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NEPA Huge Deal – $6B Plant to Convert Marcellus Gas to Gasoline
Some super-exciting news to share about a massive, $6 billion petrochemical plant coming to northeastern Pennsylvania. On Friday, PA State Sen. John Yudichak, who wisely left the Democrat Party and became an Independent, announced Nacero Inc. will build a $6 billion manufacturing facility on the site of a former coal mine in Newport Township and Nanticoke in Luzerne County, PA. The plant will convert Marcellus natural gas into zero-sulfur gasoline for use in their existing cars and trucks without modification.
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Last week MDN told you the news that EQT Corporation has sold part of its reserve capacity along the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) to “an undisclosed investment-grade entity for six years” (see 
In a normal world where freedom rings throughout the land and free enterprise and capitalism rule, if the price of a commodity like natural gas soars, new drilling would happen and new pipelines (midstream infrastructure) would get built. In a warped world where wokey leftists demand divestment from “fossil fuels” those things don’t happen. Right now we desperately need more pipelines and more drilling. Neither is happening. RBN Energy explains how lack of new pipeline capacity is holding back new drilling–and why it’s happening, particularly in the Marcellus/Utica…
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Sen. Manchin is right to support natural gas efforts; NATIONAL: Williston, DJ basins see higher drilling activity as Baker tally inches higher; U.S. drillers add oil and gas rigs for 15th month in a row; America reduced emissions more than any country despite leaving the Paris accords; Conflicting messages from Democrats leave oil CEOs wondering which way to jump; Biden’s 85-vehicle motorcade a textbook example of hypocrisy from ‘limousine liberals’.
EQT, the country’s largest natural gas producer, issued its third quarter update yesterday. There was a LOT of news in the update. Where to start? Three important things to note from yesterday’s update: (1) EQT blew it on hedges, losing $2 billion during 3Q21 compared with losing $600 million in 3Q20. (2) CEO Toby Rice says the company is done, for now, with expanding by buying other companies. No more mergers and acquisitions. (3) EQT produced a whopping 495 Bcfe (billion cubic feet equivalent) during 3Q21, up 35% from the same period last year. That works out to be 5.5 Bcfe per day.
Although three major Marcellus/Utica drillers provided third quarter updates yesterday, we only cover EQT’s update in today’s lineup of stories. Come back Monday for details from both Antero Resources and CNX Resources. S&P Global Platts reviewed all three updates from yesterday and noticed a difference in how each of the three companies is approaching hedging, or preselling production for a specific price up to a year or more in advance. According to S&P, regaining investment-grade ratings for company stock was a stated goal by executives at all three companies during their 3Q earnings calls. They all aim to maximize free cash flows and paying down debt. Hedging programs were touted as the pathway to accomplish these balance-sheet goals.
Chesapeake Energy, which has gone through a transformation since declaring bankruptcy earlier this year, announced yesterday it has selected oilfield services (OFS) company Nabors Industries as its preferred drilling contractor across all of the company’s shale oil and natural gas assets moving forward. Nabors is Chessy’s new dancing partner. What’s that? Who is Nabors?
Once again the virulent anti-fossil fuel nuts that compose the federal Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) are targeting the shale industry. Earlier this year the lefties that run the DRBC voted to permanently ban fracking (and therefore all oil and gas drilling) anywhere in the DRBC’s jurisdiction (see 
Earlier this month MDN exclusively broke the news that earlier this year (slipping under the radar) the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) issued permits to Powhatan Salt Company/Mountaineer NGL Storage for three planned solution mining wells in Monroe County (see 
MDN friend, someone we highly respect, is Tom Shepstone, author and compiler over at the 
It’s splitsville for EQT and Equitrans Midstream, the midstream company that was once part of EQT. In releasing details about third quarter performance, EQT announced yesterday it has sold nearly half of its contracted capacity with Equitrans for the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). MVP, when it goes online next year, will ship gas south. It seems EQT is looking West. In the same announcement yesterday, EQT said it has signed a new contract with the Rockies Express (REX) pipeline to ship even more of its gas to markets in the Midwest.