NATIONAL: Biden’s offshore wind dreams face rising controversy, opposition; INTERNATIONAL: Germany plans world’s fourth largest LNG import capacity by 2030.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Tue, Feb 28, 2023”
The rumor mill kicked into overdrive on Friday when Bloomberg published an article saying Pioneer Natural Resources Co., one the largest independent oil producers in the U.S., is considering (negotiating for) an acquisition of Marcellus driller Range Resources Corp., according to “people familiar with the matter.” Range was the very first company to drill a Marcellus shale well back in 2004 in western Pennsylvania. By the end of Friday, Pioneer issued an abrupt statement saying it “is not contemplating a significant business combination or other acquisition transaction.” It wasn’t an outright denial that such talks are taking place. Range could not be reached for comment.
Read More “Rumor: Oil Driller Pioneer Negotiating to Buy Range Resources”
Southwestern Energy used to be a pure-play Marcellus/Utica driller until it picked up leases and wells in the Louisiana Haynesville play in 2021. Last Friday, the company issued its fourth quarter and full-year 2022 update. The update shows Southwestern now gives more love (i.e., money) to Haynesville drilling than it does to Marcellus/Utica drilling, even though the M-U produces more gas than the company’s Haynesville assets.
Read More “Southwestern Spends More on Haynesville, but M-U Produces More”
Isn’t it typical for Democrats to try and use a crisis that has nothing whatsoever to do with shale and natural gas to block shale and natural gas? Seven members of Pennsylvania’s Congressional delegation, every single one of them a Democrat, sent a letter (copy below) to another Democrat, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg (an incompetent nincompoop), asking him to permanently delete a rule adopted during the Trump administration that allows LNG to be safely transported by special rail cars. The reason cited for banning LNG by rail? The train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio–an event that has nothing whatsoever to do with shale energy.
Read More “PA Democrats Demand DOT Cancel LNG by Rail After East Palestine”
The Sabine Pass LNG terminal, owned and operated by Cheniere Energy, is spread over an 853-acre site in Cameron Parish, Louisiana. The facility is the largest receiving and regasifying terminal in the world with a total send-out capacity of 4 Bcf/d (billion cubic feet per day) and a storage capacity of 16.8 Bcf. The “nameplate” capacity of the facility with six trains operating is roughly 30 mtpa (million tons per annum). Last Thursday, Cheniere announced it has pre-filed to expand its Sabine Pass operation significantly, by another 66% to around 50 mtpa. This is good news for the Marcellus/Utica.
Read More “Cheniere Plans Huge Expansion of Sabine Pass LNG Exports”
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, along with Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), and John Kennedy (R-La.), reintroduced the Natural Gas Export Expansion Act, which would expedite the federal approval process for exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) and increase free trade, particularly as European countries are looking for new sources of clean, reliable energy.
Read More “GOP Senators Introduce Bill to Increase US LNG Exports”
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. Bryce recently published an article on his own Substack website that exposes the $4.5 billion-per-year NGO-corporate-industrial-climate complex. You think Big Green groups like the Sierra Club, Environmental Defense Fund, and National Resources Defense Council are virtuous defenders of the environment? Think again. They’re in it for the money. Follow the money.
Read More “The Anti-Fossil Fuel Industry is a $4.5 BILLION per Year Business”
A University of Alberta (Canada) mechanical engineer and his team published a study last month in the journal Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews on the greenhouse gas reduction potential of blending natural gas with hydrogen in Alberta, Canada (full copy below). Albertans can replace 15-20% of the natural gas in their pipes and furnaces with hydrogen using current technology and current pipeline infrastructure. The team found that a 15% hydrogen/methane blend would cut–at most–5% off of Alberta’s carbon footprint by 2050. A nothingburger. But here’s the kicker: Blending hydrogen with methane results in higher average energy prices. Higher prices, no environmental advantages. Tell us again why we want to blend explosive hydrogen with methane in our pipelines?
Read More “Canadian Study Finds Mixing Hydrogen w/NatGas Isn’t Worth It”
The most recent day of active trading was Fri., Feb. 24, 2023. The numbers below reflect Friday’s closing numbers.
