MDN Upstream Index (MUI) – Mar 24, 2023
The most recent day of active trading was Thu., Mar. 23, 2023. The numbers below reflect yesterday’s closing numbers.
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Other Stories of Interest: Fri, Mar 24, 2023
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Rep. Miller introduces amendment to H.R. 1 to complete MVP; NATIONAL: The EIA is dead wrong about the future of U.S. shale; Why Joe Biden’s ‘green new world’ is an expensive mess; INTERNATIONAL: LNG vessel rates plummet as more ships available for cargoes to Europe.
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Understanding “Primacy” Issue for Class VI (CO2) Injection Wells
With the rapid increase in carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) projects around the country, including right here in the Marcellus/Utica region, a key issue has arisen. Where does one store (sequester) all that carbon dioxide (CO2)? The answer is underground in a Class VI injection well. Class VI wells are a relatively new classification for injection wells, created by the federal EPA in 2010. Who regulates Class VI wells is a current flashpoint of controversy. Right now, the EPA is the primary regulator (has “primacy”) in regulating Class VI wells in all but two states (neither of which is a Marcellus/Utica state).
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Diversified Energy | Electrical Generation | Elk County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania
Diversified Gives Old Natural Gas Wells New Life Mining Crypto
Diversified Energy (formerly Diversified Gas & Oil), with major assets in the Marcellus/Utica region (and other regions too), owns approximately 8 million acres of leases with close to 70,000 (mostly) conventional oil and gas wells. The company’s business model is to buy lower-producing wells on the cheap and find ways to make them more productive. One of the new ways Diversified is looking to make money with old wells is by mining cryptocurrency at wells in remote locations not hooked to a pipeline network. Diversified wants to try it with a well in northwestern Pennsylvania. Unsurprisingly, it’s generating some controversy…
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NYMEX Henry Hub Price Heads for the Basement – $2.17/MMBtu
Once again, the NYMEX futures price, based on the physical Henry Hub price for natural gas, appears to be in a freefall. Yesterday, the NYMEX’s front month contract price (for April) lost 18 cents per million British thermal units (MMBtu), or 8%, dropping to $2.17/MMBtu. It sure feels like the bad old days when we couldn’t keep the price above $3/MMBtu. This is the second-lowest price this year so far. Yesterday’s price was 77% lower than the 52-week high of $9.68 hit Monday, Aug. 22, 2022. Why so low? Warm weather and high production.
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Application for Hydrogen Hub Faces Uphill Climb Says PA CEO
For more than a year, we have covered the topic of the Bidenistas’ Hunger Games contest to award $7 billion to some 6-10 “hydrogen hubs” across the country. Each winning hub will receive $500 million to $1 billion of government largesse to help build a hub in a particular region. The money for the hub projects was allocated as part of the so-called Infrastructure bill, passed in November 2021. Some 79 “concept papers,” which is a pre-application, were received by the Dept. of Energy. Of the 79, only 33 were given “encouragement” (i.e. permission) by the DOE to advance to the next stage of the Hydrogen Hunger Games (see 33 of 79 Hydrogen Hub Teams Encouraged to Submit Full Applications). One of the 33 passing through to the next round is a private industry application submitted by Shell, Equinor, and U.S. Steel, and backed by Pennsylvania (see PA-Backed Blue Hydrogen Hub Effort Passes First Hurdle with DOE). At a Pittsburgh event yesterday, the head of that effort recounted the challenges they are facing in their effort to win the Hydrogen Hunger Games for the M-U region.
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PA Acting DEP Sec. Unveils 10-Pt. Plan to Fix Tardy Permit Reviews
Newly-elected Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro nominated Rich Negrin, a former top official (and Deputy Mayor) of Philadelphia, to become the next Secretary of the Dept. of Environmental Protection (see Josh Shapiro Nominates Former NFL Player to Head PA DEP). Negrin has some (not a lot of) energy-related experience. He has zero oil and gas experience. While Negrin awaits an official confirmation vote (a foregone conclusion), he is large and in charge at DEP.
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Europe #1 Destination for U.S. LNG Exports, Up 141% in 2022
According to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) averaged 10.6 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2022, increasing by 9% (0.8 Bcf/d) compared with 2021. The increase in U.S. LNG exports was driven by strong LNG demand in Europe, high international natural gas prices, and expanded U.S. liquefaction capacity. U.S. LNG exports to Europe increased 141%, or 4.0 Bcf/d, compared with 2021.
