Boom Time Ahead – Oil & Gas Comes Roaring Back to Life
The oil and natural gas industry has always been a “boom and bust” business. O&G cycles between times of “drill like crazy”, and “sweeping layoffs.” It is the nature of our market. Last year as the coronavirus pandemic set in and countries around the world shut down portions of their economies, particularly with travel all but ending, anti-fossil fuel zealots pronounced the death of fossil fuels (oil in particular). They said the race to replace fossil fuels with “renewables” had accelerated because of COVID (they were actually glad COVID hit). Antis could not have been more wrong about the prospects for oil and gas…
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We are so sick of the left and their twisted view of everything! For years we’ve covered a recurring claim from the left in their misguided attempt to smear natural gas and the pipelines that flow it. The left claims every time a pipeline runs near or through an area where the population is African American, or Hispanic, or rural poor (in other words, just about everywhere), that pipeline is automatically assumed to be racist.
Richard “Dick” Glick became a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) commissioner in 2017, hand-picked by Sen. Chuck Schumer (see 
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Oil and gas industry is Valley economic driver; West Virginia counties, school districts in natural gas producing counties beginning to plan for revenue hit; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Sierra Club Maine: The power of community organizing and the truth about fracked gas; California’s energy policies hurt minority citizens the most; NATIONAL: Enthusiasm for electric vehicles still appears excessive; INTERNATIONAL: OPEC+ shocker, don’t bet against the Saudis, US shale rejoices, loonie rallies.
Last November Gulfport Energy, the third-largest driller in the Ohio Utica Shale (by the number of wells drilled), filed for a “pre-arranged” Chapter 11 bankruptcy (see 
Last summer MDN brought you the news that the Sierra Club lost a lawsuit aimed at blocking a landfill in New York State from accepting oil and gas drill cuttings from Pennsylvania (see 
For the week ending March 3, the Enverus U.S. rig count soared by another 30 rigs, an indicator that activity is picking up in the oil and gas sector. The vast majority of the rigs (27) were brought online in oil-focused plays (12 of them in the Permian alone). Just 3 net rigs were brought online in gas-focused plays. The Utica Shale increased by 2 active rigs, while the M-U’s chief rival for rigs, the gassy Haynesville, added 3 rigs. (Obviously, some gas rigs were idled in other plays if there were +5 brought online in the Utica and Haynesville.)
There is finally movement in Ohio to repeal an odious law passed by Ohio’s Republican-controlled legislature called House Bill 6, which funnels over $1 billion from Ohio ratepayers to FirstEnergy Corporation in order to keep the company’s unprofitable nuclear power plants running (while disadvantaging other power sources, like gas-fired plants). FirstEnergy is accused of bribing legislators to pass, and keep passed, HB 6 by paying out $60 million in bribes (see 
Whether or not you agree with Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s idiotic plan to join something called the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a carbon tax that will force PA residents to pay $2.36 billion in higher electric costs over a 10-year period (and shut down coal and gas-fired power plants), there is one thing we can all agree on: The way Wolf is attempting to enroll the state in RGGI is wrong. Wolf is denying the state legislature (controlled by Republicans) a role in approving whether or not this new carbon tax will be assessed on PA citizens.
Duke Energy has plans to build multiple new clean-burning natural gas-fired power plants to supply its grid over the next 15 years–some 4.7 gigawatts of new gas-fired plants (see 
Just two weeks ago we reported on the historical, insanely high natural gas spot prices being paid across the country (see 
This week is IHS Markit’s CERAWeek conference. Normally it’s a huge event with over 5,000 attendees gathered in Houston, TX. Because of the pandemic, this year’s event is virtual. But still just as relevant and important. During a session yesterday, Matthew Palmer, senior director at IHS Markit, expressed a sentiment and opinion we’ve seen expressed by others, including Williams CEO Alan Armstrong. Palmer said he doesn’t expect any new big interstate gas pipes to get built after Mountain Valley Pipeline (from West Virginia to Virginia) enters service. For the foreseeable future. What a shame.
On Monday PennEast Pipeline filed its opening brief in a case to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in April. 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. PennEast calls the previous ruling by the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals “deeply flawed” and “seriously misunderstands both eminent domain and sovereign immunity.” What are PennEast’s chances of winning, and if they do win, when will PennEast get built?
Banpu is Thailand’s largest coal mining company. But Banpu is far more than just a coal company. It has multiple subsidiaries in various energy industries scattered around the globe. For example, here in the U.S. Banpu partners with Kalnin Ventures and operates BKV Corporation, the American shale drilling arm of Banpu. We spotted an article in today’s Bangkok Post that says Banpu is about to enter the U.S. power generation market by purchasing a gas-fired power plant–this year.