If there is one thing you can learn watching the news these days, it is that Russia is no friend of the United States right now.  In fact, Pres. Obama issued extensive sanctions against Russia in late 2014 after Russia annexed Ukraine’s territory of Crimea.  These sanctions have continued and in some cases been increased to punish Russia for subsequent actions.  Another big news story is that American natural gas production is booming and America is becoming a major player in natural gas exports.
 
            So you might be surprised to learn that on January 30, 2018 a Russian liquefied natural gas (“LNG”) shipment finished getting unloaded just outside Boston at the Distrigas terminal in Everett, Massachusetts.  The gas was produced from the South Tambey Field and processed at the Yamal gas plant, both in the far North of Russia.  The majority owner of Yamal is a Russian company called Novatek, and that company was sanctioned by President Obama in 2014 because one of the company’s owners was a Putin ally deemed complicit in Russia’s interference with Ukraine. 
 
            There was a bit of a loophole in the sanctions, which mostly just prevented Americans from providing future financing to Yamal.  Other investors included the French company Total, the Chinese companies CNPC and Silk Road Fund.  The Yamal project just began shipments, and the French-owned Distrigas facility outside Boston needed more gas to deal with the cold snap in New England.  There is no law against buying LNG from the Russian company, so Distrigas brought in their first-even shipment of Russian gas.  New England has also been burning millions of barrels of oil to counter the gas shortage. 
 
            It is a shame to see Boston burning oil and Russian gas while production of natural gas is booming not too far away in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia.  Luckily, new pipelines connecting Appalachia to the Northeast are being built at a rapid pace.  If your company wants to help fill these pipelines, call Cimmaron Land at (412) 212-7517 to learn about opportunities for acquiring drilling rights in the area. 

             Coal has been the dominant fuel in American electricity generation for decades.  Ten years ago, coal was producing almost half the nation’s electricity.  Then natural gas production boomed while environmentalists launched a campaign to shut down coal powerplants.  Coal releases far more carbon dioxide than natural gas, and coal plants are now being closed at a shocking rate around the world.  To the surprise of many in the industry, natural gas electricity surpassed coal in 2015 and since then coal has continued to lose market share while natural gas gains. 
 
            In a January 2018 report, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (“EIA”) just forecasted that natural gas is going to remain the leading source of America’s electricity generation for the foreseeable future, reaching 34% of generation next year.  Coal is expected to continue to decline rather quickly, while hydropower and nuclear also drop off a bit.  Natural gas and nonhydro renewables (wind and solar) will continue to grow.  Many analysts believe that a combination of natural gas and renewables is the best way to ensure reliable electricity while protecting the environment.  
 
            It is no surprise that a huge amount of this gas production is coming from Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia.  The latest reports show that production from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations in these three states has grown from 1.4 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d) in 2008 to 24 bcf/d in 2017.  Just 2% of the country’s natural gas came from this region in 2008, but the three Appalachian states are producing 27% of America's natural gas now.  The EIA says that most of the Appalachian production is displacing Gulf Coast supplies, so that more Gulf Coast gas can be exported to other countries.  The petrochemical industry that relies on natural gas is also expanding around the Marcellus and Utica, creating new markets for the still-growing production.
 
            If you are looking to explore and produce in this region, the experts at Cimmaron Land are standing by to help your company secure mineral rights all through Appalachia.  Email us today!