MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Spending in Pennsylvania’s high court race blows past $5M; INTERNATIONAL: Russia close to using natural gas as weapon in Europe’s gas crunch.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Tue, Oct 26, 2021”
In early June Southwestern Energy Company announced it would no longer be a pureplay Marcellus/Utica driller. Southwestern said it was buying Indigo Natural Resources, which drills for natural gas in the Louisana Haynesville Shale (see Southwestern No Longer M-U Pure-Play, Buys Haynesville Driller $2.7B). The deal was consummated in September. The rumor mill is heating up again–this time that Southwestern is in advanced stages of talks to purchase a second Haynesville driller, GeoSouthern.
Read More “Southwestern in Advanced Talks to Buy 2nd Haynesville Driller for $1.7B”
A leftist anti-fossil group calling itself Protect PT, in Penn Township (Westmoreland County), PA, backed with big money from Big Green groups, has for years challenged Penn Township ordinances that allow Apex Energy and Huntley & Huntley (now Olympus Energy) to drill and operate shale wells. Protect PT finally struck out legally at the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in May 2020 (see Penn Twp Frack Ban Case Strikes Out at PA Supreme Court). They’re baaaaaccccckkkk! Some 15 members of Protect PT protested outside the office of the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) in Westmoreland County last week to try and bully the DEP into denying permits for two Apex wells.
Read More “Antis Protest @ SWPA DEP Office Against 2 Penn Twp Marcellus Wells”
Last week America’s Rural Energy Coalition (AREC), a national organization created by rural community stakeholders and industry representatives from across the country to build sustainable rural communities by maximizing the opportunities and minimizing the challenges presented to them as a result of the development of their regional energy resources, held a regional meeting in Bradford County, PA. While AREC advocates for safe development of all forms of energy in rural America, front and center at last week’s meeting was the mighty Marcellus Shale and the critical role of oil and natural gas in the lives of every citizen on planet earth (and to the people of PA).
Read More “Rural Energy Coalition Mtg in Bradford, PA Touts O&G’s Critical Role”
For years Chesapeake Energy has been the stepchild of the oil and gas investment world. Former CEO Aubrey McClendon, who founded Chesapeake as a natural gas-focused driller, larded the company up with debt–there’s no denying that. But then McClendon’s successor, Doug Lawler, compounded the problem (made it fatal) by attempting to convert the company into an oil company by purchasing an oil driller in the Eagle Ford for $4 billion in 2018 (see Chesapeake Now Gone from Ohio Utica; Spends $4B in Eagle Ford). Chessy is back and now even the mighty Barron’s publication is saying an investment in Chesapeake, at least for the next few years, looks to be a good opportunity. Is it time to take a chance on Chesapeake?
Read More “Barron’s Makes Case to Invest in Chesapeake for the Short Term”
In April 2019, President Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) instructing the Environmental Protection Agency to review Section 401 of the Clean Water Act–the section that grants states (and tribes) the right to have a say in pipeline projects (see Trump Signs Executive Order Making it Harder to Block Pipes). In keeping with the EO, the EPA issued a draft new rule in August 2019 tightening up standards used in Section 401, creating new boundaries so states like New York and Washington can’t continue to “color outside the lines” by rejecting pipelines for political reasons, as they have both done (see EPA Issues Proposed New Rule for Section 401 Water Permit). A final version of the new rule was eventually adopted. Extreme leftist group THE Delaware Riverkeeper along with a variety of foreign-financed groups promptly filed a lawsuit challenging the new rule (see Riverkeeper Lawsuit Challenges Trump Changes to Water Permits). Last week a San Francisco Democrat judge appointed by Bill Clinton vacated the Trump EPA modification. Politics once again triumphed over science and common sense.
Read More “Fed Judge Rules States Can Take Years to Issue 401 Water Permits”
Although Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Richard “Dick” Glick is a nutty leftist, he’s not stupid. Glick can see that within a month or two there will be widespread shortages of natural gas available to feed gas-fired power plants, particularly in places like New England. Glick has voted against every single interstate pipeline project to come before him over the last three years he’s been a commissioner, claiming the pipes would contribute to mythical global warming. Now his actions are beginning to bite him on the rump with coming shortages. So what does he do? He blames LNG exports and tells power plants they better grab all the gas contracts they can now, so they can keep operating this winter.
Read More “Glick Wants Power Plants to Contract NatGas Now to Avoid Shutdowns”
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Washington, hands off our natural gas; Sen. Manchin is right to support natural gas efforts; Celebration held for group protesting pipeline; NATIONAL: WTI completes ninth consecutive weekly gain; U.S. stockpiles in Cushing reaching historically worrying levels; The U.S. is turning green. What will this climate plan cost and who will pay?; Rising U.S. natural gas prices aren’t just a supply issue but a policy one; U.S. consumers likely to pay more for propane heating during the upcoming winter; Wall Street projects a “higher for longer” era for oil prices; Europe’s energy nightmare doesn’t have to be duplicated here; The U.S. oil supply is still out of balance.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Mon, Oct 25, 2021”
The very last line of defense against completely destroying Pennsylvania’s coal industry and mortally wounding its Marcellus Shale industry happens in 2022 when Pennsylvanians select their next governor. Current Gov. Tom Wolf is attempting to force his state, against the wishes of the state legislature, to enter the so-called Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), an obscene tax on carbon. If Republicans win the governorship next year it gives them the opportunity to overturn Wolf’s carbon tax. If Democrat Josh Shapiro, the current Attorney General, wins, it’s all over for coal and soon thereafter for the Marcellus Shale industry.
