Marcellus Drilling News

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26 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 8-14
May 19, 2023May 25, 2023

New shale permits issued for May 8-14 in the Marcellus/Utica rose from the prior week. There were 26 new permits issued last week, up from 20 in the prior week (and 18 the week before that). Last week’s tally included 13 new permits for Pennsylvania, 10 new permits for Ohio, and 3 new permits in West Virginia. Last week the top receiver of new permits was CNX Resources, with 7 permits issued (5 of them in Westmoreland County, PA, and 2 in Greene County, PA). Encino Energy, showing up as EAP Ohio in the report, had the second-highest tally with 5 permits (issued in Harrison County, OH).
Read More “26 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 8-14”
MUI

MDN Upstream Index (MUI) – May 19, 2023
May 19, 2023May 19, 2023

The most recent day of active trading was Thu., May 18, 2023. The numbers below reflect yesterday’s closing numbers.

Read More “MDN Upstream Index (MUI) – May 19, 2023”
Best of the Rest

Other Stories of Interest: Fri, May 19, 2023
May 19, 2023May 25, 2023

OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Palo Alto bows to celebrity chef in about-face on natural gas ban; NATIONAL: GHG intensity of US oil significantly lower than most regions; Clash over force majeure in natgas master sale & purchase agreement.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Fri, May 19, 2023”
Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

O&G Contributed $143B, 847K Jobs in PA, OH, WV Economies in 2021
May 18, 2023May 25, 2023

Every so often, the lying left will poke its head up and make the wild claim that the shale industry hasn’t done a darned thing for the jobs or economy in various states–like Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia (see Heinz Endowments Launches Another Fake ‘Report’ Bashing the M-U). They say, “All those claims of jobs created and economic benefits are just smoke and mirrors.” We say the environmental left is full of (expletive deleted). And we can prove it. Earlier this week, the American Petroleum Institute (API) released a massive new report compiled by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) on the growing economic contributions of America’s natural gas and oil industry in all 50 states, including PA, OH, and WV, in 2021. For those three states (PA, OH, WV) in 2021, the O&G industry (largely shale) collectively contributed over $143 billion to state economies and supported more than 847,000 jobs! Stick that in your bong and smoke it, Big Green.
Read More “O&G Contributed $143B, 847K Jobs in PA, OH, WV Economies in 2021”
Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Research

PwC Study: U.S. O&G Provided Nearly $2 Trillion in Benefits in 2021
May 18, 2023May 25, 2023

The American Petroleum Institute (API) earlier this week released a new report on the growing economic contributions of America’s natural gas and oil industry in all 50 states, including investment in America ranging from taxes and workforce wages paid to indirect and induced jobs in retail, manufacturing, agriculture, and other sectors throughout the energy supply chain. The study, commissioned by API and prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), showed that the O&G industry supported 10.8 million jobs and contributed nearly $1.8 trillion to the U.S. economy in 2021. We love the fossil fuel industry! And you should, too.
Read More “PwC Study: U.S. O&G Provided Nearly $2 Trillion in Benefits in 2021”
Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Statewide VA | Virginia

Virginia Utility Cos. Tell State Officials Methane Regs Not Needed
May 18, 2023May 25, 2023

Last year the Virginia legislature passed House Bill (HB) 558 (Senate Bill 565), which expands the definition of energy efficiency and conservation programs in Virginia. Among the provisions in the bill are enhanced leak detection and repair programs for natural gas utilities. Utilities can, among other things, build new infrastructure to capture methane from animal poop and landfills, with the right to pass along the cost to ratepayers (a provision that really rubbed the left wrong). However, it is the following provision in the bill that is now being hotly debated in the state: “The bill directs the Department of Environmental Quality to convene a stakeholder work group to determine the feasibility of setting a statewide methane reduction goal and plan.” In other words, craft new state regulations to control methane.
Read More “Virginia Utility Cos. Tell State Officials Methane Regs Not Needed”
Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Say NO to ‘Permitting Reform’ that Does Not Include O&G Projects
May 18, 2023May 25, 2023

