Posted on 06/08/2022 3:56:19 PM PDT by blam
Another US billionaire in the oil/gas industry (or in commodity markets) blamed the Biden administration’s energy policies for soaring fuel costs and said it would magnify the current crisis.
John Arnold, former Enron trader and hedge fund manager, known as the “king of natural gas,” unleashed a tweetstorm Tuesday directed at Biden for the worsening supply outlook that sent natgas futures to 13-year highs.
US Natgas supplies are trending below a 5-year mean.
Source: Houston-based energy firm Criterion Research
He said the federal government should invoke the Defense Production Act to spur increased production, or prices could rise even more and cause economic turmoil.
Government has invoked the Defense Production Act at least 6 times since 2020 when a shortage has occurred for a strategic product. Natural gas today fits this description. Rather than responding with helpful policies, gov’t helped create the shortage & is making things worse. 1/
— John Arnold (@JohnArnoldFndtn) June 7, 2022
Arnold said natgas prices are up 300%, reaching record highs in shale gas areas, though with a flood in new supplies, regulatory woes have capped growth.
NG prices are up 3x in past year, reaching record highs in the shale gas era. Previously, the market has responded with a flood of new supplies. But the regulatory state has effectively capped growth in the largest and most prolific gas region in the US. 2/
graph via @sheetalrbn pic.twitter.com/2MiQmwBcfz
— John Arnold (@JohnArnoldFndtn) June 7, 2022
He said gas production in Appalachia (Marcellus + Utica) is one-third of US gas production and has massive reserves, though environmental regulations have delayed new pipeline development. “Gas is only useful if it can be piped,” he said.
Appalachia (Marcellus + Utica) represents 1/3 of US gas production & huge reserves, but gas is only useful if it can be piped. Takeaway capacity is effectively maxed-out today. The region needs new pipelines, but environmental regs have killed or delayed all 4 recent projects. 3/
— John Arnold (@JohnArnoldFndtn) June 7, 2022
Mountain Valley Pipeline is a 2 bcf/d project taking Marcellus gas to Virginia. It received federal permits in 2017, began construction in 2018, and was expected to come into service in 2019. Despite being 92% complete, numerous court challenges have halted construction. 4/
— John Arnold (@JohnArnoldFndtn) June 7, 2022
Now $3 bln over budget, the pipe will now come on in late 2023 at earliest. But analysts fear it may never be completed and it’s become a financial disaster for the developers. Without new pipe, a region that grew production from 0 to 34 bcf/d in 14 years cannot grow further. 5/
— John Arnold (@JohnArnoldFndtn) June 7, 2022
Adding to the regulator chaos unleashed by the Biden administration to restrict American energy, Arnold points out an NYTimes article explaining how “Biden made it even harder to acquire permits by restoring state and tribal rights to veto energy infrastructure.”
“Without the ability to build, demand destruction is the only way to balance the market,” he warned. Noting, “if Appalachian supplies have permanently plateaued, we’re looking at structurally higher gas prices.”
Arnold said soaring natgas prices would “affect utility bills, it raises the costs of most domestic manufacturing, especially intermediate goods like steel, glass, chemicals, fertilizer, & refining.”
He then notes the troubling export issues of the US shipping LNG to European countries to help them transition from Russian gas supplies. He said if regulatory hurdles were lifted and new Appalachian production could be piped, then “we can both supply our allies and keep domestic gas prices low. If the most prolific gas field is essentially off-limits for growth, we cannot.”
Arnold said Biden’s regulatory mess has produced “$5 gasoline, $9 nat gas, $100+ kWh power.”
If nothing changes, “this is a train wreck in slow motion,” he warned.
