Shale Gas News – November 7, 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 oil prices, the Paris Agreement, EQT 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. This week we played some clips from the most recent Think About Energy Briefing.

The Shale Gas News, typically, is broadcast live. On the November 7th show (click above), we covered the following new territory (see news excerpts below):

• OIL FUTURES: Price rally extends as supply outlooks tighten following US crude draw. Oil futures settled higher Nov. 4 as the market eyed tightened supply outlooks following a US inventory draw and the possibility of extended OPEC+ production cuts. US commercial crude stocks moved 8 million barrels lower in the week ended Oct. 30 to 484.43 million barrels, US Energy Information Administration data showed Nov. 4. The draw puts inventories at the lowest since the week ended April 3 and leaves them just 6.8% above the five-year average for this time of year, marking the narrowest surplus since early April.
• US oil sector gets tentative wins in state races. US oil and gas producers appear on track to get their preferred election outcomes in down-ballot races in Texas, Alaska and Louisiana that could affect how the sector is regulated and taxed.  Those results could offer a bright spot for oil and gas officials, as the industry waits to find out who will take control the White House and the US Senate. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has taken the lead in key battleground states, but President Donald Trump still has some paths to win a second term.
• Oil Prices Are Set To Go Higher Next Year. As predicted, a second wave of COVID-19 is wreaking havoc on the world economy with many European nations contemplating new shut downs. It looks like it will be a tough winter for the oil markets. In a recent article carried in Reuters, two energy trading firms, Vitol, and Trafigura offered dour forecasts for the next few months. Trafigura’s Executive Chairman, Jeremy Weir offered a demand forecast of a decline of a million BOPD in the U.S. and up to 1.5 mm in Europe as a result, with global demand through the winter at 92 mm BOPD. He made an additional general comment in assessing the bleak near term outlook.
• Bidding the Paris Agreement Adieu. With the wheels having been set in motion more than three years ago, the United States officially exited the Paris climate agreement on Wednesday, November 4, 2020. The Institute for Energy Research has covered the agreement since its conception and has an extensive well of analysis on Paris that can be viewed here.
• American Energy Partners Buys 230+ SWPA Conventional Gas Wells. American Energy Partners, Inc. (AEPT), based in Allentown, PA, is a small but diversified company. They have their fingers in a number of different oil and gas pies, including subsidies in drilling, remediation, water, valuation services, and education. AEPT announced a new deal yesterday to buy a producer with 230+ conventional natural gas wells in western Pennsylvania.
• EQT Buys Chevron M-U Assets for $735M, Floats $350M in New Stock. Looks like the rumors were true, at least one of them. Yesterday EQT announced it has cut a deal to buy Chevron’s considerable Appalachian assets for $735 million. The Reuters rumor from September said EQT had offered $750 million. Also yesterday, EQT floated up to 23 million new shares of stock, on offer for $15.50 per share, attempting to raise ~$350 million to use toward the Chevron purchase.
• EQT Reopens the Taps; Looks to Dump MVP Contract by Year’s End. Although the big news from yesterday is that EQT is rumored to be eyeing a takeover of CNX Resources, EQT released its third-quarter 2020 update yesterday with news almost as big. EQT previously announced it is looking to sell its right to ship gas along the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). Yesterday the company said it believes a sale of its MVP capacity will happen by the end of this year.

The Shale Gas News sponsored by Linde Corporation