antis Mad They Couldn’t Bloviate at Philly LNG Task Force Meeting”
New shale permits issued for Apr. 10-16 in the Marcellus/Utica picked up two from the prior week. There were 20 new permits issued in total last week, up from 18 in the prior week. Last week’s tally included 13 new permits for Pennsylvania, 4 new permits for Ohio, and 3 new permits in West Virginia. Last week the top receiver of new permits was Coterra Energy, with 6 new permits issued in Susquehanna County, PA. EQT was number two with 5 new permits, all of them issued in Greene County, PA.
Read More “20 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Apr 10-16”
Tomorrow is the annual day when environmental wackos demand fealty to Mother Earth. You WILL bow down and worship the creation (instead of the Creator), or risk being excommunicated from polite company. We thumb our noses at Earth Day worshipers and declare our love for the miracle of fossil energy on this Earth Day. We invite you to join us in celebrating the greatest invention of mankind–fossil fuels.
Read More “We Celebrate Fossil Fuels on ‘Worship the Earth Day’ – April 22”
The most recent day of active trading was Thu., Apr. 20, 2023. The numbers below reflect yesterday’s closing numbers.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Climate change panel’s secrecy arrogant and unacceptable; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: FERC greenlights 2 Brownsville-area LNG projects; NATIONAL: Liberty Energy says 15 new frac fleets to hit U.S. market this year; INTERNATIONAL: Energy security trumps sustainability; Key oil demand landmark expected this August.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Fri, Apr 21, 2023”
Yesterday EQT Corporation held its annual meeting in Pittsburgh. It was short and sweet. Everything presented in the company’s previously filed (with the SEC) notice about the meeting was approved at the meeting via proxy vote. Among the items approved was the always-ticklish issue of executive (and board) compensation. EQT has five named executive officers, including CEO and President Toby Rice. Toby’s regular annual salary is exactly $1 (not a typo). However, Toby gets bonuses based on the performance of the company. The board voted to grant Toby $780,000 in cash, and $10.8 million in company stock, for a total of $11.6 million in total compensation for 2022. And that’s down from 2021, when he made total compensation of $16.9 million.
Read More “EQT CEO Toby Rice Made $11.6M in 2022, Down from $16.9M in 2021”
Earlier this month, MDN told you about the long-festering issue of building a shale wastewater injection well in Clara Township in Potter County, PA (see EPA Approves Potter County, PA Injection Well, Waiting Now for DEP). It appears the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) is about to issue a permit for the well. The federal EPA has already signed off and approved the plan. However, the township is attempting to block the injection well by amending a previous ordinance. On March 31, the Clara Town Board passed an amended version of its 1987 ordinance governing injection wells. The newly amended ordinance bans all injection wells in the township–something that is (according to our understanding) illegal under Pennsylvania state law.
Read More “Clara Township Adopts Modified Ordinance Banning Injection Wells”
Quarterly earnings season is upon us once again. Seems like we just went through it three months ago! (That’s a joke, folks.) One of the first major oil and gas companies to announce quarterly earnings for the first quarter of 2023 is pipeline giant Kinder Morgan, Inc. (KMI). Given that KMI has multiple assets and new projects spread across the country, we’re not going to summarize the quarterly update. Instead, we are interested in and will focus on one particular project–the East 300 Upgrade Project, an upgrade of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) to deliver 115 MMcf/d of capacity to Consolidated Edison and its customers in New York City and surrounding suburbs.
Read More “Kinder Morgan Begins Work on 3rd/Last East 300 Pipe Compressor”
One of the world’s largest chemical companies, the Chemours Company (which you used to know as DuPont), along with TC Energy (which you used to know as TransCanada), announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the potential development of two electrolysis-based hydrogen production facilities at or near Chemours’ Washington Works and Belle manufacturing sites in West Virginia. Both companies are part of the effort to attract a hydrogen hub to West Virginia called Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2). The financial terms of the Chemours/TC Energy deal were not disclosed.
Read More “Chemours & TC Energy Collaborate on 2 Hydrogen Hub Plants in WV”
According to data recently compiled and shared by the Ohio Oil & Gas Association (OOGA), during 2021 (the most recent year available), the oil and gas industry in Ohio paid a cumulative $57.6 million in ad valorem property taxes to the state. That is separate from a severance tax also paid by drillers in the Buckeye State. The O&G industry not only provides millions in tax revenue, but it also employs “more than 200,000” people in Ohio, and of course, all of those workers pay state income tax too. The economic impact of oil and gas (largely shale) in Ohio is enormous.
Read More “Ohio Oil & Gas Generated $57M in Property Tax Revenue in 2021”
Lately, we keep reading predictions that the price of natural gas, while in the basement right now (low $2 range), will soon begin to go higher. And the price will stay higher. So say some experts (see our recent stories, $2.00 Natural Gas is Temporary, Just Like $10 Gas Was and Natural Gas is the New Oil – World Events Affect Price Everywhere). We just ran across another such prediction, this one from CoBank, a bank that provides loans, leases, export financing, and other financial services to agribusinesses and rural power, water, and communications providers in all 50 states. CoBank has just published a report (copy below) that hints this is the beginning of the end of cheap shale gas.
Read More “CoBank: The Beginning of the End for Cheap Shale Gas”
