Utica Resources Sues Quebec for C$18Bn for Banning O&G Production
The province of Quebec, Canada, with a huge supply of Utica Shale gas sitting beneath it, passed a new law in April–Bill 21–outlawing all oil and natural gas production throughout the province (see Quebec Pulls Trigger & Commits Energy Suicide – Bans All O&G Prod.). It is a breathtaking grab of totalitarian power. It’s also energy suicide. Quebec says it will pay a piddly US$79.5 million to expropriate the oil and gas drilling rights of companies owning those rights in the province. One of the gas producers in the province, Utica Resources, has just sued the province to either overturn Bill 21, or force Quebec to pay it C$18 billion (US$14 billion). That’s just a tad more than the proffered $79.5 million, wouldn’t you say? Bear in mind Utica Resources is just one company of many with a legitimate claim against Quebec.
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Next month President Biden is heading to the Middle East and is scheduled to meet with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS)–the man who allegedly ordered the murder of Saudi Jamal Khashoggi, a reporter for the Washington Post. Biden previously called MBS a “pariah” following the Khashoggi episode. Why is Biden now meeting with him? To beg for more oil production. A group of 27 energy associations, including the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the Marcellus Shale Coalition, sent a letter to Biden inviting him to tour American energy infrastructure before he boards the plane to meet with MBS.
We finally started to see more permits issued again last week. After the Marcellus/Utica was in the permit doldrum for nearly a month, bumping around at 20 permits or below, last week the number increased to a total of 34 permits issued to drill new shale wells. Pennsylvania issued 13 new permits, with seven of them going to Coterra Energy in Susquehanna County on the same pad. Ohio issued 14 new permits, with 12 of them going to Ascent Resources distributed across four different counties. And West Virginia issued seven new permits, all of them to Antero Resources, all in Doddridge County.
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Ameren plans $1.7B natural gas power plant; NATIONAL: Oil CEOs get olive branch from Granholm in gas-price huddle; Democrats call out Biden admin on absurdity of reinstating crude oil export ban; INTERNATIONAL: $150 oil could still happen. Here’s how.; Oil falls as recession fears escalate; Germany warns of a ‘Lehman moment’ if Russia cuts off natural gas to Europe.
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally-owned electric utility corporation in the U.S. TVA’s service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia. TVA is the sixth-largest power supplier and the largest public utility in the country. One year ago MDN told you that TVA is spending over $1 billion to replace six coal-fired plants with natgas-fired turbines (see 
According to S&P Global’s Platts Analytics service, U.S. natural gas production in June increased slightly to an average 94.5 Bcf/d (billion cubic feet per day), up nearly 1.9 Bcf/d (roughly 2%) compared with a first-quarter average at 92.6 Bcf/d. The increase was led by more output in the Haynesville which has grown by 600 MMcf/d (million cubic feet per day) since March, and in the Marcellus/Utica, which has grown by 420 MMcf/d since March.
In 2019 a group of Virginia landowners filed a lawsuit against the Equitrans Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project because they didn’t like how the pipeline left a mark across their horse pastures. The landowners arrogantly argued Congress improperly delegated its legislative powers to FERC and that ALL pipeline approvals made by FERC that have led to properties being “taken” against a landowner’s wishes, including MVP, should be invalidated. In May 2020 a federal court dismissed the case (see 
Just yesterday MDN told you about this year’s distribution of last year’s (2021) impact fee revenue to local municipalities and to the black hole of Harrisburg politicians (see 
Two weeks ago the second-largest LNG export terminal in the U.S., Freeport LNG located near Galveston, Texas, experienced an explosion and fire (see 
The board of directors at Southwestern Energy Company voted to authorize the company to buy back $1 billion of its own stock. The buyback program will run from now until the end of 2023. The aim of stock buyback programs, as well as dividends, is to put more money into the pockets of investors. In the case of a stock buyback, each outstanding share (after the buyback) becomes a little more valuable. Southwestern is attempting to make its stock attractive for investors. This morning SWN share prices were trading around $6.91, up 47% year-to-date. On June 1 it was higher–trading at $9.64.