East Coast Refining Capacity Dropped 400,000 Bbl/d Since 2017
More than half of the refining capacity in the U.S. is located on the Gulf Coast, where more gasoline and distillate fuel is produced than used. On the other hand, the U.S. East Coast has very little refining capacity but is often the location where the most gasoline is consumed. Consequently, the East Coast receives fuel from other regions, predominantly the Gulf Coast, and imports fuel from other countries. It seems to us that there is a big opportunity to build new refineries along the East Coast.
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The Group of Seven (G-7) is an inter-governmental political forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. G-7 countries are the world’s largest democratic (freely elected) economies, representing roughly half of the world’s wealth (but only 10% of the world’s population). President Biden and the leaders of the other G-7 countries had a confab yesterday in Germany and issued a joint communique (copy below) that says, in part, it’s OK to invest in natural gas and LNG infrastructure.
There’s no way for the Bidenistas to put lipstick on this pig–but they tried anyway. The Biden administration’s Dept. of Energy published its annual U.S. Energy and Employment Report (USEER) yesterday. The report shows HUGE fossil fuel industry job losses in 2021. The report finds the fuels technology sector experienced job losses totaling 29,271 jobs in 2021, down 3.1% from 2020, with the majority of losses coming from the fossil fuel industry.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Pennsylvanians are reaping millions of dollars in benefits from taxing natural gas; Diversified Energy donates building to Pennsylvania Game Commission; NATIONAL: LNG explosion shines light on 42-year-old gas rules; Hyliion and Cummins collaborate on natural gas Hypertruck ERX powertrain; July Nymex contract loses momentum, still expires nickel higher; INTERNATIONAL: Soaring global coal use is obliterating emission reductions.
U.S. Well Services (USWS), a company that specializes in fracking shale wells using gas-fired electric (as opposed to diesel) engines, has operations in the Marcellus/Utica, as well as other plays. Last week USWS announced it is selling itself to ProFrac Holding Corp. in an all-stock transaction analysts value at $225-$230 million. The deal will create the second-largest U.S. fracking company by total horsepower, and the largest electric fleet operator with 12 active e-fracking fleets.
President Biden began a five-day “swing” through Europe on Sunday. Yesterday he met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to discuss energy security in light of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. European countries are in various stages of reducing the import of Russian natural gas and oil, which is leading to upheaval in the world market. Biden and von der Leyen issued a joint statement following their meeting (pre-written, of course). What does the statement say about energy and LNG in particular?
If we hear the phrase “energy transition to renewables” or that natural gas is a “bridge to renewable energy” one more time, we’ll throw up. We’ve written, a number of times, that fossil energy–natural gas in particular–is the destination, not a bridge to somewhere else. Here’s the truth of the matter: We need ALL forms of energy. We need solar and wind, we need nuclear, we need hydro, and yes, we need oil and natural gas. And we will continue to need all forms of energy for decades–likely a century or more. That’s the simple truth. We spotted an excellent column that says it perfectly: The changes we’re seeing in the energy sector are an energy expansion, not an energy transition. It’s simple, yet profound.
Hundreds of climate cultists marched on the New Jersey State Capitol last Thursday to demand Gov. Phil Murphy deny permits to any future project that involves the burning of fossil fuels. Here’s what we noticed about the picture of the protesters. Every one of them was wearing clothes made from plastics (fossil fuels), wearing sneakers and shoes made, in part, from plastics (fossil fuels), holding up signs made from plastic (fossil fuels), wearing hats made from plastic fibers (fossil fuels), and holding phones made, in part, from plastics (fossil fuels). Does the average citizen who is not brainwashed by the climate cult see the rank hypocrisy of these people? We sure hope so.
Below is the list of events we are aware of that will be of interest to those with an interest in the Marcellus/Utica shale region for 2022. Some events are in the region (PA, OH, WV). Some are not (TX, OK, CO). Some are virtual/online, but most have returned to in-person. All of them are of potential interest to the MDN audience.
The clowns who occupy the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (4th Circus) have rejected a request by Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) to appoint a new panel of three judges to hear cases involving the 94% completed pipeline (see 
According to James West, a senior managing director at Evercore ISI (investment bank), an era of heavy investment in “all of the above” energy from fossil fuels to renewables to carbon mitigation technologies is now unfolding. The world is short on hydrocarbons and electrons, and energy/power companies are responding. We are, says West, on the cusp of a new era of investing in oil, natural gas, and renewables. This new era of energy investment will be “on a scale never witnessed before.” We like the sound of that!
Coretrax describes itself as a global well integrity and production optimization expert. Last week the company announced it had completed a world record-breaking project in the Utica Basin. Coretrax successfully deployed its ReLineMNS system across three wells and expanded a total of more than 27,000 feet of tubulars (pipelines) across the campaign. With one of the expandable liners reaching 9,000 feet in its expansion, all installations smashed the previously held record of 7,243 feet by at least 1,000 feet.