EQT 2Q Update: Looking to Unload Equitrans Shares, MVP Capacity
EQT, the country’s largest natural gas-producing company, issued its second-quarter 2020 update yesterday. There was a lot of news coming from the update. First and foremost, CEO Toby Rice (celebrating his one-year anniversary after taking over management of the company) said that the 1.4 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of gas production previously curtailed (shut-in) starting in May is, as of the beginning of July, fully restored and flowing with no apparent “degradation” in the performance of the shut-in wells. However, it was other remarks–about Equitrans and the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP)–that caught our attention.
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PennEast Pipeline is a $1.2 billion, 118-mile brand new (greenfield) pipeline project planned between the Wilkes-Barre, PA area and the Trenton, NJ area. The project has faced stiff opposition from nutty Big Green groups and from the Democrats who have seized control of NJ. Because of NJ’s opposition (
What’s happening with New Fortress Energy’s $800 million LNG liquefaction plant in Wyalusing (Bradford County), PA? We recently had an inquiry from a union member/MDN reader wondering whether or not the project has been scrubbed because there is no activity at the site. We have an answer…
CNX Midstream began life as a joint venture between CONSOL Energy (the forerunner to CNX Resources) and Noble Energy, and was called CONE Midstream (“CO” from CONSOL and “NE” from Noble Energy). Noble decided to completely exit the Marcellus/Utica and ended up selling their half of CONE to CNX for $305 million in early 2018 (see 
Wow, that was fast! Yesterday Kinder Morgan filed a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) asking for permission to start up train #9 at the Elba Island, George LNG export facility. And yesterday FERC turned around and issued that permission. Same day! How many trains (of the 10 total) are left to go online?
Yesterday the White House announced its intent to nominate the final two members needed to comprise a full five-member Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. One of them, Mark Christie, is the Chairman of the Virginia State Corporation Commission. He is one of the country’s longest-serving state utility regulators, having served for 16 years. Great credentials. Smart guy. The other nominee, Allison Clements, spent 10 years as a rabid radical working for the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC). She is uniquely UNQUALIFIED for the job. A lemon.
Who would win a fight between Thor and Superman? Could Wonder Woman defeat Spider-Man? Does it even matter? Of course not! We just know we love watching superhero movies. But there would be no superhero flicks without oil, natural gas, and coal. You wouldn’t know it to listen to the news media, activists, and many politicians, but these essential energy resources are the REAL LIFE superheroes of our daily lives. Without fossil fuels, we would all be living in an unending horror show with no popcorn, no drink, no comfortable seat, no air conditioning, and… not much else for that matter.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Natural gas scorecard shows Ohio needs its now more than ever; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Haynesville gas production, drilling retreat continues, bucking broader US trend; NATIONAL: ‘Flat is the new up’: Investors will forgive low shale gas volumes, prices in Q2; Microsoft and Halliburton are building the oilfield of the future; Joe Biden’s energy plan aims to overhaul the electric grid by 2035. Is it plausible?; Natural gas gets set for prime time: tracking a possible rally until February 2021.
On Friday the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced it has fined CNX Resources and its subsidiary CNX Midstream $310,000 for two incidents in which 65 barrels (2,730 gallons) of non-toxic brine (salty water) leaked into the ground and 43 gallons of non-toxic drilling mud leaked into a creek. The DEP says CNX did “not adequately maintain erosion and sedimentation best management practices.”
In May the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) held a virtual public hearing on the issue of the DRBC’s prior decision to approve construction of a dock in the Delaware River that will allow New Fortress Energy to load LNG tanker ships with LNG transported to the dock from a new liquefaction plant being built in northeastern Pennsylvania (see 
We love a good supply chain story. Crozier Welding, founded in 1980, started by servicing coal mining operations. Eventually, the company, located in Coshocton County, transitioned from coal to welding pipelines for the oil and gas industry. Today the focus of the company is on welding pressure vessels (holding tanks) for the shale industry. The company is moving and expanding, thanks to an abundance of work coming from the M-U.
The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has a number of committees under its umbrella. Volunteers from business, non-profit groups and other sectors sit on these committees in an effort to provide helpful feedback to the department from the people who must live under the regulations (sometimes onerous) the DEP cooks up. The Small Business Compliance Advisory Committee (SBCAC) is one such committee. SBCAC has just voted against Gov. Wolf’s cockamamie plan to tax “carbon” from gas-fired electric plants.
The price of natural gas and what it fetches (by geography) is always a top concern for both drillers and landowners. Recently the price of natgas nationwide has been trading at a 25-year low (see 
It’s time for a victory lap. Pennsylvania Republicans, with the help of some brave Democrats (and former Democrats), passed and convinced Gov. Wolf to sign a bill into law that will grant tax breaks to companies willing to build brand new petrochemical plants in the Keystone State–plants that use huge quantities of Marcellus Shale gas. Wolf signed the bill yesterday, after vetoing a similar bill earlier this year. The normally chatty Wolf press operation barely mentioned his signature on the bill.