U.S., Canada NatGas Output to Hit Ceiling in 2023 – Lack of Pipes
According to an article by Reuters, U.S. and Canadian natural gas output “could hit growing pains in 2023.” U.S. and Canadian natural gas production is expected to hit new all-time record highs in 2023. However, growth in production is slowing, and likely to hit a ceiling in 2023. Why? Lack of pipelines that can shuttle molecules from places like the Marcellus/Utica to the Gulf Coast, where petrochemical plants and LNG export facilities can use all of the gas they can get. We could produce more here in the M-U–a LOT more. But we can’t, because we have no way to transport the extra production.
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The great energy savior many on the left (and the right) are pushing is hydrogen. Never mind that hydrogen is extremely explosive (far more so than natural gas). And never mind that hydrogen is leaky (far more than natural gas because it’s lighter). Hydrogen’s chief advantage is that when it burns, it does not create carbon dioxide–the stuff you breathe out with every breath your take. Some utility companies have conducted small experiments to blend in 5-10% of hydrogen with natural gas to see how it goes. Will stoves and furnaces work OK with hydrogen blended? The Brits aren’t bothering with an incremental approach. They have selected and will FORCE some 2,000 homes in northwest England to convert to 100% hydrogen. No frittering around with half-measures and blending. People in the target village are using terms like “guinea pigs” and “lab rats” to describe their forced conversion to hydrogen.
NATIONAL: ExxonMobil now larger than Tesla; INTERNATIONAL: Osaka Gas, Tallgrass partner to advance Japan’s climate objectives.
It took us a while to track down this story, but we finally have details about the settlement of a class action lawsuit brought by roughly 60 landowners in Fayette County, PA, against Chief Exploration and Development, the former drilling arm of Chief Oil & Gas (now called Cyprus Exploration and Development). The lawsuit alleged that in 2008, Chief and its landman had cut a deal to lease the landowners’ property and then never paid the stipulated signing bonus. The lawsuit sought $7 million. The landowners ended up settling for $5.5 million earlier this month.
While the commodity price of natural gas has always drifted up and down, we can’t remember a time (in our coverage of the industry) when it has been so volatile–with wide swings in both directions–as it has been in 2022. Yesterday was another “bottom is dropping out” down day when the NYMEX futures price at the Henry Hub fell by $0.52. The NYMEX price has fallen three days in a row and is down a total of $1.64 (or 23.6%) over those three days.
Unlike the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), which gets the creepy crawlies at the mere mention of the word “fracking,” the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) has been dealing with fracking and water requests for use in fracking for more than a decade. Somehow the SRBC, a quasi-governmental agency (as is the DRBC), manages to allow fracking, and there are NO negative impacts on local water and NO negative impact on the Susquehanna River and its tributaries. Must be the people who run the SRBC are just more talented than those who run the DRBC.
The Freeport LNG export terminal, located in Quintana Island, Texas, has been offline and not producing LNG since early June due to an explosion (see 
The International Energy Agency (IEA) is at it again. In May 2021, IEA issued an astonishing report calling for an end to all investments in oil, gas, and coal to reach the fantasy goal of net zero by 2050 (see 
You may want to consider moving out of New York State if you still live here. The state has collectively lost its mind. NY political leaders are so consumed with hatred of fossil fuels they are about to force its residents to pay an average of $28,000 to convert their homes away from heating and cooking with natural gas, propane, and fuel oil (see 
Earlier this week, MDN told you that the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced a consent order assessing a $600,000 fine against a trucking company that hauled drill cuttings from West Virginia to PA and dumped them (without a permit) at several sites owned by the trucking company (see 
Industrial Energy Consumers of America (IECA), a trade group representing some of the biggest consumers of energy in the U.S. (i.e., manufacturers), wrote a letter to the governors of 12 states along the Eastern Seaboard asking those governors to prioritize natural gas pipelines in their respective states (full copy of the letter below). Recipients included Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and (falling on deaf ears) New York and New Jersey. According to the letter, manufacturing companies along the East Coast face growing natural gas scarcity due to the lack of interstate natural gas pipeline capacity.
Two weeks ago, the Bidenistas announced their latest “we hate fossil fuels” initiative–forcing all new or newly renovated federal buildings to use electricity for heat beginning in 2025. Here’s one of the dumbest statements ever uttered by a sitting Secretary of Energy: “Ridding pollution from our buildings and adopting clean electricity are some of the most cost-effective and future-oriented solutions we have to combat climate change.” Yeah, Jennifer Granholm called heating with natural gas and fuel oil “pollution.” That’s how nutty and wacky the left has become. The Bidenistas say this move to all-electric will save taxpayers millions of dollars. It will do the complete opposite.
We spotted an op-ed appearing on The Hill website running under the title, “Natural gas and permitting reform are critical to a clean energy future.” The article was written by Chad Zamarin, board chairman for the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) and senior vice president of corporate strategic development for pipeline giant Williams. In the op-ed, Zamarin defends natural gas against false claims that methane and pipelines are “obsolete and environmentally detrimental.” He states flatly that natural gas “must be part of a low-carbon energy future.”
Last week U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, from West Virginia, made another attempt to “shock” his permitting reform bill, a bill that would allow the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) to finish up more quickly, into life (see