Energy Transition

Challenges to add renewables to the mix of power supply add to issues that will keep natural gas generation growing and an important part of the energy stack in 2024. “Coal and natural gas remain important to the U.S. electric grid, even as variable renewable resources such as solar and wind grow,” U.S. Energy Information…

Natural gas utility Spire Inc. is developing a renewable natural gas (RNG) facility in Kansas City, MO, the first in the area, via a venture with the city’s water utility.  KC Water selected Spire to develop the facility at the Blue River Wastewater Treatment Plant. The upgrade, expected to be completed in 2025, could produce…

Growing environmental opposition and political headwinds could combine to be one of this year’s biggest challenges for U.S. LNG projects working to advance. International environmental organizations, along with grassroots groups, social media influencers and some Democrats, are stepping up their efforts to stop the expansion of U.S. gas exports that’s accelerated in recent years.  The…

Henry Hub natural gas spot prices will average $2.60-2.70/MMBtu in 2024 before climbing further next year amid higher LNG exports and slowing production growth, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Tuesday. In its latest monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), EIA called for a 2025 average Henry Hub natural gas spot price of $2.95. The…

ExxonMobil is warning that it expects to have a one-time writedown of $2.5 billion in 4Q2023 for the reduced value of some upstream assets in California, similar to a one-time quarterly impairment expected by Chevron Corp. The one-time impairment would be for the idled Santa Ynez Unit (SYU) and associated oil and gas facilities, ExxonMobil…

As policies incentivizing clean energy continue to mount, renewable natural gas (RNG) is poised for more growth, the scale of which could depend on the outcome of state and federal legislation.  The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) launched investments into alternative fuels, including RNG, in part because of the expansion of investment tax credits…

Chevron Corp.’s upstream oil and natural gas assets are set to take a big one-time hit in the fourth quarter results, primarily because of “continuing regulatory challenges” in California, where the integrated major is headquartered.  The San Ramon-based producer on Tuesday detailed the upstream impairments in a Securities and Exchange Commission Form 8-K filing.  The…

Japan’s Inpex Corp. has received government approval for the long-delayed Abadi natural gas production and LNG project in eastern Indonesia, which includes plans for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) facilities. With Indonesia’s rising domestic natural gas consumption and dwindling production, the country has been keen to develop its untapped resources to meet both international and…

Natural gas utilities in Massachusetts will be required to first evaluate clean energy projects before expanding their systems after state regulators issued limits on local distribution companies (LDC). Former state Attorney General Maura Healey in 2020 called on the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) to investigate potential pathways to phase out natural gas use…