EIA DPR: NatGas Production Still Down in M-U, Up Again in LA & TX
Natural gas production in the Marcellus/Utica continues to slowly turn around. The rate of decline in production is slowing and (at some point) will reverse and begin to show increases month over month. That was our takeaway from yesterday’s Drilling Productivity Report (DPR), a report issued each month by our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Two shale plays–the Haynesville in Louisiana and East Texas, and the Permian in West Texas and eastern New Mexico–will see natural gas production increase in the coming month of May, same as happened in April. That’s two months in a row both the Haynesville and Permian increased natural gas production.
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For nearly every year of the past 20+ years, there has been a reliable, year-in-and-year-out #1 export (in dollar revenue) from the United States to the rest of the world. Care to hazard a guess what it has been? Aircraft, mostly from Boeing. The U.S. has a new most-valuable export in 2021 that has flown on by aircraft exports: Natural gas. The fact that natgas has dethroned aircraft exports does not square well with rabid American leftists who seek to destroy all fossil fuel markets, including natural gas. The vaunted position of natgas also presents a problem for the Biden administration and their plans to slip AOC’s Fat Green Deal through under the disguise of an “infrastructure and jobs” plan.
It should come as no surprise that a group of far-left “environmentalists” who belong to New York State’s Power Generation Advisory Panel is recommending to Lord Cuomo that the state simply ban and block any and all new natural gas-fired power generating plants from being built in the state. Why? Because they have a mental condition that causes them to irrationally hate fossil fuels, including natural gas. That’s the only explanation that makes sense. Why else would Americans (who supposedly love freedom) advocate for the unconstitutional action of blocking a legitimate and legal business?
We’re not big fans of U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (Democrat). He hails from Republican-leaning West Virginia, so he has to pass himself off as a “moderate” Democrat. When push comes to shove, we’ve noticed Manchin falls into line and obsequiously obeys Chuck Schumer’s commands. Yet perhaps, hope against hope, Manchin will show some spine and refuse to sign on to the $2 trillion shale energy-killing “infrastructure” plan Biden is pushing.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: As a large company’s president, I support RGGI to make Pa.’s businesses greener; NATIONAL: Could tiny sensors keep methane out of our atmosphere–and homes?; INTERNATIONAL: An anti-global warming hysteria book is driving Norwegian warming hysterics nuts; Russia tightens its grip on Europe’s natural gas markets.
One of the brightest of the bright spots in the Marcellus/Utica shale industry has been shale’s effect on local economies and jobs, as in more money and jobs flow to shale drilling counties. To counter all that good news left-leaning “media” outlets like the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette have run hit pieces, like this article in February: 
The deed is done. On Saturday, the last day of the legislative session in 2021, the West Virginia Senate unanimously passed House Bill (HB) 2581 which changes how the State Tax Department values producing oil and gas wells for property tax purposes. As we told you last Thursday, the Senate version modified the bill from its original intent of allowing landowners to claim big deductions (see 
Last week in our “best of the rest” links we included a note that one of the co-founders of Antero Resources, Glen Warren, is retiring effective the end of this month. Warren is currently President and Chief Financial Officer of Antero Resources and President of Antero Midstream. What we didn’t know at the time, but has since come to light, is a major reshuffling in top management that will happen following his departure.
Cheniere Energy, the biggest LNG exporter operating in the U.S., published a “Climate Scenario Analysis Report” last week (full copy below). The report analyzes the long-term resilience of Cheniere’s business and the potential implications for LNG supply and demand in various future climate scenarios through 2040. Cheniere predicts LNG demand and exports to continue growing through 2040, but after that, LNG will decline due to continued global action to reduce so-called greenhouse gas emissions.
Dan Rice IV, former CEO of Rice Energy and a board member of EQT Corp. (where his younger brother is now the CEO), is making a big bet–we’d call it a gamble–of $1 billion on so-called renewable natural gas, mainly from landfills. Rice’s “blank-check” acquisition firm, called Rice Acquisition Corp., is acquiring and merging together Archaea Energy ($347 million) and Aria Energy ($680 million) into a single company focused on providing renewable natural gas (RNG) and “green” hydrogen.
MDN editor Jim Willis attended (remotely) yesterday’s