MDN Off for MLK Day – Jan 17, 2022
Dear MDN Reader:
Since it is a stock exchange holiday, and to honor the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., MDN is taking today off, Monday, Jan. 17. Full strength MDN will return Tuesday!
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National Grid Threatens New Gas Hookup Moratorium for Downstate NY
As Yogi Berra once quipped, this feels like déjà vu all over again. In 2019 New York City and Long Island experienced an epic showdown with National Grid, which supplies natural gas to all of Long Island including Brooklyn and Queens. National Grid slapped a moratorium on new gas hookups due to short supplies and then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s blocking of a pipeline to bring more supplies to the region. After extreme blowback from customers, Cuomo threatened to rip National Grid’s franchise away and give it to someone else unless they paid $30 million in bribes and started hooking up new customers again. National Grid caved and the bad guy, Cuomo, won (see Andrew “Don Corleone” Cuomo Extorts National Grid, Wins Pipe Battle). Once again National Grid is sounding the alarm that they likely will need to restrict new gas hookups. A new battle is brewing.
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NYSE Threatens Nine Energy Services with Stock Delisting
click for larger version Nine Energy Service, an oilfield services company that competes with companies like Halliburton and Baker Hughes, operates in a number of shale basins, including the Marcellus/Utica. Last week the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) informed Nine the company’s stock is in danger of being delisted from the exchange because the company’s average market capitalization over 30 consecutive trading days, as well as stockholders’ equity, has fallen below $50 million.
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GAO Report: Gathering Pipelines Face “Data Collection Challenges”
In early November MDN told you about a massive new power grab being attempted by the Biden Dept. of Transportation’s PHMSA, implementing new regulations to take control of local gathering pipelines, in contravention to the U.S. Constitution (see Massive Power Grab Proposed by Biden DOT: Regulate Gathering Lines). In December the oil and gas industry finally woke up and began to push back (see O&G Industry Wakes Up, Opposes Fed Control Over Gathering Pipelines). The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report card yesterday to update Congress on the status of PHMSA in collecting information about gathering pipelines–the first step in a federal takeover of regulating gathering lines.
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Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Education | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Wyoming County (PA)
Lackawanna College School of Petroleum & Natural Gas Expands
Back in December, MDN editor Jim Willis had the delight and pleasure of attending an open house at the new location of the Lackawanna College’s School of Petroleum and Natural Gas (PNG) in Tunkhannock (Wyoming County), PA. The event was arranged and hosted by Bill desRosiers from Coterra Energy (formerly Cabot Oil & Gas). A number of Coterra employees were present. Bill gave us the grand tour. We can say categorically–PNG is an impressive facility and an impressive program.
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Antero Resources | Ascent Resources | Chesapeake Energy | CNX Resources | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Encino Energy | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Gulfport Energy | Range Resources Corp | Southwestern Energy
Hart Energy Names America’s Top 40 Shale Drillers
Everyone loves a “top x” list, right? We sure do. Hart Energy, publisher of must-have industry magazines including E&P (Exploration & Production), and Oil and Gas Investor, recently published a special publication called Shale 2022 which includes profiles on the “top 40 U.S. shale players,” a production forecast, a review of the latest carbon management and completions technologies, midstream trends and natural gas updates. It’s a great publication. In particular, we were interested in the top 40 shale players list. Guess how many in the top 40 focus on or have major operations in the Marcellus/Utica?
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Enverus Rig Count @ 722 (+15); Marcellus @ 39 (+1), Utica @ 11 (+1)
For the week ending Jan. 13, the Enverus U.S. oil and gas rig jumped up by 15 for the week to 722. According to our calculations that would be a new post-pandemic high not seen since at least April 2020. The Marcellus gained one rig for 39 active rigs, and the Utica gained one rig for 11 active rigs. Combined the M-U had 50 active rigs last week–the most we’ve seen in a long time.
