Shale Gas News – August 29, 2020

Bill desRosiers
External Affairs Coordinator, Cabot Oil & Gas

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The Shale Gas News, heard every Saturday at 10 AM on 94.3 FM, 1510 AM, 1600 AM, 104.1 FM and Sundays on YesFM, talked about power generation, pipelines, a wastewater patent and much more last week.

The Shale Gas News has grown again to the Williamsport area on stations WEJS 1600 AM & 104.1 FM. The Shale Gas News is now broadcasting in Bradford, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lebanon, Luzerne, Lycoming, Pike, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga and Wayne Counties, as well as in greater central PA and now the Williamsport area. The Shale Gas News is aired on Saturday or Sunday depending on the station.

Every Saturday Rusty Fender, Matt Henderson and I host a morning radio show to discuss all things natural gas.

The Shale Gas News, typically, is broadcast live. On the August 29th show (click above), we covered the following new territory (see news excerpts below):

• Natural gas largest source of power generation, but faces challenges. Natural gas has surpassed coal as the largest source of power generation in the United States, but the industry faces challenges, according to a report by FTI Consulting.  Natural gas accounted for 38 percent of the fuel mix in 2019 and several new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities were underway. The United States will be the largest LNG exporter by 2030, according to some analysts’ forecasts.
• Natural Gas Pipeline Buildout Continues Amid Pandemic, with 5.0 Bcf/d Added in 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic may have dampened energy demand and dented production activity in 2020, but it hasn’t deterred midstream infrastructure buildout in the natural gas industry, an analysis from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows.  Roughly 5 Bcf/d of natural gas pipeline capacity has entered service so far in 2020, with the new capacity located primarily in the Rockies, the Midcontinent and in the Permian Basin, according to research published Monday by the EIA.
• More Gas Pipelines Scrapped Than Put In Service In H1 2020.  Some 5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of new pipeline capacity was placed into service in the United States in the first half this year, but an estimated 8.7 Bcf/d of pipeline projects have been canceled so far in 2020, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Monday. The major cancellations included the 1.5 Bcf/d Atlantic Coast Pipeline project, which was designed to transport natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica shale gas plays to electric power consumers in the Southeast.
• Eureka Resources’ Solution to Oil and Gas Wastewater Awarded U.S. Patent. Eureka Resources, LLC has been awarded a U.S. patent for its groundbreaking approach to cleansing and recycling wastewater from oil and gas operations. Hydraulically fractured oil and gas wells can use from 1.5 million gallons to 16 million gallons of water, creating a wastewater stream that is typically disposed of through injection into deep wells. Eureka Resources’ recent patent was awarded for its proprietary technology that can remove hundreds of types of impurities from oil and gas wastewater, isolate recyclable minerals and generate clean water so pure it can be returned to the hydrologic cycle.
• CNX Agrees to $175K Fine for Faulty Utica Well in SWPA. CNX was fracking their Shaw 1G Utica well in Washington Township (Westmoreland County) in early 2019 when they detected “a strong drop in pressure” and stopped fracking (see CNX Hits Major Problem Fracking Utica Well Near SWPA Reservoir). Turns out the well was “communicating” (i.e. losing gas to) several nearby conventional wells. The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) finally assessed a fine for that episode late last week: $175,000.
• Peregrine Buys Royalty Rights from Doddridge County, WV Landowners. Peregrine Energy Partners, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, continues a program to buy royalty rights in the Marcellus/Utica. Peregrine announced yesterday the company has cut a deal to buy “producing royalties in Doddridge County, West Virginia from several private sellers.” The private sellers are landowners/rights owners with wells drilled by Antero Resources and Jay-Bee Oil & Gas. No details on how much the deal was for.
• List of 41 Active & 4 Canceled NatGas Pipeline Projects in M-U. Our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), maintains a list of pipeline projects going back to 1996. Based on that list EIA recently published an article on their Today in Energy site pointing out during the first half of 2020 some 5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of new natgas pipeline capacity (across the entire country) came online. They also point out some 8.7 Bcf/d of previously planned new pipe capacity was canceled in 2020, including Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Constitution Pipeline, both here in the M-U region.

The Shale Gas News sponsored by Linde Corporation