Chessy’s Head Driller, Head Lawyer, and Head Accountant Get Fired
Three Chesapeake Energy senior vice presidents have been shown the door (i.e. got fired) as of Friday. Executive Vice President of Exploration and Production (i.e. head driller) Frank J. Patterson; Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary (i.e. head lawyer) James R. Webb; and Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer (i.e. head accountant) William M. Buergler exited on Friday. It was a “termination without cause.” This follows the firing of their former boss, CEO Doug “the ax” Lawler, who himself got the ax not long after the company emerged from bankruptcy (see Doug Lawler Out as CEO of Chesapeake Energy).
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In a brilliant move aimed at boxing in the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), 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 against the DRBC accusing the quasi-governmental agency of “taking” the property rights of PA residents without just compensation under the law (see 
Analysts at S&P Global Platts continue to track the performance of some of the country’s biggest shale gas drillers (most of them located in the Marcellus/Utica). S&P tracks production, spending, and the performance of their stock price. The price of natural gas has gone up over the past three months and along with it, the stock price for most (not all) shale gas drillers. For example, the share price for Range Resources has soared, gaining 42% in value over the last 90 days.
Traders are crediting news from Enbridge’s Texas Eastern Transmission (TETCO) pipeline that a recent flow restriction enforced by the Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA) will continue through the end of summer with helping to spike the Henry Hub futures price of natgas, up 4.5% on Friday to close at $3.30/MMBtu.
As we report today, Enbridge’s Texas Eastern Transmission (TETCO) pipeline will not be back to full pressure flowing Marcellus/Utica gas south (some of it to the Gulf Coast) until the end of summer. Last week MDN brought you the news that TETCO was denied permission to continue operating its pipeline system (three pipelines, actually) at full pressure (see 
What would happen if there were a Green New Genie who could wave a magic wand and replace all oil and gas energy right now, today, with wind and solar energy instead. Yes, it’s impossible for many reasons, but let’s fantasize for just a moment. What if Alexandria Occasional-Cortex, and the petulant spoiled child Greta Thunberg, and John F. Kerry (a petulant spoiled adult) got their way? Poof! Here it is. Here is what it would look like…
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Shale academy continues work on new location; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Shell weighs blockbuster sale of Texas shale assets; NATIONAL: Post-pandemic E&P cash allocation shifts to debt repayment, shareholder return; INTERNATIONAL: Baker Hughes and Air Products in hydrogen team up; EU energy ministers reach compromise deal over fossil gas funding.
So-called ESG (environmental, social, governance) programs are popping up everywhere–kind of like spring dandelions. Especially programs aimed at the E (environmental) part of that acronym. EQT Corporation, the country’s largest natural gas producer (focused 100% on the Marcellus/Utica) has recently gotten the ESG religion. EQT has joined (by our count) no less than four ESG programs this year. The latest is a program sponsored by LNG export king Cheniere Energy, aimed at monitoring and cutting down on methane emissions at drill sites. Two other M-U drillers are joining the Cheniere effort too.
Williams, Kinder Morgan, and other giant midstream companies with major assets in the Marcellus/Utica are looking at, investigating, and actively considering blending in hydrogen with natural gas in their interstate pipelines. Sounds easy, right? Just hook up to a handy source of hydrogen and let the molecules flow and mingle with methane molecules. But adding hydrogen (H2) to existing methane (CH4) pipelines is not a simple thing. There are major roadblocks to flowing H2 through CH4 pipes. At present, it’s still just a pipe dream.
In March we told you about House of Representatives (HR) Bill 1512, the Climate Leadership and Environmental Action for our Nation’s Future Act (or CLEAN Future Act). The bill gives vast powers to the unelected bureaucrats at the EPA to set new regulatory demands before permits can be approved for facilities that produce plastics or the raw materials used to produce plastics, such as ethylene or propylene (see 
The Enverus U.S. rig count is once again breaking one-year records. For the week ending June 9, the rig count stood at 560–the highest number it has seen since April 2020, just as the pandemic was starting to really take hold and shut everything down. The Marcellus play gained one rig over the past week, while the Utica lost a rig. Collectively the M-U is currently running 45 rigs.