A Boston University professor has gone on a so-called “hunger strike” in his campaign against fossil fuels and a compressor station near Boston that will flow more of them. And you actually *pay* to send your kids to BU?
Read More “BU Prof Goes on Hunger Strike Against Weymouth Compressor Stn”
NATIONAL: House Republicans propose carbon capture and sequestration legislation; Trump sends Danly’s FERC nomination to Senate for second time; Pressure rises on the oil and gas industry to address gas flaring; How the left occupies Attorneys General offices: a case study in capture; Stop playing games with America’s energy future; Enverus and RS Energy Group combine forces; INTERNATIONAL: BP lays out long-term ambition to achieve net-zero emissions; Despite phase-out pledge, EU will continue to fund gas projects.
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Thu, Feb 13, 2020”
In December Chevron announced it was writing down over $10 billion worth of its U.S. onshore shale assets, with $6.5 billion of that number coming from their Marcellus/Utica assets (see Chevron Writes Down $5B+ in Marc/Utica Assets, Looks to Sell All). In addition, the company announced it is putting all of its M-U assets up for sale (see Chevron Confirms M-U Assets for Sale, Asks Vendors to Avoid Media). Just sticking a “for sale by owner” sign on more than a half-million acres of leases and over 500 wells doesn’t appear to be working. So Chevron has hired investment bank Barclays to help shop their M-U assets.
Read More “Chevron Hires Barclays to Help Sell Its Marcellus/Utica Assets”
The Ohio Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the Ohio tax commissioner correctly charged Tallgrass Energy’s Rockie Express (REX) pipeline $2 million in excise tax (based on $699 million of income), for gas transported from and to (within) Ohio. REX claimed it did not owe the tax because the same law that exempts gas transported out of state applies to gas sales in-state. But the tax commission, and now the Supremes, say that the portion of gas transported through REX that stays in Ohio is not exempt and can be taxed. So pay up.
Read More “OH Supreme Court Rules REX Pipe Owes $2M in Excise Tax”
Last week MDN told you that because of Andrew Cuomo’s blockade of new pipelines from Pennsylvania, the Iroquois Gas Transmission pipeline which crosses the state continues to import much of the gas flowing through it from Canada (see Due to Cuomo Pipeline Ban, Iroquois Imports Canadian Gas for NY). We spotted another article about Iroquois that caught our attention. The Milford, Connecticut Planning and Zoning Board has unanimously approved a plan by Iroquois to upgrade the Milford compressor station with a new cooling system. Who knew *any* New England municipality would allow *any* new “fossil fuel” work to get done?!
Read More “Milford, CT Approves Iroquois Cooling Upgrade at Compressor Stn”
Yesterday Dominion Energy issued its fourth quarter and full-year 2019 update. As part of the update, Dominion’s top brass talked about 2020 and beyond. Of particular interest for us was a bunch of news about the company’s stalled Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) project. In particular, Dominion has purchased a small stake in the pipeline from partner Southern Co. for $175 million. The new price tag for the project has now gone to $8 billion. Even with the delays and setbacks in court, Dominion remains 100% committed to building ACP.
Read More “Dominion Buys Out Atlantic Coast Pipe Partner; Going Green by ’50”
A Reuters article warns that U.S. shale gas investors are “bracing” for write-downs by major drillers, particularly in the Marcellus/Utica region. The article chronicles the write-downs we already know about (EQT, CNX, Shell and Chevron) and speculates that others (like Antero and Cabot) may make announcements in the coming days. And then, in a bit of a twist, the article ends with information about BKV (Banpu Kalnin Ventures), to say (a) Banpu’s American shale assets have already been written down before they purchased them, and (b) Banpu will not do any new drilling until the price of gas recovers to at least $3.50/Mcf. They may wait a looooong time.
Read More “The Big Write-Down for M-U Drillers; Banpu Stops New Drilling”
Three cheers for Pennsylvania State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler). Hip hip hooray! Metcalfe is the Majority Chair of the House Environmental Committee. He’s not a big believer in the hoax/myth of man-made global warming, and he’s not afraid to say so. Because Metcalfe won’t bow down to the climate change worshipers and their twisted agenda, a cabal of “green” groups has colluded to demand House Speaker Mike Turzai fire Metcalfe from the Environmental Committee. When pigs fly my climate changer friends!
Read More “You Know You’re Effective When Radical Antis Try to Get You Fired”
Powerhouse consulting firm Deloitte released its “2020 Oil and Gas M&A Outlook” report yesterday (full copy below). In something of a surprise (for us), the experts at Deloitte found that the number of mergers and acquisitions in the oil and gas space went DOWN in 2019, although the value of the deals was up (due to big deals like Occidental’s $55 billion buyout of Anadarko). What’s ahead in 2020? More of the same, according to Deloitte. Wait–aren’t drillers dropping like flies, not able to turn a profit so they’re selling and merging? No, not really.