Ever notice how the left loves to stack the deck? Change the rules. Rig the game. Play unfair. That’s what’s happening with so-called “permitting reform” bouncing around the D.C. swamp right now. Sen. Joe Manchin (liberal Democrat from West Virginia) wants permitting reform that benefits both fossil energy projects (including the Mountain Valley Pipeline), and so-called renewable energy projects. But here’s what’s happening. The Bidenistas are nodding their heads, slapping Joe on the back, and voicing their support for his latest bill (see Joe Manchin Floats New “Save MVP” Permitting Bill, Biden Supports). But their strategy is to gut Manchin’s bill, or any proposed bill on permitting reform, purging the sections that would benefit fossil fuel projects. The Bidenistas want permitting reform that benefits renewables ONLY–not fossil energy. And they’re willing to lie, cheat, and do whatever it takes to pass a version of the bill they want, to rig the game in their favor.
Read More “Say NO to ‘Permitting Reform’ that Does Not Include O&G Projects”
Industrywide Issues | Research | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WVU Energy Institute Renames Itself – Going Woke?
May 18, 2023May 25, 2023

We have some disappointing news to share. It appears that one of the preeminent energy research organizations in the country, the West Virginia University Energy Institute, is going woke–steering into the quicksand of focusing on unreliable, “renewable” energy. Yesterday WVU announced that the WVU Energy Institute is changing its name to WVU Institute for Sustainability and Energy Research, effective July 1st. It’s also getting a new director–Sam Taylor–whose research expertise is “geothermal, hydrogen storage and carbon dioxide storage, transportation energy utilization, renewable and nonrenewable energy research, clean energy and advanced energy technologies.” There isn’t a single mention of shale or fossil energy in the entire WVU press release.
Read More “WVU Energy Institute Renames Itself – Going Woke?”
Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Michigan

Michigan Gas-Fired Plant Shuts Down Due to Noise, Vibration
May 18, 2023May 25, 2023

Over 20 years ago, Indeck Energy floated a plan to build an electric generating plant (powered by natural gas) in Niles, Michigan, near Chicago. In 2016, those plans got serious (see $1B Electric Plant Planned Near Chicago, M-U Connection?). Indeck held an official groundbreaking ceremony in September 2019 (see Delayed Michigan Gas-Fired Plant Finally Begins Construction), and in September 2021, the plant began to generate electricity (see Michigan Gas-Fired Plant Finally Begins Producing Electricity). This week, the plant shut down, temporarily.
Read More “Michigan Gas-Fired Plant Shuts Down Due to Noise, Vibration”
Industrywide Issues | NGLs | Research

US Propane Consumption for Winter 2022-23 Lowest Since 2010
May 18, 2023May 25, 2023

As we explained a few weeks ago, balancing supply and demand in the propane market is challenging (see Crude & NatGas Drilling Slowing, Which Affects Propane Supplies). The problem/issue with propane (or ethane, or butane, really any NGL) is that propane and other NGLs are derivatives of oil and gas drilling. Nobody sinks a hole in the ground explicitly trying to extract propane. It comes out of the ground along with oil and natural gas. To accurately guess the coming supply of propane, one has to monitor whether oil and gas drilling is going up or down. And then there’s the demand side…
Read More “US Propane Consumption for Winter 2022-23 Lowest Since 2010”
MUI

MDN Upstream Index (MUI) – May 18, 2023
May 18, 2023May 18, 2023

The most recent day of active trading was Wed., May 17, 2023. The numbers below reflect yesterday’s closing numbers.

