NATIONAL: U.S. natgas futures jump 9% on output drop, hotter forecasts; U.S. weekly LNG exports increase by four LNG carriers; US oil, gas producers join UN-backed methane emissions reporting program; U.S. efforts to punish Russia echo response to 1973 oil embargo; US working natural gas in underground storage increases by 58 Bcf.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Fri, Jul 15, 2022”
A portion of Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) running through Clermont, PA (in McKean County) exploded and caused a fire in a remote part of the town (wooded area) Tuesday evening. Fortunately, nobody was injured. Thanks to the speedy actions of first responders, the fire was contained and only burned about five acres of woods. The cause has not yet been determined. TGP declared a “force majeure” shutting down the pipeline (actually two pipelines) in the area, knocking some 330 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of gas offline. Yesterday TGP posted a new notice to say Line 2 was OK and returning to full service. Roughly 125 MMcf/d will remain offline from Line 1 (the pipeline that exploded) in that area until further notice.
Read More “Tennesse Gas Pipe Explodes in McKean County – 125 MMcf/d Offline”
Much as we’d like to, we can’t ignore the fact that ESG (environmental, social, governance) programs at oil and gas companies are all the rage. We’re not against good environmental stewardship–quite the opposite. It’s important! But ESG is routinely used by the left to try and stamp out the use of fossil energy. Still, drillers and pipeline companies ignore implementing ESG programs at their own peril. Rystad Energy, an independent energy research and business intelligence company for the global energy industry, provides the best evidence yet that ESG does make a tangible difference for the bottom line. Rystad evaluated the ESG performance of 43 public oil and gas producers in the US and Canada, comparing company stock prices with ESG performance. Here’s what they found…
Read More “Antero Resources #1 ESG Enviro Rating in Latest Rystad Survey”
Wow! What a difference two years can make. At the dawn of the pandemic, the share price for publicly traded oil and gas stocks (in particular Marcellus/Utica drillers) was in the basement. With the pandemic now in the rearview mirror (we hope), and demand increasing for both oil and natural gas, the price of oil and gas has skyrocketed, and along with it, O&G companies are raking in the cash. How are M-U drillers using their newfound piles of cash to compensate investors?
Read More “Marcellus/Utica Drillers Reimburse Stockholders as Cash Piles Up”
We’ve been keeping an eye on articles that appear with increasing regularity from the D.C. swamp hinting that West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin is talking with New York Senator Chuck “the schmuck” Schumer about Biden’s harebrained New Green Deal bill that would shut down even more fossil energy and soar inflation above the currently unbelievable level of 9.1%. The Washington Post, in particular, is pressuring Manchin to go along and pass a bill hoping it will help the Democrats win in November. Since appealing to Manchin’s loyalty to the Democrat Party is going nowhere, the Dems have decided to bribe Manchin by promising him the moon–including a fast track to finish the 94% completed Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project. Will Joe Manchin cave and trade away the country’s future in return for completing an important M-U pipeline? Will Washington Dems torpedo MVP if Manchin doesn’t play along? He’s on the horns of a dilemma.
Read More “Will WV Sen. Manchin Sell Out the Country to Get MVP Finished?”
Each month the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) issues a monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO). In May, the STEO made the startling prediction that the average Henry Hub price for natural gas (the national benchmark) would average $8.59 for the entire second half of this year (see Latest Monthly STEO Predicts HH Spot Price to Avg $8.59 in 2H22). In June, EIA reiterated its prediction of $8.59 for the second half of the year (see EIA’s STEO Predicts Henry Hub Gas Price to Avg $8.69 in 3Q22). The most recent STEO, for July, predicts HH will average just $5.97 for the second half of this year, down some 44% from the May/June prediction. What happened?
Read More “EIA Cuts 2H22 LNG Export Prediction by 14%, HH Price by 44%”
Although we understand self-interest and wanting to protect one’s profit margin, we continue to be distressed that some of the biggest chemical companies in the world (meaning in the U.S.) are actively trying to block LNG exports. Why? They want the natural gas they buy (in very large quantities) to be as cheap as possible. In 2017, Big Chemical–companies like Dow Corning, BASF, Eastman Chemical, and others–via their trade association Industrial Energy Consumers of America (IECA), launched an effort to try and persuade Energy Secretary Rick Perry and the Trump Administration to create barriers to exports of natural gas (see Big Chemical Selfishly Wants to Block NatGas Exports). That went nowhere, so the IECA began hammering the Biden administration last year (see Big Chemical Lobbies DOE to Order LNG Exports Scaled Back). That effort aggressively continues. The IECA is opposing Energy Transfer’s request to the Dept. of Energy (DOE) to extend export authorization for the Lake Charles LNG plant until 2050.
Read More “Selfish Big Chemical Join Leftists to Lobby Against LNG Exports”
In 2012, fossil fuels accounted for roughly 82% of total U.S. energy consumption. We have seen an incredibly aggressive pro-renewable push since then, with countries (including the U.S.) pledging to hit net-zero emissions by 2050 as part of the 2015 Paris Agreement. Not a day goes by without an article in Big Media about renewables like wind and solar taking over “any day now.” Fossil fuels are passe, the past, almost gone, on the way out, killing the planet, etc. etc. And yet, renewables ARE NOT taking over. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), fossil fuels accounted for 79% of total U.S. energy consumption in 2021–a drop of 3% in 10 years.
