Why M-U Natural Gas Can’t Help Europe – Lack of Pipelines
Europe wants to buy more American natural gas in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. What does it mean for Pennsylvania? The Philadelphia Inquirer tackled that question in an article on Saturday. The answer to the question of what Europe’s desire for more U.S. natgas means for PA (and by extension West Virginia and Ohio) is, “not much.” Why? Because we don’t have enough pipelines built to carry our molecules to the Gulf Coast which is where most of the LNG export plants are either already pumping out LNG, or in the process of getting built to do so. Lack of pipelines constrains our gas and holds our region back. Lack of pipelines is a big problem for both the M-U and (now) for Europe.
Read More “Why M-U Natural Gas Can’t Help Europe – Lack of Pipelines”
Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia are all scrambling to form intrastate working groups or other alliances in an attempt to be THE state chosen for one of four regional hydrogen hubs funded by the recently passed so-called Biden infrastructure bill (see 
Every now and again we find it helpful to raise our heads, take a step back, and look at the big energy picture. We in the Marcellus/Utica don’t live in a bubble, although sometimes it seems that way. What happens in other countries does, to some extent, have the ability to influence what happens in energy markets here in the northeast. The question is how much of an influence do world energy markets have on us? We spotted an article appearing in Abu Dhabi that got us thinking. We found the ideas in the article interesting. The thesis is that the world is currently in the beginning of a worldwide global natural gas crisis–and that the crisis is going to get “much worse” before it gets better. If that’s true, it has implications for us here in the M-U.
NATIONAL: U.S. gas storage emptied by exports to Europe and Asia; Price volatility and rising demand revive U.S. natural gas trading; Storing renewables in depleted oil and gas wells; Message to Biden: We need more oil, let companies produce more oil; The greatest energy mistake ever made; INTERNATIONAL: Most Brits now BACK fracking; Environmentalists are crushing Europe’s energy independence ambitions.
Last Friday the Utica Energy Alliance (UEA), which represents hundreds of landowners, businesses, community leaders and allies of the shale industry, sent a letter to the entire Ohio Congressional delegation asking the state’s Senators and Congresspeople to stand behind the U.S. initiative to support the European Union by promoting Ohio’s (and the entire Marcellus/Utica region’s) production of natural gas. The UEA says using American natgas is the only way for Europe to end reliance on Russian energy and put an end to funding Putin’s war machine. The group requested a written response from each member. Don’t hold your breath waiting for a response from U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown.
The Barack Hussein Obama administration went crazy with over-regulation in many areas. One of them was to redefine “waters of the United States” (or WOTUS) as everything down to, no exaggeration, mud puddles (see 
Last week the Energy Workforce & Technology Council, a national trade association for the energy technology and services sector representing those who work in the technology-driven energy value chain, released data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that show March employment in the U.S. oilfield services and equipment sector rose by an estimated 2,698 jobs to 608,702. We’re still almost 100,000 jobs down from a pre-pandemic high of 706,528, but the numbers are moving in the right direction.
According to RBN Energy, 2021 was the most profitable year in at least the last two decades for oil and gas producers (i.e. drillers). Oil and gas producers reported income two-thirds higher than the previous peak in 2014, when commodity prices were significantly higher. There’s every indication that 2022 will be even better for the bottom line of O&G companies. What about Marcellus/Utica drillers? Yep, they’re on the list of phenomenal results too.
Two weeks ago MDN brought you the news that New Fortress Energy (NFE) has withdrawn a request to extend a previously-issued permit required to build an onshore LNG liquefaction plant in Wyalusing, PA (see 
On Tuesday, Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court ruled that Gov. Tom Wolf’s obscene carbon tax, called the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), will not go into effect until “pending further order of the court.” What further action from the court is necessary was not disclosed. What is obvious is that Wolf’s attempt to force the state to join RGGI is now on a very long pause, until more court cases are filed. The end game (for Republicans) is to run out the clock until a new governor is elected in November (hopefully a Republican). Either that, or convince the 5-2 liberal majority of the PA Supreme Court (which is likely where this will end up) to rule against Wolf’s unilateral attempt to force the state into the RGGI compact.
We recently received a couple of recent issues of a monthly news/analysis newsletter from 
According to Reuters, at least a dozen U.S. shale gas executives met yesterday in Houston, TX, with European energy officials to discuss expanding U.S. fuel supplies to Europe. Among those in the meeting were “top executives” from Chesapeake Energy, Coterra Energy (formerly Cabot Oil & Gas), and EQT Corp., the largest natural gas producer in the U.S. Individual meetings are planned between the execs and representatives from Latvia, Estonia, and Slovakia. It seems that Europe has finally opened its eyes (and its mind) to the benefits of American natural gas.
In January MDN reported comments by a Shell representative who said the mighty ethane cracker the company is building in Monaca (Beaver County), PA was 95% complete (see