New Federal Bill by Dems Unfairly Targets O&G Methane Emissions
Three Democrat U.S. Senators are (once again) targeting natural gas for extinction. The new (but in reality old) way they’re attempting it is by floating a bill that would (if passed) assess an insanely high new tax on “methane emissions” from the oil and gas industry. The stated purpose is to “encourage” oil and gas companies to clamp down on methane emissions (something already happening without the “help” of these idiots, see NatGas Coalition Beats Methane Emissions Goal by 67% in 2019). What’s not in the bill is a plan to tax methane emissions from the #1 worldwide contributor to fugitive methane: agriculture.
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What a sad state of affairs. The very governmental agency charged with ensuring large corporations maintain honesty in their dealings with investors, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has devolved into a hack witch-hunting organization bent on locating and punishing those who disagree with a certain political view–the view that somehow mankind is causing catastrophic global warming. If corporations publicly utter anything outside the prescribed Communist diktat about global warming, the SEC will now come down on them like a ton of bricks. How sad and tragic.
NATIONAL: U.S. natural gas consumption was lower in 2020 in all sectors except electric power; Senate confirms Michael Regan as EPA chief; Hydrogen slides ‘on deck’ and ready to play; Rule by regulation.
In early February MDN told you that it was likely the Biden administration, although anti-drilling and anti-pipeline, would have no choice but to support an active case before the U.S. Supreme Court dealing with eminent domain for the PennEast Pipeline project (see 
As sure as the seasons change and our long winter is finally turning into spring with the first crocuses popping up through the soil, you can count on another sign of spring: a forced pooling bill will pop up in the 60-day West Virginia legislative session. And so it has. The WV legislature is currently considering two bills, Senate Bill (SB) 538 and House Bill (HB) 2853, called “unitization bills” which is just another word for forced pooling. This time West Virginia University is providing support for forced pooling in the form of a new study claiming forced pooling will “jump-start” a new era of natural gas development.
West Virginia House Bill (HB) 2581 is rapidly advancing through various committees. The bill changes how the State Tax Department values producing oil and gas wells for property tax purposes. It also creates a new appeals process for all property taxes in WV. Provisions in the bill allow expenses from “lifting, processing, transportation and other industry activities” to be subtracted from a well’s income. Question: Do these new post-production deductions also apply to royalties?
In early February, Northern Oil and Gas, Inc., a company that invests in non-operated oil and gas assets (they let others do the drilling), announced it had purchased 64,000 net acres producing ~120 MMcfe/d (million cubic feet equivalent per day) in the Marcellus/Utica from Reliance Industries Limited (see 
In early February MDN editor Jim Willis had the pleasure of doing a remote video interview with George Stark, Director of External Affairs for Cabot Oil & Gas. Jim has known George (via various industry events) for perhaps the last 10 years. Cabot is the sponsor of a series of in-person and online events called Think About Energy (TAE). George is conducting a series of interviews about good sources of information for the oil and gas industry and he wanted to highlight MDN. Thanks George! In the interview (watch it below), Jim talks about how MDN got started and some of the key issues facing the M-U today. Enjoy!
All three M-U states received permits to drill new shale wells last week. Pennsylvania received 9 new permits, with 5 of those permits going to Cabot Oil & Gas and their drilling program in Susquehanna County. Ohio received 4 new permits, all for the same company (Encino Energy) in the same county (Harrison) on the same well pad. And West Virginia received 3 new permits, all for the same company (Northeast Natural Energy) in the same county (Monongalia) on the same well pad.
Chesapeake Energy has screwed over landowners in northeastern Pennsylvania (and elsewhere) for years. Under the provisions of a “settlement” just brokered by PA’s shale-hating Attorney General, Josh Shapiro, Chesapeake will get away with settling the royalty case for pennies on the dollar. The average landowner will get just over $300 from this “settlement.” What a cruel joke. This is all about headlines and showmanship for Shapiro who hopes to run for governor next year. Don’t fall for his “I’m the savior of landowners” schtick. He just sold landowners down the river in return for a headline his campaign can use.
Two Democrat federal judges with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (D.C. Circuit) are second-guessing a long-completed and flowing natural gas pipeline in the St. Louis, MO area–a pipeline that flows Marcellus/Utica gas to residents, businesses, and electric generating plants in the region. Why are we not surprised?
Masquerading as a nonpartisan, independent nonprofit, the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) reportedly “conducts research and analyses on financial and economic issues related to energy and the environment.” The Institute’s stated mission is “to accelerate the transition to a diverse, sustainable and profitable energy economy.” In other words, they’re anti-fossil fuel, populated by biased Democrats with a vested interest in seeing Big Oil and Big Gas bankrupted. It’s no surprise the IEEFA just released a “report” saying the financial rationale for building the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) has “evaporated” and, you know, Equitrans (the builder) should just forget about finishing the project and write off the billions already spent.
Here’s something you don’t read about every day. A couple of leading Democrats are not only supporting natural gas as the best way to help America “transition” to “clean energy,” they’re saying so in a very public way, attempting to influence the debate about it. In an opinion piece appearing in the Washington, D.C. The Hill (required reading for all political swamp dwellers), two members of the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) tout the benefits and virtue of using natural gas, calling for an end to the silly talk about gas bans.