MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Murrysville marks site of natural gas discovery; NATIONAL: LNG services provider Excelerate Energy sets terms for $360 million IPO; Biden’s wasteful SPR release; Stopping natural gas pipelines yields tiny carbon cut; INTERNATIONAL: Global oil supply, demand & prices become clear despite the fog of war.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Tue, Apr 5, 2022”
In January a new bill was introduced in the West Virginia Senate requiring the entire state government, all of the various state agencies and governmental departments, to stop doing business with any bank or investment firm that refuses to support coal, oil, and natural gas companies (see WV Bill Bans Using Banks, Investment Cos that Divest Fossil Fuels). We are delighted to report that Senate Bill (SB) 262, which passed both the WV Senate and the House in March, was signed into law by WV Gov. Jim Justice last week. It’s now time to start defunding the defunders! The next step: Creating a list of companies WV will no longer do business with. They’re makin’ a list, checkin’ it twice. Gonna find out who’s naughty or nice.
Read More “WV Bill Targeting Anti-Fossil Fuel Banks, Investors Becomes Law”
RBN Energy took the opportunity of Joe Biden’s big announcement last week (that he will release 1 million gallons of oil per day for the next 180 days) to revisit plans by 40+ crude and natural gas producers for 2022. How much will they spend on drilling this year? And how much will they produce this year? The RBN analysis, especially for the gas-focused sector (largely Marcellus/Utica companies) sees a rise in capital expenditures for drilling this year, but production itself is not predicted to rise all that much. For M-U companies, capex is predicted to increase by 32%, but production only by 10%. However, both of those numbers are somewhat misleading and overestimated.
Read More “M-U Drillers Increase Capex for 2022, but Hold Production Even”
West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat, has (for months) forcefully pushed the issue of completing the 94% completed Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project, a 303-mile pipeline from WV into Virginia. Manchin recently let all five Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) commissioners know of his displeasure that this project, along with other pipeline projects, is delayed (see U.S. Sen. Manchin Rips FERC Commissioners Over Climate Policies). Manchin also told FERC Chairman Richard “Dick” Glick to “do his damn job” with respect to approving natural gas pipelines like MVP (see Joe Manchin Tells (Off) Dick Glick: “Do Your Damn Job!” re Pipes). WV’s other U.S. Senator, Shelley Moore Capito (a Republican), is finally getting into the act too.
Read More “WV Sen. Capito Joins Joe Manchin in Pushing to Complete MVP ASAP”
In July 2020 Dominion Energy announced it was canceling the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP)–a 600-mile Marcellus/Utica pipeline project from West Virginia through Virginia and into North Carolina (see Dominion Cancels Atlantic Coast Pipe, Sells Pipe Biz for $9.7B). Two very small and separate pipeline upgrade projects in southeast Virginia proposed in December 2021 would substitute, at least to some degree, for the absent gas volumes from ACP. However, the Biden EPA is bashing both projects based on irrational global warming fears. Another attack of the Bidenistas against the oil and gas industry.
Read More “Biden EPA Bashes Two Southeast Virginia Pipeline Projects at FERC”
Two weeks ago MDN brought you the news that New Fortress Energy has withdrawn a request to extend a previously-issued permit required to build an onshore LNG liquefaction plant in Wyalusing (Bradford County), PA (see NFE Caves to Radicals, “Pulls the Plug” on Wyalusing, PA LNG Plant). Now comes word that NFE will instead build an offshore LNG facility in the Gulf of Mexico, and it will be built and in operation next year! What really happened in PA, and why is NFE investing in the Gulf instead?
Read More “New Fortress Building LNG Offshore La. Instead of Onshore Pa.”
A professor and inventor at Marietta College, along with two other inventors, have received U.S. patents for two procedures that increase oil and natural gas recovery from shale reservoirs and sandstone reservoirs. Optimized Zipper Frac increases hydrocarbon recovery from shale plays by using “ballooned fractures to create stress shadows that minimize stress anisotropy and thereby maximize near-wellbore complexity and production rate.” Er, right. Did you understand that? No, we didn’t either.
Read More “Ohio Prof Gets Patent on Getting More O&G from Zipper Fracks”
Reuters is reporting that in March, U.S. LNG exports rose by 16% to a brand new, all-time high of 7.43 million tonnes. Running the calculations, that converts to 371.5 billion cubic feet (Bcf), or roughly 12 Bcf per day. Here’s a question: How much of that 12 Bcf/d that was exported comes from the Marcellus/Utica?
