Last week MDN reported about a compressor fire at the Kinder Morgan’s Elba Island LNG export facility in Georgia (see Compressor Fire Shuts Down Three Elba Island LNG Export Units). The fire was in the compressor train #2. Just to be safe, Kinder Morgan shut down trains 1-3. The good news is that Kinder is restarting #1 and #3 this week.
Read More “Kinder Morgan Restarting 2 of 3 Shut Down Elba Island LNG Units”
The Marcellus/Utica region is a tale of two shales. One is dry gas, or methane only, and the other is methane plus NGLs–other hydrocarbons that come out of the hole along with methane, including ethane, propane, butane, and few others. NGL production can turn a breakeven or possibly money-losing venture into a profitable venture. The wet gas area is located in portions of southwestern PA, eastern OH, and the northern panhandle of WV (see the map). Given the pandemic, fluctuating natgas prices, curtailments, and the general craziness in the markets, what do the next 12 months look like for NGL production in the M-U?
Read More “Marcellus/Utica NGL Production & Exports – Shortage Coming?”
Baker Hughes, one of the largest oilfield services (drilling) companies in the U.S. and the world, began keeping records on rig counts starting in 1987. As of May 12, 2020, producers operated 339 rigs in the U.S. That’s the lowest number of operating rigs since Baker Hughes began publishing its venerated rig count. It’s not the kind of record we like to see broken.
Read More “U.S. Rig Count Falls to Lowest Level EVER – Since Records Began”
We spotted an interesting story by S&P Global Platts about the dramatic increase in the stock price for gas-focused drillers, particularly in the Marcellus/Utica. Did you know that EQT’s stock has shot up 127% in value over the past three months? Range Resources and Southwestern Energy are both up 81% in value. Antero Resources is up 76%. It’s impressive! Then again, the stock price for most of those companies decreased by 90% over the past five years, so we have a lot of ground to make up.
Read More “$4 Natural Gas This Winter? Maybe, IF Things “Fall into Place””
One of the worst overreaches and offenses of the Obamadroids was to redefine what “waters of the United States” (or WOTUS) actually means. As they were getting ready to leave power, the Obama EPA redefined WOTUS as everything down to large mud puddles–no lie (see EPA Power Grab: Redefines Waters of the U.S. to Include Everything). When Donald Trump took over, he set out to correct Obama’s conceit by bringing the WOTUS definition back into the realm of reality. It took years and fending off multiple lawsuits funded by Big Green organizations, but we finally we have a new, permanent redefinition of WOTUS–taking it back to what it was meant to be (see EPA & Army Corps Publish Final WOTUS Regs – Obama Overreach Fixed). The new WOTUS revisions are set to go into effect in late June. A group of radical Attorneys General with Trump Derangement Syndrome are trying to block it.
Read More “CA & NY Attempt to Block WOTUS Redo from Taking Effect in June”
Yesterday a coalition of twenty-three free market, small business, and consumer groups joined the American Energy Alliance (AEA) in warning President Trump not to slap tariffs on imported crude oil from our enemies (Saudi Arabia and Russia) as a means to help the decimated oil and gas industry. We disagree.
Read More ““Free Market” Groups Urge Trump to Avoid Oil Tariffs on Enemies”
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Dominion to continue Cove Point LNG exports during maintenance; NATIONAL: Why U.S. shale is too important to fail; Google says it won’t build AI tools for oil and gas drillers; INTERNATIONAL: Coronavirus creates repair headache for oil and gas industry.
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Thu, May 21, 2020”
On October 3, 2016, landowner James Slamon filed a lawsuit against Carrizo and Reliance Industries in the Susquehanna County (PA) Court of Common Pleas. Slamon alleged Carrizo and Reliance underpaid royalties on oil and gas leases to him and a class of other landowners “exceeding one hundred members.” The drillers got the case moved to federal court on October 31, 2016. Fast forward to this past Monday and a judge in the federal court case has certified (in part) the class-action request. The lawsuit will now move forward.