The inability to build infrastructure is not due to lack of capital; it’s due to a reg state that makes development very hard. Solving that requires national prioritization. But we’re doing the opposite. Unless something changes soon, this is a train wreck in slow motion. 11/11
— John Arnold (@JohnArnoldFndtn) June 7, 2022
Arnold’s tweetstorm comes one day after New York City billionaire and oil refiner John Catsimatidis said Biden needs to “open up the spigots” as Americans are crushed by energy inflation. He also pointed out the president has an “obsession” with hurting America’s energy independence, explaining if energy production doesn’t increase, the fuel crisis “will worsen.”
If Biden doesn’t change his energy policies and prices at the pump and power bills and food prices continue to rise ahead of the midterm elections this fall, Republicans could win back the House.
“Somebody’s On Path To Destruct America,” Warns US Oil Billionaire ("Enough Is Enough")(John Catsimatidis)
Other:
FLASHBACK: WashPost Once Claimed Conservative ‘Fears’ of Gas Price Spike Under Biden ‘Overblown’
I'm worried I'll not be able to pay my AC power bill this summer.
Isn't there anyone who can stop the Democrats from destroying our country?
Ban the export of oil and gas. If foreigners want American energy, they can buy coal.
What do you mean could ?
Cartoon Biden should be smiling, not frowning
If Biden doesn’t change his energy policies and prices at the pump and power bills and food prices continue to rise ahead of the midterm elections this fall, Republicans could win back the House.
—
If the Democrats are willing to hold fair elections without open ballots, multi-weeks voting periods, drop boxes and all the other tricks they used to steal the 2020 election. Not holding breath.
.
Exactly.
This is part of Joe’s plan.
.
“$100+ kWh power”
It costs $100 to keep my 100 watt light on for ten hours? Yikes, it’s worse than I thought.
Perhaps he meant “MWh.”
Who gave these bastards the power to wreck the entire energy sector and send prices of everything to the stratosphere? All because they believe the CO2 and Climate Change malarkey.
He gives his buddies in China a huge paycheck and tells American solar mfg. to eat sh!t
The train wreck going on is no longer in slow motion. The force multiplier is growing exponentially.
Momentum is such an unruly force.
all part of the “incredible transition” right, joe?
not to worry, the elites are just fine
the peons not so much
“It costs $100 to keep my 100 watt light on for ten hours? Yikes, it’s worse than I thought.”
I saw someone else say the same. He obviously means per Megawatt Hour, which is the unit for wholesale power.
For cents per kilowatt hour, you divide the megawatt hour number by 10 - so $100/mwh is $0.10/kwh.
While $0.10/kwh isn’t bad for residential, you still have additional markups starting with distribution costs...so it’s high, and can easily go much higher.
What is wrong with everyone...we'll be without affordable power shortly.
Cities better already be thinking of the poor residents who'll be in the streets first because of the heat then later because of the cold. They will not be able to afford the electricity/gas bills.
prices could rise even more and cause economic turmoil
Its a feature not a bug
Their are others tending is collar......
Funny how you don’t see the Ukraine Cheerleaders on these threads, where we actually come up with ways to actually weaken Putin (through low energy prices), rather than being the LAUGHING STOCK of the world, while we shutdown and/or weaken our energy, food, and military - in an attempt to ‘punish Putin’.
...they just want the war.
The pointy-toothed neocons, ever-thirsty for blood...
Well folks in the UK are already having to decide to “eat or heat”.
And you are correct that wind and solar won’t be able to handle the load. And batteries will not be enough. That is why PUC rules require the utility to provide the power - regardless of sun and wind. This means that utility power plants must be operational - actually running - at all times and must make up the difference instantly.
More wood burning restrictions are on the horizon. IMO
What crushed the Soviet Union? $10 oil
JohnKerry the Energy Czar, put Natural gas on notice. 4/2022
“I’ll take that 50% reduction for the next eight years, because our goal between now and 2030 is to reduce emissions by a minimum of 45% to do what the science has told us we have to do,” Kerry said. “However, no one should make it easy for the gas interests to be building out 30- or 40-year infrastructure, which we’re then stuck with and you know the fight will be ‘well we can’t close these because of the employment, because of the investors, et cetera.’”
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