U.S. Natural Gas Exports Hit Highest Weekly Average EVER
During the week of March 24 (Tuesday) to March 30 (Monday) exports of natural gas from the Lower 48 States to other countries averaged more than 15 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d)–the highest weekly average for natgas exports EVER. Most of that amazing number comes from exports via LNG facilities–some 9.5 Bcf/d. The rest are exports via pipeline into Mexico–averaging 5.5 Bcf/d.
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Although we have a deep respect for the work done by the American Petroleum Institute (API) in self-governance and raising standards for the entire industry, today we write to disagree with one of API’s initiatives. API along with two other big oil and gas associations–the International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association (IPIECA) and the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP)–collaborate to produce a document called the “Sustainability Reporting Guidance for the Oil and Gas Industry.” It’s a tool to help companies shape the structure and content of their so-called sustainability reporting. In our opinion, it’s a capitulation to the notion that we must transition to an all-renewable energy future. We categorically reject that losing premise.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Cabot Oil & Gas a beneficiary of low oil prices; WVU Coliseum to receive new seats; NATIONAL: Save America’s oil and gas industry; ‘The other bomb’ — Cramer’s warning as first shale company files for Chapter 11; Murkowski wants DOE to shine spotlight on possible oil production shut-ins; Another down day for natural gas futures ahead of highly anticipated EIA report; Private equity can’t escape the pain of shale country’s collapse; Oilfield spending to fall 21% as producers slash outlays; Natural gas markets beyond COVID-19; COVID-19 strikes gas, LNG demand amid oversupply; Not all natural gas pipelines are equal; Pain in the oil patch; INTERNATIONAL: Germany proves how essential natural gas is – and the U.S. must supply.
Yesterday Range Resources announced it is hacking off another $90 million from its 2020 budget. In January the company announced it would reduce its 2020 budget by 29%, from spending $728 million last year to $520 million this year (see
The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) has been co-opted by Big Green groups to do their bidding. The latest example is a letter sent by DRBC to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), arrogantly telling FERC that the DRBC has the power to review the PennEast Pipeline project–to pass judgment on whether or not (and how) it gets built. That authority lies SOLELY with FERC.
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Is this an April Fool’s joke? Bloomberg is reporting comments from Damien Courvalin, Head of Energy Research & Senior Commodity Strategist at Goldman Sachs, saying U.S. shale oil drillers will emerge from the current oil price crash as “a winner.” This is the opposite of every other analyst we’ve read. What does Courvalin see that’s different from everyone else?
President Trump had a phone conversation with Russia’s dictator Vladimir Putin on Monday. The topic? The Saudi-Russian oil price war, which Trump calls “crazy.” The result of the call was to tee up each country’s top energy officials, getting them to discuss ways to prop up the price of oil. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette will talk with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak about “ways the world’s largest producers can address volatility in the global oil markets during this unprecedented period of turmoil.”
Why is the Trump Administration not taking decisive action to address the crash in the oil price brought on by the Saudis and Russians? Agreeing to “talk about it” with the Russians, as we outline in another post today, is not action. Neither is buying up some extra barrels of oil for the strategic petroleum reserve. We think David Blackmon, a longtime oil industry worker and observer hits the nail on the head in a new column just published by Forbes. The reason the government isn’t addressing the oil price crash issue right now is…
In 2015 a group of Ohio landowners did what landowners had previously done in Pennsylvania, Texas and elsewhere–they filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against Chesapeake Energy claiming Chessy had screwed them and about 1,000 other Ohio landowners out of a collective $30 million in royalty payments (see
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Even amid the coronavirus pandemonium and economic destruction happening everywhere, important oil and gas (and petrochemical) projects continue to make progress. In particular, the PTT Global Chemical plan to build an ethane cracker plant in Belmont County, OH still shows signs of life. In February PTT’s CEO signaled that a final investment decision on whether (or not) to build a multi-billion dollar ethane cracker in Belmont County, OH is coming by “mid-year 2020” (see
Anti-fossil fuelers are on a holy mission to stop a 3.37-mile, 8-inch pipeline from being built under the Potomac River by Columbia Gas (see