Another False Prediction of “The End of American Shale Revolution”
We read with some amusement a column by the CEO of Qamar Energy (an OPEC-tied consultancy based in Dubai, UAE) that says yep, American shale oil output has hit its zenith. It’s all downhill from here. The Big Oil companies have taken over all of the good shale assets in the States and they plan to drill less in places like the Permian Basin (in West Texas and eastern New Mexico). This latest prediction makes us laugh out loud. How many times before have we heard the same thing uttered from noobs, both domestic and (in this case) foreign. They consistently underestimate American ingenuity. Just when everyone predicts “peak oil” and declares shale production is all over, a new discovery is made. A new piece of technology is introduced. A new shale layer is explored. A new technique is adopted. This is the American way. And it confounds the “experts” every single time. Such is the power of free enterprise and capitalism.
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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%.
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.
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 
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
