Latest facts and a rumor from the Marcellus, Utica, and Permian, Eagle Ford Plays
Anti’s Outspending Big Oil. Analysis: Anti-fossil fuel groups outspend industry groups more than 2-1. Cowboy State Daily. Oil, gas and coal companies have been accused of used their financial might to spread disinformation about climate change and oppose efforts to transition to a grid run off of wind and solar power. If having money to advance an agenda is suspicious, a closer look at both sides of the aisle – environmental and fossil fuels – is warranted. In 2019, the latest year for which data is available for all organizations in this analysis, the American Petroleum Institute, American Gas Association, Western Energy Alliance, Independent Petroleum Association of America, Western States Petroleum Association and the American Coal Council brought in $318 million. The Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), Environmental Defense Fund, Earthjustice and Greenpeace Inc. brought in $717 million the same year.
World Desperately Needs More O&G Investment. The world desperately needs more oil and gas investment. Oil Price. Despite high oil prices sending energy company profits soaring over the last year, little of those profits have been reinvested in the oil and gas business. As oil and gas companies acknowledge the inevitability of an energy transition in the future, many are pumping funds into their clean energy business and returning money to shareholders. However, energy experts are concerned that underinvestment in oil and gas could threaten the world’s energy security at a time when the demand for fossil fuels is high and climbing.
NatGas Important Until 2050. Federal forecast finds natural gas still important to economy even as renewables make gains through 2050. Pittsburgh Business Times. The federal government’s newest forecast of the energy economy released Thursday afternoon still sees a substantial role for the natural gas industry through 2025, although not at the sharp growth rates that have been seen in the Marcellus Shale and elsewhere over the past decade or so. The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s widely watched American Energy Outlook 2023 finds a sharp reduction in greenhouse gas emissions between now and 2050, investment and deployment of much more renewable sources including batteries, and less intensity in the demand for energy as electric arc furnaces take further hold in steelmaking, buildings become more energy efficient and fuel efficiency improves for vehicles. Renewables will rise to more than 50% of all electrical power generation by 2050 from 15% today as the country works to meet net-zero emissions goals.
Shale Boom Is Over. Pioneer CEO: The shale boom is over. Oil & Gas 360. Earlier this month, the Energy Information Administration forecasted that oil production in the United States would grow by 590,000 bpd to a total of 12.44 million bpd. It also said, however, that next year, production growth will only amount to 190,000 bpd—a significant weakening from this year’s forecast. Perhaps the EIA has heard multiplying warnings from the shale oil industry that producers are not prioritizing growth. Perhaps it has heard about their well productivity problems. Perhaps even the EIA has realized the shale revolution is about to end. According to some, it has already ended: “The aggressive growth era of US shale is over,” Scott Sheffield, the chief executive of Pioneer Natural Resources, the top shale independent in the country, told the FT in January. “The shale model definitely is no longer a swing producer.”
Chesapeake to Send LNG to Singapore. U.S. gas producer Chesapeake makes LNG handshake with Gunvor. UPI. U.S.-based shale natural gas producer Chesapeake Energy said Monday it signed a long-term agreement to deliver liquid gas to a company in Singapore. Chesapeake signed a heads-of-agreement deal with the Singapore branch of multinational commodity trading company Gunvor. The U.S. company said it would supply Gunvor with the gas equivalent of 100 billion cubic feet of liquefied natural gas annually for a period of 15 years. A start date is set at 2027 and both sides in the interim will look for “the most optimal” U.S. facility to turn gas into the liquid form for exports. “This agreement reflects the powerful combination of the premium rock, returns, and runway of our competitively positioned Haynesville natural gas assets combined with the strength of our balance sheet and financial position to securely supply global LNG markets,” Nick Dell’Osso, the president and CEO at Chesapeake, said.
OPEC IS BACK IN CONTROL!!! OPEC is back in control of the oil market. Oil Price. OPEC is once again the most influential force in global oil supply – and will be so for the foreseeable future – now that U.S. shale production growth is slowing, American industry executives say. The days of exponential growth in U.S. oil supply from before the pandemic are over, as capital discipline, returns to shareholders, supply-chain bottlenecks, cost inflation, and lower well production combine to hold back production increases. During the 2010s, the shale industry boomed as companies drilled all they could – often beyond their means – to boost production.
