shale gas news
Bill desRosiers
External Affairs Coordinator, Coterra Energy
Host, Shale Gas News

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The Shale Gas News, heard every Saturday at 10 AM on 94.3 FM, 1510 AM, 1600 AM, 104.1 FM and Sundays on YesFM, talked about natural gas prices, salt caverns, Chief Oil & Gas and much more last week.

The Shale Gas News has grown again to the Williamsport area on stations WEJS 1600 AM & 104.1 FM. The Shale Gas News is now broadcasting in Bradford, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lebanon, Luzerne, Lycoming, Pike, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga and Wayne Counties, as well as in greater central PA and now the Williamsport area. The Shale Gas News is aired on Saturday or Sunday depending on the station.

Every Saturday Rusty Fender, Matt Henderson and I host a morning radio show to discuss all things shale gas. This week, as a guest, we had Tom Shepstone owner of Shepstone Management Company, Inc. and Natural Gas NOW.

This week we also played an interview with Chuck Volpe of the Volpe Report speaks with Gene Barr a- President and CEO of the PA Chamber of Business and Industry about RGGI the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and Pennsylvania potential role in it and the impact RGGI would have on the state.

The Shale Gas News, typically, is broadcast live. On the October 30th show (click above), we covered the following new natural gas territory (see news excerpts below):

• EQT CEO Says M-U Could Alleviate Europe’s Gas Situation, Except… – EQT CEO Toby Rice laid the blame for the developing world energy crisis, particularly Europe’s lack of access to natural gas, at the feet of radical environmentalists. If not for the radicals and their constant frivolous lawsuits blocking pipelines and LNG export facilities, such infrastructure would already have been built and would be providing abundant, cheap, clean-burning Marcellus/Utica natural gas to other regions of the U.S. and to Europe.
• NGSA Predicts Gas Drillers Will Ramp Up Production to Meet Demand. The Natural Gas Supply Association (NGSA) released its Annual Winter Outlook yesterday. In comments made during a presentation to the press, NGSA Chairman David Attwood said he expects U.S. shale producers to come off the sidelines in response to the highest natural gas prices in nearly a decade. That’s good news. “I firmly believe the market works,” Attwood said in response to a question made by the press during the presentation. “There is no doubt the market is giving strong signals for production to increase. That supply is there and will come and meet the demand,” added Attwood.
• OH Issues Permits to Build Salt Caverns for Mountaineer NGL/H2 Storage. On August 30, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) issued permits to Powhatan Salt Company/Mountaineer NGL Storage for three planned solution mining wells in Monroe County. The three salt caverns will store NGLs (natural gas liquids, mainly ethane) to potentially be used by ethane crackers including the Shell cracker near Pittsburgh and potentially a second ethane cracker proposed by PTT Global Chemical in Belmont County. The salt caverns can also be used to store hydrogen (H2).
• With NatGas Prices This High, Why Aren’t Producers Drilling More? In recent weeks we’ve been asked the same question by MDN subscribers several times: “With the price of natural gas through the roof, why aren’t Marcellus/Utica drillers drilling more?” In a word, it’s because of hedging. Most drillers have hedged, or pre-sold under contract, most of the output they plan to produce for the balance of this year–at prices MUCH lower than those we’re seeing right now. There is no incentive to drill more. “Fine, but couldn’t they just drill more and sell the new output that’s not hedged at the higher spot prices we see now?” They could, except to drill more means they need more capital (money) to do the drilling, violating their announced budgets (their “guidance”) and violating the expectations of touchy investors and stockholders. Public companies are boxed in. Their hands are tied.
• Big News: Marcellus Driller Chief Oil & Gas Shopping Itself for $3B. Once again the crack reporters at the Reuters news service have landed a huge scoop: Chief Oil & Gas, which owns 600,000 acres of leases in northeastern Pennsylvania and produces 1 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas per day, has hired an investment bank to shop the company for sale. Asking price: $3 billion.

The Shale Gas News sponsored by Linde Corporation