MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Ohio’s oil and gas industry offers a wide variety of career opportunities; Exelon to close Pennsylvania Three Mile Island nuclear plant in September; Michael Bloomberg is paying a climate prosecutor $125,000 to work ‘pro bono’ for Maryland’s AG; NATIONAL: U.S. energy consumption, production, and exports reach record highs in 2018; The shale revolution isn’t just about cheap energy, it’s changing geopolitics; Once-key data about natural gas loses clout; Clean Energy inks slew of natural gas contracts nationwide; Trump’s misguided U-turn on the Jones Act; INTERNATIONAL: Natural gas vehicles likely to account for 50 pc of total new sales by 2030.

MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION

Ohio’s oil and gas industry offers a wide variety of career opportunities
Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program/PR Newswire
As we celebrate “In-Demand Jobs Week” in Ohio, the Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program (OOGEEP) wants Ohio students and job-seekers to know that there are more than 75 different rewarding and high-demand careers available in Ohio’s natural gas and oil industry. In-demand jobs are defined as jobs that have a sustainable wage and a promising future based on the projected number of openings and growth. “In 2011, our industry employed around 14,000 Ohioans, and today that number has dramatically increased to nearly 200,000, thanks to the ongoing development of the Marcellus and Utica Shale formations,” Rhonda Reda, OOGEEP Executive Director said. “As a result, workforce development remains a priority for our industry.” OOGEEP recently released a new Career Guide and an online Career Video Series that highlights the in-demand careers in Ohio’s natural gas and oil industry including diesel mechanics, welders, lease operators, land surveyors, CDL truck drivers, derrickhands, geologists, petroleum engineers and many more. As the demand for employees in the industry increases, so does the need for this energy sector to continue to foster relationships between Ohio’s education community and our local natural gas and oil industry. Today, OOGEEP is working with more than 90 Ohio colleges, universities, and career and technical schools that offer training programs in more than 75 different career paths. In addition, OOGEEP will be announcing another 65 scholarship winners to students pursuing careers in the natural gas and oil industry. To learn more about the new “Oil and Gas Careers In Ohio” guides and video series, as well as a list of educational and training programs, visit http://www.oogeep.org/industry-workforce/careers/. [MDN: OOGEEP is a great program and Rhonda Reda is a superb executive director. We’ve met Rhonda at industry events a number of times. She’s top notch! And we think the best jobs to be had are in the oil and gas industry. Let Rhonda help you find one!]

Exelon to close Pennsylvania Three Mile Island nuclear plant in September
Reuters
U.S. energy company Exelon Corp said Wednesday it will shut the last reactor at the Three Mile Island power plant, site of the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history, on Sept. 30 due to legislative inaction on a nuclear subsidy bill in Pennsylvania. “With only three legislative session days remaining in May and no action taken to advance House Bill 11 or Senate Bill 510, it is clear a state policy solution will not be enacted before June 1,” Exelon said in a release, referring to the proposed nuclear subsidy bills. Exelon said it had to make a decision by June 1 to purchase fuel for the plant for its next operating cycle. The company announced in May 2017 that it would shut the 45-year-old reactor in 2019 without policy reform to support the plant. Analysts at Height Capital Markets said in a report that the shutdown, which will come 40 years after the 1979 meltdown of another reactor at the plant, will increase pressure on Pennsylvania legislators to pass a nuclear subsidy bill in the autumn to protect the state’s remaining eight reactors from early closures. [MDN: We’re sad to see folks loose their jobs, but happy that PA ratepayers will not have to prop up this uneconomic nuke plant that has received big bucks in the way of subsidies throughout its considerable lifetime. It’s time for it to close.]

