Latest facts and a rumor from the Marcellus, Utica, and Permian, Eagle Ford Plays
Polls – Interesting Attitudes toward Fossil Fuels and EV’s Poll shows public skepticism for EVs, fossil fuel phaseout. E&E News. More than two-thirds of Americans oppose phasing out fossil fuels entirely, and almost half say they would be “upset” if gasoline-powered cars were eliminated, according to a new poll from the Pew Research Center. Overall, the poll released Wednesday found broad support for alternative energy sources such as wind and solar and policies to address greenhouse gas emissions, but also documented challenges for technologies such as electric vehicles. For example, the poll found that although 68 percent of Americans oppose phasing out fossil fuels entirely, a nearly identical 67 percent support the United States’ prioritizing renewables over expanding fossil fuel generation. Alec Tyson, associate director of the Pew Research Center, said the findings highlight the growing complexities of how Americans feel about the energy transition. Even so, a majority — 51 percent — of Democrats said they opposed phasing out fossil fuels entirely. Majorities of Republicans also supported wind and solar development when it did not conflict with fossil fuels, Pew said.
House Speaker McCarthy Visits Encino’s Site in Columbiana County, OH. McCarthy touts American oil, gas in Columbiana county visit. Intelligencer. Energy independence was the focus of a visit Thursday by U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to tour an Encino Energy facility in Columbiana County. “The core of good economics for America is to become energy independent,” McCarthy, R-Calif., said as he stood on the oil producing site, clad in a hard hat. McCarthy said America still buys some 50,000 barrels of what he described as unclean crude from Russia daily. “We have the ability to produce those resources … We should sell it to our allies and to our adversaries,” he said. “How much more secure would we be if China was dependent on American natural gas?”
NatGas Plays Important Role in Meeting National Climate Goals. Natural gas continues to lead the way. Washington Examiner. Jeffrey Kupfer, a former acting deputy secretary of energy in the George W. Bush administration and current president of ConservAmerica, writes: With the beginning of summer and the deluge of other news, it’s been easy to miss the constant drumbeat of reports and events that highlight the critically important role that natural gas plays in our country’s economic and national security. The use of natural gas has also helped the U.S. meet its national climate goals. According to a recent analysis by the Clean Air Task Force and Ceres, the reported methane and greenhouse gas emissions in the oil and gas sector have declined 28% and 30%, respectively, between 2019 and 2021, despite an increase in natural gas and total hydrocarbon production.
FERC Gives Final Complete Approval for MVP. FERC approves all construction on Mountain Valley. E&E News. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has authorized the resumption of construction activities for the Mountain Valley pipeline, clearing the way for the natural gas project to move toward completion weeks after Congress ordered federal agencies to approve it. In a unanimous order issued Wednesday, the commission said that all work on the 303-mile pipeline could proceed. That includes portions of the project that will run through the Jefferson National Forest and cross hundreds of waterways and wetlands in West Virginia and Virginia. The commission also authorized FERC’s Office of Energy Projects to approve any future modifications to the Mountain Valley project as proposed by its sponsors — as long as the director of the office finds them “to be needed to complete construction.”
PA DEP Speeds Up Permitting. Inside Pennsylvania DEP’s efforts to cut red tape on environmental permitting. Pittsburgh Business Times. Reform efforts come as Rich Negrin has been confirmed as DEP secretary after shedding acting title. “Why train them on systems that are broken,” Negrin said. Wednesday and Thursday, a working group is being put into place within the DEP to speed up permitting that will have the members stop their everyday responsibilities to focus exclusively on the goals of the group. There are two separate groups, one focused on Chapter 102 permitting for erosion and sediment control and another on Chapter 105, general permitting.
PA NatGas Bust in 2023. Pennsylvania’s natural gas boom year may go bust. Center Square. A boom year from natural gas impact fees in 2022 could be followed by a dramatic drop in payments, according to a recent analysis. The data suggests that, rather than setting a new floor and bringing in steady funding in the future, recent record-setting payments are a blip. The analysis, from the Independent Fiscal Office, is a sobering warning to counties and municipalities that get millions from the fee payments. “Impact fee revenues for (calendar year) 2023 are estimated to range from $180 million to $185 million, a reduction of $94 million to $99 million from the prior year, and the largest year-over-year decline since the fee’s inception,” the IFO report noted.
NatGas Permian Record. Feds: Natural gas production in Permian Basin region reaches new record. Center Square. Gross natural gas withdrawals from the Permian Basin in west Texas and southeastern New Mexico set an annual record high last year, reaching 21 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), according to a new report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Annual gross natural gas production in the Permian region has steadily increased over the past decade with growth last year increasing 14% above the 2021 average. “Natural gas developed by responsible Texas operators is clean, abundant and safe,” Ed Longanecker, president of the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association (TIPRO), told The Center Square. “Further investment in energy infrastructure and regulatory certainty via comprehensive permitting reform are essential to support of continued growth in domestic production and energy security for our country and allies abroad.”
