MDN Upstream Index (MUI) – Mar 13, 2023
The most recent day of active trading was Fri., Mar. 10, 2023. The numbers below reflect Friday’s closing numbers.
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Other Stories of Interest: Mon, Mar 13, 2023
NATIONAL: The U.S. must go all in on financing natural gas; Oil, gas operators face mounting pressures around methane emissions; CERAWeek in review: how Putin revived energy security; INTERNATIONAL: Russia’s Yamal LNG upped exports in 2022 with 90% of cargoes shipped to Europe.
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Ascent Drilled & Fracked 75 Utica Wells in 2022, Made $361M Profit
Ascent Resources, originally founded as American Energy Partners by gas legend Aubrey McClendon, is a privately-held company that focuses 100% on the Ohio Utica Shale. Ascent is Ohio’s largest natural gas producer (352,000 leased acres) and the 8th largest natural gas producer in the U.S. The company issued its fourth quarter and full-year 2022 update yesterday. Ascent net production averaged 2.2 Bcfe/d (billion cubic feet equivalent per day) during 4Q, and averaged 2.1 Bcfe/d for the year. The company made $1.6 billion in profit during 4Q, and $361 million in profit for the entire year (versus losing $806 million in 2021).
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Ascent Resources | Bradford County | Carroll County | Clarion County | Columbiana County | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Encino Energy | Energy Companies | EOG Resources | EQT Corp | Harrison County | Hilcorp Energy | Laurel Mountain Energy | Lycoming County | Marshall County | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Southwestern Energy | Susquehanna County | Weekly Permits | West Virginia
29 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Feb 27-Mar 5
New shale permits issued for Feb. 27 through Mar. 5 in the Marcellus/Utica stayed the same as the prior week. There were 29 new permits issued in total last week, including 7 new permits for Pennsylvania, 20 new permits for Ohio, and 2 new permits issued in West Virginia. Last week the top receiver of new permits was Hilcorp Energy with 8 new permits–all of them in Columbiana County, OH. The second highest number of permits went to Encino Energy, with 4 permits in Carroll County and 2 in Columbiana County. EOG Resources also received 4 permits in Carroll County. It seems the northern part of the Ohio Utica saw a lot of love last week.
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Results of PA DEP Study Using Airplane to Detect Methane Leaks
The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), in collaboration with Carbon Mapper, Inc. and the U.S. Climate Alliance, conducted a research study in May 2021. The study looked at four different areas across Pennsylvania to measure leaking methane using a specially-outfitted airplane. The study wasn’t so much about who was leaking methane as it was about whether the airborne detection technology was accurate. However, the results (the who) was interesting. The study (see an overview below) chronicles the discovery of 153 total methane plumes detected from 91 individual sources, including oil and gas facilities (63 sources), coal mines (18 sources), and landfills (9 facilities).
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Missing Pieces of M-U Hydrogen Puzzle: Regulations & Permitting
Three advocates for Appalachian hydrogen and carbon capture projects–two lawyers and the head of Appalachian Energy Future–say that Pennsylvania (and Ohio and West Virginia) are missing key pieces of the hydrogen puzzle before a billion-dollar hydrogen hub can become a reality in any of those states. The missing pieces are permitting and regulations.
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Senate Republicans Working on “Foreign Pollution Act” to Tax Carbon
We spotted an article that was quite alarming for us. Conservative Republicans in the U.S. Senate are working on “a tariff on carbon-intensive goods,” which is, according to the article, “a concept environmentalists have long considered a crucial tool to combat climate change.” Republicans working on a carbon tax? Really? But then we read further and discovered it is not a carbon tax on goods produced here in this country, but a tariff (tax) on imported goods from other countries–namely from China.
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BlackRock Steps Up Attacks on Fossil Energy Companies
The largest investment firm in the world, BlackRock, is attempting to bribe Republicans to leave the company alone (see BlackRock CEO Larry Fink Tries to Bribe Republicans – Will It Work?). BlackRock strenuously objects to being labeled anti-oil and gas and claims it still invests in fossil energy companies. However, the company’s actions speak so much louder than its many words. BlackRock has stepped up its aggressive attacks on companies that refuse to kowtow to its ESG demands.
