NATIONAL: Weekly natural gas prices plunge as mild temperatures sap demand; US crude producers eyeing natural gas again; Natural gas vehicles are making inroads and want Joe Biden to get aboard; Henry Hub physical gas volumes jump with LNG exports, storage flows.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Mon, Nov 9, 2020”
Last week ExxonMobil issued its third-quarter 2020 update. The company announced it is currently reviewing and making a decision about whether or not to write down (impair) the value of its North American dry gas assets–i.e. XTO Energy. If it writes down the value XTO assets, it will take a huge write-down in value (assets currently on the books at a value of $25-$30 billion).
NOTE: MDN revised this post on 11/9/20 to reflect new information. See an extended explanation below.
Read More “ExxonMobil Deciding Fate of XTO Asset Value in 4Q”
Kimbell Royalty Partners, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, is a leading buyer of oil and natural gas mineral and royalty interests, owning interests in more than 96,000 wells across 28 states, including wells in the Marcellus/Utica region. Yesterday the publicly-traded company issued its third-quarter 2020 update. We discovered some information about their involvement in the M-U, including the Marcellus in northeastern Pennsylvania.
Read More “Kimbell Royalty Buys Royalty Payments from M-U Landowners”
After a shareholder vote scheduled for next Thursday, Nov. 12, Montage Resources will be no more. The company is selling itself to Southwestern Energy in an all-stock deal worth $857 million (see Stop Press! Southwestern Energy Buying Montage Resources for $857M). Yesterday Montage issued what will be its very last quarterly update. What does the update show?
Read More “Montage Resources Releases Last Quarterly Update – Merging Next Wk”
The radicalized Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Foundation (PEDF) never gives up. In June 2017, the PEDF won a case at the PA Supreme Court by the skin of their teeth (see PA Supreme Court Hands Antis Partial Victory re State Land Drilling). The case dealt with the narrow issue of how PA can spend revenue raised from drilling for oil and gas under state-owned land. A divided court ruled that money from royalties (not lease signing bonuses) must be used only for “environmental” purposes.
Read More “PEDF Continues Effort to End Marc. Production on PA State Land”
In June, Weatherford International, the world’s fourth-largest oilfield services (OFS) company, announced that its CEO, Mark McCollum, had suddenly “left” the company (see Weatherford CEO Out Days Before Annual Meeting – 2nd Bankruptcy?). McCollum was previously the CFO of Halliburton, lured away in June 2017 to run Weatherford (see Halliburton Hires New CFO After Old CFO Left to Run Weatherford). McCollum was the second CEO over the past three years. We now have a third new CEO: Girish Saligram.
Read More “OFS Company Weatherford Gets Third New CEO in 3 Years”
Although the national election is still undecided (looking like Biden, a complete disaster), in almost every other respect Republicans (i.e. pro-shale candidates) won, big-time. Republicans gained seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, look to be keeping a majority in the U.S. Senate, and picked up seats in many state legislatures. Leftist Democrats poured BIG money into Pennsylvania in an attempt to flip both the PA House and Senate from red to blue. They failed. And that’s very good for shale energy in the state.
Read More “Repubs Keep Control of PA Legislature, Block Wolf’s Energy Plan”
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: CNX supports area school districts as part of ongoing COVID-19 community response; Natural gas shouldn’t be a partisan issue; Dominion comes full circle as it works to offload remaining US gas pipeline assets; NATIONAL: U.S. LNG exports continue weekly rise; Sempra looking at strategic funding options to support North America LNG plans; Ditch Paris—and save America; INTERNATIONAL: Saudi Aramco reports increasing natural gas output, with earnings climbing in 3Q; A warning from the United Kingdom: renewable energy may not suffice.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Fri, Nov 6, 2020”
Energy Transfer (ET), builder of the Rover pipeline project and the Mariner East pipelines here in the M-U region (as well as many other projects across the country), issued its third-quarter update yesterday. The company lost $782 million in 3Q20 versus making a profit of $857 million in 3Q19. Some (most) of the loss was a paper loss. As part of the update, we learned that the “next phase” of the Mariner East project will be placed into service by the end of this year.
Read More “Next Phase of Mariner East System Starting Up This Year”
Back in 2015, MarkWest Energy, one of the premier midstream companies in the Utica that built and operated numerous gas processing plants and pipeline systems, sold itself to Marathon Petroleum (see MarkWest Energy Investors/Unitholders Approve Merger with Marathon). The pipeline subsidiary of Marathon that includes MarkWest is called MPLX. On Monday MPLX released its third-quarter 2020 update showing the Marcellus/Utica region continues to lift the company economically.
Read More “Marcellus/Utica Helps Lift MPLX/MarkWest Profits in 3Q”
The Sierra Club, backed with money from Russia (see Anti-American Sierra Club, NRDC Get Funding from Russia), has filed yet another lawsuit attempting to block construction of the final 8% of Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) by asking the courts to overturn the latest permit issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).
Read More “Sierra Club Files Another Lawsuit to Block MVP’s FWS Permit”
Summit Midstream Partners, formed in 2009 and headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, operates natural gas, crude oil, and produced water gathering (pipeline) systems in six unconventional resource basins, including the Marcellus and Utica. The company concentrates its time and money on four “core focus areas” including the Utica, the Williston (i.e. Bakken), the DJ Basin, and the Permian. Last week the company’s board of directors approved a reserve stock split, trading (consolidating) 1 share for 15, beginning next Tuesday.
Read More “Summit Midstream 1-for-15 Reverse Stock Split Avoids NYSE Delisting”
Last week we were jazzed when noticed the price of natural gas at the NYMEX Henry Hub had soared, up over $0.30 to $3.30/Mcf (see NYMEX Henry Hub NatGas Price Shoots Up to $3.30 for December). Apparently what goes up that quickly can down just as quickly. Yesterday the price closed at $3.05/Mcf. Why?
Read More “How Fast the Mighty (NatGas Prices) Have Fallen – NYMEX @ $3.05”
Here’s something we didn’t know (to further depress us): It’s not against the law for American-based nonprofits to accept big contributions from foreign entities. It should be against the law, but it’s not. We previously told you that the Sierra Club and National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) are funded, in part, by Russia (see Anti-American Sierra Club, NRDC Get Funding from Russia). EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler recently asked the U.S. Dept. of Justice to investigate whether or not groups including the Sierra Club are in fact funded by Russia (and China), and if so, determine whether they should register as foreign agents.
Read More “EPA Asks DOJ to Investigate Green Groups $$ from Russia, China”
NATIONAL: In 2019, the U.S. imported $13 billion of energy goods from Mexico, exported $34 billion; U.S. out of Paris agreement as country’s political future uncertain; Energy and race: the media’s new intersectionality; Biden would “transition” your standard of living.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Thu, Nov 5, 2020”
During the Williams third-quarter 2020 update yesterday, CEO Alan Armstrong shared some very interesting, and relevant (to the Marcellus/Utica) comments. Armstrong said that two important pipeline projects to carry M-U gas to other markets, the Southeastern Trail expansion project and the Leidy South project, are both in the midst of coming online–ahead of schedule.
Read More “Williams Record M-U Volumes, Early Startup for SET, Leidy South”