TX May Move Away from Renewables. Texas lawmakers propose bills moving away from renewable energy in attempt to shore up power grid. Fox 4. Some Texas senators unveiled plans Thursday to shift the focus away from wind and solar and toward resources like natural gas. It was part of nine bills Texas lawmakers announced aimed at shoring up the state’s power grid. Authors and supporters of the legislation said it’s geared at getting more power in the state that can quickly turn on and off, on demand. But some have concerns about the shift in strategy could up costs for consumers. “This is a starting point of powering Texas forward,” State Sen. Charles Schwertner said.
Texans Stress Importance of O&G. Texans stress oil, gas industry importance to state at major gathering. Rigzone. Texans working in the oil and gas industry have gathered at the Texas Energy Day @ the Capitol to highlight the importance of the industry to the state. The gathering in Austin enabled participants to directly communicate with legislators and state lawmakers. Texas Oil and Gas Association (TXOGA) noted in its statement that in fiscal year 2022, the Texas oil and natural gas industry paid more than $24.7 billion in state and local taxes and state royalties – amounting to $67 million a day to state and local coffers. Further, Texas leads the nation in oil and natural gas production, pipeline miles, and refining capacity, and 443,000 Texans have a direct job in the Texas oil and natural gas industry, TXOGA’s statement reads.
El Paso, TX Could Restrictive O&G Policy. Texas youth organizers take aim at the biggest oil field in the U.S. Guardian. A first-of-its-kind municipal climate charter in Texas could throw a wrench in US fossil fuel extraction. Residents of a major Texas city just west of the Permian Basin, the largest oil field in the US, will have the chance to vote on the package this spring. If the proposal passes, the city of El Paso would adopt a comprehensive climate policy that would include prohibiting the use of city water for extraction projects outside city limits, such as in the Permian Basin, which makes up roughly 40% of all US oil production. “El Paso is on the verge of potentially passing one of the most progressive pieces of climate legislation in the country,” said Deirdre Shelly, campaigns director for the national Sunrise Movement.
Chevron To Expand in the Permian. US Chevron to expand Permian oil output amid labor shortages. Hellenic Shipping News. Chevron remains on track to expand crude oil production in the Permian basin to 1m bbl/day from 700,000 bbl/day even amid a persistent shortage in labor and equipment, the CEO of the US-based energy producer said on Monday. For comparison, Chevron produced 100,000 bbl/day of oil in the Permian a decade ago, said Mike Wirth, CEO. He made his comments during the energy conference CERAWeek by S&P Global. The carbon footprint of oil produced in the Permian is about 13kg of carbon dioxide (CO2) per bbl of oil equivalent, he said. That is less than half the average of Chevron’s portfolio, Wirth said.
Atlas Energy Raises $324 million. Atlas Energy raises $324 million in year’s second-biggest US IPO. Financial Post. Atlas Energy Solutions Inc. raised $324 million in an initial public offering, pricing its shares below a marketed range for what was still the second-biggest US listing of 2023. The oilfield services company sold 18 million shares Wednesday for $18 each, according to a statement. It had earlier marketed them for $20 to $23. Austin-based Atlas operates primarily in the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico, providing proppant, sand used in fracking to keep the underground fractures from closing. The predecessor of the company had net income of $217 million on revenue of $483 million last year, compared with net income of $4.3 million on revenue of $172 million a year earlier, according to its filings.
Oil Prices – 15-month Low. Oil prices fall to 15-month low as bank failures spook investors. Forbes. Oil prices fell nearly 6% Wednesday in their biggest one-day drop in more than eight months, as Wall Street continues to stumble, following the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank and as Credit Suisse’s stocks plunge to a record low. West Texas Intermediate, a U.S. benchmark for crude oil, fell nearly 6% to $67.48 per barrel—its lowest since December 2021 and the biggest one-day drop since July 12. International benchmark Brent Crude also dropped to its lowest point since December 2021, falling nearly 5% to a low of $71.46 per barrel. The drop comes amid fears about the banking system following the failure of two U.S. regional banks last week and as bigger banks experience a decline in market value, including Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse, whose shares were halted Wednesday morning. Edward Moya, a senior market analyst with The Americas OANDA, said the oil market will be “stuck in a surplus for most of the first half of the year,” as “contagion” risks stemming from the turmoil in the banking system linger.
