Epsilon Energy Production Down, Revenues Up in 1Q21
Epsilon Energy concentrates most of its effort on the Marcellus in Susquehanna County, PA. Epsilon doesn’t typically do its own drilling. The company joint venture partners with (gives money to) other companies, like Chesapeake Energy, and the other company typically does the drilling. Epsilon issued its first-quarter update last Thursday. The company’s Marcellus net gas production averaged 27.4 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) in 1Q21, compared to 30.3 MMcf/d of net gas production in 1Q20 (a 10% decrease). However, revenues were up a big 31% in 1Q21 vs. 1Q20.
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Anti-fossil fuel activist Jill Antares Hunkler (whom we had never heard of before) testified before the same House Committee on Oversight and Reform’s environment subcommittee that Swedish special needs child (and minor celebrity) Greta Thunberg testified before on Earth Day. The two (plus others) peddled the same tired lies they always peddle about fossil fuels in general, and the Ohio shale industry in particular. A member of the Ohio O&G industry is standing up to challenge their lies.
The Enverus rig count added another 7 rigs for the week ending May 5 to hit a new post-pandemic high of 545 active rigs. Oil-focused rigs climbed by 10 to 417, leaving them just two rigs shy of 12-month highs seen in early April. The number of active gas-focused rigs fell back three to 128 (after hitting a 13-month high for the previous week). Both the Marcellus and the Utica maintained their numbers for the week (no change), ending the week at 36 for the Marcellus and 13 for the Utica.
NATIONAL: U.S. pipeline shutdown exposes cyber threat to energy sector; Energy production in the United States fell by more than 5% in 2020; When it comes to FERC, oil and gas really are distinct; INTERNATIONAL: China’s natural gas imports surge as economy recovers.
MDN editor Jim Willis is taking a rare day off today, Friday, May 7, in order to travel and attend the graduation of his youngest child (a son)…from graduate school. Jim is a proud dad. He has three great kids. All three now have their master’s degree, and all three are teachers! Jim will catch you up on all the latest Marcellus/Utica news with the Monday edition. Have a great weekend.
A short 19-mile pipeline project called the Del-Mar Energy Pathway project, crossing both Delaware and Maryland, began its final phase of construction earlier this year after receiving approval from Maryland for traversing a wetland area (see 
When a pipeline company considers whether or not to build a new pipeline, the company conducts an “open season”–a time when drillers (producers), traders, buyers and others who want guaranteed capacity along that pipeline can sign long-term contracts. Such contracts guarantee pipeline companies will be able to make back the considerable amount of money they have to spend to build the pipeline. What happens when those 5-, 10-, and 20-year contracts expire?
We are sick and tired of the Chicken Little scaremongering that comes from so-called “independent consultants” and the reports they issue for states like Pennsylvania claiming (falsely) that average temperatures in the state are set to rise by 6 degrees Fahrenheit by 2050. It is a demonstrably false claim. Yet that’s what is now being reported as fact.
Yet another assault on natural gas pipelines coming from the federal agency that’s supposed to promote them: the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). When FERC approves a new pipeline project, the very first thing fossil fuel haters do is challenge that decision, requesting a “rehearing” or reconsideration of the decision. FERC under new Chairman Richard “Dick” Glick has just ruled that construction work on pipelines can’t proceed unless and until the rehearing request is no longer pending (FERC decides yes or no), which can take up to 90 days. In other words, FERC has just handed antis the right to delay a project by up to three months (in reality 10 months) just by filing a rehearing request.
You simply can’t miss the irrational exuberance of energy companies and investors proclaiming that hydrogen (H2) is the next big thing in energy. H2 is going to replace natural gas and cure the problem of man-caused global warming (which doesn’t exist, by the way). You can’t attend an oil and gas conference today without hearing at least one keynote or panel discussion about H2. (By the way, the 
Pipeline giant Williams released its 1Q21 update on Monday, but it wasn’t until a conference call with analysts yesterday that CEO Alan Armstrong shared the big news that Williams has purchased Southern Company’s natural gas energy trading unit Sequent Energy Management for $50 million. The deal vastly expands Williams’ capability to market natural gas (i.e. find new customers).