Michael Bloomberg is paying a climate prosecutor $125,000 to work ‘pro bono’ for Maryland’s AG
Washington (DC) Daily Caller
A climate prosecutor employed by Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh on a “pro bono” basis is taking a $125,000 salary from a group backed by billionaire Michael Bloomberg, according to the nonprofit law firm Government Accountability & Oversight (GAO). The State Energy and Environmental Impact Center is a New York University (NYU) School of Law program that places professional lawyers with years of experience into the offices of blue state attorneys general. The center is funded by Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City and a climate change activist. Bloomberg’s NYU charity project completely covers the salary of its fellows and, in return, the attorneys work out of the AG offices to push climate litigation that Bloomberg is interested in. Frosh applied Maryland for the center’s fellowship program and set the salary of the “Pro Bono [sic] Special Counsel” prosecutor hired through the State Energy and Environmental Impact Center. Frosh classifying the attorney as pro bono is “problematic” and may put the AG’s office in legal trouble of its own, according to GAO. Under Maryland law, “‘pro bono,’ of course, means that not only does the client not need to pay, but also the attorney represents the client without compensation,” Maryland’s state court of appeals said in the 2015 ruling in State vs. Westray, pointed out by GAO. Frosh’s office did not respond to a request for comment. [MDN: This is grossly corrupt and MUST STOP. NOW. There are a myriad of conflicts of interest in having “free” help work in the very powerful AG’s office, people with a bias against certain citizens and companies who work for the fossil fuel industry. This is unjust, unfair, and again, corrupt.]

NATIONAL

U.S. energy consumption, production, and exports reach record highs in 2018
U.S. Energy Information Administration – Today in Energy
The United States produced a record amount of energy from various sources in 2018, reaching 96 quadrillion British thermal units (quads), an 8% increase from 2017. This increase in production outpaced the 4% increase in U.S. energy consumption, which also reached a record high of 101 quads. At the same time, U.S. energy exports increased 18% to a record high of 21 quads in 2018, reducing net energy imports into the United States to a 54-year low of 4 quads, or less than 4% of U.S. energy consumption. In 2018, crude oil and natural gas accounted for 57% of all U.S. energy production, with crude oil production seeing an increase of 17% and natural gas an increase of 12% from 2017. Natural gas plant liquids production also increased by 14%. Energy production from renewable energy increased 4% from 2017, mostly because of growth in solar (22%), wind (8%), and biomass energy (2%). Nuclear electric power production remained virtually unchanged in 2018. Coal was the only energy production source to decrease in 2018, falling 2% from 2017 levels. Total U.S. consumption of energy also increased from 2017 levels but at a slower pace than production. Compared with other fuels, petroleum had the largest gap between growth in production and growth in consumption in 2018. The 17% increase in crude oil production outpaced a modest 2% increase in total domestic petroleum consumption, resulting in a 73% increase in exports of crude oil and a 6% increase in exports of petroleum products in 2018 compared with 2017. [MDN: Some great graphs with this post, click to view them. What this means–the U.S. producing and using more energy–is that our standard of living is improving. This is fantastic news! And much of the credit goes to shale. Thank God for the miracle of fracking and shale!]

The shale revolution isn’t just about cheap energy, it’s changing geopolitics
Washington (DC) Examiner
The new buzzword in the energy industry is “geopolitics.” The role of America’s oil and natural gas companies has never been more consequential in shaping the global political order. If history is a good signpost, the change being driven by our nation’s energy industry will have a significant worldwide impact on technologies and policies that will last for decades. As a free-market economist, count me among those who are buoyed by America’s emergence as the dominant oil and gas producer in the world. This is a welcome development in two ways. First, the case for expanding natural gas production in the global effort to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions is quite promising. Second, and more importantly, the export of petroleum products and especially liquefied natural gas is helping Europe break Russia’s grip on its energy supply and recognize the reality that there are some things private markets do better than governments. New drilling techniques have allowed U.S. oil production to soar over the past decade to new record highs, enabling our country to become the swing producer in the global energy market, undercutting the ability of OPEC to influence global oil prices. At the same time, the U.S. is now a major supplier of natural gas to countries like China and India that want to curb air pollution from coal for power generation. That’s just the beginning. The dramatic growth in exports of natural gas by pipeline to Mexico is one of the most promising developments in strengthening Mexico’s economy and checking emigration to the United States. This has been made possible by the shale revolution, which has unlocked massive new supplies of natural gas, and the construction of new pipelines to carry natural gas from the prolific Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico. Geopolitically, the most important regional market for U.S. oil and gas is Europe. [MDN: Excellent column written by Mark Perry, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and a professor of economics and finance at the University of Michigan’s Flint campus. Click to read the full column.]