Shale Oil Production to Rise in April. What Does It Do to Pricing? U.S. shale production set to rise to highest since Dec 2019 in April-EIA. Reuters. U.S. shale crude oil production in the seven biggest shale basins is expected to rise in April to its highest since December 2019, the Energy Information Administration said on Monday. Shale December 2022 – to 9.21 million bpd, the EIA data showed. Crude output in the Permian basin in Texas and New Mexico, the biggest U.S. shale oil basin, is expected to rise to 5.62 million bpd. Though that would be a record high, oil output from the region is expected to gain by 26,000 bpd from the previous month, also the smallest increase since last December, the data showed.
WV Boosts O&G Funding. WV Senate approves bill that would boost Office of Oil and Gas funding with new cap on severance tax-derived support. WV Gazette Mail. The West Virginia Senate has approved a bill that would boost revenue for the state’s understaffed, underfunded gas and oil industry inspection unit, but the bill didn’t get through the chamber without a key limit on funding support. The Senate on Friday passed House Bill 3110, three days after the Senate Finance Committee set a $1.2 million cap on how much funding could be allocated annually from a severance tax-derived funding source for the state Department of Environmental Protection’s Office of Oil and Gas to regulate the gas and oil industry. The Senate approved HB 3110 in a 32-0 vote, requesting the House to concur with changes made in the former chamber.
High NatGas Prices Coming Without More Pipelines. Without more natural gas pipelines, return to high prices could incent consumers to ration energy use. NGI. Absent a surge in natural gas pipelines and related infrastructure, companies may struggle to get ample supplies to utilities, leaving consumers grappling with either lofty prices or the difficult decision to substantially scale back their energy consumption. Such was the warning from executives and regulators alike during CERAWeek by S&P Global. But they also emphasized at the event in Houston last week that rapidly evolving technology, coupled with price incentives, could simplify matters. Incentives crafted by regulators and implemented by utilities could empower consumers to adjust the daily rhythms of their lives to avoid activities that require energy during peak demand periods. In turn, they would be rewarded with lower bills and help conserve natural gas for when it is needed most at the height of summer or depth of winter.
NatGas Set Nine Monthly Consumption Records in 2022. IT WASN’T EVEN COLD. EIA: U.S. natural gas consumption set nine monthly records and an annual record in 2022. Green Car Congress. In 2022, US natural gas consumption averaged a record 88.5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d)—the highest annual natural gas consumption, according to records beginning in 1949, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). US natural gas consumption last year increased 5% (4.5 Bcf/d) from 2021, the second-fastest year-over-year growth since 2013. Natural gas consumption in the United States set monthly records in 9 of 12 months in 2022. Natural gas consumption peaks twice a year in the United States, driven by the residential and commercial sectors during the winter and electric power sector during the summer. In winter, the most natural gas is consumed in January or February when demand for space heating peaks. In summer, the most natural gas is consumed typically in July or August to meet air-conditioning demand.
NatGas Scrutiny Due Winter Power Grid Problems. Winter power grid troubles put scrutiny on natural gas reliability. Politico. Natural gas’ growing dominance of the U.S. power supply is facing a potentially serious stumbling block: a string of failures in keeping the lights on during the harshest winter storms. Blackouts caused by major cold blasts during the past two winters have demonstrated the deadly consequences of gas-fired power plants failing without warning — a risk that federal regulators have warned about for nearly 10 years. Many on the electricity generation side have proposed keeping more fuel onsite for gas-fired power plants as a contingency against future supply constraints. But independent analysts and consumer advocates balk at the additional costs that would incur for customers, and argue FERC needs to step in instead and create a market-wide solution. Others have called for more flexibility on the gas side — matching up schedules, for instance, or providing power plants with options for more flexible, less costly contracts. But this would be less lucrative for the gas industry, and as a result could also lead to effectively subsidizing gas suppliers to make up for lost revenue. Experts agree the issue of weather-driven natural gas shortages is increasingly urgent.
Crazy NatGas Bills. Why gas bills are going crazy—with no end in sight. WSJ. Opinion. Homeowners and businesses across the country have seen their gas bills go wild—and the turbulence isn’t going to calm down anytime soon. Last year was the most volatile on record for natural gas, boosting the cost to heat homes, generate electricity and manufacture economic building blocks such as fertilizer and steel. Prices in 2022 whipsawed from unseasonable lows to shale-era highs and back again. Benchmark gas futures, which determine what millions of Americans pay for heat and electricity, swung by at least 7% on 44 days last year, the most since at least the early 1990s, when gas markets were deregulated and the modern trading era began. The wild ride has continued this year, with 12 daily moves of 7% or greater. On many days, traders find it difficult to determine why prices move so sharply.
