Other Stories of Interest: Tue, Feb 21, 2023
NATIONAL: North America drops rigs; Biden’s ’10 years more of oil’ is more dangerous energy ignorance; INTERNATIONAL: China taking control of LNG as global demand booms; ‘No excuse’ IEA tells energy firms as methane emissions rise; How Europe ditched Russian fossil fuels with spectacular speed; The overprivileged West’s delusion of ‘transitioning away from oil’; EU formally bans new ICE vehicles.
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Believe it or not, today is a New York Stock Exchange holiday (i.e. bank) holiday. MDN rarely takes a day off, so we tend to track with those holidays observed by the NYSE. Have no fear, we are monitoring the news, and if anything earth-shattering happens, we’ll bring you the latest. Otherwise, look for full-strength MDN to return tomorrow.
EQT Corporation, the largest natural gas producer in the U.S. (completely focused on the Marcellus/Utica), issued its fourth quarter and full year 2022 update yesterday. Both revenue and production fell slightly in 4Q22 over 4Q21 due to issues with third-party providers. Production for the entire year was just about even. However, because of the high price of natgas for most of 2022, EQT raked in $1.8 billion in net income last year versus losing $1.1 billion the year before.
DT Midstream (DTM), headquartered in Detroit, owns major assets in the Marcellus/Utica region as well as other regions. DTM issued its fourth quarter and full 2022 update yesterday. Among major interstate pipelines that serve the M-U region, DTM is a 50% owner (along with Enbridge) in the NEXUS Pipeline, a 256-mile, 36-inch gas transmission pipeline that flows 1.5 Bcf/d of Utica gas from eastern Ohio to pipeline system interconnects in southeastern Michigan (and from there all the way to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada). In 2022, DTM became the majority owner of the Millennium Pipeline, which stretches 263 miles from Corning, NY, to just outside New York City, delivering Pennsylvania Marcellus and Utica gas to utility and power plant markets across New York State and into New England.
Banpu is Thailand’s largest coal mining company. However, it is looking to reduce the amount of revenue it derives from coal from around 66% today to 50% by 2025. One of the ways Banpu is accomplishing that objective is by investing in American shale gas. Banpu partners with Kalnin Ventures and operates BKV Corporation (Banpu Kalnin Ventures), the American shale drilling arm of Banpu (96% owned by Banpu). Over the past seven years, BKV has become one of the top 20 gas-weighted natural gas producers in the U.S. Last year, Banpu filed plans with the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch an initial public offering for BKV (see 
Earlier this week, we reported the exciting news that two shipments of LNG had been loaded and sailed from the Freeport LNG facility, which (until now) has been out of commission since June 2022 due to an explosion and fire (see 
Here’s a fact that mainstream media largely ignores: Households in the Boston area pay about 50% more for electricity than households across the nation. On average, Massachusetts residents spend about $276 a month on electricity. That is 37% higher than the national average. An op-ed appearing in the Washington Examiner says New Englanders need to get used to these high prices. High prices for electricity are here to stay (for New England)–at least well into the 2030s. Why? Lack of pipelines, blocked by New England politicians.
New shale permits issued for Feb. 5-12 in the Marcellus/Utica increased nicely last week. There were 40 new permits issued in total last week, including 25 new permits for Pennsylvania, 11 new permits for Ohio, and four permits issued in West Virginia. The week before, there were only 26 new permits issued. Last week the top receiver of new permits was Seneca Resources, with six new permits for Tioga County, PA. Coterra Energy received five permits for Susquehanna County, PA. In Ohio, Encino Energy and Ascent Resources both received four new permits–in Carroll and Harrison counties, respectively.
Here’s a scary reality: The U.S. federal government is the world’s single largest purchaser of goods and services. Federal contractors employ over one-fifth of the labor force in the U.S., and contribute billions of dollars to state economies. Knowing this, the Bidenistas are attempting to coopt the government’s purchasing power as a back-door way to implement Biden’s anti-fossil fuel agenda. The Bidenistas are pushing the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council (FARC) to amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to require federal contractors to disclose their so-called greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) and to set targets to reduce them. The Attorneys General of 22 states are pushing back–hard–against this blatantly illegal plan.
According to a new report published by the International Energy Forum (IEF) and S&P Global Commodity Insights, annual upstream oil and gas investment needs to rise by 28% to reach $640 billion by 2030 to ensure adequate global supplies. If it doesn’t, the world will see shortages. The Saudi Arabia-based IEF says a cumulative $4.9 trillion (!) will be needed from now until 2030 to meet market needs, even if the growth in oil and gas demand slows down.
The Institute for Energy Research (IER) is a not-for-profit organization that conducts research and analysis on the functions, operations, and government regulation of global energy markets. IER maintains that freely-functioning energy markets provide the most efficient and effective solutions to today’s global energy and environmental challenges and, as such, are critical to the well-being of individuals and society. A new study just published by IER (below) shows how restricting oil and gas development in countries like the U.S. with strict environmental standards pushes O&G development to countries with lower environmental standards. The end result is that the worldwide environment gets worse.
We have lamented, on many occasions, that New York State (our beloved home state) has simply gone to Hades. The state is now run by left-wing radicals. When you cross the border into NY, you are entering The Twilight Zone (a pun and nod to the talented Rod Serling, who was born and grew up in Binghamton, NY). Case in point: A radical member of the NY Senate, along with a member of the NY Assembly, have teamed up to introduce a truly frightening bill. Senate Bill S9612, introduced by the wacky Sen. Zellnor Myrie, a Brooklyn Democrat, would allow anyone to sue oil and gas companies claiming damage from mythical (and unproven) “climate change.”