Once-key data about natural gas loses clout
Wall Street Journal
A gauge of U.S. natural-gas availability that used to be on every trader’s desk is falling victim to surging domestic production. Weekly gas-storage data, whose release for years routinely spurred sharp increases and plunges in one of the most volatile markets in the world, has receded from prominence this year as the gas price has declined and swings have moderated. Volatility has slipped this year even though data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration show that natural-gas stockpiles are about 18% below the five-year seasonal average—a reading that once would have been a recipe for sharp moves. Gas prices traditionally have been more prone to spikes when the amount of natural gas in storage falls and traders fear extreme weather demand could lead to shortages. “These fears now seem to feature less on the market’s radar,” writes Kieran Clancy, assistant commodities economist at Capital Economics, in a recent report. U.S. producers churned out record amounts of natural gas last year, which has helped alleviate concerns of inventories running too low. The EIA expects production to continue climbing in 2019 to average 91 billion cubic feet a day. On Tuesday, natural-gas futures closed 0.5% higher at $2.537 per million British thermal units. “Undoubtedly, the seemingly unrelenting uptrend in U.S. dry natural gas production is coloring perceptions regarding U.S. storage levels and thus prices,” said Rich Redash, head of global gas planning at S&P Global Platts Analytics. [MDN: Not to toot our own horn, but we made the observation last year that low storage numbers no longer result in higher prices for natgas. In fact, production itself now replaces some storage in the minds of traders. Nice that the WSJ finally caught up!]

Clean Energy inks slew of natural gas contracts nationwide
NGT News
Clean Energy Fuels Corp. has announced a number of new agreements across the country, including with trucking firms to lease or purchase more than 250 heavy-duty trucks fueled by Redeem renewable natural gas (RNG). Clean Energy explains that its Zero Now program makes the cost of leasing or purchasing a new natural gas heavy-duty truck equal to the price or even lower than that of the same truck equipped with a diesel engine. In addition, truck fleets financed or purchased through Zero Now will be able to purchase Redeem fuel with a fixed discount to diesel. “We are seeing a positive response to this program as fleets are discovering the advantages of Zero Now when seeking a clean, affordable renewable fuel option that combats air pollution and climate change,” comments Andrew J. Littlefair, president and CEO of Clean Energy. Among the first fleets taking delivery is bulk carrier Kenan Advantage Group, which has added 24 new near-zero trucks to its fleet through Zero Now. Kenan Advantage Group will be deploying its natural gas tractors in the company’s Merchant Gas Group, which transports industrial gases. The company will be using RNG where available for this deployment. “Clean Energy’s Zero Now is a win-win. It has provided us with an opportunity to bring the cost of a natural gas truck at parity with a diesel truck while offering a guaranteed fuel discount for five years,” says Bruce Blaise, president and CEO of Kenan Advantage Group. In addition, TTSI is taking delivery of 40 RNG trucks; Freight Line Express is awaiting delivery of 12 trucks; Supra National Express has eight on tap; and Romans Trucking is adding six. Freshlink and Tradelink Transport have also taken advantage of the program by leasing new heavy-duty natural gas trucks. [MDN: We like seeing more CNG fueling stations come online, and more fleets converting to CNG (and LNG), here in the U.S. We’re not enamored with so-called renewable natural gas (RNG), which we consider a marketing gimmick. RNG is methane obtained from pig and cow poop (agriculture), and sometimes landfills. The gas we’re getting from the ground is just as “renewable”–it won’t run out for centuries, and there’s evidence that mom earth is actually creating new methane all the time.]