Read More “Enverus Rig Count @ 722 (+15); Marcellus @ 39 (+1), Utica @ 11 (+1)” -
Other Stories of Interest: Fri, Jan 14, 2022
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Columbiana County seeks to strengthen ties between shale business, education; NATIONAL: US weekly LNG exports go up by one vessel; API pins high energy costs on Biden policies; Why Democrats make energy expensive (and dirty); INTERNATIONAL: Commodity trader King eyes $200 oil; U.S. voices misgivings on EastMed gas pipeline – Greek officials; Oil producers aren’t keeping up with demand, causing prices to stay high.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Fri, Jan 14, 2022” -
Marcellus/Utica-Powered Data Center Proposed for Morgantown, WV
Just coming to light for us now is an application to build a “data center” in Morgantown, WV. The application was filed last August, but the WV Dept. of Environmental Protection’s Division of Air Quality held a hearing yesterday to accept public input on the facility. Marion Energy Partners wants to build the facility, yet its purpose is shrouded in mystery. The best guess is that this is another new cryptocurrency (bitcoin) mining operation. Our interest is that it will use four natural gas-fired turbines to generate the huge amounts of electricity needed to operate it–natural gas that will come from the Marcellus/Utica.
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Beaver County | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell
Shell Says PA Ethane Cracker 80% Done, Looking for Perm Workers
A Shell spokesman last week said that the mighty ethane cracker plant the company is building in Monaca (Beaver County), PA is now 80% complete and projected to be operational “sometime this year,” although a more specific date can’t be nailed down. Currently, there are some 8,000 workers who report to the construction site each day. Simply astounding! When the plant is done and operational, it will employ about 600 permanent on-site workers. Shell is now in recruiting mode to find those 600 permanent workers.
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PA Sen. Yaw Calls for Vote to Override Gov Wolf & Stop Carbon Tax
Earlier this week MDN told you that Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf swiftly vetoed a Senate resolution sent to him that would block PA from joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), nothing more than a carbon tax that won’t actually reduce carbon emissions (see PA Gov. Wolf Vetoes Bill that Would Block Obscene RGGI Carbon Tax). Wolf wants to tax coal and natural gas-fired power plants out of existence in the state, and rake in billions in tax revenues before the plants eventually go under. Death by taxation. PA State Senator Gene Yaw from Lycoming County, Chairman of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, has been a champion fighting Wolf’s insane carbon tax plan. Yaw is giving an impassioned call to override Wolf’s veto.
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Weather Causes Short-Term Rise in NatGas Price – HH Heads for $5
Did you catch the huge spike in the NYMEX Henry Hub futures price yesterday? Day over day, the February NYMEX contract price increased by $0.61 to close at $4.86/MMBtu–up 12.52% in a single day. Similarly, the March NYMEX futures contract jumped by $0.36 cents to close at $4.33. Why the big gains? In a single word: weather.
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U.S. EIA Predicts Henry Hub to Average $3.79 in ’22, $3.63 in ’23
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), natural gas spot prices at Henry Hub averaged $3.91/MMBtu for 2021. Each month the EIA issues a Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO). In the latest STEO update for January, EIA predicts that the annual average HH price will average $3.79/MMBtu in 2022, down $0.12 from 2021. EIA further predicts the HH price in 2023 will go down yet more, to an average of $3.63.
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Rystad Predicts Global O&G Investments Go Up 4% to $628B in 2022
Rystad Energy, based in Norway, is an independent energy research and business intelligence company providing data, analytics, and consultancy services to clients exposed to the energy industry across the globe. Rystad is pretty tuned-in when it comes to what’s happening in the oil and gas industry. Earlier this week the company released an analysis that shows global oil and gas investments will expand by $26 billion this year as the industry continues its recovery from the worst of the pandemic. Rystad Energy projects overall oil and gas investments will rise 4% to $628 billion this year from $602 billion in 2021. The main factor behind the increase is a 14% increase in upstream gas (gas drilling) and LNG investments. That’s good news for the M-U.
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Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Susquehanna County
API’s “State of American Energy” Highlights Coterra Employee
Yesterday the American Petroleum Institute (API) issued its annual “State of American Energy” report (full copy below). We will say right up front we’ve had our differences of opinion with the API and its direction, particularly over the past year, but there is no disputing the API remains the premier organization representing the oil and gas industry in the U.S. (and beyond). The API is at the top of the O&G food chain. So it’s a big deal that during the annual virtual event to unveil the latest API report the organization featured a young completions engineer who works for Coterra Energy (formerly Cabot Oil & Gas) in Susquehanna County, PA.
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Other Stories of Interest: Thu, Jan 13, 2022
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: NJ groups plead with Murphy to stop plans for new $180M power plant; NATIONAL: USA gasoline markets point to bad news for Biden; EIA raises oil price forecast for 2022; INTERNATIONAL: China’s natural gas demand, LNG import growth to slow.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Thu, Jan 13, 2022”