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 politics, energy independence, Atlantic Coast Pipeline 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, as guests, we had Congressman Fred Keller, representing the 12th District of Pennsylvania and Edith Camargo-Renteria, Senior Consultant, Energy & Natural Resources at FTI.
The Shale Gas News, typically, is broadcast live. On the April 18th show (click above), we covered the following new territory (see news excerpts below):
- US confident of ‘fundamental shift’ in oil politics. The US energy secretary says Washington’s success in pushing Russia and Saudi Arabia to end their oil price war marks a “fundamental shift” in global oil politics, which has been made possible by its own self-sufficiency. Dan Brouillette told the Financial Times in an interview that the shale energy revolution had “dramatically” elevated the US’s negotiating power compared to its position in dealing with previous global crises.
- Don’t Count the Fracking Industry Out Just Yet. There’s one obvious group of losers from the global deal to cap oil output that’s just been thrashed out: U.S. shale producers. For an industry that needs crude prices in the low $40s to break even, current levels below $30 a barrel seem so obviously bad that America isn’t even being asked to offer a mechanism to deliver an expected output cut of 2 million barrels per day or more. Sheer economics should drive a fall of that magnitude, without any need for the sort of direct intervention that some U.S. regulators have proposed.
- The Outdated Law Threatening U.S. ‘Energy Independence’ – After months of high drama and unceasing tedium, the OPEC+ group of countries, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, finally granted President Trump his wish and agreed to pull some by 9.7 million barrels/day from the market in response to the epic collapse in demand. Trump’s second act is here already: Exhorting America’s allies to buy ‘America First’ as U.S. storage bursts at the seams. Yet, Trump might do well to first look at an antiquated law that places limits on shipping oil and gas to customers in the U.S.: The Merchant Marine Act of 1920. The century-old law, colloquially known as the Jones Act or simply J.A., regulates maritime commerce in the United States in a way that could curtail the nation’s efforts at energy independence.
- How An Oil Price Crash Can Be a Good Thing. The plunge in oil prices added to the already intense pressure on shale oil producers to slash spending on drilling and completions to cut their losses. For those with companies producing natural gas, it could be really good news. For years they have been stuck in a lingering slump as rising oil production in the Permian and other large oil-producing shale basins also produced enough oil with associated gas to glut the US gas market and drive the growth of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports.
- Virginia Passes New Law Aimed at Stopping Atlantic Coast Pipeline. A newly passed and signed-into-law bill in Virginia, House Bill (HB) 167, purportedly aims to “protect” electric consumers from shouldering the costs of new pipelines that would feed gas-fired power plants. What the bill actually does is remove freedom of choice for utility companies, driving up the cost of electricity in the Old Dominion. The bill does the opposite of what it says it will do. All in the name of trying to block Dominion Energy’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) project. What a sorry state of affairs in a once-great state.
- Supreme Court Directs New Jersey to Answer Pipeline Petition. The Supreme Court wants New Jersey’s views on a closely watched land dispute that could sideline the $1 billion PennEast pipeline. The high court on Monday directed the state to respond to a petition from PennEast Pipeline Co. LLC—a potential sign of the justices’ interest in the case. At issue is a lower court ruling that blocked the company from seizing state-owned land to build the proposed natural gas line from Pennsylvania to New Jersey.
- Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program help St. Clairsville Schools with donation. Stay-at-home orders have resulted in closed schools, and in turn, students learning from home. But with these changes come some concerns over Wi-Fi access. On Tuesday, the oil and gas industry stepped up to help out. St. Clairsville Schools received $3,000 for Wi-Fi hotspots and an additional 60 $50 gift cards to go to families in need of food. The donation was made on behalf of the oil and gas industry as they try to help communities during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Shale Gas News sponsored by Linde Corporation
