Weatherford CEO Out Days Before Annual Meeting – 2nd Bankruptcy?
In May 2019, Weatherford International, the world’s fourth-largest oilfield services (OFS) company, finally succumbed and announced it was filing for a “prepackaged” bankruptcy (see Weatherford Finally Files for “Prepackaged” Bankruptcy). In December the company emerged from bankruptcy having wiped out $6.2 billion of debt by giving new stock to debtholders and making its existing stock worthless (see Weatherford Emerges from Bankruptcy “Stronger” and “More Focused”). Is history about to repeat itself?
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Amid all of the frivolous lawsuits and regulatory actions brought by Big Green, aimed at blocking progress on important projects like the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) that runs from West Virginia to southern Virginia (90% complete), progress is still happening for new pipeline projects. One of those new projects is MVP Southgate, a 75-mile extension of MVP that will run from southern Virginia into North Carolina.
The Pennsylvania legislature has taken the next step in overturning a naked power-grab by Gov. Tom Wolf in his bid to force the state to join a carbon tax scheme called the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). Yesterday the PA House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee approved House Bill (HB) 2025 aimed at blocking RGGI without a proper vote by the legislature first. HB 2025 now goes to the full House for a vote.
Two weeks ago MDN told you that PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), which had been hired to liquidate the assets of Australian company LNG Limited (LNGL), had found a second buyer for the Magnolia LNG export project for $2 million (see 
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Pro-Trump PAC hits Biden on fracking and coal; Pa. House Speaker Mike Turzai expected to resign before the end of his term; NATIONAL: Natural gas beats renewables in providing steady, reliable power in emergencies; March saw major declines in U.S. demand for petroleum products; EIA’s 2021 Henry Hub price forecast leaps to $3.08 on rising demand, production declines; RNG’s climate benefits in reducing GHG questioned; ConocoPhillips’s CTO: the shale revolution will be digitized; Shale companies look to bolster insurance for directors and officers; Beyond just the rig count; As Big Oil job cuts mount, spare a thought for the workers; INTERNATIONAL: Manufacturing holds key to recovery of oil and gas markets; Is it time for shale producers to coordinate with OPEC+?; For the developing world a ‘green’ post-pandemic reset is a luxury, not a necessity.
The world of LNG is sometimes a strange world for us. NGI (Natural Gas Intelligence) is reporting an LNG cargo ship loaded with LNG from Nigeria is steaming toward North America. LNG cargoes are notorious for changing routes at the last minute, given the wheeling and dealing that takes place between buyers and sellers. However, the latest intel has the Nigerian LNG cargo heading for…Elba Island, Georgia? That’s right. An imported load of LNG coming to an LNG export facility. Why?
EQT Corporation, the largest natural gas producer in the country (based in Pittsburgh) wants to double the number of shares of common stock from 320 million to 640 million–the first time it has increased shares of common stock in 25 years. Why?
Last December Chevron announced it was writing down the value of its Marcellus/Utica assets and putting those assets up for sale (see 
The Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), the quasi-governmental agency tasked with overseeing water usage within the Susquehanna River Basin, has been a huge success with respect to partnering with the Marcellus Shale drilling industry. The SRBC recently updated a report (summary below) reviewing shale water usage drawn from the basin from 2008 to 2018. The report finds shale water usage has risen to become the #3 source of water used in the river basin–although shale usage of basin water is still a small fraction of that by larger users, including municipalities and electric power generation.
Last Thursday President Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) titled, “Accelerating the Nation’s Economic Recovery from the COVID-19 Emergency by Expediting Infrastructure Investments and Other Activities.” The EO taps the President’s emergency powers to address and mitigate the economic and employment crises resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, by invoking emergency permitting procedures for infrastructure projects, including pipelines, that are otherwise delayed by regulatory roadblocks. This includes projects subject to Clean Water Act water quality permits, the Army Corps of Engineers Nationwide 12 (NP12) permit program, and the Endangered Species Act. This EO potentially has big implications for finishing up both the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) and Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) projects.
EnergyNet is an online marketplace for buying and selling oil and gas working interests (operated and non-operated), overrides, royalties, mineral interests, leaseholds, and other contracts. From time to time we spot auctions on EnergyNet from Marcellus/Utica drillers. EnerVest Energy is currently auctioning a package of leases scattered across Ohio and Pennsylvania via the EnergyNet website. The EnerVest auction ends June 17. We have the details below.
In what is a hollow victory for anti-fossil fuel zealots, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied hearing an appeal for a case from Sunoco Logistics Partners about a permit for a pump station in Lebanon County, PA. The Supremes’ rejection means a lower court ruling stands that overturns the permit. Thing is, that pump station was built years ago and has been functioning ever since. There’s no way that pump station is going away. So why did the antis blow all that money in litigation over the years?
Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), the 303-mile pipeline from West Virginia into southwestern Virginia, recently received permission from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to change the method it will use to cross over (actually under) the Roanoke River. Not that it makes much difference right now since the entire project, which is 90% complete, is stalled due to a federal lawsuit aimed at blocking an unrelated Midwest oil pipeline.