Bloomberg: Shale in Midlife Crisis, Big Oil Rides in to Save Day
We spotted an article by a Bloomberg opinion columnist that says American shale energy is in a “midlife crisis.” The article pictures Big Oil (companies like Exxon and ConocoPhillips) as riding in on Harley Davidson motorcycles to save shale. It’s something of a twisted and mixed metaphor (old guys with money in a midlife crisis ride Harleys), but humorous nonetheless. The larger point of the article, which IS worth pondering, is whether or not the era of independent shale drillers is drawing to a close. The author offers evidence and analysis that such is the case–or should be.
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When we saw the headline “Environmental Bootleggers and Baptists Fleece Consumers,” we just couldn’t resist. An article in RealClearEnergy written by Gordon Tomb, a Senior Fellow with the Commonwealth Foundation, a Pennsylvania-based free-market think tank, compares an interesting time in our history with what is happening today. Once upon a time, Baptists advocated for a ban on alcohol sales Sundays. They were supported by…Bootleggers! Take about strange bedfellows! Today, the Baptists are environmentalists who insist we must dump fossil energy in order to save the planet (definite religious overtones in the environmental movement). And the Bootleggers are…
Despots and dictators the world over are the same, whether it’s Vladimir Putin relabeling his naked aggression of outright war against Ukraine as a “military operation,” or New York State’s so-called Climate Action Council relabeling natural gas as “fossil gas” (see 
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Equitrans shareholders approve board, executive compensation; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Pioneer’s founder and CEO Sheffield to retire; NATIONAL: U.S. coal shipments increased in 2022 due to power plants; The bullish case for natural gas prices; INTERNATIONAL: Oil tumbles rescinding OPEC gains; IEA warns OPEC should be very careful about boosting oil price; Four scenarios that could send oil prices to $200.
On December 5, 2019, the PHMSA (Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration) granted a special permit to Energy Transport Solutions, LLC (i.e. New Fortress Energy) to transport LNG in DOT-113C120 rail tanker cars between Wyalusing, PA and Gibbstown, NJ (see 
Last night, Shell hosted a virtual community meeting to address air monitoring and recent problems experienced at the company’s ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, PA. Executives answered questions about the plant’s environmental record over the past six months, including a recent odor event earlier this month (see 
Yesterday Range Resources Corporation issued its first quarter 2023 update and held a conference call with analysts. On the call, retiring (as of May 10th) CEO Jeff Ventura proclaimed Range sits at the best spot it’s been in history. Ventura said, “For the Marcellus, the future is very bright.” Incoming CEO (currently COO) Dennis Degner echoed Ventura’s remarks and pledged to “stay the course” and continue to “block and tackle” in the months and years ahead.
If we’ve heard it once, we’ve heard it a thousand times–the claim that fracking causes earthquakes. We’ve talked about this issue almost from the beginning of writing the MDN blog site in 2009. A quick summary of our own observations is that frack wastewater disposed of via injection wells (not fracking itself) is the culprit in causing low-grade earthquakes in some areas. However, the wastewater doesn’t cause an earthquake unless the injection well is located on or near a natural underground fault in the rock layer. Rarely (we can count it on one hand) have we read of fracking itself causing an earthquake. Yet a researcher from Ohio’s University of Miami claims research shows fracking itself can cause an increase in earthquakes.
Disappointing news has been a constant this week–and it’s only Tuesday! Yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court proved that sometimes it’s not so supreme. The high court breathed new life into a long-running lawsuit funded by Big Green groups using (abusing) a small group of uppity Virginia landowners who are arguing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) had no right to delegate authority to Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) to use eminent domain to cross land, including the land owned by the small group of uppity landowners in Virginia.
Last December, Rice Acquisition Corp II, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) started by the Rice brothers (Danny, Toby, and Derek), announced a deal to acquire NET Power–an electric power developer with revolutionary new technology to capture every last molecule of carbon dioxide from natural gas-fired power plants (see