Banpu Ponders Entering U.S. LNG Export Market
Banpu, Thailand’s largest coal mining company, loves American shale gas. Over the past several years Banpu has invested ~$500 million in the PA Marcellus, going as far as building a new regional office in northeastern PA (see Banpu Opens New $5M Marcellus Operations Office in NEPA). Recently the company announced a deal to buy Devon Energy’s Barnett Shale assets in Texas (see Banpu Invests Another $770M in Shale – but Not in PA Marcellus). It seems Banpu is not yet done with American shale energy.
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A great many things affect the price of oil and natural gas–weather, economic conditions, supply/demand balance, sunspots. Can a human virus affect the O&G industry too? It seems the answer to that is, YES. We’ve resisted bringing you blow-by-blow the daily coronavirus tripe peddled by mainstream media in their attempt to harm the American “Trump” economy. But we can’t ignore how media-generated panic is affecting world markets–and (now) the oil and gas industry, including the industry here in the U.S.
For years anti-fossil fuel zealots have used and abused the word “fracking” and its derivatives to describe horizontal hydraulic fracturing, and more generically to describe the entire shale oil and gas industry (drilling, pipelines, etc.). Antis love to slip in phrases like “fracked gas” and refer to those who work in the industry as “frackers.” They call themselves “fracktivists.” It all sounds so naughty. We happen to love the word and we embrace it, to shove it right back in their faces (others in our industry do not like the word and sometimes chide us for using it). A couple of so-called researchers have coined a new fracking-related term: “fraccidents.”
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: ODNR announces new chief of Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management; Nonprofit, educational organizations: don’t miss this chance to apply for environmental grants; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Cameron LNG Train 2 starts commercial operations; NATIONAL: U.S. crude oil production grew 11% in 2019, surpassing 12 million barrels per day; Trump wants to lift the ban on transporting liquefied natural gas on trains – opponents say it’s a risk; Natural gas continues to reflect seasonality; Baker Hughes: US rig count down 1 unit to 790; EV Dream (video); INTERNATIONAL: TC Energy, tribal leaders reach agreement to resume Coastal GasLink construction.
The Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) issued fourth-quarter 2019 numbers for Utica shale oil and gas production last Friday. The numbers show new state record highs for quarterly oil and natural gas production, the most ever since quarterly reporting began in 2013. Utica oil production was up 17% over 4Q18, and Utica natural gas production was up 3.2% over 4Q18.
Range Resources turned in its fourth-quarter and full-year 2019 update on Friday. The company lost $1.72 billion last year, after losing $1.74 billion the year before. Ouch. The company is actively shopping its northern Louisiana shale assets hoping a sale will help reduce debt. You may recall Range bought out Memorial Resource Development Corp. (MRD) in a stock swap/debt assumption deal worth $4.4 billion back in 2016 (see 
Southwestern Energy issued its 2019 update on Friday, with talk about what’s ahead for 2020. Southwestern is something of a unicorn. They made $891 million in profit for 2019! Even in a low price environment. Well done. Like every other Marcellus/Utica driller, Southwestern plans to spend less on drilling in 2020, yet they also say they will produce more gas, and sell it at favorable prices. What’s Southwestern’s magic?
In January MDN told you about a Franklin & Marshall College poll that showed 48% of Pennsylvania voters support a ban on fracking, while 39% oppose a ban (see 
Yesterday the largest natural gas producing company in the United States, EQT, issued its fourth-quarter and full-year 2019 update. As is typical with these updates, EQT’s top brass (CEO Toby Rice) also spoke about the company’s strategy for the coming year. Of particular note is that EQT has struck a new deal with EQM Midstream (Equitrans) to get lower fees for gathering and piping the company’s natgas–a $535 million break in fees (see today’s companion story). Also of note was Toby’s comments about trimming the company’s debt load of $5.3 billion by about 30%, or $1.5 billion, this year. How does he plan to do that?
Both EQT (the driller) and Equitrans (the midstream company) issued their quarterly/full-year 2019 updates yesterday. Equitrans, formerly EQT Midstream, separated from EQT in November 2018. Equitrans, via its EQM Midstream affiliate, gathers, processes, and flows most of EQT’s natural gas production, getting it to market. Last fall EQT began intense negotiations with Equitrans to lower its midstream costs (see 
While the Andrew Cuomo-corrupted New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) can claim a victory in stopping the much-needed Constitution Pipeline (see