Other Stories of Interest: Wed, Dec 14, 2022
INTERNATIONAL: OPEC urges caution.
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Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Susquehanna County
PA DEP Allows Coterra (Cabot O&G) to Resume Drilling in Dimock
For all of you Paul Harvey fans (God rest his soul), this is, “The Rest of the Story.” Two weeks ago, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, about to become Governor on Jan. 1 (a bona fide tragedy), made a big splash by announcing he had finally bullied Coterra Energy, the former Cabot Oil & Gas, into taking a plea deal in the infamous Dimock, PA case of methane migration into a few water wells (see PA AG Shapiro Dismisses 14 Felony Charges Against Coterra re Dimock). Coterra plead “no contest” (i.e., did NOT admit to any guilt) to a misdemeanor charge, while 14 felony charges were completely dismissed. It was a humiliating defeat for Shapiro. But that’s not even the best part! The best part, revealed yesterday in an Associate Press article, is that Coterra/Cabot, which has not been allowed to drill on its own leased land within a nine-square-mile box in Dimock, is now allowed to resume drilling there! We call it a TOTAL VICTORY for Coterra.
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EIA Dec. DPR – Marcellus/Utica Production Remains Capped at 35 Bcf
The Marcellus/Utica continues to produce about the same amount of natural gas that it has produced all year long–essentially capped at around 35.5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of production. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) published its latest monthly Drilling Productivity Report (DPR) yesterday, and that report shows, once again, that M-U production (called “Appalachia” in the report) is still capped–at 35.4 Bcf/d in December. EIA predicts it will float up to 35.5 Bcf/d (adding 113 MMcf/d) in January 2023.
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CPV Confirms Doddridge County, WV Location for Gas-Fired Plant
Doddridge County, WV In September, Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) announced that it had selected West Virginia for a 1,800-megawatt, combined-cycle natural gas power station that also uses carbon capture and storage (see CPV Announces Plans for Massive $3 Billion, 1,800 MW Gas-Fired Plant in WV). At that time, CPV was not prepared to announce where the massive new power plant will get built–but they are willing now. The project, called the Shay Energy Center, will be located in Doddridge County.
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FERC Ready to Rule on Spire STL Cert & Transco Northeast Expansion
On Friday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) will hold its last meeting of 2022. It appears it will be the very last meeting for FERC Chairman Richard “Dick” Glick, who has been blocked from receiving a reappointment hearing by WV Sen. Joe Manchin. Without a hearing, Glick will be forced to step down after this year. Blocking Glick is about the only thing Manchin has done right this year. At any rate, at Friday’s meeting, the five (soon to be four) FERC commissioners will vote on a variety of issues. Two of the issues (projects) are vital to the Marcellus/Utica: a new certificate for the Spire STL Pipeline to continue operating, and a certificate to allow the Williams Transco Regional Energy Access Expansion project to proceed.
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NatGas Use by U.S. Industry Increases in 2022, Decreases in 2023
We spotted a post by our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), that says although natural gas use by the “industrial sector” leveled off over the past few years, industrial sector usage of natgas is growing again, at least for this year. EIA figures industrial sector usage will grow 2.4% in 2022. However, due to the high price of natgas and the sucky Biden economy, EIA believes industrial sector gas usage will decrease 3.4% in 2023.
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S&P Global’s 2023 Energy Outlook – “The End of the Beginning”
S&P Global Commodity Insights issued its latest 2023 Energy Outlook yesterday. The analysis is quite interesting, with ten “key themes” that will most affect world energy (and oil/natgas prices) next year. The number one key theme may surprise you: “China’s COVID policy is the most important fundamental factor for energy markets.” If not for China shutting down entire regions in an effort to stamp out COVID spread, S&P says the price for commodities like oil and natural gas would have continued to be high this year. If China’s demand comes roaring back in 2023, watch out! Prices will be “well supported,” according to S&P. More like “through the roof.” If COVID continues and China’s demand stays low, look for prices to remain lower too.
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BP Considers Axing Statistical Review – It Makes Greens Look Bad
Each year oil and gas supermajor BP (formerly British Petroleum), one of the largest oil companies in the world, publishes an annual Statistical Review of World Energy. We typically bring you a copy with analysis, as we did for the 71st annual edition published in July of this year, covering 2021 (see BP Report: U.S. was #1 User of Both Oil & Natural Gas in 2021). In something of a shocker, Reuters recently reported that BP is “considering ending the publication of its Statistical Review of World Energy, over 70 years after it first published the benchmark report.”
