The price for the “front month” NYMEX natural gas contract, which trades based on the spot price of gas at the Henry Hub in southern Louisiana, dropped again on Friday–closing at $6.83/MMBtu. Most predictions we’ve seen say that natural gas will average much higher both this year and next–in the $9 or $10 range. So why is the price dipping right now, and will it stay low?
Read More “Drop in Temps Leads to Drop in Henry Hub NYMEX Price”
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: California looking to ban natural gas furnaces, heaters by 2030; Louisiana gas pipeline projects key to unlocking more U.S. LNG exports; NATIONAL: Oil posts longest run of weekly losses this year; Why top banks are betting oil will stage a recovery; Diverse strategies for oil and gas energy transition; Phaseout of oil cars show contempt for rural America and developing world; INTERNATIONAL: Global climate change protests demand compensation ahead of COP27; Liz Truss, we support fracking too – that’s why we know it can’t work for Britain.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Mon, Sep 26, 2022”
The natural gas industry is apparently not satisfied with being in the natural gas business anymore. Increasingly, local distribution companies (LDCs, or utilities) are investigating, and in some cases experimenting with, introducing highly explosive hydrogen into the natural gas stream they flow to homes and businesses. Peoples Gas in Pittsburgh is teaming up with the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) to figure out how to mix hydrogen with the natural gas it serves to its customers in Pennsylvania and beyond.
Read More “Peoples Gas & Pitt Team Up to Test Hydrogen/NatGas Mix”
We’re sure glad we are not in Pittsburgh this week with all of the preening, arrogant leftists who pretend to know more than you do about what energy sources you should be using. We’re talking about the so-called Global Clean Energy Action Forum taking place in Pittsburgh this week. Leftist tyrants like John Kerry are lecturing everyone on the virtues of dumping fossil energy–after the hypocritical Kerry arrived in a private jet powered by fossil energy, and rode to the conference in an automobile powered by fossil energy. Abstaining from fossil energy is good for thee but not for me. Hydrogen as Savior is one of the themes at the conference. However, the radicals from Ohio River Valley Institute (and others) are warning conferees that hydrogen derived from natural gas (95% of hydrogen comes from natgas according to the Dept. of Energy) is the road to hell.
Read More “Leftists Bash Hydrogen Derived from NatGas at Pittsburgh Confab”
On Monday, local business leaders in Jefferson County, OH, were treated to an update on the Utica Shale and how local manufacturers can benefit from the growth in the shale industry. According to Robert Naylor, executive director for the Jefferson County Port Authority, “the (purpose) of the workshop was to stress or demonstrate how the business community — vendors and manufacturers — could enter the energy supply chain to create jobs, workforce development and overall economic game for our region.” Two powerhouse speakers from Shale POWER, Katie Klaber and Matt Henderson, educated local business leaders.
Read More “Shale POWER Workshop Educates Ohio Manufacturers re Opportunities”
We have a growing unease about ESG, or “environmental, social, governance” efforts that are popping up like dandelions in springtime. We’ve spoken about this before. While we applaud the efforts by Marcellus/Utica drillers and pipeline companies (and others in the M-U supply chain) to ensure their businesses are responsible stewards of Mom Earth. Slapping an ESG label on those efforts (as M-U companies tend to do) is NOT what the environmental left is talking about when they use the same term. We see a number of ESG-related stories as we scan the news each day. Over the past few months, we’ve seen an increase in stories questioning so-called ESG efforts being forced on us by the left. We have several recent stories that plumb the depths of how ESG (as defined by the left) is bad for the U.S.
Read More “Dark Side of ESG – Huge Losses for Investors, High/Regressive Taxes”
An opinion column appearing in (of all places) Newsweek, a profoundly liberal publication, appears under the headline, “Environmentalism Is a Fundamentalist Religion.” That sure caught our attention! Written by Joel Kotkin, Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University, the column assumes that man-made global warming is happening (something we do not assume). But even operating with that assumption, Kotkin says what’s needed to combat so-called climate change is a “pragmatic approach based on adapting to real and verifiable dangers.” He goes on to say the left’s “war” against climate change is doomed to make things worse for most people. Kotkin is one of the few on the left who is refreshingly honest!
Read More “Column: Environmentalism Is a Fundamentalist Religion”
Tellurian Inc., the company behind the plan to build a $13 billion LNG export facility in Lake Charles, Louisiana, withdrew a $1 billion high-yield bond sale earlier this week, leaving the future of its U.S. natural gas export project in limbo. Tellurian’s stock price fell more than 24% on the news. A day after the announcement, Tellurian Executive Chairman Charif Souki made a Youtube video to talk about where things go from here with respect to the company’s Driftwood LNG export project.