Read More “Judge OKs Class Action Royalty Lawsuit Against 3 NEPA Drillers”
Big time opposition continues to Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s plan to force the state to participate in the so-called Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a tax on carbon aimed at coal and natural gas-fired electric power plants, with an eye to driving them out of business (see our RGGI stories here). Even Wolf’s own state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), an executive agency under his thumb, doesn’t want the state to join RGGI.
Read More “PA Gov. Wolf’s Own DEP Doesn’t Want RGGI Carbon Tax”
MDN recently brought you Epislon Energy’s first-quarter 2020 update (see Epsilon Energy 1Q: Still Partners with Chesapeake in NEPA). The company concentrates most of its effort on the Marcellus in Susquehanna County, PA. The company is now offering to buy back up to 2 million shares of its own common stock. What’s that all about?
Read More “Epsilon Energy Offers to Buy Back 2M Shares of Common Stock”
According to an S&P Global Platts article, “spending cuts by producers and pipeline operators likely will reshape what and when natural gas midstream infrastructure is developed over the next several years.” The cuts and reshaping will, however, be “uneven.” The experts interviewed say pipeline and other midstream projects in gas-focused plays, like the Marcellus/Utica, are more likely to get built while new gas infrastructure in oil plays like the Permian and Bakken are less likely to get built.
Read More “New M-U Pipes More Likely to Get Built than Gas Pipes in Oil Plays”
A Montana federal judge appointed by Lord Barack Hussein Obama–Chief U.S. District Judge Brian Morris–ruled in April that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are too stupid to know whether or not using a Nationwide Permit 12 (NP12) will harm so-called endangered species in the building of the Keystone XL oil pipeline in the Midwest. But Judge Morris didn’t stop there. He later ruled that NP12 permits for ALL pipelines (not electric power lines or other construction using NP12, just pipelines) are not allowed. The ruling stops cold pipeline construction across the country that uses NP12 permits, including Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) and Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) here in the M-U.
Read More “Obama Judge Blocks New Pipe Projects that Use NP12 Permit”
What happens in the oil patch has a direct bearing on the financial health of gas drillers in the Marcellus/Utica, which is why we periodically cover happenings in oil. We’re now beginning to see articles with the theme that the oil price crash is already over. Yesterday West Texas Intermediate (WTI) closed at $32.50/barrel. Still not great, but a lot better than the negative $37.63 we saw a few weeks ago! However, does a higher price for oil automatically mean shale oil drilling will immediately return, and with it more associated gas keeping the price of natgas low?
Read More “Oil Price Collapse Appears Over Already…Gas Price Impact?”
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Ascent Resources announces new Chief Financial Officer; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Hydraulic fracturing demand expected to bounce back in the fall; Texas fears losing oil-rich lands in Chinese takeover of weakened energy companies; NATIONAL: Biden would ‘stop Keystone XL for good’ if elected U.S. president; FERC Chair Chatterjee for Va. governor?; Rare Earth Emergency #1 (video); Rare Earth Emergency #2 (video).
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Wed, May 20, 2020”
The nation’s largest natural gas producer, EQT Corporation, is temporarily curtailing or shutting in roughly one-third of its natural gas production in Pennsylvania and Ohio. So says EQT’s main midstream (pipeline) provider, Equitrans (formerly EQT Midstream).
Read More “EQT Shuts in 33% of NatGas Production in Pennsylvania, Ohio”
We’ve been eagerly anticipating this month’s edition of our favorite report, the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Drilling Productivity Report (DPR), to see how much gas production in the Marcellus/Utica will decrease. The DPR estimates how much oil and natural gas each of the country’s seven largest shale plays produced in the previous (current) month, and how much each will produce in the coming (next) month.
Read More “EIA Report: Drop in Marcellus/Utica Gas Production Slows in June”