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Other Stories of Interest: Tue, Dec 13, 2022
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Adam Jones named Steel Nation Chief Financial Officer; Manchin leaves door open to becoming independent; NATIONAL: Too soon to celebrate comfortable winter propane market conditions?; INTERNATIONAL: Aramco in talks with investors on $110B gas project.
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Accidents | Cambria County | Energy Services | Equitrans/EQT Midstream | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Storage
PA Finds More Leaky Wells in Cambria Storage Field, Stops Injections
Late last week, the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) slapped Equitrans with three orders related to the Rager Mountain Gas Storage Reservoir in Cambria County, PA. The George L Reade 1 storage well located in the Rager Storage Reservoir vented natural gas uncontrolled into the atmosphere from Sunday, November 6, 2022, until the evening of Saturday, November 19, 2022, when it was plugged. The DEP has been onsite during the entire event (and since). An investigation by the DEP has found all but one of the 12 storage wells at the Rager field are leaking methane to one degree or another. The DEP has closed down all injections into the field, although withdrawals from the field (in order to prevent customers from going without) have continued.
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CNX Unveils NatGas-Centered “Appalachia First” Vision for the Future
CNX Resources President and CEO Nick DeIuliis has done it again. This morning CNX launched “Appalachia First,” the company’s vision for the future which draws on CNX’s regional leadership, core operational strengths, and an innovative business model. What is Appalachia First? In a nutshell, the strategy as outlined by CNX is to extract and KEEPING/USING natural gas right in our own region, making the Marcellus/Utica (i.e. Appalachia) the economic and jobs hub of the entire country. It’s brilliant!
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Marcellus Industry Wants Biden EPA to Modify Onerous Reg
The Bidenistas waited until the UN’s 2022 Climate Change Conference, called COP 27, was up and running (in Egypt) before going to Egypt in November to announce their latest attack on the oil and natural gas industry. At COP27 in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it is “strengthening its proposed standards to cut methane and other harmful air pollution” in the oil and gas industry. In other words, yet another massive power grab in attempting to regulate oil and gas at the federal level, instead allowing O&G to be regulated at the Constitutionally-designated state level. The Marcellus industry in Pennsylvania is hoping it can work with the EPA to blunt the onerous rule they know is coming. Good luck with that.
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US NatGas Production Sets All-Time High Monthly Record in 2022
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), U.S. dry natural gas production increased during 2022 and averaged more than 100 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in both October and November–exceeding pre-pandemic monthly production records from 2019. EIA forecasts that U.S. production of dry natural gas will average about 100.0 Bcf/d from December through March, down slightly (about 0.5 Bcf/d) from November, but still at record-high levels.
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | BP | Chevron | ConocoPhillips | Energy Companies | Exxon Mobil | Industrywide Issues | Shell | Taxation
Senate Democrats Attack Big Oil Again, Propose Huge New Taxes
What can we say? Once again, the Democrat Party is trying to demonize fossil fuels and is going after “Big Oil,” proposing insanely high new taxes on a handful of oil companies because, for a single year (2022), they have actually made some money. All money and profits belong to the government in the left’s twisted worldview. A cabal of seven Senators led by Sen. Robert Menendez from New Jersey has launched this latest attack against our industry.
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Is So-Called “Peak Oil” (Finally) Almost Here? No, Not Even Close
We’ve heard the peak oil theory peddled countless times since we began publishing Marcellus Drilling News in January 2009. Every single time predictions that the world (or the U.S.) has reached its limit and will now begin using less oil have been astoundingly wrong. Yet every few months, you’ll read another “expert” or guru announce this it…we’ve finally reached peak oil. Have we? NO. Not even close. When will we? We’ve got an answer.
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Other Stories of Interest: Mon, Dec 12, 2022
NATIONAL: U.S. natgas futures jump 5% on colder forecasts for late December; Oil posts largest weekly loss since April; Continental Resources announces new CEO; Biden adviser calls investor refusal to ramp up shale drilling ‘un-American’; Why U.S. electricity is becoming even more natural gas dominant; INTERNATIONAL: UK’s PM bans fracking but green lights new coal production; Hydrogen 11 times more expensive than gas.
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