More Natural Gas Storage is Needed – Will We Get It?
There are a number of factors that influence the availability and price of natural gas. Without a doubt, the #1 factor in gas prices is the weather. Another factor not often discussed is storage. Natural gas is stored mainly in large underground caverns during the “summer” months (called “injection season,” April through October). Natgas is later withdrawn for use during the “winter” months (“heating” or “withdrawal” season, November through March). RBN Energy takes a look at this often overlooked aspect of the industry, providing a quick history of natural gas storage and making predictions about a possible coming storage expansion.
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MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Natural gas extension – critical Bluefield project up for federal funding; Schumer joins environmentalists in denouncing Brooklyn natural gas pipeline; NATIONAL: Steamy summer drives big gains for weekly spot natural gas prices; The U.S. maintains its natural gas dominance; Carbon-neutral cargoes of LNG and other hydrocarbons; Shale giants hit hard by poor hedging decisions; INTERNATIONAL: To save the planet, focus on cutting methane – U.N. climate report; Exxon Mobil suspended from climate advocacy group; Chinese firms seek LNG cargoes, demand is strong.
MDN previously told you about so-called environmentalists filing a lawsuit to block the construction of an LNG unloading facility in Greenpoint, Brooklyn (see 
In something of a strange twist, the Bloomberg News service is sounding the alarm that the world is headed for a shortage of natural gas. Bloomberg hates fossil fuels and anything to do with them. Yet they now sense an impending shortage of natural gas and it’s causing the Bloomies some existential angst. Bloomberg reports natgas prices in Europe have “surged more than 1,000%” since May 2020 with no end in sight. Earth to Bloomberg: Europe has no one to blame but themselves. They don’t want our “fracked gas.” Let them buy Putin’s pipelined gas at extortionist rates.
The latest weekly Enverus U.S. rig count shows total rigs in use recovering to within one rig of a post-pandemic high. For the week ending August 4, the rig count stood at 603, up 4 rigs from last week. The Marcellus play lost one rig from the previous week, while the Utica picked up one rig. Collectively the M-U is currently running 45 rigs, the same level as the previous two weeks.
Last December MDN told you that a REV LNG small-scale LNG facility near Towanda (in Wyalusing, Bradford County, PA), had successfully supplied LNG to support the bunkering of a marine vessel at the Port of Hamilton in Ontario (see 
Equitrans Midstream issued its second quarter update earlier this week. Naturally, all eyes were on information and updates related to the company’s 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) from West Virginia to Virginia, which is now 92% complete. We have an update on MVP. However, it was a stray comment by Diana Charletta, President and COO, that caught our attention. Equitrans recently conducted an open season related to the Equitrans pipeline, looking to expand capacity along the pipeline to the Midwest and Gulf Coast.
Northeast Pennsylvania high schoolers are getting a look at what a career in the shale energy field looks like. The Susquehanna County Career and Technology Center in Dimock, in cooperation with Cabot Oil & Gas, is hosting its annual week-long Energy and Oilfield Career Experience summer camp. Susquehanna County, the only county where Cabot drills, is the #1 producer of natural gas in PA. Has been for years.