Read More “Tellurian Driftwood LNG Project in Trouble? Cancels $1B Bond”
Last week the three states with active Marcellus/Utica drilling, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, issued a collective 21 new drilling permits, down from the 30 permits issued the week before, and down from the 40 permits issued the week before that. The trend is not our friend right now. PA issued 13 permits, and OH and WV issued four permits each.
Read More “21 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Sep 12-18”
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: GO-WV leader recognized as first female WV O&G Person of the Year; NATIONAL: U.S. weekly export amounts to 21 LNG carriers; INTERNATIONAL: Britain seeks USA gas deals; Increase in Suez Canal transit fees unlikely to impact LNG trade flows.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Fri, Sep 23, 2022”
Pennsylvania State Senator Katie Muth’s attempt to block a proposed frack wastewater treatment plant in Dimock (hours away from her own district) is failing spectacularly. Muth tried to challenge and block a permit for the plant, an effort which was mostly rejected in court back in June (see PA EHB Dismisses Senator’s Request to Block Dimock Wastewater Plant). The Environmental Hearing Board (EHB), a special court set up to hear challenges to Dept. of Environmental Protection decisions, allowed Muth one possible remaining way to continue her challenge–by claiming she has personal “standing” to challenge the permit as a resident of the state. Eureka Resources, the builder of the facility, is firing back against anti-fossil fuel Muth, asking for the court to quash her claim of standing. Also, an ethics charge against Muth has been filed with the State Ethics Commission over this issue.
Read More “Dimock Wastewater Plant Hits Back Against PA Sen. Katie Muth”
Two weeks ago, a lawsuit brought by two West Virginia landowners seeking to overturn the state’s newly enacted forced pooling (i.e. unitization) law was tossed by a federal judge (see Lawsuit to Block West Virginia’s New Forced Pooling Law Tossed Out). The judge told the landowners the lawsuit they filed had sued the wrong person/entity by suing Gov. Jim Justice for signing the measure into law. The judge left the door open for the lawsuit to be refiled. Taking the judge’s direction and advice, the landowners have just refiled the lawsuit, this time against the state Dept. of Environmental Protection, the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, and Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.
Read More “Landowners Refile Lawsuit to Block WV’s New Forced Pooling Law”
There’s no wishy-washiness or shilly-shallying in Kentucky when it comes to building new natural gas pipelines. At least, there isn’t any prevarication under the current administration of Gov. Andy Beshear. Earlier this week, Beshear presented a ceremonial check for $30 million to fund the construction of a 53-mile, 16-inch natural gas pipeline to feed natgas to the southern Pennyrile Region in the western part of the state. The aim is to “support rapid business growth” in that area of the state. Business growth and jobs coming to Kentucky–thanks to Marcellus/Utica shale gas.
Read More “Kentucky Spending $30M on New NatGas Pipe to Expand Biz Growth”
MDN has highlighted Capstone Turbine Corporation, a California company that manufactures small electric-generating plants that run on natural gas, several times in the past (see our Capstone stories here). Capstone, at some point, renamed itself. The company is now called Capstone Green Energy Corporation. Capstone announced it has secured a third order (from the same customer) for five more of its C65 microturbine systems to be deployed at “various oil and gas wellhead sites in the Marcellus Shale region.”
Read More “Calif. Co. Sells 5 More Microturbine Systems for Marcellus Sites”
Yesterday evening, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (from West Virginia) finally released a draft bill that purportedly streamlines the permitting process for oil and gas pipelines, among other things. The bill, called the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2022, also clears away the remaining roadblocks to complete the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline that travels through WV and into Virginia. MVP is 94% done and in the ground, yet anti-fossil fuel wackos keep blocking its completion with frivolous lawsuits and colluding federal judges. Manchin wants to blast through it and get it done, to his credit.
Read More “Sen. Manchin Finally Releases “Save MVP” Permitting Bill – DOA?”
On Monday, the Pennsylvania Senate Environmental Resources & Energy Committee heard from the leaders of state agencies as well as industry experts on carbon capture and storage. The Senators got an earful. If PA wants to lure billions of federal dollars for a hydrogen hub to the commonwealth, the General Assembly will need to reform the legal and permitting process to make it happen.
Read More “PA Legislators Must Update Laws & Regs to Attract Hydrogen Hub”