Natural gas prices are at $2.54/MMBtu, with the low of the month hitting $2.49 and the high hitting $2.80. Those aren’t good prices, but they’re better than they were. Drilling rigs are down from 687 on June 16th to 675 on July 14. The decrease may be flattening, but it’s a little early to be sure. Gas storage is at 2,930 Bcf, up from last month but just a smidgen closer to the five year average. Hot weather is driving that number.

A company called Capstone Green Energy will be supplying turbines that generate electrical power to an unnamed Marcellus/Utica producer. These turbines will be installed on natural gas pipelines at wellpads which do not have easy access to electrical power from the grid. In other words, the pressure from the reservoir, pushing the natural gas out of the ground, will spin these turbines and produce electricity on site. This is unlikely to directly affect the royalties that mineral owners are paid unless the turbines significantly affect the amount of pressure of the gas. Then the producer may have to use additional energy to run compressors on site, which could be powered by natural gas from the well, and producers try not to pay royalties on gas that they use on site. This is yet another thing to keep an eye on.

CNX is selling some non-operated producing assets in the Marcellus/Utica basin for $125 million dollars. There are no other pertinent details available. These will be wells that CNX does not operate, but has some ownership in (kind of like they’re the silent partner). They may be in West Virginia, but are probably spread around the basin.

Here’s some analysis of oil production on the African continent.

The Mountain Valley Pipeline has secured its final federal permit. There’s also a lot of old pipe that’s been sitting around in the sun, rain, heat, and cold for years. The company doesn’t want to build a pipe that will fail, but we all know that people will cut corners to get something done. Let’s hope MVP does this right.

Hope Gas, a company that has been operating in West Virginia in some way or other, and under various names, since 1898 (not a typo), has moved its headquarters to Morgantown, WV, from Illinois.

Opponents of the MVP are complaining that Congress overstepped its authority when it passed a law making it so that the permits for the MVP had to be approved. What the opponents don’t mention is that it was Congress that created the laws that created the permits and the permitting process in the first place. This isn’t Congress getting around the law, this is Congress changing the law, which is exactly what Congress’ job is. You might disagree with the law, and that’s OK. But you can’t say that Congress has overstepped its authority.

Apparently there is hydrogen in the ground, exactly the same way there’s oil and natural gas. There are also people who are drilling and exploring for it, just not in large numbers. We don’t have infrastructure for it, so that makes sense. What’s wild is the amount of hydrogen there is, and that people think it’s regenerating itself, so it would never run out.

The MVP has received FERC approval. Construction should re-commence shortly.

Shale drillers have matured, according to this article. In other words, they used to be focused on how much product they could pull out of the ground, ignoring the future consequences. Now they are more focused on turning a profit, which gives them a more predictable future.

RBNEnergy analyzes the effect that no new pipelines (except MVP) in the Northeast region will have on gas production and gas prices in the area. The short analysis is that producers have started to choke back wells during the summer and open them wide during the winter.

Fitch Ratings stress tested a number of oil and gas companies and determined that they are financially more sound than they were pre-COVID. EQT, Antero, CNX, and SWN were included in the testing.

The other argument that opponents of the Mountain Valley Pipeline have is that Congress violated the separation of powers doctrine. It’s a little complex, and this article does an OK job of getting into it, so click through if you’d like to read more.

Here’s some analysis of why oil prices are still relatively low in spite of OPEC+ reducing production. Short story, U.S. shale.

The State of West Virginia ended 2023 with a $1.8 billion surplus, of which a large portion was a direct result of oil and gas development. If they’d take my advice, they’d sock most of that money into the rainy day fund (which they’ve already done with some of it) and use some of that money to increase teachers’ pay so we can keep good teachers here.

The 4th Circuit has issued a stay in building the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which has Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito up in arms. The MVP itself takes the position that the court should dismiss the case because it no longer has jurisdiction. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.

The federal government is handing money out to plug old oil and gas wells. This is a necessary and good thing. It’s really unfortunate that the federal government is doing this, as it really is the responsibility of the companies that drilled and made money off the wells, but if it doesn’t get done this way it simply won’t get done.

RBNEnergy discusses oil and gas exports.

This kind of thing doesn’t happen very often. Somebody working at a well pad in Ohio struck a wellhead and broke it. Gas leaked, people were evacuated and repairs are being made. A day later, and the well is under control, but hasn’t been fully repaired.

RBNEnergy has a pretty good article about the legal wranglings around the MVP.

A company called WATT Fuel Cells is providing fuel cell generators to 500 West Virginians. These are not hydrogen fuel cells, these are propane or LNG fuel cells, and if the information on the web site is correct, it looks like one could be hooked up to a typical home natural gas system. The nice thing about these fuel cells is that they emit far fewer noxious gasses (less exhaust to worry about) and seem to do it at higher efficiency levels than current internal combustion generators. I’ll be keeping an eye on this.

MVP has petitioned the Supreme Court to vacate the stays imposed by the 4th Circuit.