MDN’s Energy Stories of Interest: Tue, Nov 25, 2025 [FREE ACCESS]
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: California Gov Newsom is oblivious that electricity came about after oil; New monster gas wells are outperforming legacy Haynesville deposits; NATIONAL: U.S. natural gas futures price settles lower; LNG shipping rates surge to two-year high as U.S. exports soar; INTERNATIONAL: Oil closes the day up as equities rally; European gas prices fall on strong imports, milder weather forecast; China’s LNG imports set to drop for 13th month. Read More “MDN’s Energy Stories of Interest: Tue, Nov 25, 2025 [FREE ACCESS]”
One of the significant stories of 2024 in the Ohio Utica was about Austin Master Services (AMS), a radiological waste management solutions company in Martins Ferry, Ohio, that processes and transports fracking waste for disposal. AMS ran into trouble when it ran out of money. The Martins Ferry facility in Belmont County, where waste is temporarily stored, had vastly exceeded its permitted limit of 600 tons (storing over 10,000 tons), resulting in a permit violation. The Ohio Attorney General’s office filed a lawsuit against the company in March 2024 to compel compliance and require cleanup of the facility. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) stepped in to handle the cleanup. As of May 2025, cleaning and testing were completed (see 
Two pipeline kingpins are engaged in a deathmatch with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to get their competing pipeline projects approved. One is Williams’ Transco Southeast Supply Enhancement Project (SESE), the other is EQT’s MVP Southgate project. Both projects would be built in the same general area, starting at the same point near Chatham, Virginia, and ending near Eden, North Carolina. Both claim they have customers ready to take their gas. In a July FERC filing, Williams said that its project could easily handle Southgate MVP’s capacity by adding meter tubes and regulation at an existing station (see 
Lordstown is a small village in southern Trumbull County, Ohio (population 3,332). The village has one operational gas-fired power plant, the Lordstown Energy Center, generating 940 megawatts (MW) of electricity. A second gas-fired power plant, the Trumbull Energy Center, is under construction and due to come online in 2026. It will generate 950 MW of electricity. Developers are proposing to build a $3.6 billion, 1.65 million square-foot data center campus in Lordstown on the site of the former GM complex (south of OpenAI’s Stargate AI data center campus). The developers filed a petition with the Ohio Supreme Court against Lordstown, claiming the village is blocking consideration of their proposal in violation of zoning procedures. 
We first told you about a frac sand company called Smart Sand some 13 years ago (see 
Freeport LNG has become something of a punchline for the frequent outages at the facility. Except, it’s no laughing matter. Outages at Freeport have happened so frequently that we’ve lost count. Last Thursday, one of the three LNG trains at the facility was offline again, affecting gas flows to (and from) the facility. According to a Reuters report, the gas restarted flowing to the affected train on Friday. Freeport refused to comment on this latest outage. 
Last week, the Baker Hughes U.S. national rig count gained rigs for the third week in a row. The national count increased by five rigs, rising from 549 to 554. The BH rig count has added rigs in five of the last six weeks. Rigs in the Marcellus/Utica gained a rig! Pennsylvania gained one Marcellus rig, bringing its total to 18. Ohio was the same at 13 rigs. And West Virginia maintained its 7 rigs, which it has operated since May 30 (26 weeks in a row). There were 24 rigs targeting the Marcellus and 14 targeting the Utica, for a combined 38 rigs in the M-U. 
Back into the 30s! The number of new permits issued in the Marcellus/Utica last week was 31, after being 24 the week before. Over the past five weeks (including last week), the number of new permits issued has been 37, 39, 37, 24, and 31, respectively. Not bad at all. Pennsylvania issued 14 new permits last week, down from 16 the prior week. Ohio issued 5 new permits, down from 6 the prior week. West Virginia, which issued no new permits two weeks ago, soared, issuing 12 permits last week. 
Overwatch Capital and Japanese company Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. have formed a strategic partnership to develop high-density, energy-resilient AI data centers across ten U.S. states. This collaboration involves Idemitsu investing in Overwatch and supplying up to 1 gigawatt of natural gas for on-site power generation to support next-generation AI computers. The initiative leverages Overwatch’s SIDE Platform, which integrates generation, battery storage, and advanced cooling, alongside Idemitsu’s global energy expertise. Initial projects are set to begin in 2026 in Dallas-Fort Worth and Columbus, Ohio, to provide reliable infrastructure for hyperscalers and cloud providers. 
Planette, a long-range weather prediction platform that combines cutting-edge AI with decades of Earth system science, says it can predict long-range weather more accurately than others. Planette’s Winter 2025-26 forecast anticipates a highly volatile season driven by a North Pacific dual ocean temperature “blob” and a weakened polar vortex, deeming the current La Niña too weak to be significant. The outlook predicts above-average temperatures interrupted by multiple, predictable, and “significant” cold snaps, with the AI-driven platform offering 30- to 40-day lead times to warn people of their approach. If you’ve been paying attention to MDN’s posts this week, you know how significant weather is in determining the price of natural gas. 
I see ghosts! Or is that dead people? The U.S. electricity grid faces pressure from surging demand, primarily from data centers, sparking debates over reliability and cost allocation. EPSA (Electric Power Supply Association) CEO Todd Snitchler warns that “ghost projects”—projects announced and planned/funded but never built—are artificially inflating load forecasts. He argues that regulated utilities use these overstated numbers to justify expensive rate-based generation, benefiting shareholders while forcing customers to bear the costs of potential overbuilding. Competitive energy markets are demanding accurate, data-driven planning to maintain affordability and reliability without wasting capital on unnecessary infrastructure. Please, no more ghosts. 
Reorg! The Department of Energy (DOE) unveiled a major reorganization under the Trump administration to prioritize fossil fuels, minerals, and nuclear power while diminishing renewable energy programs. Secretary Chris Wright’s plan rebrands the loan program as “Energy Dominance Financing” and consolidates efficiency and clean energy divisions into a new “Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation.” This restructuring, aimed at restoring “common sense” to energy policy, accompanies billions in project cancellations and staff reductions. 
Bloomberg writes that shale energy’s next revolution should worry the thug dictators of OPEC. American shale drillers currently extract 10% to 15% of the oil locked in the shale layer, leaving the rest underground. However, engineers are actively trying to change this through new techniques and technologies. What if we could double the amount of oil and gas extracted? It would, once again, change the oil and gas industry worldwide. Double the production for the same investment? It’s a no-brainer.