MDN is updating our Calendar page more frequently to bring you the latest news on events of interest that have either been canceled, postponed, or in some cases, have gone virtual. We encourage you to review the list. A number of free and low-cost webinars and online events have popped up as an alternative to in-person meetings.
Read More “MDN Calendar: List of In-Person and Virtual O&G Events”
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: New year greets Marcellus/Utica shale with new, unexpected challenges; DEP permits will keep Marcus Hook as an economic engine in Southeast PA; NATIONAL: United States bump LNG exports in March; The impacts of U.S. LNG cargo cancellations; U.S. pipeline safety report reveals fewer incidents, more infrastructure; Zinke says Biden’s plan to ban fossil fuel drilling on federal lands is ‘nuts’; ‘Oil is back,’ tweets Trump. Not so fast, says reality; Natural gas drillers face price meltdown as storage fills fast; INTERNATIONAL: We’re at risk of an oil shortage.
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Tue, May 19, 2020”
Is it time to turn the gas off for New York City and let the people there reap the “benefits” of having a dictator, Andrew Cuomo, as their governor? On Friday the NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation, thoroughly and completely corrupted by Cuomo, issued yet another rejection for the critically-needed Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline project. It was the last straw for Williams, the builder of the project, which has walked away from the project. Gas customers on Long Island, including parts of NYC, now face the real prospect of running out of natural gas (this is not an exaggeration). Andrew Cuomo is the grossest, most corrupt governor in NY’s history.
Read More “Cuomo Rejects NESE Pipe Again, Williams Walks Away”
Yet another lawsuit trying to emasculate the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) by attacking its right to delegate eminent domain authority to pipeline builders has been tossed in federal court. Several of these cases have been tried using Marcellus/Utica pipeline projects. This latest case was brought by uppity, privileged landowners in Virginia against the Equitrans Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project.
Read More “Lawsuit Seeking to Gut FERC Eminent Domain for MVP has Failed”
In Ohio, it costs drillers $5,500 to file for and receive a permit to drill a new shale well. In West Virginia, the cost is $10,150. In Pennsylvania, it currently costs drillers $5,000 for a new shale well permit. Following an upcoming meeting by the state Independent Regulatory Review Commission on June 3, PA’s permit fee will zoom to the top of the M-U list: $12,500 (2 1/2 times the previous fee).
Read More “Massive Hike in PA Shale Permit Fees Coming at June 3 Meeting”
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) is trying to slip through yet another unnecessary change to regulations–this time regs that will create big new hoops to jump through and higher fees to pay for Marcellus gas-fired electric plants.
Read More “PA DEP Proposes New Overstrict Regs on Gas-Fired Power Plants”
We’ve always found Diversified Gas & Oil (DGO) a fascinating company (see our DGO stories here). DGO’s strategy is to seek out wells in “the long tail.” That is, wells already along the decline curve. In the first two years after a shale well is drilled, it produces something like 75% (rough numbers) of all the oil and gas it will ever produce. As time goes on, production greatly tapers off.
Read More “The Origins of Diversified Gas & Oil – From 1 to 60,000 Wells”
Last week MDN brought you the news of another Pennsylvania Pipeline Investment Program (PIPE) grant being issued–this one in Luzerne County, near Wilkes-Barre (see New PIPE Grant to Fund Gas for Homes, Biz Near Scranton Airport). We jumped the gun. That Luzerne PIPE grant, for $1.5 million, was part of six such new grants issued by PA to fund pipeline projects in five counties.
Read More “PA Awards $3.3M in PIPE Grants to Extend NatGas Serv in 6 Locales”
Wow! What a difference three months can make. In January Moody’s Investors Service downgraded EQT Corporation’s bonds to “junk” status (see Moody’s Downgrades EQT Debt to Junk Status Following Write-Down). A few weeks later Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings downgraded the credit rating for six of the biggest Marcellus/Utica drillers, including EQT (see S&P Downgrades Credit Rating for Six Big Marcellus/Utica Drillers). Once thought risky and speculative, investors seem to have changed their minds about investing in M-U debt. They’re taking a second look.
Read More “M-U Drillers See New Interest from Bond (Debt) Investors”
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Largest Wyoming gas producer, taxpayer files for bankruptcy; DTE may switch to natural gas at four coal-fired plants; NATIONAL: EIA expects lower natural gas production in 2020; Natural gas prices could double next year; Liberal-leaning states target EPA in new lawsuit; Why U.S. oil and natural gas demand will rebound from COVID-19; Why predictions for the demise of U.S. shale are “premature”.
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Mon, May 18, 2020”
Just when it seemed everything was going great to get all 10 mini-trains up and running at the Elba Island, Georgia LNG export facility (owned and operated by Kinder Morgan), a compressor fire earlier this week has caused the shutdown of three functioning units along with a fourth unit in the process of commissioning.
Read More “Compressor Fire Shuts Down Three Elba Island LNG Export Units”
Midstreamer Equitrans, the former EQT Midstream (before EQT split itself into two companies) posted its first-quarter 2020 update yesterday and held a conference call with analysts. Of primary concern and focus for us, and most observers was an update on the company’s 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project, which is 90% built and in the ground. The remaining portions of MVP are held up by various court cases and regulatory actions. According to officials on the call, there is a “narrow path” to completing the project by the end of this year at a cost of $5.4 billion. If the timeline slips, the cost goes up.
Read More “Equitrans: Narrow Path to Finish MVP in 2020; Hammerhead Ready 2Q”
The crash in the drilling rig count continued last week for the ninth straight week, although the decline slowed for a third week in a row. U.S. oil and gas rigs for land-based operations fell another 29 last week, to a total of 369 active rigs. Most of the decrease comes from oil-focused rigs. However, we’ve noticed a disturbing trend in the Marcellus rig count.
Read More “US Land Rig Count Falls to 369 – Marcellus Loses Another 2 Rigs”
Pennsylvania’s Pipeline Investment Program (or PIPE) grants cover part of the cost for building new natural gas pipelines to connect homes and businesses typically in rural parts of the state to homegrown Marcellus Shale gas supplies. We’ve written about many of the more-than-a-dozen (so far) PIPE grant projects in the past (see our PIPE stories here). Another PIPE grant has just been awarded–this one in the Wilkes-Barre area.
Read More “New PIPE Grant to Fund Gas for Homes, Biz Near Scranton Airport”
Virginia’s radially left Attorney General, Mark Herring (Democrat), was among 11 other radically left Democrat AGs who recently sent a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) requesting the agency just stop doing its job in approving pipeline projects until the COVID-19 pandemic is over (see 11 Democrat AGs Ask FERC to Stop Approving Pipes During Pandemic). FERC Chairman Neil Chatterjee just responded to Herring with his own letter (copy below).
Read More “FERC Tells Va. AG to Kiss-off on Request to Stop Pipe Approvals”
Virginia Natural Gas (VNG), a company that serves customers in northeastern Virginia, wants to build new natural gas infrastructure in Prince William and Fauquier counties. VNG is seeking state approval to build 24 miles of new pipeline and two new compressor stations (expanding a third compressor), connecting to the mighty Williams Transco pipeline system to flow Marcellus/Utica gas to the region. The Header Improvement Project will deliver natural gas to two new gas-fired power plants. A group of 12 Virginia state legislators, every one of them a Democrat, is trying to sink the project.
Read More “12 Va. Lawmakers, All Dems, Seek to Deny NatGas for Power Plants”