Exxon $2 Billion Refinery Expansion. ExxonMobil boosts fuel supply with $2 billion Beaumont refinery expansion. Exxon Mobil. ExxonMobil today announced the successful startup of its Beaumont refinery expansion project, which adds 250,000 barrels per day of capacity to one of the largest refining and petrochemical complexes along the U.S. Gulf Coast. Supported by the company’s growing crude production in the Permian Basin, the largest refinery expansion in more than a decade will help meet growing demand for affordable, reliable energy. “ExxonMobil maintained its commitment to the Beaumont expansion even through the lows of the pandemic, knowing consumer demand would return and new capacity would be critical in the post-pandemic economic recovery,” said Karen McKee, president of ExxonMobil Product Solutions. “The new crude unit enables us to produce even more transportation fuels at a time when demand is surging. This expansion is the equivalent of a medium-sized refinery and is a key part of our plans to provide society with reliable, affordable energy products.” The refinery is connected to pipelines from ExxonMobil’s operations in the U.S. Permian Basin, providing the company with significant strategic advantages.
NatGas Ban in New Buildings in NY. N.Y. lawmakers near first gas ban for new buildings. E&E News. New York’s Legislature could soon become the first in the country to ban natural gas in new buildings, as regulators across the Northeast consider what climate goals mean for the future of fossil fuels. For the first time, Democratic leaders in both of New York’s legislative chambers have backed a potential ban, which would apply to gas and other fossil fuels in most new structures. The Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul, also supports the idea. It is not yet clear that a ban will become law. Different versions of the policy were included in budget proposals released by the state Assembly and Senate on Tuesday, setting up what could become a protracted negotiation among Democrats. The Assembly’s leaders, in particular, have been wary of the idea, rejecting it during past legislative sessions. But environmentalists and their legislative allies were heartened by the Legislature’s budgets, describing them as a strong signal that the policy would become law. Prohibitions would extend from gas boilers and water heaters to stoves in new buildings.
PA Permits February 27, to March 16, 2023
County Township E&P Companies
1. Bradford Columbia Repsol
2. Bradford Columbia Repsol
3. Bradford Columbia Repsol
4. Bradford Columbia Repsol
5. Bradford Columbia Repsol
6. Bradford Columbia Repsol
7. Bradford Herrick SWN
8. Bradford Herrick SWN
9. Bradford Herrick SWN
10. Bradford Wilmot Chesapeake
11. Bradford Wilmot Chesapeake
12. Bradford Wilmot Chesapeake
13. Bradford Wilmot Chesapeake
14. Bradford Wilmot Chesapeake
15. Clarion Licking Laurel Mtn.
16. Clarion Licking Laurel Mtn.
17. Lycoming Plunkett’s Creek EQT
18. Lycoming Plunkett’s Creek EQT
19. Lycoming Plunkett’s Creek EQT
20. Lycoming Plunkett’s Creek EQT
21. Lycoming Plunkett’s Creek EQT
22. Lycoming Plunkett’s Creek EQT
23. Lycoming Plunkett’s Creek EQT
24. Lycoming Plunkett’s Creek EQT
25. Lycoming Plunkett’s Creek EQT
26. Susquehanna Forest Lake Coterra
27. Susquehanna Forest Lake Coterra
28. Susquehanna Great Bend SWN
OH Permits February 28 to March 11, 2023
County Township E&P Companies
1. Carroll Brown EOG
2. Carroll Rose EOG
3. Carroll Rose EOG
4. Carroll Rose EOG
5. Carroll Rose EOG
6. Columbiana Fairfield Hilcorp
7. Columbiana Fairfield Hilcorp
8. Columbiana Fairfield Hilcorp
9. Columbiana Fairfield Hilcorp
10. Columbiana Fairfield Hilcorp
11. Columbiana Fairfield Hilcorp
12. Columbiana Fairfield Hilcorp
13. Columbiana Fairfield Hilcorp
14. Harrison Cadiz Ascent
WV Permits February 27, to March 10, 2023
1. Doddridge Antero
2. Lewis HG services
3. Marshall SWN
4. Marshall SWN
5. Marshall SWN
6. Marshall SWN
7. Marshall SWN
8. Marshall SWN
9. Marshall Tug Hill
10. Ritchie Mountaineer WS
11. Wetzel Antero
12. Wetzel Antero
13. Wetzel Antero
14. Wetzel Antero
15. Wetzel Antero