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What 3 Soft Skills Should Oil and Gas Workers Possess?
If you work for an oil & gas company (driller or pipeline company), you might think the skills you would need are along the lines of handling heavy equipment or using a shovel, chainsaw, and other hand tools. But many O&G workers sit in offices. What kind of “soft” (non-industry specific) skills do they need? According to Hazeltine Executive Search Partners, O&G workers need three primary soft skills: effective communication, problem-solving, and adaptability. Let us explain…
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MDN Upstream Index (MUI) – Mar 23, 2023
The most recent day of active trading was Wed., Mar. 22, 2023. The numbers below reflect yesterday’s closing numbers.
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Other Stories of Interest: Thu, Mar 23, 2023
NATIONAL: USA shale drilling set for 20 percent drop at current prices; Biden blocks mineral mining his clean-energy goals require; INTERNATIONAL: Italy moves to cut Russian gas with new floating LNG terminal.
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PA Senators Push DCNR to Lease More State Land for Drilling
PA DCNR Sec. Cindy Adams Dunn It seems like every March we write about the same topic when budget hearings begin in Pennsylvania. That topic is a recommendation by Republican State Senators, including Gene Yaw (from Lycoming County, PA), recommending to the Democrat administration they should seek to lease more state-owned land for shale drilling (see PA Senators Ask DCNR to Lease Extra 22K Ac. State Land for Drilling and Sen. Yaw Tells DCNR to Lease More PA State Land for Gas Drilling). And every year, the state Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) Secretary, Cindy Adams Dunn (former president of the radical PennFuture organization), resists and refuses to expand drilling under state land (see PA DCNR Secretary Chilly to Suggestion of More State Forest Drilling). It happened again yesterday.
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Boston Anti-Gas NGO Says Philly Should Not Upgrade Bad Gas Pipes
A Boston-based fossil fuel hating group called HEET (Home Energy Efficiency Team) paid big money for a “research report” written by a card-carrying “research activist” targeting Philadelphia Gas Works’ (PGW) plan to upgrade its aging and (in some cases) failing 6,000 miles of natural gas pipelines that make life possible in the City of Brotherly Love. The HEET-funded “study” says PGW should slap a 10-year Band-Aid on leaky pipes because, you know, renewables will take over the world after that. What a load…
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Big Green Challenges Small Florida LNG Export Facility in Fed Court
Port St. Joe, Florida Last April, MDN told you about Nopetro LNG’s plans to construct and operate as many as three liquefaction trains in Port St. Joe, Florida, that will liquefy up to 3.86 billion cubic feet per year of natural gas for export and delivery to markets in the Caribbean, Central America, and South America (see Small Florida LNG Export Facility NOT Subject to FERC Regulation). That’s 3.86 Bcf for an entire year, not per day. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said it does not have jurisdictional authority over such a tiny facility. Along came Big Green (i.e. Public Citizen) to sue FERC, asking the court to force the agency to step up and conduct a full review of the facility (which would kill it).
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Center for Climate Integrity Manipulates NJ Officials Against O&G
Energy in Depth (EID) is publishing a series that exposes the activist group Center for Climate Integrity (CCI) and its extensive actions behind the scenes in New Jersey municipalities to recruit, support, and initiate climate litigation. CCI has tried, according to emails obtained by EID, to remain hidden in the background. EID is turning a bright spotlight on their unethical (and borderline illegal) activities in manipulating New Jersey officials, encouraging (goading) them to sue oil and gas companies using public funds.
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FERC’s Clements Tied to Big Green in Potential Ethics Violations
FERC Commissioner Allison Clements A blow-the-doors off expose by Kevin Mooney, an investigative reporter with both the Commonwealth Foundation and the Heritage Foundation, exposes serious undisclosed conflicts of interest and potential ethics violations for Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Commissioner Allison Clements. SERIOUS issues. From Day One, when Clements was nominated by the Democrats, we raised a big red flag. Clements is a leftist who worked for the fringe group NRDC for ten years as a lawyer, launching multiple lawsuits aimed at blocking fossil fuel companies from engaging in business (see Trump Nominates 2 New FERC Members – One an NRDC Lemon). It appears Clements’ connection to the NRDC and other Big Green groups was never severed when she joined FERC.
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