MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Gas pipeline would ‘rip up the clam beds’ in N.J. for New Yorkers’ sake, foes say; PUCO approves plan to bring natural gas to Belpre; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Chevron, Exxon take turns wooing investors with shale boasts; Dominion offering early retirements after merger with S.C. utility; NATIONAL: Republicans defeat Green New Deal in U.S. Senate vote; Potential for risk and reward for U.S. LNG exporters; What it takes for an LNG export project to reach FID; Gassing up.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION
Gas pipeline would ‘rip up the clam beds’ in N.J. for New Yorkers’ sake, foes say
NJ.com
Richard Isaksen has been clamming and crabbing in Raritan Bay and fishing lower New York Bay for 50 of his 63 years. It’s a hard life, but it’s the only one he knows, and all he wants for himself and his fellow fishermen is to be able to keep plying those waters. “We ain’t asking for nothing,” said Isaksen, of Middletown, who’s the skipper of the 65-foot fishing boat Isaetta and president of the Belford Seafood Coop in Monmouth County. “We just want to make a living.” But that could much tougher, Isaksen said, if state regulators join federal counterparts in approving the so-called Rarian Loop, a 23-mile underwater natural gas pipeline that would run along the sea floor across Raritan Bay and Lower New York Bay to Brooklyn. “They’re going to interrupt everything in the bay,” said Isaaksen, whose Monmouth County fishing cooperative belongs to a coalition of environmentalists, fishermen and elected officials opposed to the project. “They’re going to rip up the clam beds. They’re going to destroy the crab beds where the crabs bed down. And then it goes out to Brooklyn, south of the Rockaways, right? That’s where we do our fluke fishing.” The Williams Companies, Inc., a Tulsa, Oklahoma-based company, has already been granted permits by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the Raritan loop, part of Williams’ Northeast Supply Enhancement project, a $1 billion expansion of the 10,000-mile Transco Pipeline network stretching from Texas to New York. [MDN: A laughable and totally biased “article” (i.e. propaganda) that tries to say disturbing a few clams is worth more than cutting off half of New York City from getting natural gas. The choice is a NO BRAINER. Clams for dinner! The so-called reporter doesn’t help antis’ argument against the Northeast Supply Enhancement Project with this (humorous) article.]
PUCO approves plan to bring natural gas to Belpre
Parkersburg (WV) News and Sentinel
Hopeful news has been received regarding a plan to address a bottleneck in supplying natural gas service to the Belpre area, according to Mayor Mike Lorentz. At Monday’s meeting of Belpre City Council, Lorentz said he received word from Ohio Rep. Jay Edwards, R-94th District, on Friday that the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio has approved a plan that will improve and expand the natural gas infrastructure between Belpre and Marietta. Edwards attended the Feb. 25 council meeting to announce plans by PUCO to consider the proposed project by Dominion Gas. The project will result in an upgrade to the infrastructure serving the Belpre community. Additional residential and commercial development has been slowed for the last few years because the current natural gas infrastructure serving Belpre is at capacity, officials said. The city has experienced problems getting approval for new home and commercial construction and development because of the lack of available natural gas service. At the February meeting, Edwards said Dominion Gas is expected to invest $8 million-$10 million in new piping and possibly a pumping station to improve the amount and pressure of natural gas which can be provided to the Belpre area. Lorentz said he contacted Dominion on Monday and no details were available regarding the project, its dimensions or timeline but he hopes to hear more about it in the coming weeks. [MDN: Always a good thing when communities in gas-producing states like WV and OH and PA improve and expand natural gas service to its own residents. After all, the stuff is extracted here–why not use some of it here too?!]