Chevron Offers to Sell Properties in TX and NM. Chevron offers to sell oil and gas properties in New Mexico, Texas. Reuters. Chevron (CVX.N) is offering to sell several oil and gas properties in New Mexico and Texas, according to marketing documents seen by Reuters, as the U.S. oil major looks to cull acreage after major shale acquisitions. The second-largest U.S. oil and gas producer last month agreed to buy shale firm PDC Energy Inc (PDCE.O) in a stock-and-debt deal worth $7.6 billion. In 2020, it acquired Noble Energy in a move that boosted its U.S. shale and international gas holdings. Chevron has been divesting properties in the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico, where it is the largest publicly-traded oil and gas producer and the largest property owner with 2.2 million acres.
TRP Explores Permian Sale. Energy producer TRP explores $1.5 bln Permian asset sale -sources. Reuters. TRP Energy is exploring a possible sale of its oil and gas operations in the Permian basin that could fetch more than $1.5 billion, the latest company to do so at a time of high demand for acreage in the heart of U.S. shale country, people familiar with the matter said. TRP, in which Greenbelt Capital Partners owns a controlling stake, holds around 15,000 net acres in the Midland portion of the Permian and produces about 25,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, said the sources.
Globally 82%. (Thanks, MDN) Earlier this year, British oil giant BP announced it would no longer publish its vaunted annual Statistical Review of World Energy, a publication it has issued each year since 1952. BP handed off the publication of the Statistical Review to a Big Green advocacy group known as The Energy Institute (EI). Earlier this week, EI released the first-ever post-BP edition. However, on the EI web page announcing the new edition, it says, “With the continuing support of bp.” Meaning BP still (at a minimum) pays for the report. And wonder of wonders, this edition reveals that in 2022, fossil fuels provided 82% of all energy used on Planet Earth–the same percentage as in 2021. It looks like renewable energy nirvana hasn’t arrived just yet!
O&G Urged to Find Cheap Emissions Fix. Oil, gas companies urged to pursue relatively cheap fix on emissions. WSJ. Oil and gas companies would need to spend just a small fraction of their earnings on minimizing methane releases to have an outsize impact on curbing climate-altering greenhouse-gas emissions, but action has been lacking, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday. An investment of $75 billion from oil and gas companies—equivalent to 2% of the sector’s latest annual net income—between now and 2030 would cut the energy sector’s direct greenhouse-gas emissions by 15% by the same year, the Paris-based agency said in a report. That would lay the groundwork for the sector to be able to reach net zero emissions by 2050, the IEA said.
LNG Exports Demand Surging. LNG exports have sent U.S. natural gas demand surging this decade. Oil Price. Rising exports of LNG from the U.S. Gulf Coast drove a 43% surge in U.S. natural gas demand in the decade to 2022, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Tuesday. Demand for natural gas in America – including for domestic consumption and gross exports – jumped by 43%, or by 34.5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), between 2012 and 2022, as demand in Texas and Louisiana soared by 116%.
Saudis Tightening the Screws. Saudis are tightening the screws on US oil shipments. Bloomberg. Opinion. When Saudi Arabia needs to quickly convince the oil market that supply is tightening, putting upward pressure on prices, nothing beats reducing its crude exports into the US. Riyadh has promised to slash oil production next month by 10%, a unilateral cut that would reduce output to just 9 million barrels a day, the lowest since 2011 — save for brief disruptions from Covid and the Yemeni attack on its facilities. Crucially, as important as the cut itself, is where it’s going to be felt: The signals point to the US and Europe. Focusing on the US would telegraph the reduction clearly to traders. Fluctuations in American crude imports, and ultimately, oil stockpiles have an outsize impact because Washington publishes the data weekly. In other regions, traders only get official figures on a monthly basis, or sometimes not at all, as in China and India.
PA Permits June 19, to June 29 2023
County Township E&P Companies
1. Allegheny Elizabeth Olympus Energy
2. Allegheny Elizabeth Olympus Energy
3. Allegheny Elizabeth Olympus Energy
4. Allegheny Elizabeth Olympus Energy
5. Bradford Terry Chesapeake
6. Bradford Terry Chesapeake
OH Permits June 18, to June 24, 2023
County Township E&P Companies
1. No New Permits
WV Permits June 12, to June 16, 2023
1. Marshall SWN
2. Marshall SWN
3. Marshall SWN