Read More “LNG Exports Hit Record High in March – 65% Head to Europe”
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Russia-Ukraine war puts spotlight on 3 natural gas explorers; NATIONAL: Private oil company values are readying for take off while publics remain on runway; Supply chain woes, inflation crimp U.S. producers’ growth potential.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Mon, Apr 4, 2022”
On Monday MDN brought you big news from Bloomberg that Gulfport Energy is in talks with Ascent Resources to merge (see Rumor: Gulfport Energy in Talks to Merge with Ascent Resources). Here it is, the end of the week, and we have a new rumor to share, this one from the more-reliable Reuters news service. Super secret sources tell Reuters that privately-held Ascent, Ohio’s largest natural gas producer and the 8th largest natural gas producer in the U.S., is getting ready to go public with an initial public offering (IPO).
Read More “Ohio’s Largest Shale Driller, Ascent Resources, Preps for IPO”
The Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) is highly respected by all of PA state government. IFO’s mission is to review state budgetary policy and render expert, nonpartisan opinion. The IFO, at the request of the Republicans in the state legislature, recently reviewed Gov. Wolf’s Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) modeling, presenting its findings to a joint hearing of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and the Community Economic and Recreational Development Committee on Tuesday. The IFO report finds that the money PA will spend on emissions credits at RGGI auctions will result in most PA electric rates quadrupling. You read that right–get ready to pay 4X for electricity if RGGI goes into effect and you live in the Keystone State.
Read More “PA IFO Says Gov. Wolf’s RGGI Carbon Tax Will 4X Electric Rates”
On Wednesday, Pennsylvania House Bill (HB) 637, which would block the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) authority to limit carbon dioxide emissions (thereby blocking PA’s entrance into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI) passed by a vote of 126 to 72. Some 10 Democrats crossed the aisle to vote in favor of the bill. HB 637 now goes to the PA Senate for a vote. What then?
Read More “PA House Passes Bill to Block RGGI Carbon Tax – What Next?”
Two northeastern Pennsylvania State Senators, Gene Yaw and Lisa Baker, along with members of the PA Senate Republican Caucus (27 Senators in all, filed a lawsuit in January 2021 against the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) over its illegal ban on fracking (see PA Senators Sue DRBC for “Taking” Property re Frack Ban). The lawsuit accuses the quasi-governmental agency of “taking” the property rights of PA residents without just compensation under the law. Unfortunately, in June 2021, a federal district court judge in Philadelphia appointed by RINO George W. Bush dismissed the case claiming the Senators, who represent people shafted by the DRBC, don’t have “standing” to bring the lawsuit (see Fed Court Dismisses PA Senate Lawsuit Against DRBC Frack Ban). Senators Yaw and Baker appealed the dismissal and yesterday a three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit heard oral arguments in the appeal.
Read More “PA Senators Argue “Standing” in Case to Overthrow DRBC Frack Ban”
In early March, our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), released its “Annual Energy Outlook 2022” report (see EIA Annual Report Says U.S. O&G Use Will Grow Each Year Thru 2050). One of the main findings of this latest look forward is that the use of oil and natural gas will grow steadily and gradually from now until 2050–over the next 30 years. As part of their prediction modeling, EIA uses three scenarios or “cases”–a “reference” case (what they believe is most realistic), a low economic growth case, and a high economic growth case. EIA has just released a very interesting fourth case: What would happen if no new interstate natural gas pipelines were built from 2024 through 2050? How would that affect natural gas production and consumption?
Read More “What Happens if No New Gas Pipes Get Built in U.S. Thru 2050?”
In what appears to be an adoption of talking points from left-wing Democrats like Sen. Elizabeth “Pocahontas” Warren, the normally-balanced Wall Street Journal is blaming LNG exports for higher natural gas prices here at home. The article attempts to make the case that a gradually increasing amount of LNG exports has led to high electric prices in the U.S. The article is flawed in many ways.
Read More “WSJ Blames LNG Exports for High NatGas/Power Prices in U.S.”
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.
Read More “Calendar of Events 2022 – Marcellus/Utica & Beyond”