U.S. Big Oil is Head Over Heels in Love with LNG Trading
For years, Big Oil companies based in other countries have been in love with LNG trading, including BP (UK), Shell (UK), Total (France), and Eni (Italy). In fact, in February 2016, Shell completed a $69.7 billion buyout and merger with BG, the largest such oil and gas deal since Exxon bought Mobil in 1999, because of LNG (see LNG Love Story: Shell Makes Play to Buy BG in $69.7B Megamerger). BG Group was one of the biggest sellers and shippers of LNG in the world, making Shell THE biggest LNG trader in the world today, post-merger. More recently, American producers like EQT have begun preparing to enter the LNG trading world with multiple LNG deals (see EQT Signs Third Deal to *Buy* LNG – This One Commonwealth LNG). Read More “U.S. Big Oil is Head Over Heels in Love with LNG Trading”
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: OOGA’s annual community charity event raises $25,000 for Utica Shale Academy; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: NYK increases CO2 credits purchase from Occidental; U.S. Northeast is relying less on electricity imports from Canada; Conroe’s natural gas pipeline lawsuit delivers national consequences; NATIONAL: U.S. natural gas futures extend losses; Exxon says demand makes case for fossil fuel growth; Comments on DOE climate science study; The US LNG industry risks becoming victim of its own success; Natural gas is America’s secret weapon in the AI power race; INTERNATIONAL: Oil drops as Trump, Xi meeting curbs tariff expectations; Turkey plans energy deals with USA; Nearly all “climate action” in Australia has reduced emissions by piddly 3.9% in 20 years; JP Morgan analysts look at global oil demand growth; Thousands of German residents take to the streets demand stop to natgas projects. 
For the week of September 8 – 14, the number of permits issued to drill new wells in the Marcellus/Utica increased from the previous week. There were 26 new permits issued across the three M-U states last week, more than doubling the 11 issued two weeks ago. For the second week in a row, Pennsylvania’s permit take was pathetic. PA issued just two new permits last week, after issuing three two weeks ago. Expand Energy received one permit in Bradford County, and Coterra Energy received the other permit in Susquehanna County (both counties in northeastern PA). 
In April, MDN told you of a proposal by Fundamental Data for the “Ridgeline Facility,” a large natural gas power plant and data center that will be built between Davis and Thomas, WV (see 
The New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) met yesterday and voted to approve National Grid’s natural gas plan, which includes using more natural gas from the Williams Transco pipeline. While the PSC vote did not explicitly approve of the expansion of Transco, known as the Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) project, the National Grid plan calls for increasing gas supply from Transco via NESE; therefore, the PSC implicitly approved the NESE project. It was an important signal from the Gov. Hochul administration that this project is going forward with the State of NY’s blessing. Antis are PO’d (personally offended) with Gov. Hochul. 
MDN has highlighted Capstone Turbine Corporation, a California company that manufactures small electric-generating plants that run on natural gas, several times in the past (
In April 2023, MDN told you about the Adams Fork Energy project, a multi-billion-dollar clean ammonia production facility planned for Mingo County, WV (see 
Recently, two neighboring towns in Greene County, PA, declared a Disaster Emergency related to a “frac-out” at the EQT Lumber well that happened three years ago, in July 2022 (see 
The New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) is meeting today and will vote on whether to approve National Grid’s natural gas plan, which includes using more natural gas from the Williams Transco pipeline. More gas would be delivered to National Grid via the proposed Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline project that will add a new 23-mile pipeline from the shore of New Jersey into (on the bottom of) the Raritan Bay, running parallel to the existing Transco pipeline before connecting to the Transco pipeline offshore from Long Island. The odious National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) convened a Zoom call featuring dingbat actor Mark Ruffalo to trash-talk the project ahead of the vote. 
Evolution Well Services, headquartered in Houston with a regional office in Pittsburgh, specializes in electric fracking (“e-fracking”) — using natural gas from the well pad instead of diesel fuel to power turbines that create electricity to drive fracking pumps. It’s a much quieter, less-polluting version of fracking. EQT Corporation, the country’s second-largest natural gas producer, uses Evolution Well Services for much (all?) of its drilling. Evolution and EQT issued an announcement yesterday about a series of record-breaking achievements they’ve made in the Marcellus/Utica. 
Under orders from the Biden White House in 2022, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Richard “Dick” Glick tried to permanently enshrine global warming considerations as a requirement to approve all new pipeline projects (see