Other Stories of Interest: Thu, Feb 4, 2021
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Off to the RACES: Natural gas equities lapping FAANG stocks; Severance tax would hobble energy production in Pennsylvania; Pipeline delays hurt Pennsylvania economy; NATIONAL: DOE Secretary Designate Granholm signals support for U.S. LNG exports; Biden’s EPA nominee vows ‘urgency’ on climate change; New FERC member backs up-front, ‘robust’ vetting in gas project reviews; Biden plan for energy sector would make OPEC great again; INTERNATIONAL: Panama Canal hits LNG transit record.
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HUGE news! This morning the U.S. Supreme Court decided to hear the PennEast Pipeline case. The case appeals a lower court ruling that disallows PennEast from using eminent domain to build across land owned or controlled by the State of New Jersey. The court’s acceptance of the case is an excellent sign PennEast will win the case–which is important not only for PennEast but all future pipeline projects in “blue” states.
Diversified Gas & Oil (DGO) owns close to 8 million acres of leases with some 60,000 (mostly) conventional oil and gas wells. Their focus has been to acquire quality production and cash flow–regardless of the well or commodity type (gas or oil)–in the Appalachian Basin. DGO currently owns over 400 Marcellus/Utica shale wells in their portfolio too. The company announced yesterday it has just opened a new “state-of-the-art” natural gas control center in Charleston, WV. Initially, the new center will monitor the Cranberry Pipeline network.
Chesapeake Energy will emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy next week having dumped $7 billion of old debt (out of $8.9 billion) and taking on $2.5 billion in new debt financing (see 
Zenith Energy, based in Houston, TX and Metuchen, NJ, announced yesterday it has purchased the bulk terminal storage operations of Guttman Energy in three locations: Aurora, Ohio, Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, and Star City, West Virginia. Zenith says the reason for buying the terminals is to support customers in the Marcellus/Utica. What, exactly, is Zenith selling to M-U customers?
Virtual pipeline company Xpress Natural Gas (XNG), which operates a major compression station/trucking facility not far from MDN headquarters, has agreed to sell itself to Basalt Infrastructure Partners, an investment firm located in London and New York City. The sale price was not disclosed.
Vermont Gas is probably sorry it ever decided to build a tiny 41-mile pipeline between Chittenden and Addison counties to deliver clean-burning natural gas to Vermonters. Not only was the project hounded by anti-fossil fuel nutjobs, since going online in 2017 the project has been hounded by the State of Vermont itself! After a multi-year investigation, the state is accusing the project of multiple violations during construction and about to levy a hefty fine.
After Joe Biden signed an Executive Order in his first few days on the job killing the Keystone XL pipeline project (instantly throwing 11,000 union members of out high-paying jobs), anti-fossil fuel nuts have been salivating (drooling, actually) in anticipation of what else old dementia Joe will do next to kill off other pipeline projects, including Equitrans’ Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). One of Big Green’s trusty mouthpieces at the AP has penned a wishlist for which projects may get the ax next, and how it will happen.
The City of Monroe, North Carolina is a shining example of what other cities should do. The city recently launched a new LNG facility online (took three years to build). The city buys natural gas on the open market when the price is low, liquefies and stores it, and then regasifies it for use later–saving residents money. Smart folks running Monroe.
All three M-U states received permits to drill new shale wells last week. Pennsylvania received 22 new permits. Ohio received 2 new permits. And West Virginia received 8 new permits.
On Friday the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) granted its approval to Williams to begin construction on the Leidy South Project in central Pennsylvania. The purpose of the Leidy South Project, which is part of the mighty Transco pipeline, is to connect robust supplies of natural gas in the Marcellus and Utica producing regions in Pennsylvania with markets along the Atlantic Seaboard by the 2021-2022 winter heating season.