Read More “Exposing the Renewable Lie: Fossil Fuels Provide 79% of US Energy”
NATIONAL: Biden calls inflation report out of date due to declining gas prices; Energy producers put cash to work in M&A; Local governments ban natural gas; What is keeping America from realizing its LNG potential?; INTERNATIONAL: Germany in talks with Shell for LNG to replace Russian supplies; Russia seizes control of Sakhalin gas project, raises stakes with West; Wood Mackenzie and Ball introduce new LNG tracking tool; Europe scoops up LNG, choking off power in poorer nations.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Thu, Jul 14, 2022”
Olympus Energy (formerly Huntley & Huntley) contracted with Project Canary last December to monitor methane emissions from both the company’s drilling operations and the company’s pipeline operations (see Olympus Using Proj Canary to Monitor Drilling & Pipes for Methane). Project Canary had a close look and yesterday announced it has granted Olympus its highest rating across the company’s entire asset base. Olympus can now boast that 100% of the natural gas it produces is RSG gas–responsibly sourced gas.
Read More “Olympus Energy Gets Project Canary Cert – Produces 100% RSG NatGas”
In March 2019, MDN told you about a new Williams plan to beef up the Transco pipeline in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, to deliver an extra 829 MMcf/d (originally 1 billion cubic feet per day) of Marcellus gas to PA, NJ, and Maryland (see Williams Announces Transco Competitor to PennEast Pipe in NEPA). The project, called the Regional Energy Access expansion project, was aimed at competing with the PennEast Pipeline project by flowing gas from northeastern Pennsylvania to the Trenton, NJ area. PennEast got canceled after stiff opposition from liberal state officials in New Jersey. Williams is now facing the same opposition for its project.
Read More “Williams’ PennEast Pipe Competitor Hits a Brick Wall in New Jersey”
All six Big Banks (and investment firms) on the West Virginia blacklist of companies pressuring investors to avoid fossil energy companies are objecting to being included on the WV blacklist. One month ago WV State Treasurer Riley Moore sent a letter to six big banks/investment firms alerting them they are about to be added to the state’s “blacklist” for violating policies by not investing or doing business with fossil fuel companies (see WV Threatens 6 Banks for Breaking State Anti-Fossil Fuel Law). The dirty six had 30 days to respond. All six (named below) responded by claiming they don’t hate fossil fuels. Liars.
Read More “Big Banks Object to Being Outed by WV as Fossil Energy Haters”
BKV Corporation (Banpu Kalnin Ventures), the American shale drilling arm of Banpu of Thailand (Banpu owns 96% of BKV), originally entered the American shale sector by investing over $500 million in 2016-2017 to buy existing Marcellus wells and acreage in northeast Pennsylvania. Over the past seven years, BKV has become one of the top 20 gas-weighted natural gas producers in the U.S. BKV is now (with recent purchases) the largest natural gas producer in the Barnett Shale. The company is on a mission to be so-called net zero emissions (Scopes 1 & 2) by 2025. BKV is developing what it calls the “Pad of the Future” to help it get there.
Read More “BKV Corporation Pioneers “Pad of the Future” in Drive to Net Zero”
The 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project from Wetzel County, WV to Pittsylvania County, VA announced in 2014 was supposed to be completed in 2018 and cost $3.5 billion. The project builder, Equitrans Midstream, now says MVP, which is 94% complete, should be done by the end of 2023 at a staggering cost of $6.6 billion. What happened in between 2014 and today is that Big Green groups, many of which use foreign funding (from countries like Russia) have repeatedly challenged the project. Complicit and colluding judges have placed roadblocks in the way, preventing MVP from finishing. Given the ongoing opposition from the radical left, MVP recently asked FERC to extend the time to complete the project until October 2026, just in case. Comments on MVP’s request to extend the deadline are due by tomorrow.
Read More “FERC Comment Deadline to Extend MVP Construction This Thursday”
He’s about as lame a duck as they come with his term ending at the end of this year, yet Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf is once again attacking (at the behest of the radical left) the Marcellus industry in his own state. The PA legislature, following the example of many other states, passed a bill that blocks local leftist-infested communities from doing something truly stupid–banning the use of natural gas. PA is not California, or New York, or other leftist hornet nests filled with fossil fuel haters. Yet Wolf acts as if he is a fossil fuel hater himself, tightly bound to the radical environmental left, doing whatever they ask of him. His latest act against the Marcellus is to veto Senate Bill (SB) 275.
Read More “Parting Swipe at Marcellus – Gov. Wolf Vetoes Bill Blocking Gas Bans”
Since 2013 anti-fossil fuel zealots–people with an irrational hatred of fossil fuels–have tried to ban drilling under (not on) public parks in Allegheny County, PA (near Pittsburgh). In January of this year, County Councilor Bethany Hallam, a committed anti-fossil fuel fanatic (who herself uses fossil energy every day) introduced yet another resolution to ban fracking underneath county parks, which would potentially deny an important revenue stream to the county (see Antis Try Again to Ban Fracking Under Allegheny County Parks). Unfortunately, Hallam managed to get a vote on the bill and it passed 11-4–enough votes to overcome a promised veto by County Executive Rich Fitzgerald.
Read More “Allegheny County Council Passes Frack Ban, Co. Exec Fitzgerald to Veto”