Study Shows de Blasio’s NYC NatGas Ban to Cost Each Household $25K
Who’s actually worse–New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, or New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio? It’s hard to say. They’re both wacko leftists, although we’d say de Blasio is slightly left of Cuomo. Recently de Blasio proposed banning natural gas hookups in new buildings in NYC by 2030. It’s bloody nuts, but then so is de Blasio. He never bothers to calculate the cost of his reckless policies. Someone just has. The Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) did a detailed analysis of what de Blasio’s natural gas ban will end up costing NYC residents. The pricetag? $25,600 per household on average!
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OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Iowa House passes bill banning anti-natural gas, propane ordinances; NATIONAL: EIA expects crude oil prices to rise through April because of lower OPEC production; Understanding the volatile relationship between LNG and global gas markets; U.S. shale prioritizing debt over drilling, just as OPEC predicted; Oil and gas industry isn’t going away anytime soon; INTERNATIONAL: Russia: LNG action plan approved.
New Fortress Energy (NFE), the brainchild of billionaire Wes Edens, came out of nowhere just a few years ago to become one of the world’s leading natural gas infrastructure and logistics operators, delivering natural gas (typically LNG) to customers in a number of other countries. NFE also builds and operates gas-fired electric plants in some of those countries. They own most of the supply chain, from liquefying the gas to shipping it, unloading it, and using it in plants built and operated by the company. We track NFE for their plan to build an LNG liquefaction plant in Bradford County, PA (northeastern part of the state). What’s happening with that project?
Just at the time U.S. exports of LNG are once again ramping up, along comes a “bipartisan” group of legislators proposing a bill to require some LNG exports (as well as some petroleum exports) to be transported from our shores on U.S.-built and U.S.-flagged LNG carriers. The problem is, none currently exist! This is yet another massive screwup coming from some who mean well, and some who don’t. Some of the people backing the bill, like hapless Sen. Bob Casey (from Pennsylvania) likely don’t know this bill will destroy exports of Marcellus/Utica molecules. He’s just too dull to comprehend it. But others, we suspect, know exactly what this bill would do.
All three M-U states received permits to drill new shale wells last week. Pennsylvania received 18 new permits for three drillers, all of them in the western part of the state. Ohio received 5 new permits for two different drillers. And West Virginia received 5 new permits, all for the same company in the same county on the same well pad.
Gulfport Energy continues to try and wiggle out of legally-signed and binding long-term contracts with multiple pipeline companies, including deals that move Marcellus/Utica gas through the Rover and Rockies Express (REX) pipelines. Last year the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) told Gulfport a very loud NO in breaking those contracts (see 
Nuverra Environmental Solutions (formerly Heckmann) is one of the largest companies in the United States that handles transportation and disposal of shale drilling wastewater and leftover rock and dirt from drilling. The company has major operations in the Marcellus/Utica region. In November, the company reported less-than-rosy results for the third quarter, because of the coronavirus and producers slowing down their drilling programs (see 
Pennsylvania State Senator Gene Yaw is on fire! His verbal barbs concerning energy production keep coming–and they’re aimed at the right people for the right reasons. Last week the Senate committee Yaw chairs, the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, held hearings to consider the new 2021/22 budget request from the PA Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). As we told you last week, Yaw asked some pointed questions of DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn (see 
The push is on to make the Marcellus/Utica the country’s second petrochemical hub. The U.S. Gulf Coast is the country’s first and primary petchem hub, but in light of multiple hurricanes and even snowstorms this past year (with multiple disruptions), it’s obvious to everyone that the M-U region can and should become a second petchem hub. An entire conference to discuss how to make that happen will be held next week in Wheeling, WV. The 2nd annual