OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Analyst sees Permian basin output fully recover from COVID shutdown by 2022; FERC must redo climate analysis for Texas LNG projects – D.C. Circuit; NATIONAL: Pioneer Natural Resources warns of tepid shale growth in coming years; INTERNATIONAL: Natural gas demand to surpass 2019 levels by year’s end, says BP chief.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Wed, Aug 4, 2021”
Privately-owned Penn Production Group, LLC, which concentrates on exploration and production for oil and gas in western Pennsylvania, closed on the purchase of certain assets owned by Greylock Energy in Clearfield County, PA on July 30. The assets include 20 miles of pipeline (called Mid Stream) that feeds the gas-fired Shawville GenOn Generating Station and the Dominion pipeline.
Read More “Penn Production Buys Greylock Assets in Clearfield County, PA”
Each week when we bring you the latest rig counts for major shale plays across the country (from S&P and Enverus), and each month when we bring you the latest production numbers for the major shale plays (from the U.S. Energy Information Administration), we typically say something along the lines of this: The major competitor to the Marcellus/Utica has been and continues to be the Haynesville, located Louisiana and East Texas. Last week the Haynesville operated 56 rigs while the M-U operated a combined 45 rigs (see Enverus Rig Count @ 599 (-5); Marcellus @ 33 (+1), Utica @ 12 (-1)). Why is the Haynesville winning out over the prolific M-U?
Read More “Haynesville Shale Drilling Continues to Exceed M-U Drilling”
The radicals at the Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Foundation (PEDF) are not just content to block any future use of royalties from drilling on state land to fund only Big Green priorities, as they recently won the right to do (see Radical PA Group Wins Court Case to Block DCNR Drilling Budget). The radicals now want to go back more than a decade and claw back some $1.3 billion they claim was misspent, forcing the state into bankruptcy.
Read More “PEDF Tries to Bankrupt PA re State Land Drilling Revenue”
America’s natural gas and oil industry announced “a landmark partnership” in late 2017 called The Environmental Partnership, to “accelerate improvements to environmental performance in operations across the country” (see NatGas, Oil Industry Partnership to Accelerate Methane Reductions). The latest O&G company to join up and help reduce methane and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions is…Energy Transfer, the builder of the Mariner East and Rover pipelines.
Read More “Energy Transfer Joins Environmental Partnership to Lower Emissions”
We happen to think the oil and gas industry has sort of lost its collective mind. We’ve lost the battle over fossil fuels by conceding that carbon dioxide, the stuff you emit with every breath you take, is somehow polluting the planet. If we concede that point, it’s all downhill from there. Environmentalist wackos will not stop until all fossil fuels are permanently eliminated from the energy mix–which will be devastating to humankind. But they don’t care. Still, you can’t miss the fact that O&G is “doing its part” to reign in carbon and methane emissions, playing along with the demands of the left. ESG has become a more common phrase in the quarterly updates of O&G companies than barrels of oil and thousands of cubic feet of natural gas. What is O&G doing with respect to ESG, hydrogen, and carbon capture sequestration? And where is it all heading? Will O&G companies actually hit net carbon zero?
Read More “ESG, Hydrogen, Sequestration – O&G Efforts to Reign in Carbon”
Last week both Pennsylvania and West Virginia received permits to drill new shale wells. Ohio was left out of the permit game for a second week in a row. PA received 19 new permits, with 9 going to Range Resources, 4 going to Seneca Resources, and a smattering of others. WV received 9 new permits, all of them in Tyler County and all but 2 given to Antero Resources.
Read More “Weekly Shale Drilling Permits for PA, OH, WV: Jul 26-Aug 1”
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: CEC takes over Chevron headquarters building in Pittsburgh; NATIONAL: WTI oil price to average $75 in 2022 and remain elevated for years; Natural gas futures, spot prices sink as cooler weather arrives; “DUCs down” has made shale’s post-COVID bed softer…so far; LNG seen offering upside as North American gas pipeline buildout winds down; The climate warriors are coming for your gas heater and stove; U.S. natural gas prices flying through summer 2021; INTERNATIONAL: Delta variant causes oil prices to tumble; Forget about peak oil – we haven’t even reached peak coal yet; Hydrogen in the home would be four times more dangerous than natural gas.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Tue, Aug 3, 2021”
Cabot Oil & Gas announced on Friday as part of its second quarter 2021 update the company will *increase* production during the second half of this year. Cabot CEO Dan Dinges said because the Williams Leidy South Expansion Project will be fully online in 4Q and because the gas price outlook this winter is strong, the company plans to increase production by 4% in 3Q, and by a full 10% in 4Q. Finally! Somebody willing to drill more and produce more and make a profit doing it.