Read More “Deloitte Oil & Gas M&A – Looking Back at 2019, Forward to 2020”
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Longtime Pennsylvania state Sen. Andy Dinniman is retiring; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Why Shell drilled a “horseshoe” well in the Permian Basin; Holmdel residents sign petition opposing NJNG regulator station; NATIONAL: Look how low oil prices have fallen: 6 impacted industries; Tallgrass Energy announces new commercial officer, establishing Houston office; About 13% of U.S. electricity generating capacity can switch between natural gas and oil; NARUC publishes handbook on state natural gas distribution infrastructure replacement programs; People out there turnin’ natgas into gold – NGLs, gas processing and the frac spread; Money & power: new FOIA’d documents offer ugly candor about ‘green energy’; U.S. Department of Energy issues four LNG export approvals; Pew Research 2019 survey: ‘climate change’ still ranks as low priority – 17th place out of 18; INTERNATIONAL: Russia is ‘fearful’ of US competition in the European gas market, official says.
Read More “Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Wed, Feb 12, 2020”
New Fortress Energy, which funds and builds LNG (liquefied natural gas) infrastructure to “help accelerate the world’s transition to clean energy,” yesterday announced it has signed a 10-year supply agreement for the purchase of 27.5 million MMBtu per annum of LNG (approximately 8 cargoes a year) to an unnamed buyer at a price indexed to Henry Hub–through January 2030. The announcement does not contain details about who the buyer may be, or what the actual price is they will receive–but we have some speculation about all that.
Read More “New Fortress Energy Signs Long-Term LNG Export Agreement”
Nearly two weeks ago CNX Resources issued its fourth quarter and full-year 2019 update (see CNX Reports $271M Loss in 4Q19; Cutting Back on 2020 Drilling). Yesterday CNX issued a followup, further outlining details about their 2019 drilling program (41 Marcellus and 10 Utica wells), along with an update on the company’s proved reserves. CNX reports total proved reserves of 8.43 Tcfe (trillion cubic feet equivalent) as of December 31, 2019, a 7% increase over Dec. 2018.
Read More “CNX Proved Reserves Up 7%, More Color on 2019 Drilling Numbers”
Gasmageddon, as this current low natural gas price climate is being called, is getting worse. Based on the latest weather models (the natgas market has some of the best long-range weather forecasting in the world), gas prices have crashed and are burning (pun intended). Yesterday the NYMEX futures price closed at $1.77–in the dead of winter! Spot prices for gas bought and sold in the northeast lead the loss in value. A Raymond James survey of energy executives found most execs believe we will exit 2020 with the price of gas in the $1.50-$2.00 range, and that gas will not go above an average of $2.50 this year. Although we now use 50% more natgas than just 10 years ago, prices remain stubbornly low. Why?
Read More “Warm Weather Forecasts Cause NatGas Prices to Crash and Burn”
American Energy Partners, Inc. (AEPT), based in Allentown, PA, has just added a fifth subsidiary/division to the company. AEPT agreed to acquire 100% of the membership units of Oilfield Basics, LLC in exchange for 1,000,000 shares of American Energy’s common shares. Oilfield Basics is an educational company, providing courses and training in the oil and gas space. It’s an interesting addition to a portfolio of companies that includes drilling, remediation, water, and valuation services.
Read More “American Energy Partners Adds O&G Education Co. to Portfolio”
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s Santa Claus routine is wearing thin. As he has done year after year with his annual proposed budgets, Wolf once again is calling for a massive tax increase of $4.5 billion, assessed solely on the Marcellus Shale industry, in order to fund a panoply of projects (see Wolf Lies About 2020 Proposed Budget – Includes $4.5B Tax Increase). The PA House and Senate (both chambers controlled by Republican majorities) are standing firm against Wolf’s desire to tax the Marcellus out of existence. They recognize his tax would kill the goose laying economic golden eggs in the state.
Read More “PA Gov Wolf’s $4.5B Severance Tax Debacle Dead as a Doornail”
Yesterday MDN brought you news about Democrat trade union members in Pennsylvania turning on one of their own–Gov. Tom Wolf (see Unions Push PA Legislators to Override Wolf Veto of Petchem Bill). Wolf has pledged to veto a bill recently passed by large bipartisan majorities in both the PA House and Senate that would attract new petrochemical investment (and jobs) to the state. In a followup to yesterday’s story, the union members have turned up the heat on Wolf (to boiling hot), including a mobile billboard running up and down the streets of Harrisburg.
Read More “Dem Union Members Call Wolf Petchem Veto “Attack on Jobs””