Read More “Clever Move: PA Republicans Ask Dem AG Shapiro to Block Carbon Tax”
This is an avoidable tragedy and very angering. Once again it looks as though Boston and the New England region will be hit with extremely high natural gas prices and will be forced to import LNG, most likely from Russia, to meet the region’s demand for natural gas. So says the Democrat-controlled Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Meanwhile, the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania sits a couple of hundred miles away with more than enough gas to meet New England’s natgas demand, but we can’t get the gas there because pipelines have been blocked (by the Democrats who control New York and New England) and because rail shipments of LNG are blocked by executive orders from Joe Biden. We can’t even ship it there via LNG tankers because of the idiotic Jones Act.
Read More “FERC Predicts Boston NatGas Avg $18 This Winter, Foreign LNG Imports”
Three weeks ago MDN told you that propane prices at both the wholesale and retail level were going through the roof (see Propane Prices Through the Roof – Global Demand Up, Supply Down). At that time wholesale prices at Mont Belvieu, Texas, the main U.S. hydrocarbon gas liquids (HGL) hub, were averaging $1.33 per gallon. It’s only gotten worse. The most recent numbers show wholesale propane prices averaging $1.63 per gallon. Edgar Ang, an IHS Markit analyst, says the setup looks like it could be “propane-market armageddon” and that we could see shortages before the end of winter.
Read More “U.S. Propane Heading for “Armageddon” with High Prices, Shortages”
Back in May, the state treasurers from all three actively producing Marcellus/Utica states, including Stacy Garrity (PA), Robert Sprague (OH), and Riley Moore (WV), along with the state treasurers from 11 other oil and gas producing states, sent a letter to John Kerry, Biden’s so-called Climate Envoy, telling Kerry and other Biden officials to stop pressuring banks and other financial institutions to divest from fossil fuel companies (see M-U State Treasurers Threaten Banks that Won’t Lend to Fossil Fuels). Garrity is keeping up the pressure. She spoke yesterday during a forum sponsored by the Keystone Energy Forum and the Pittsburgh Airport Area Chamber of Commerce.
Read More “PA State Treasurer Fights Biden Admin re Bank Funding for O&G”
Even though Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf is already one of the most liberal governors in the country who delights in screwing with the Marcellus Shale industry in his state, some truly rabid leftists don’t think he’s doing enough to ruin the shale industry. A rogues gallery of the worst of the worst–including the PA Clean Air Council, Earthworks, Clean Water Action, and the Environmental Defense Fund–launched a website this week specifically aimed at pressuring Gov. Wolf to adopt methane rules so severe it completely strangles the Marcellus Shale industry into stopping.
Read More “Big Green Groups Launch Website to Pressure Gov. Wolf to Whack O&G”
Earlier this week the Potential Gas Committee (PGC) released the results of its latest biennial assessment of the nation’s natural gas resources. The report shows the U.S. possesses a total mean “technically recoverable resource base” of 3,368 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) as of year-end 2020. That number is 6 Tcf (or 0.2%) less than the amount of gas assessed in the previous period (from year-end 2018). The slight decrease breaks a trend of seven consecutive record-high resource evaluations. However, the report also shows we have more than enough gas to provide not only our own country’s needs, but also the gas needs for much of the world too.
Read More “Biennial Report Shows Recoverable U.S. NatGas Reserves Fall”
NATIONAL: EIA projects that energy-related carbon dioxide emissions will rise over the next 30 years; Precision Drilling CEO bullish on improving oil, natural gas activity; Air Products’ plan to make hydrogen so blue it’s almost green; When will oil prices peak? Traders and analysts rethink their forecasts; INTERNATIONAL: JERA isn’t jumping at fixed-price LNG contracts as volatility spurs deal-making.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Fri, Oct 22, 2021”
For some reason, Competitive Power Venture (CPV) picks states that are adamantly opposed to new gas-fired electric plants as the location for new projects–like New York and New Jersey. CPV already owns a gas-fired power plant in Woodbridge Township (Middlesex County), NJ. In 2018 CPV floated a plan to build a second gas-fired plant next to the existing plant in Woodbridge (see CPV Floats Plan for New Marcellus-Fired Power Plant in NJ). Must be plans for that plant are getting serious because a neighboring town, Edison, has voted in favor of a resolution opposing the second Woodbridge plant.
Read More “Radicals Convince NJ Town to Oppose Gas Plant in Neighboring Town”