PA Acting DEP Sec. Disappoints by Spouting Enviro Justice Nonsense
So-called “environmental justice” is a buzzword used by the left over the past decade or so. It is a euphemism, a code word for “any well pad or pipeline or any kind of oil and gas infrastructure that gets built anywhere near a community with a large population of poor folks or black/brown folks is automatically considered racist.” Environmental justice is the antithesis of American freedom and the American sense of equal justice for all under our laws. The left screams “racist” when they can’t compete on the basis of ideas, a tactic they use to shut down arguments. Unfortunately, Pennsylvania’s new “Acting” Secretary of the Dept. of Environmental Protection, Rich Negrin, spouted environmental justice nonsense yesterday at a House hearing on the budget.
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In a process that began in December 2021, Olympus Energy (formerly Huntley & Huntley) announced it had contracted with Project Canary to monitor methane emissions from both the company’s drilling operations and the company’s pipeline operations (see 
We have been closely tracking the restart of the shuttered Freeport LNG export terminal following its emergency shutdown in June 2022 after an explosion and fire. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) granted permission for Freeport to restart two of three liquefaction “trains” at the facility in February (see 
It’s time to divest from (and cancel any policies with) one of the world’s top 10 insurers–Chubb. The company has caved to leftist radicals by announcing a new policy of refusing to insure new oil and gas projects unless those projects reduce methane emissions to pretty much zero. It is an outright assault and attack on oil and gas companies. Pay attention Texas, Florida, West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and other right-minded states! Your states need to pull any insurance policies or dealings with Chubb. Add them to the “we don’t do business with” list along with BlackRock. Refuse to do business with them–cut them off.
Robert Bryce is a Texas-based author, journalist, film producer, and public speaker. Over the past three decades, his articles have appeared in numerous publications, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, National Review, Field & Stream, and Austin Chronicle. Last month, Bryce published an article on the Substack website that reveals the NGO-corporate-industrial-climate complex spends on the order of $4.5 billion each year on anti-fossil fuel activities (see 
New shale permits issued for Mar. 13-19 in the Marcellus/Utica rose by four from the prior week. There were 34 new permits issued in total last week, including 24 new permits for Pennsylvania, 4 new permits for Ohio, and 6 new permits in West Virginia. Last week the top receiver of new permits across PA and OH was Chesapeake Energy with 7 new permits spread across three PA counties: Bradford, Sullivan, and Wyoming. Range Resources received 6 new permits in Washington County, PA.
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.
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).
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…
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.
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 
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 
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.
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…