OTHER U.S. REGIONS
Chevron, Exxon take turns wooing investors with shale boasts
Reuters
The two biggest U.S. oil companies tried to outdo each other on Tuesday, boasting about their prowess in shale to lure investors to their side. Chevron Corp and Exxon Mobil Corp released dueling Permian Basin projections that, if realized, would cement the rivals as the dominant players in the West Texas and New Mexico field, with one-third of Permian production potentially under their control within five years. Chevron expects shale production from the basin to reach 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) by the end of next year, 59 percent above current production, and 900,000 bpd by the end of 2023, it said at its annual meeting with equity analysts in New York. The stakes are such that Exxon on Tuesday forecast shale production of 1 million barrels per day in the Permian as early as 2024, grabbing the spotlight on the day Chevron was making a case in its oil growth. “Our investors don’t need to wait several years for the story to come together,” Chevron Chief Executive Mike Wirth said in an apparent dig at Exxon, which has been investing heavily in the Permian to reverse production declines. “We’re delivering now.” The Permian Basin pumps around 4 million barrels per day now and IHS Markit expects it to hit 5.4 mbd in 2023, more than the total production of any OPEC country other than Saudi Arabia. Wirth said at a press conference that he had been “busy” and had not seen Exxon’s Permian goal, which was released while he was speaking to analysts. He said, however, that Chevron’s production could exceed 900,000 barrels daily if the company decided to increase drilling rigs from the 20 currently in operation. “It’s a decision we haven’t taken yet but we certainly have it under active consideration,” Wirth said. “It’s a good story that could get even better.” [MDN: Chevron and Exxon are trying to “out-Permian” each other. And to think a few years ago shale was some play thing that reckless wildcatters do, not an activity the “supermajors” would stoop to engage in. And now look at them–can’t get enough of onshore shale. Of course we say that tongue-in-cheek. Both Exxon (via XTO Energy) and Chevron have had a long-time presence in shale gas in the Marcellus/Utica. The “new” aspect of their budding love affair with shale is oil.]
Dominion offering early retirements after merger with S.C. utility
Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch
Dominion Energy is offering early retirement to a third of its 21,000 employees in the wake of its January merger with a South Carolina utility. Employees who are at least 55 years old who have been with the company for at least three years are eligible for the voluntary early retirement, Dominion President and CEO Thomas F. Farrell II said in an email to employees Thursday. The company would not divulge how many employees it expects to accept the offer or how much money it hopes to save. Richmond-based Dominion completed its takeover of SCANA Corp., the parent company of South Carolina Electric & Gas Co., in January. The merger creates areas where Dominion now has duplicate positions. SCANA Chief Executive Jimmy Addison left the company as part of the merger. Farrell said Dominion last offered early retirements a decade ago, but that a merger “creates opportunities for new efficiency and cost savings.” Farrell said no other similar programs are expected in the foreseeable future. Employees at Cove Point, a natural gas shipping terminal in Maryland, aren’t eligible for the retirements, Farrell said in his note to employees. After the merger with SCANA, Dominion said it delivers energy to about 6.5 million regulated customer accounts and has an electric generating portfolio of about 33,000 megawatts and 93,600 miles of electric transmission and distribution lines. [MDN: So Dominion wants the old farts, over 55, gone. If a sufficient number don’t accept Dominion’s gracious “offer”–the next step is to show them to the door anyway. Ageism is disgusting–and a reality.]
NATIONAL
Republicans defeat Green New Deal in U.S. Senate vote
Reuters
U.S. Senate Republicans on Tuesday defeated the “Green New Deal” resolution that called for tackling climate change by moving the United States off fossil fuels, while Democrats said the vote was a political stunt on an issue that will not die. The vote was 57 against the resolution in the 100-member chamber, with 43 Democrats voting “present,” avoiding an up-or-down vote. Republicans won over Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema and one independent senator, Angus King, who usually votes with that party. The Green New Deal, introduced last month by Democrats, marked an initial attempt to define legislation to create government-led investments in clean energy like wind and solar power, infrastructure and social programs. Democrats have said the plan, which is backed by most of the party’s presidential candidates, was designed to spur debate during the 2020 campaign on the intricate problem of how to tackle climate change while boosting the economy, not to force the party to take sides in a quick vote. But Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell forced a vote before the plan had the chance for a national debate or hearings in Congress. In a move that likely previews their wider strategy ahead of next year’s presidential election, Republicans used the plan to try to sow discord among Democrats, painting their rivals as shifting to socialism and embracing extreme policies. McConnell wrote on Twitter that Americans would see which senators are against the deal and which “are so fully committed to radical left-wing ideology that they can’t even vote ‘no’ on self-inflicted economic ruin that would take a sledgehammer to America’s middle class.” [MDN: We’re no fans of Mictch McConnell, but this vote was a master stroke. Who introduced the Green New Deal resolution? Democrats. And then they didn’t want an actual vote on the resolution THEY introduced! It’s not even a binding piece of legislation. It’s a resolution! And yet they ran away screaming. You don’t get it both ways. You intro the legislation, you’re either for it or against it. Every darned Democrat that voted “present” is FOR IT–and they need to be voted out of office at the very next election. They have voted in favor of destroying America. Yes, it’s that black and white. The Dems don’t like it when Republicans stand up and bloody their noses, politically, as they did with this vote. Finally we’re getting some backbone in the Republican Party. We hope it continues.]
