The price of natural gas is $2.31/MMBtu, which is decent compared to where it’s been the last couple of months. Drilling rigs are at 590, up from 586 last month. It’s not a steep increase, but it’s going the right direction. Gas storage levels are at 3,387 Bcf, up from last month, of course, but still trending closer to the five-year average.
Diversified Energy has acquired more oil and gas wells, these in East Texas.
A Federal court has invalidated five new pipeline standards created by the PHMSA.
People often ask me if a President can stop development of their minerals. They can’t in West Virginia, but they can limit pipelines by blocking permits to build them.
The ARCH 2 Hydrogen Hub now has a headquarters in Morgantown.
Senator Manchin’s permitting bill has cleared the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, but seems unlikely to get a vote this year.
One of Jay-Bee Energy’s well pads caught fire. Thankfully there were no injuries.
The EPA is on the hook for cleaning up a wastewater treatment facility in Fairmont, WV. The facility went bankrupt, so someone had to step in and do it. The EPA did not meet its own timetable or budget for doing so, and has given itself more time and money to do so.
A Range Resources above-ground water pipeline burst, doing a little bit of property damage. No people or animals were harmed. This is the first time I’ve heard of one of the above-ground pipes bursting. This one burst because they had sent a PIG (pipeline inspection gauge) down the pipe, either to clean or inspect it, and it got stuck.
Jay-Bee Energy got sued for improperly deducting post-production costs, and has decided to settle for $42 million. Anyone who has a producing lease with Jay-Bee should reach out to them.
West Virginia is giving $10 million to Babcock and Wilcox, which plans to build a $125 million “hydrogen related facility”.
When they tested the MVP earlier this year, one part of it burst. The study to determine why it burst has been completed by a third party, and they determined that the weakness was a defective weld.
Freeport LNG went back offline again, due to a fire suppression system triggering during routine maintenance. It should just be temporary.
Winter gas price predictions are coming! This is the first real one I’ve seen, and it quotes a Bank of America exec as saying that winter demand is not going to be enough to strengthen natural gas prices. As always, take predictions with many, many grains of salt. Natural gas usage depends heavily on weather, and nobody can predict the weather.
Chevron has successfully run a gas turbine on 60% hydrogen, 40% natural gas.
Oil prices falling mean that OPEC nations make less money, and it looks like Saudi Arabia is going to have an unbalanced budget.
Here’s some analysis of green hydrogen and the hurdles that it faces.
Here’s an interview with Toby Rice, the CEO of EQT. I’m not a fan of EQT and their effects on oil and gas law in West Virginia, but Mr. Rice is part of the new guard and doing an excellent job of pushing for more widespread use of natural gas throughout the world, and you can learn a thing or two from this interview.