NY AG Gives Up on Trying to Shake Down Exxon After Court Decision
As we reported in December, New York Attorney General Tish James and her highly-paid associates were thoroughly, completely, 100% humiliated in court when their case against Exxon Mobil accusing the company of screwing shareholders by keeping secret knowledge they are toasting Mom Earth, is itself toast (see Judge Finds Exxon Not Guilty in Fraud Case – NY AG Humiliated). Exxon is being sued by other states, including Massachusetts, for the same thing. Those cases are also close to collapse. The good news is that Tish has had enough humiliation–she won’t appeal the Exxon case to a higher court. That is, NY has lost, Exxon has won. There is still justice in the wacky world of New York State–who knew?
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NATIONAL: E&Ps continuing to pull back as U.S. rig count plunges further; Energy sector predictions for 2020; Mild winter sends U.S. natural gas prices tumbling; INTERNATIONAL: BC authorities investigating deadly traps discovered along Coastal GasLink route; Russian gas pipeline to Europe faces delay due to U.S. sanctions.
In 2019 Pennsylvania raised a record high of $247 million from its version of a severance tax, called an impact fee, based on drilling activity from 2018 (see 
Corning Natural Gas (based in Corning, NY) has a 50% joint venture partnership in Leatherstocking Gas Company and Leatherstocking Pipeline Company with another Upstate NY-based company, Mirabito. Leatherstocking runs gas mains to residents and businesses in small, mainly rural communities–like Montrose, PA (see 
Three weeks ago MDN told readers the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) predicts a slight reduction in Marcellus/Utica production will happen this month–that M-U will produce an estimated 74 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) less in January than we did in December (see 
The researchers at the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) have done a deep dive into natural gas prices from 2019 and found the average spot price at the Henry Hub last year was $2.57 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf), down about 60 cents from 2018’s average price. Ouch. The researchers tease out the factors that influenced prices last year, pushing it higher (in some cases) and lower (in others). It is useful analysis, giving us a window into what may happen this year.
In September 2016, MDN reported that EmberClear has plans to fund and build a new $900 million electric generating plant in Harrison County, OH (see 
The West Virginia legislature kicked off its 2020 60-day session yesterday with a bang–at least for the shale energy industry. House Speaker Roger Hanshaw introduced House Bill 4001, aimed at reassuring China it’s OK to begin investing some of that $84 billion they promised to invest in WV’s shale and downstream sector. The bill also would help fund the Appalachian NGL Storage and Trading Hub project and other big petrochemical projects (maybe even a cracker plant!).
We spotted a newly published study (published just yesterday) in Scientific Reports, an online open access scientific mega journal published by Nature, that looks at a new and better way to evaluate shale oil and gas reserves–the amount of stuff in the ground. What’s special about this report, written by researchers at the University of Utah, is that it specifically used the Marcellus Shale as its test subject.
Ever hear of something called the oil-to-gas price ratio? It’s a simple concept. You take the price at which oil is trading per barrel, and compare it to the price of natural gas trading per MMBtu (million BTUs). What can that ratio tell us about the natural gas market in general, and the Marcellus/Utica gas market in particular?
It’s not only Russia and the Ukraine attempting to interfere in U.S. elections and our system of government. It’s also a British billionaire, by the name of Chris Hohn. A blockbuster investigative report reveals millions flowing from Hohn to push American cities and counties to sue American energy companies by using the false claim they cause “climate change.” It is an outrage and it must stop.