Read More “MDN Upstream Index (MUI) – May 18, 2023”
Best of the Rest

Other Stories of Interest: Thu, May 18, 2023
May 18, 2023May 25, 2023

MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Coterra management remains defensive, despite outlook; Antero Resources is simply one of the best; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: LNG lobbyists ghost wrote officials’ letters supporting gas storage project; NATIONAL: What does a 2023 US recession mean for oil and gas in the country?; Are we being deceived by this natural gas market?; Shale drillers are auctioning off rigs at bargain basement prices; ChatGPT ponders U.S. electric grid collapse; INTERNATIONAL: Ineos founder fears for North Sea future; Russia steals oil market share in Asia from energy allies; Chevron’s carbon capture flagship is stuck at one-third capacity; EU president lets the de-growth cat out of the bag; S.Africa circles back to shale gas as power crisis drags.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Thu, May 18, 2023”
Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pipelines | Regulation

DC Circuit Guts PHMSA Reg re Shut-off Valves on Gathering Pipes
May 17, 2023May 17, 2023

In November 2021, the Bidenistas initiated a massive power grab to transfer the right of individual states to regulate local natural gas gathering pipelines to the federal government’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (see Massive Power Grab Proposed by Biden DOT: Regulate Gathering Lines). The oil and gas industry asked Biden to pause the power grab by 3-5 years. In April 2022, the Bidenistas rejected that request, so the GPA Midstream Association (later joined by the American Petroleum Institute) sued the Dept. of Transportation and its PHMSA division to block the new regulations. PHMSA agreed to pause enforcement until May 2024 (see PHMSA Backs Down, Pauses New Gathering Pipe Reg After Getting Sued). However, the pause in enforcement didn’t stop the PHMSA from floating onerous new one-size-fits-all regulations on gathering pipelines. Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (DC Circuit) gutted the new PHMSA reg for gathering pipelines.
Read More “DC Circuit Guts PHMSA Reg re Shut-off Valves on Gathering Pipes”
ESG | Industrywide Issues | M&A | McKean County | Pennsylvania

Canadian Methane Offsets Co. Buys Northwest Pa. Well Plugging Co.
May 17, 2023May 17, 2023

Zefiro Methane Corp., a private “methane offsets originator” (we will explain) headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, has acquired a majority ownership stake in Plants & Goodwin (P&G), an OFS and oil well-plugging company located in Bradford (McKean County), Pennsylvania, for an undisclosed sum. It appears P&G will continue as its own standalone company, but its services of plugging abandoned and orphan wells will be joined with the services Zefiro offers in methane emission offsets–also known as carbon offset credits.
Read More “Canadian Methane Offsets Co. Buys Northwest Pa. Well Plugging Co.”
Allegheny County | Berkshire Hathaway | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines

Upgrades to Eastern Gas Metering Station in Plum Done by Summer
May 17, 2023May 17, 2023

Eastern Gas Transmission and Storage (EGTS), a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Energy company, provides natural gas transportation and storage services with one of the largest underground natural gas storage systems in the United States. Essentially EGTS is a pipeline network that connects to other pipelines to flow and store natural gas in six states: Maryland, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. An upgrade of an EGTS metering station in Plum (Allegheny County, PA, near Pittsburgh) is currently under construction and due to be complete “by summer.”
Read More “Upgrades to Eastern Gas Metering Station in Plum Done by Summer”
Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues

TVA Proposes NatGas Power Plant, 122-Mile Pipeline for East Tenn.
May 17, 2023May 17, 2023

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally-owned electric utility corporation in the U.S. TVA’s service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia. TVA is the sixth-largest power supplier and the largest public utility in the country. In July 2021, MDN told you that TVA is spending over $1 billion to replace six coal-fired plants with natgas-fired turbines (see TVA Investing $1B to Build New Natgas-Fired Electric Plants). Good news! TVA announced earlier this week that it would convert a second coal-fired plant, this one in East Tennessee, to a natural gas-fired plant capable of generating 1.5 gigawatts of electricity. The project also includes contracting with Enbridge to build a new 122-mile pipeline.
Read More “TVA Proposes NatGas Power Plant, 122-Mile Pipeline for East Tenn.”