OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Texas is flush with money, largely thanks to oil and gas; NATIONAL: US oilfield services jobs top 650,000, nearing pre-pandemic levels; The disappearance of good rock worries oil markets; Minority communities are suffering under the green energy agenda; INTERNATIONAL: EU energy regulator to launch LNG price assessment on Friday.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Wed, Jan 11, 2023”
Residents living in the vicinity of Energy Transfer’s Revolution Pipeline cryogenic plant in Bulger (Washington County), PA, got a nasty “present” on Christmas morning. Around 7:30 am, residents report hearing an explosion, followed by a fire, at the plant used to separate NGLs (natural gas liquids, including ethane, propane, and butane) from the raw gas stream that flows through the Revolution gathering pipeline (see ET Revolution Cryogenic Processing Plant Explodes in PA on Xmas). The good news is that the plant has resumed “partial operations.”
Read More “Revolution Cryogenic Plant Partially Restarts Following Explosion”
Natural gas stoves are used in roughly 40% of households in the United States. The hard-left Bidenistas who control the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission are floating a trial balloon that they want to ban them all, forcing you (if you have one) to replace it with an electric stove. The stated reason for forcing a change is that gas stoves supposedly emit cancer-causing, and asthma-causing, chemicals. The Bidenistas are attempting to use fear as a weapon to convince people to go along with this tyranny. Don’t let them.
Read More “Bidenistas Make a Run at Banning Natural Gas Stoves Nationwide”
Yesterday we told you that the Pennsylvania-blessed effort by Shell and Equinor to build (at taxpayers’ expense) a so-called hydrogen hub in PA has received the Dept. of Energy’s blessing (“encouragement”) to submit a full application (see PA-Backed Blue Hydrogen Hub Effort Passes First Hurdle with DOE). We were kind of nervous that we had not heard whether or not another project, led by West Virginia but endorsed by Ohio, Kentucky, and over 200 organizations, had also received DOE’s blessing to submit a full application. Whew. They did.
Read More “WV-Led Hydrogen Hub Proposal Green-Lighted for Next Round”
As we point out in a companion article today, the West Virginia concept paper to build a hydrogen hub in the Mountain State (endorsed by both Ohio and Kentucky) was approved, which now leads to a horse race with Pennsylvania and that state’s effort to do the same thing. Some 95% of the hydrogen created today comes from cracking natural gas. A hydrogen hub has the potential to be a HUGE new customer of Marcellus/Utica gas. That is, IF we don’t blow our opportunity to grab one of these hubs in our region. It would be better if PA joined the WV plan to present a united application for the entire M-U. But it seems that will not be the case. One of the two plans will win, and the other will lose. It could have been different. May the odds be ever in your favor.
Read More “33 of 79 Hydrogen Hub Teams Encouraged to Submit Full Applications”
Olympus Energy wants to drill six wells on a single pad in rural Elizabeth Township, a borough in Allegheny County on the east bank of the Monongahela River. The pad would sit about 2,400 feet (nearly half a mile) away from Elizabeth Forward High School. Some of the parents of students, and some of the administration, pushed back against Olympus’ drilling plan, using the kiddies as an excuse (see School Near Pittsburgh Pushes Back Against Olympus Plan to Drill). However, Elizabeth Township’s board of commissioners voted last night to approve the plan by a 5-2 margin.
Read More “Olympus Plan to Drill Wells Near Elizabeth High School Approved”
In 2022, the spot price for natural gas at the benchmark Henry Hub in southern Louisiana averaged $6.45 per million British thermal units (MMBtu), the highest annual average, in both real and nominal terms, since 2008. That’s the highest average in 14 years. Most casual observers would attribute the high price to Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and Europe’s sudden demand for non-Russian natgas–in particular, U.S. LNG. While there is no doubt Putin’s war had an influence, the truth is natgas prices were already on the rise before the war. It was a wild ride in 2022. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) recaps the year…
Read More “Henry Hub’s Wild Ride in 2022 – Highest Avg Price Since 2008”
The Barack Hussein Obama administration went crazy with over-regulation in many areas. One of them was to redefine “waters of the United States” (or WOTUS) as everything down to, no exaggeration, mud puddles (see EPA Power Grab: Redefines Waters of the U.S. to Include Everything). When Donald Trump took office, he set about to correct some of the insane abuses of the Obama era, including WOTUS. He finally got it fixed (see EPA & Army Corps Publish Final WOTUS Regs – Obama Overreach Fixed). The Bidenistas have taken up the cause once again. Radicals at the EPA announced a new rule last week aimed at re-regulating all waters once again, putting power over just about everything (including oil and gas drilling) into the federal government’s hands via WOTUS.