NATIONAL: Turns out they ARE coming for your gas stoves; The race to debottleneck U.S. LNG feedgas routes; Your friendly reminder that pipelines are safer than rail; U.S. drillers cut the most oil and gas rigs in a month since June 2020; Combatting Russian tyranny with U.S. LNG; INTERNATIONAL: China Gas Holdings signs two 20-year LNG supply deals with Venture Global.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Mon, Feb 27, 2023”
Coterra Energy, the new name for the former Cabot Oil & Gas that merged with oil driller Cimarex Energy, issued its fourth quarter and full-year 2022 update yesterday. Coterra’s natgas program is focused on drilling in Susquehanna County in northeastern Pennsylvania. A couple of things stood out for us from the update. First, Coterra’s Marcellus production dropped in 2022. During 4Q21, Coterra produced an average of 2.5 Bcf/d (billion cubic feet per day) of natural gas in the Marcellus, versus producing 2.1 Bcf/d in 4Q22–down 14%. For the full year, Coterra produced an average of 2.3 Bcf/d in 2021 and 2.2 Bcf/d in 2022–down 6%.
Read More “Coterra 4Q Update: Marcellus Production Down, Profits Up”
On February 15, 2023, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania agreed to hear the case Dressler Family, LP v. PennEnergy Resources, LLC, a case addressing the question of whether Pennsylvania is an “at-the-well” jurisdiction, or a “first-marketable product” jurisdiction. The case may have profound implications for Pennsylvania landowners and drillers. The issue in this case revolves around whether or not a driller is allowed to deduct expenses from royalty payments for transporting and cleaning up natural gas between the well and the point of sale. Can a driller claim post-production deductions even if there are clauses that prohibit them?
Read More “PA Supreme Court to Address Royalty Post-Production Deduction Issue”
We have a second article today dealing with post-production deductions in Pennsylvania oil and gas leases. Although this is an “in the weeds” legal article, it’s worth your time and attention (if you are a PA landowner or driller) to read it and understand it. The lawyers at Houston Harbaugh, P.C. have discovered an ingenious way of exposing “net back pricing” and claiming post-production deductions under market enhancement royalty clauses as being hypocritical–by using a clause found in some leases that allows “free gas.”
Read More “Using PA “Free Gas” Clause in Leases to Refute Royalty Deductions”
The West Virginia State Legislature passed House Bill (HB) 2581 on the last day of the annual WV legislative session in April 2021. HB 2581 required the State Tax Commissioner to develop a revised methodology to value oil and natural gas properties for the purpose of assessing property taxes. The State Tax Department submitted an emergency rule in the summer of 2021 that was, quite frankly, a mess. In March 2022, the legislature passed, and Gov. Jim Justice signed into law, House Bill (HB) 4336, aimed at fixing the mess (see Bill to Fix WV NatGas Property Tax Rule Close – Will Gov Sign?). The problem is, HB 4336 didn’t really fix the mess. Not according to nearly 200 Ohio County residents who got two increase letters in December and January, both with different totals.
Read More “WV NatGas Property Tax Rule Still a Mess, Landowners Confused”
In April 2019, President Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) instructing the Environmental Protection Agency to review Section 401 of the Clean Water Act–the section that grants states (and tribes) the right to have a say in pipeline projects (see Trump Signs Executive Order Making it Harder to Block Pipes). In keeping with the EO, the EPA issued a draft new rule in August 2019 tightening up standards used in Section 401, creating new boundaries so states like New York and Washington could not continue to “color outside the lines” by rejecting pipelines for political reasons, as they have both done (see EPA Issues Proposed New Rule for Section 401 Water Permit). A final version of the new rule was eventually adopted. A plethora of Big Green groups filed a lawsuit challenging the new rule. In October 2021, a San Francisco Democrat judge appointed by Bill Clinton vacated the Trump EPA modifications (see Fed Judge Rules States Can Take Years to Issue 401 Water Permits). But that’s not the end of the story…
Read More “9th Circuit Rules Trump Rework of Clean Water Act Still Valid”
The Republican takeover of the U.S. House of Representatives is bearing fruit in many ways. One of those ways is the oversight function the House is providing to push back against the extreme left policies of some independent governmental agencies–like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Congress created the SEC, but the President appoints the person who runs it. The Bidenista running the SEC, Gary Gensler, is a real piece of work. He wants to permanently institutionalize requirements requiring publicly-traded companies to disclose their so-called greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the imaginary climate risks their businesses face (see SEC Votes to Force Public Companies to Disclose Mythical GHG Risks). Such a move would significantly harm the oil and gas industry (see SEC Reg Requiring Disclosure of Climate Change Risk “Kneecaps” O&G). Republicans in both the House and Senate are aggressively pushing back.
Read More “Congress Hammers SEC Chairman, Demands Docs Related to ESG Reg”