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CERAWeek: Bidenistas’ Secret Meeting on Taking Over Gas Certs
As we have been reporting, CERAWeek, the world’s premier energy conference, is happening all this week in Houston, Texas. On Thursday, Bloomberg reporters filed a roundup/overview of happenings at the event. Below is the roundup from Day Four of CERAWeek, which includes reporting on a secretive meeting hosted by Biden administration officials who are working on a plan to take over standards for what constitutes and what does not constitute “responsible” gas. Also in the list is a summary of comments (very disappointing comments) made by Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Acting Chairman Willie Phillips about racist (i.e., “environmental justice”) oil and gas projects.
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CERAWeek: Why RNG is a Bit Player in Natural Gas Space
RNG (renewable natural gas) was a hot topic at yesterday’s CERAWeek event in Houston, Texas. We don’t write much about RNG because, quite frankly, it doesn’t interest us. We’d rather punch holes in the ground to get natural gas than cap a manure pile to collect it. The reason we’re writing about it today is that a Reuters reporter covering CERAWeek has written an article about comments made at the event. The comments are illuminating and you need to read what is being said about RNG by those in the know.
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MDN Upstream Index (MUI) – Mar 10, 2023
The most recent day of active trading was Thu., Mar. 9, 2023. The numbers below reflect yesterday’s closing numbers.
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Other Stories of Interest: Fri, Mar 10, 2023
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Opponents of Eugene natural gas ban submit 12,000-signature petition; Washington House passes ‘first in the nation’ natural gas bill; NATIONAL: Pioneer CEO says shale boom is over; Return of M&A – oil sector dealmaking heats up; INTERNATIONAL: Saudi Arabia and Russia vaunt OPEC+ ties.
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BKV IPO On Hold, M&A Deals Falling Apart Due to Low Gas Prices
CERAWeek, happening this week in Houston, Texas, is one of (perhaps THE) premier oil and gas conferences held each year. Everybody who’s anybody attends, except for yours truly. Sometimes it’s the things you (over)hear around the proverbial water cooler at such events that are more interesting than what is said from the stage or in media interviews. For example, Banpu’s BKV, with major assets in the northeast Pennsylvania Marcellus, filed plans with the Securities and Exchange Commission late last year to launch an initial public offering (see Northeast PA Marcellus Driller BKV/Banpu Files with SEC for IPO). According to whispers Reuters heard at CERAWeek, the current low commodity price of natgas has put BKV’s IPO plans on hold.
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Analyst Says if Haynesville Doesn’t Dial Back, M-U Will Suffer
Enverus Intelligence Research (EIR), a subsidiary of Enverus, released its latest Macro Forecaster, a report developed for the financial services industry, yesterday. The new report is focused on the outlook for near-term oil and gas prices. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a lot of good news for the natural gas sector. According to Al Salazar, senior vice president at EIR, “Natural gas production has been resilient in 2023 in comparison to 2022, and we expect 2.9 Bcf/d of growth over the summer. Some of the growth will be offset by incremental LNG demand from Freeport LNG terminal’s restart and increased price-induced power burn growth, but natural gas prices will be under intense pressure.” Hmmm. We don’t like the sound of that.
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Big Green Not Happy with PA Gov. Shapiro’s Support for Blue H2
As we mentioned in passing in our post yesterday about Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s first budget, one of the items in his budget (and in his speech) was support for a $1 billion hydrogen hub project in the Keystone State (see Shapiro’s 1st Budget a Mixed Bag – Severance Tax Out, Carbon Tax In). All three of the potential hydrogen hub projects in which PA is involved depend on converting natural gas into hydrogen while capturing any resulting carbon dioxide and storing it–called “blue” hydrogen. Blue is not green enough for Big Green wackos who are panning Shapiro’s support for a hydrogen hub. Even though he was their candidate. Buyer’s remorse?
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Chesapeake Cuts Back on Marcellus, Signs Haynesville LNG Deal
Two weeks ago, MDN brought you a summary of the latest quarterly update from Chesapeake Energy, which includes guidance (a forecast) for what the company plans to do in 2023 vis-à-vis drilling in the Marcellus and the Haynesville (see Chesapeake Energy Update: Cutting Rig Count & Production in 2023). We told you that Chesapeake plans to scale back drilling, and production, in the Marcellus. Since that update, Chesapeake announced a 15-year deal to provide natural gas for LNG exports to Gunvor Singapore Pte. Guess where the gas will come from? Hint: Not the M-U.
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