Biden Admin Regroups, Attacks Gas Stoves Again via New DOE Regs
In early January, MDN told you that the Bidenista who heads up the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) floated a trial balloon to ban the use of natural gas stoves across the entire country (see Bidenistas Make a Run at Banning Natural Gas Stoves Nationwide). The CPSC Bidenista used a sham study from the Rocky Mountain Institute that purportedly showed a link between gas stoves and childhood asthma as his excuse. Under withering attacks, the Rocky Mountain Institute has admitted, publicly, that their study does NOT prove a link between gas stoves and asthma actually exists (see Author of Sham “Study” on Gas Stoves Admits No Link to Asthma). There was an uproar over the CPSC statements, and the Bidenistas, including Biden spokesperson Raggedy Ann, walked back the comments. But what’s this? Since the CPSC botched the job, the Bidenistas at the Dept. of Energy (DOE) have decided to pick up the ball and run with it instead.
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A false and misleading story by the Associated Press spins all sorts of excuses for why the Bidenistas at the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will not be able to do its job in tracking and enforcing reductions in fugitive methane. Donald Trump is one of the reasons, even though he’s been out of office for more than two years. According to the lying “reporters” of the AP, Trump “gutted” the EPA, and the agency doesn’t have enough help (wah wah wah). There aren’t enough satellites, either. And not enough drone technology. Not enough of this and not enough of that–even with the gazillions of dollars allocated to the agency. The truth that shines through the article is this: The Democrats, including Traitor Joe Manchin, passed a new law last year (the Inflation Reduction Act) that sets standards to reduce fugitive methane–and they have no practical way to know if those standards are being met. Isn’t that typical of the left?
NATIONAL: Oil plunges as US stockpiles grow; US DOE provides funds for affordable clean hydrogen technologies; U.S. proved reserves of crude oil increased significantly in 2021; Democratic voters cheer on gas stove ban; Natural gas truck sales volatile, filling stations decrease; U.S. LNG exports fall 5% as shipments to Europe slip; INTERNATIONAL: LNG interest from Asia’s emerging gas markets rises as prices ease; German gas storage facility down until Friday, no indication of sabotage; Portfolio players take on critical roles in rapidly commoditizing global LNG market.
In March 2014, the West Virginia legislature passed, and then-Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin (Democrat) signed, the Future Fund bill, which was designed to set aside 3% of revenue raised from WV’s oil and gas severance tax in a rainy day fund (see 
Last week the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) granted permission to Freeport LNG, which has been offline since an explosion last June, to begin the process of restarting the facility (see 
On December 23, 2022, natural gas consumption in the U.S. Lower 48 states reached a new, all-time daily record high of 141.0 billion cubic feet (Bcf). The previous record was set in January 2018. As you may recall, we had a cold snap and nasty winter weather in late December, driving up the use of clean, abundant, and still relatively cheap natural gas. Gas for heating saw a big increase in use, along with increased demand from gas-fired power plants. Combined, it drove usage to a new all-time high.
As we reported yesterday, the price of natural gas continues to bump along in the mid-$2/MMBtu range (see 
The mighty BP (formerly British Petroleum) is an oil and natural gas company trying to convert itself into a renewable energy company. We’d say they’re failing, big time. BP has gone screwy. It’s a European company and has bought into the false narrative that fossil energy is on the way out due to concerns over mythical global warming. In BP’s recently published Annual Energy Outlook for 2023 (full copy below), the company predicts (once again) that fossil energy is on the way out, but now it’s happening even faster than before because of (a) Putin’s war on Ukraine, forcing Europe to adopt unreliable renewables even quicker than before, and (b) Biden’s so-called Inflation Reduction Act, pouring billions into the effort to smash fossil energy and elevate electric-everything.
Leftist top-down bureaucracies never work. NEVER. Socialism never works. Communism never works (at least in the long term). They all spring from the same poisoned root–arrogant elitists believe they know better than you how to run your life. They extinguish freedom. Example: The Bidenistas want to make decisions for you about which forms of energy you can and can’t use. They dream about a future where dirty, filthy fossil energy is no more. And they allocate trillions of dollars to make it happen. Then what happens? These egg-headed toads sit around and talk about it–and NEVER distribute the money! They hold endless Zoom calls. They require grant forms filled out in triplicate. And then, no money gets distributed. Welcome to Bidentopia.
Last week a “suspicious item” was found at a natural gas transmission facility in Fallowfield Township in Washington County, PA. It looked like a bomb, an “improvised homemade” device, and was placed into the door of an industrial pipe at the Eastern Gas Transmission facility. The PA State Police and FBI responded to investigate. They later determined it was not explosive, and they removed it. But it certainly looked like it was explosive (i.e. a bomb), which is why they responded.
This is getting painful. Are we beginning to settle into “lower for longer” once again, with natural gas prices trading in the $2-$3 range? Gosh, we sure hope not. Yesterday was the first full day of the March 2023 NYMEX futures contract for natural gas as the “front month.” The February contract “rolled off” (i.e. ended) last Friday, and yesterday the March contract became the new contract that functions as the default price for the NYMEX. And it settled at $2.677 per million BTUs (MMBtu). Once again, warm weather is the main factor cited for the low price. Here’s a question: How did we go from almost $10/MMBtu gas and one of the tightest, most volatile markets in over a decade, to sub-$3/MMBtu gas and one of the most bearish scenarios seen in a long time–all in the span of just six months? We have some answers below.
The number crunchers at the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) have analyzed proved reserves data for 2021 (the most recent year available) and have determined that proved reserves soared, up by 32% from the previous year. Why? Five of the eight states with the most proved reserves of natural gas each reported new record volumes, driving the growth nationally. And one of those five is a Marcellus/Utica state: West Virginia.