US Energy & Manuf. Independence Should be Focus of Biden Admin
The Route 2 | I-68 Authority in West Virginia wants to expand Route 2 to four lanes from Parkersburg, WV to Chester, WV, and to extend Interstate 68 from I-79 near Morgantown, WV westward to WV Route 2 along the Ohio River Valley, some 73 miles (see WV Wants to Extend I-68 Another 73 Miles for Shale Industry). One of the reasons to build the $1 billion project? To handle more shale-related traffic. Progress happened during the Trump administration. When Biden seized power, the door on this project slammed shut. Thanks Joe.
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MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: New York State passes a law banning gas powered cars starting in 2035; Yaw correct about state collaboration with the RGGI; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Volcano watch: mapping Kilauea’s gas emissions; California’s battle with climate change is at stake in Tuesday’s recall election; Natural gas costs significantly less than electricity to heat a local home; NATIONAL: Two ways to play the 107% rally in natural gas; Natural-gas market conditions look unnatural; House bill would eliminate natural gas power, impose sweeping changes on economy; INTERNATIONAL: US adviser warns ‘lives at stake’ in European gas crunch.
EnergyNet is an online marketplace for buying and selling oil and gas working interests (operated and non-operated), overrides, royalties, mineral interests, leaseholds, and other contracts. From time to time we spot auctions on EnergyNet from Marcellus/Utica drillers. EnerVest Energy is currently auctioning a package of 146,053 acres of leases for non-operated and overriding royalty interests (ORRI) in the Utica Shale scattered across Ohio and Pennsylvania. The EnerVest auction ends Oct 7. We have the details below.
Another great company succumbs to the siren call of ESG (environmental, social, governance). A week ago we told you that Seneca Resources, the drilling arm of utility giant National Fuel Gas Company (NFG), had signed up with Project Canary to certify its natural gas as responsibly sourced (see 
During a meeting of the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board yesterday, DEP staffers said they are still evaluating whether or not it is appropriate to develop a regulation covering road dumping of conventional oil and gas drilling wastewater. The staffers noted there is currently a ban on giving permission for road dumping from the Oil and Gas Program. However, the same staffers, namely Scott Perry, DEP Deputy for Oil and Gas Management, neglected to say that wastewater is still used to treat PA’s dusty rural roads through a program under the DEP’s Bureau of Waste Management. Antis are hopping mad.
Lately, we’ve brought you a number of articles about the price of natural gas, both the financial NYMEX futures price (from the Henry Hub), and the spot price gas fetches at various trading hubs around the Marcellus/Utica region. The price of gas matters. It drives higher royalties for landowners, higher profits for drillers, and ultimately whether or not there is an increase (or decrease) in drilling new wells. Yesterday was another historic milestone. The NYMEX futures price for the “front month” (October) closed over $5 per MMBtu. That’s the first time the closing price for the current NYMEX contract has been over $5 in seven years (since 2014).
Natural gas drillers, particularly in the Marcellus/Utica, are finally financially healthy. Some are healthy for the first time ever, some for the first time in years, since the severe 2018 and 2019 downturn when natgas prices collapsed. Things are going well in the M-U with most companies focused on fiscal discipline and producing free cash flow. However, there’s a big, black cloud on the horizon–the Joe Biden administration. A number of people in the administration have signaled their disdain, even outright hatred for natural gas, because it’s a “fossil fuel.” The Biden administration aims to cripple the use of natural gas nationwide.
Just two days ago MDN told you about whispers that the NYMEX price of natural gas may actually hit or surpass $5/MMBtu (see 
Appearing on a Barclay’s energy conference webcast yesterday, Williams CEO Alan Armstrong said his company plans to keep spending around $1.2 billion per year through 2026 to keep growing and expanding. One of the prime drivers of growth and expansion for Williams in the coming years is LNG exports. Feedgas to LNG plants continues to increase. According to S&P Global Platts, U.S. LNG feedgas demand will increase from 10.9 Bcf/d this year to 14.9 Bcf/d in 2026. Williams intends to deliver much of that increased demand to the plants that use it.
Get ready, it’s coming this month. The completely radicalized Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under Joe Biden and EPA Administrator Michael Regan (formerly the failed head of North Carolina’s environmental agency) will issue a new regulation targeting so-called methane emissions, a rule that is “expected to be stricter even than an Obama-era standard set in 2016” which was devastating at that time (later overturned by Trump).
Sometimes this happens with a story, but not often. We spotted two diametrically opposed views on the same issue–in this case on the status of mergers and acquisitions in the oil and gas sector. One article claims “the merger mania is back in North America’s oil patch.” A day later another article says “shale M&A flurries are clearing up – for now.” One says M&A is heating up, the other says it’s cooling down. Which view is right?
One of our favorite writers in the energy space is Paul Driessen, a senior policy advisor for CFACT (Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow, a Washington, D.C. think tank), and author of Cracking Big Green and Eco-Imperialism: Green Power – Black Death. Driessen recently published an article on the CFACT website that rips the face off these silly ESG programs being blabbered on about everywhere, especially in the oil and gas sector.