Trump’s misguided U-turn on the Jones Act
Bloomberg
President Trump has reportedly just rejected a waiver of the Jones Act — the law that requires the use of vessels built in the U.S. and owned and crewed by Americans to move cargo between U.S. ports — for shipments of liquefied natural gas. That’s bad news, and not just for U.S. producers of LNG. Recently the White House was said to be leaning in favor of the waiver. This would have speeded the delivery of cheaper and cleaner energy from the U.S. mainland to Puerto Rico, whose decrepit power grid relies on old plants burning oil and coal. It would also have helped consumers in the Northeast tap into the U.S. natural-gas boom by providing a safe alternative to overloaded pipelines, and reduced their use of imported gas from suppliers such as Russia. Best of all, it could have helped to sink the Jones Act altogether. Ships that comply with this law cost more to build and operate than foreign-flagged counterparts, raising the cost of almost all goods transported between U.S. ports. Those higher costs make it more attractive to buy oil, lumber, rock salt, wheat and other bulk goods from foreign suppliers. They keep more trucks on the road, clogging highways and spewing carbon. For good measure, the law also makes it harder to find specialized vessels for building wind turbines. The Jones Act was meant to maintain a healthy merchant marine. But since 1960, the number of U.S.-flagged ships has plunged anyway. Hundreds of U.S. shipyards have been shuttered. Meanwhile the tonnage of cargo carried by coastal shipping — far more carbon-efficient than trucks or rail — has declined. The act is no longer working, if it ever did. The shipping lobby defends it tenaciously and would like to extend it, requiring a mandated portion of U.S. energy exports to be carried on Jones Act ships. (Building Jones Act-qualified natural gas carriers could cost two or three times more than buying them from South Korea.) Energy producers are a formidable lobby, too — but in this case, apparently, not powerful enough. They should keep bending the president’s ear. If Trump changes his mind (again), it would help Americans benefit from cleaner energy, and could put a hole below the Jones Act’s waterline. That would be win-win. [MDN: Hmmm, the above was written by the editorial board of Bloomberg. Any time we agree with Bloomberg we have to reconsider our position. Bloomberg is a leftist “news” agency, always promoting left-wing causes in their coverage. We do, however, remain in favor of waivers to the Jones Act for LNG shipments. Don’t tank the full Act, just grant us LNG waivers President Trump!]

INTERNATIONAL

Natural gas vehicles likely to account for 50 pc of total new sales by 2030
New Delhi (India) Business Standard
Natural gas vehicles (NGVs) are likely to account for 50 per cent of sales of new three- and four-wheelers in India by 2030, on the back of rapidly developing infrastructure and cost reduction due to domestic manufacturing, according to a report. Nomura Research Institute Ltd (NRI Consulting & Solutions) in its report on ‘Transforming Mobility Through Natural Gas’ also said the implementation of BS-VI emission norms from April 1, 2020, will increase price differential between CNG and diesel vehicles, making CNG vehicles more attractive. According to the report, a strong network of 15,000 CNG and 1,500 LNG stations by 2030 would have the potential to transform the Indian mobility scenario, with an expected 33 million natural gas vehicles as compared to 3.3 million in 2019. It said CNG infrastructure has grown rapidly in India. As many as seven states that benefited after the 10th round of CGD (city gas distribution) make up 55 per cent of the total vehicle sales in the country as of 2017-18. “After the 9th and 10th round, CGD infrastructure will cover 52 per cent area and 72 per cent population and will make natural gas accessible across the country,” the report said. Commenting on the potential of NGVs in India, NRI Consulting & Solutions India Partner and Group Head Ashim Sharma said these vehicles can play a big role in transforming mobility in India. “As an automobile fuel, natural gas is a proven technology in terms of providing better air quality, sustainability and eco-friendliness,” he added. A favourable policy is required for promotion of NGVs through development of CNG infrastructure to increase customer acceptance and provide cost-competitiveness, Sharma said. The report said demand push resulting from countrywide infrastructure will incentivise original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to launch dedicated NGV platforms leading to better economies of scale and efficient products. Localisation of NGV components such as LNG cryogenic cylinders and certain CNG powertrain components will reduce acquisition cost for customer boosting their total cost of ownership, it added. [MDN: India has the right idea! When we saw the headline for this story, we thought maybe it was a joke. Then we discovered its for India and those small vehicles that are so prevalent in India’s cities. It makes perfect sense to use natgas, much friendlier for the environment. We wish natgas vehicles would catch on more here in the U.S.]