Read More “Cabot Makes $30M Profit in 2Q, Increasing Production +10% in 4Q”
Southwestern Energy issued its second quarter 2021 update last Friday. Southwestern produced 276 billion cubic feet equivalent (Bcfe) during 2Q, up from 201 Bcfe in 2Q20 (before it acquired Montage Resources). That works out to be 3.0 Bcf/d, of which 79% (2.4 Bcf/d) was natural gas and the rest was liquids (NGLs). Like EQT, Antero, and other major M-U drillers, Southwestern blew it on “unsettled derivatives” during the quarter. The company posted a $608 million loss for the quarter overall, losing $772 million on derivatives.
Read More “Southwestern Loses $608M in 2Q, Drills First 3 Utica Wells”
In June MDN brought you the news that Enbridge’s Texas Eastern Transmission (TETCO) pipeline is being flow-restricted by the Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA). Some 40% of the Marcellus/Utica molecules that flow through TETCO’s pipeline to destinations in the southeastern U.S. disappeared and were predicted to stay that way until the end of September (see TETCO Pipe Throttling 40% of M-U Southbound Gas to Last All Summer). Fantastic news! PHMSA last week gave permission to Enbridge to boost pressure back to 100% again, beginning this week.
Read More “TETCO Pipeline Returns to Full Pressure This Week – 2 Mo. Early”
Three weeks ago MDN told you about Equitrans’ plan to buy indulgences, er, a, carbon offsets for its 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project (see Mountain Valley Pipeline Announces Plan to Offset Carbon Impacts). MVP will purchase more than $150 million of so-called carbon offsets during its initial 10 years of operations. As we said at the time, being a carbon sinner is expensive. We have more details about what those carbon offset indulgences will be used for–to save a coal mine.
Read More “Mountain Valley Pipeline’s Carbon Offset Plan Will Save a Coal Mine”
The anti-fossil fuelers of Nicetown, PA (near Philadelphia) aren’t so nice. Even though a Marcellus gas-fired power plant in Nicetown has already been built by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) and is currently in operation (has been since last November) providing cheap electricity for railroads and heat for a local bus depot, antis want it all shut down. They claim it’s racist to have the facility located in the community where it’s located. The Joe Biden EPA is investigating Nicetown with an eye to shutting it all down. What a tragedy on so many levels. Once again energy has been politicized by the left in this country.
Read More “Not-Nice Antis Try to Shut Down Nicetown Gas-Fired Power Plant”
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is moving to revise a two-decade-old standard that guides approval of proposed interstate natural gas pipelines. FERC Chairman Richard “Dick” Glick informed a congressional panel last week of the impending changes. Glick wants to permanently change the standards used so future FERC commissioners will be handcuffed to his twisted view of global warming when considering whether or not to approve a pipeline project.
Read More “FERC Changing Rules of the Game for Pipe Approvals – Hard Left Turn”
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: West Virginia and the value of national gas; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Dominion plan calls for all-gas Cope plant in SC; Towns trying to ban natural gas face resistance in their push for all-electric homes; Outrage growing in north Denver neighborhood as hundreds go three days without natural gas; Why is the Biden administration attacking America’s energy independence?; NATIONAL: Electrification alone won’t cut it for decarbonization, say natural gas experts.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Mon, Aug 2, 2021”
Yesterday EQT, the largest natural gas producer in the U.S., issued its second quarter 2021 update. There’s a lot to unpack. While the company produced 4.7 Bcfe/d of natural gas and liquids in 2Q and $155 million in free cash flow, the company lost $936 million during 2Q21 versus losing just $263 million in 2Q20. The loss came from a bet on derivatives gone bad that cost the company $1.3 billion. Oops. There was plenty of talk about “sustainable shale” and ESG efforts. CEO Toby Rice touted the recent successful acquisition of Alta Resources, which closed on July 21.
Read More “EQT 2Q: $936M Loss on Derivatives; New Era of “Sustainable Shale””