Read More “EPA Makes Another Attempt to Regulate O&G via Waters of US”
The most recent day of active trading was Mon., Jan. 9, 2023. The numbers below reflect yesterday’s closing numbers.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Casey Boyd named Steel Nation VP of Business Development; NATIONAL: Natural gas up 5%, after more than 50% tumble over 3 weeks; Goldman Sachs says warm winter weather a risk to gas price view; Why U.S. natural gas liquids production is surging; INTERNATIONAL: Canada adds 100+ rigs.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Tue, Jan 10, 2023”
In 2015, MDN told you about five injection wells in Trumbull County, OH, that had been shut down by the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) following a finding that some of the frack wastewater intended for the wells had been found in a local wetland and nearby pond (see ODNR Shuts Down 5 Injection Wells in Vienna, OH After Spill). As it turned out, the injection wells themselves were not to blame, but a salvage yard located at the same facility was the source (see Trumbull Injection Wells NOT the Source of Wetland Contamination). Fast forward seven years, and it appears the wells (or well, not sure if it’s just one well or multiple wells) are now operating again. Finally.
Read More “Trumbull County Injection Wells Resume Operation After 2015 Shutdown”
We love this story because it’s driving the left NUTS! In December, we told you about Ohio House Bill (HB) 507 (subsequently passed), a bill that expands drilling in Ohio state parks AND officially designates natural gas as a “green” form of energy (see Ohio Senate Bill Would Expand Shale Drilling on State-Owned Land). Last week, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a so-so (RINO) Republican, actually signed HB 507 into law. Which is sending the enviro-nuts into orbit. Love it!
Read More “OH Gov. Signs Bill Expanding Drilling in State Parks, NatGas “Green””
Last November, the state of Pennsylvania decided to endorse a private industry application (by Shell and Equinor) instead of doing the hard work of submitting its own official application to attract a $1 billion hydrogen hub (see PA Decides to Back Shell/Equinor Application for $1B Hydrogen Hub). The Shell/Equinor project is called DNA H2Hub (Decarbonization Network of Appalachia). Although most applicants vying for one of the 6 to 10 regional hydrogen hubs have released their applications (their “concept papers”) making them public, the DNA H2Hub has not. The PA project is keeping it secret–at least for now (see PA Officials Keep Secret Details of State Hydrogen Hub Application). Even though it’s secret to the public, the federal government likes what it sees in the concept paper and has given DNA H2Hub its blessing to continue on to the next step.
Read More “PA-Backed Blue Hydrogen Hub Effort Passes First Hurdle with DOE”
West Virginia is taking the lead in a coalition to apply for (and build) a regional hydrogen hub, funded by taxpayers as provided for in the so-called Biden infrastructure bill. Some 200 organizations (universities, businesses, trade associations, etc.) have joined the WV effort, called Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2), including the State of Ohio (see Finally! Ohio Joins Effort to Locate Hydrogen Hub in West Virginia). Pennyslvania has stubbornly gone its own way (see PA Decides to Back Shell/Equinor Application for $1B Hydrogen Hub). Good news! Another Appalachian state, Kentucky, is now supporting the WV ARCH2 effort to attract the hydrogen hub.
Read More “Kentucky Joins Multi-State, West Virginia-Led Hydrogen Hub Coalition”
Given our stories today about hydrogen hubs, it seems like a good time to revisit the topic of “what is a hydrogen hub,” a “clean hub,” and what do all of the supposed colors of hydrogen that are thrown around really mean? Energywire recently published an article that answers five questions about “clean” hydrogen. The author says hydrogen’s uses, merits, and drawbacks as a climate tool remain “opaque” to some, including much of the public. Let’s clear up some of the opaqueness, shall we?
Read More ““Clean” Hydrogen, H2 Hubs, and a Rainbow of Colors”
As we told you last week, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has a new “acting” Chairman, Willie Phillips (see Willie Phillips Takes Over as Acting FERC Chairman, Dick Glick Gone). Phillips, a lawyer, is a D.C. apparatchik–growing up and getting his college education in the D.C. swamp. Prior to joining FERC in November 2021, Phillips was chairman of the Public Service Commission for the District of Columbia. Those who watch FERC and its commissioners say Phillips is not nearly as caustic and confrontational as Glick was–that he is more of a consensus builder.
Read More “Analysts Say New FERC Chair a Consensus Builder, Won’t Attack Pipes”
