Industrywide Issues

Massive 3 GW Gas-Fired AI/Data Center Coming to Southwest Pa.

We have some exciting news to share. Datacenter builder/operator TECfusions, based in Tampa, Florida, has purchased 1,395 acres in Upper Burrell (Westmoreland County), PA, for a groundbreaking data center project called TECfusions Keystone Connect. The site is the old Alcoa R&D campus and surrounding real estate in New Kensington. The project will transform the shuttered…

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EPA Reauthorizes Permit for Seneca Injection Well in Elk County, PA

The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced yesterday that it had issued an oil and gas wastewater injection well permit to Seneca Resources to continue operating well #38268 in Highland Township, Elk County. The EPA permit allows Seneca to inject up to 75,000 barrels monthly (3.125 million gallons). This well is one of two injection…

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Feedgas Flowing to Cove Point LNG Slipped on Cold Wx, Back Now

LNG exports have become an important (even critical) part of the natural gas sector in the U.S. Feedgas flowing to LNG facilities is closely watched by many people, including traders and industry analysts. As we pointed out yesterday, lower feedgas flows to a single LNG facility can lower the NYMEX natural gas futures price (see…

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Builders, Utility Co. Sue Maryland re New Reg Blocking NatGas Use

Maryland is a sad state. It’s completely ruled by leftists who seek to impoverish its residents by forcing them to use expensive and unreliable renewable energy. There is actually some Marcellus/Utica shale under Maryland (in a couple of far-western counties), but the state outlawed shale fracking nearly 10 years ago when then-Gov. Larry Hogan (a…

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Jan. STEO: NatGas Production & Demand to Hit New Highs in 2025

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) issued its latest monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook yesterday, the agency’s monthly best guess about where energy prices and production will go in the next 12 months. The EIA number crunchers are making the bold prediction that dry gas production will hit new record highs in 2024 and 2025. The…

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PA PUC Votes to Redefine Landlords with Gas as Pipeline Operators

We have news about a disturbing ruling from the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (PUC) issued last Wednesday. By a vote of 3-2 along party lines (Democrats in the majority), the PUC commissioners labeled landlords as “pipeline operators” if they have behind-the-meter gas distribution systems on their properties. The move will require, with limited exceptions, landlords…

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CNX Issuing New Notes for $200M to Help Fund Purchase of Apex

CNX Resources announced in December that it had struck a deal to buy the assets of Apex Energy II, LLC, a portfolio company of funds managed by Carnelian Energy Capital Management, for $505 million (see CNX Resources Buys Apex Energy for $505M, Adds Pa. M-U Assets). Apex owns wells, acreage, and pipelines in Westmoreland County,…

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Gov. Ned Lamont Fiddles While Connecticut’s Electric Rates Burn

Faced with the possibility of blackouts, Connecticut’s Democrat Governor, Ned Lamont, wants to keep his nuclear and gas-fired power plants. But Lamont isn’t interested in building more pipelines or new gas-fired plants. That’s a bridge too far for Lamont. He’s happy to allow the residents of Connecticut to continue paying some of (perhaps THE) highest…

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NYMEX Gas Price Slips Due to Lower Feedgas to Freeport LNG

Based on comments in two different Reuters articles published yesterday, the Freeport LNG export facility is again experiencing an outage. It appears to be a partial outage. Freeport, in typical tight-lipped fashion, refuses to say anything. According to Reuters, flows to the 2.1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) Freeport facility were on track to…

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Gas-Fired Power Back in Style, Driven by AI & Data Centers

If you’ve read MDN for any time, you’ve come across at least a few articles about gas-fired power. Nationwide, natural gas produces 43.1% of all electricity, the number one source of electric generation (see this EIA page). Nuclear is number two, producing 18.6% of all electricity. Coal is number three, producing 16.2%. Wind produces 10.2%…

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Baker Hughes Nat’l Rig Count Loses 5, M-U Rig Count No Change

After remaining at the same level for five weeks in a row, the Baker Hughes U.S. rig count lost five rigs last week, dropping from 589 to 584. The Marcellus/Utica rig count was a combined 34 last week—the same number for five weeks in a row. PA has operated 15 rigs for the past nine…

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Weather Causes NYMEX NatGas Price to Soar, M-U Spot Prices Soar Too

The prices natural gas is selling for, both the NYMEX futures price and the spot price at various trading hubs, continue to climb. Last Friday, the NYMEX “front month” futures contract (based on gas flows at the Henry Hub in Southern Louisiana) traded above $4/MMBtu for some of the day, but ultimately closed at $3.989,…

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Leftists Eye Pa. Law in War Against Fossil Fuel Companies

We’ve read a number of articles warning the radical left is gearing up to launch a blizzard of lawsuits (i.e., lawfare) against the incoming Trump administration—particularly related to environmental and energy policies and regulations. It’s standard operating procedure for the left, which has taken to bastardizing our justice system in recent years. While the left…

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Biden Treasury Dept. Ruins 45V “Clean” Hydrogen Tax Credit

On Jan. 3, the Biden IRS issued its final clean hydrogen tax credit rule, otherwise known as the 45V Clean Hydrogen Production Tax Credit. We previously wrote about 45V back in June (see Biden IRS 45V Tax Rule Endangers Hydrogen Hub Projects in M-U). Our take back then has not changed with the release of…

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Court Rulings & Regs Cause Delays in New LNG Export Plants

RBN Energy recently concluded a two-part series on LNG delays and what’s causing delays in bringing more export capacity online. Friday’s Part 2 of the series looks at recent court rulings and regulatory issues and their impact on U.S. LNG development. Yes, Joe Biden’s ill-timed “pause” on the Department of Energy issuing new export approvals…

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