Potential for risk and reward for U.S. LNG exporters
Forbes/Michael Lynch
As someone with (very minor) natural gas reserve holdings in West Virginia, I’m envious of those in the Southwest who have an apparently unlimited market in the LNG export business. Numerous countries around the world, and especially China and India, would benefit from increased consumption of natural gas, especially if it were to displace current coal usage. They, and many smaller countries, also still rely on diesel fuel in backup generators as their power grids do not provide reliable electricity supplies. Now, the superabundant shale gas resource has allowed U.S. LNG exports to soar, rising from 40 Bcf to 1 Tcf in just 10 years, with plans for a further doubling of capacity by 2021. What happened in the early 2000s should serve as a cautionary tale, though. High U.S. gas prices led to plants for enormous investments in LNG import terminals, most never begun and most of the remainder now converted to export terminals. The shale revolution caught most of the industry by surprise; the massive 2003 NPC report on U.S. natural gas foresaw prices in 2015 as ranging between $4.75 to $9/Mcf. The actual was $2.75. Since shale gas has become so abundant, and U.S. prices so much below world natural gas prices, numerous export projects have been built or proposed. The most aggressive export plans originated several years ago, when elevated oil prices and the nuclear power shut down in Japan sent LNG prices to double digits—reaching over $16/Mcf in Japan from 2012-2014. These were, of course, transient developments which should not have spurred long-term investment, as I warned in 2013. [MDN: Lynch points out the potential perils in any kind of long-term investments when it comes to commodities like natgas and LNG. Interesting article.]
What it takes for an LNG export project to reach FID
RBN Energy
The second wave of North American LNG export projects is officially underway. LNG Canada took final investment decision (FID) last October and would be the first large-scale LNG export facility in Canada. Golden Pass and Calcasieu Pass followed in February, marking the beginning of the next round of LNG export build on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Sabine Pass Train 6 is expected to get the green light any day, and at least eight more projects are targeting FID this year. But how likely are these projects to go ahead? And what exactly does it take for a project to reach that financial milestone? Today, we begin a two-part blog series on the factors affecting U.S. and Canadian LNG export projects’ prospects for taking FID and our view on the projects making progress towards joining the second wave of LNG exports. [MDN: Want to know the crazy complex factors that go into deciding whether or not to roll the dice and spend billions on a new LNG export plant? Read this post to gain valuable insight.]
Gassing up
Conservative Article Annals
My first real political memory is feeling a little bit sorry for Jimmy Carter but also perplexed at what seemed to be the proximate cause of all the contempt — and outright hatred — directed at him: gasoline lines and rationing. “How is it that we have an oil crisis?” I wondered. “This is Texas. This is where oil comes from. We drive past oil wells all the time. We have oil wells on the golf course.” Confusing stuff for a little kid. That was a long time ago. I’m still confused. Dozens of communities in the woefully misgoverned states of New York and Massachusetts are facing what amounts to a moratorium on the construction of modern new homes. Why? Because the utility providers there will not approve new gas connections, for a good reason — they can’t get the gas they need. The United States is, at the moment, pumping out natural gas faster than you can make related Taco Bell jokes. The United States is by far the world’s largest natural-gas producer, head and shoulders above No. 2, Russia. The growth in U.S. gas production — not the total output, just the growth alone — since the turn of the century is, as energy journalist Robert Bryce runs the numbers, equal to about twice the annual output of Iran, the world’s No. 3 gas producer. Hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling have been around for a long time, but it’s only recently that we’ve become really, really good at it, as a result of which long-neglected deposits of oil and gas written off as too expensive to economically extract have come on line in a big way. This has transformed local economies in places such as Midland, Texas, and the Marcellus shale country, but it also has transformed the U.S. economy in ways that are not widely appreciated. While the amateur schemers in Washington dream of a “Green New Deal,” the people who actually know what they’re doing have achieved a reduction of nearly a third in carbon-dioxide emissions related to electricity production — and not at great cost and inconvenience but while reducing expenses as cheap, abundant, and relatively clean (there isn’t any such thing as “clean energy,” only relatively clean energy) natural gas displaces coal. That wasn’t the result of the fiat of some central-planning committee with godlike powers over the economy; it was the result of innovation, competition, and market choices. That hard work was done while Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was still trying to figure out how to change the margarita mix at Flats Fix. [MDN: This is a terrific opinion piece that points out the rank hypocrisy of the left. They say they’re into science, yet they deny the fact that CO2 emissions have gone down over the last 20 years–thanks for fracking and the use of natural gas (i.e. fossil fuels). The author skewers pretenders like Al Gore and AOC. It’s the kind of article we wish we’d written! If you like MDN, you’ll love this article. Click to read the full thing.]
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