.The Texas Energy Report

By Alex Mills

The oil and gas industry in Texas made a big recovery in 2022, and a majority of the executives surveyed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas anticipate a good year in 2023.

“Activity in the oil and gas sector continued growing in fourth quarter 2022,” the agency said in a new release on Dec. 29. “The business activity index – the survey’s broadest measure of conditions facing Eleventh District energy firms – remained positive but fell to 20.2 in the fourth quarter from 46 in the third. This suggests the pace of expansion decelerated but remained solid as the business activity index stayed above the series average.”

The survey, conducted between Dec. 7-15 from 152 energy firms, finds 45% of respondents believe crude oil prices will average $80-$89 at the end of 2023 compared to 25% believing prices will average between $70-$79 and 15% saying $90-$99…..
 

January 5, 2022 — Renewable energy and battery storage projects generate tens of billions of dollars in tax revenue and landowner payments, 60 percent of which benefits rural counties, according to a report released today by Conservative Texans for Energy Innovation (CTEI), the Advanced Power Alliance (APA) and the Texas Association of Business (TAB).  
 
Matt Welch, State Director of CTEI said, “Texas’ record growth is continuing across all energy sectors, especially utility-scale renewable energy and energy storage. This report confirms the tremendous economic impact clean energy projects continue to have across every region of Texas.”  Welch went on to add, “For the first time, dispatchable battery storage development and deployment has registered as a major contributor to the future of the Texas energy grid and the growth of this emerging technology has been exceptional.”
 
The report, titled “The Economic Impact of Renewable Energy and Energy Storage in Rural Texas,” was authored by Dr. Joshua Rhodes, Chief Technology Officer of IdeaSmiths LLC and a Research Scientist at The University of Texas at Austin. Among the findings in the report: …
 

January 03, 2023 — In yet another move to improve transparency, the Railroad Commission has launched an interactive map of ongoing orphan well plugging with the use of federal infrastructure funding. The data visualization allows …

December 30, 2022 — Protecting the O&G industry and consumers are among the aims of two bills filed for the coming session, according to District 7 state Rep. Jay Dean.

The former Longview mayor said his HB 743 and HB 744 are to protect against the types of local bans on natural gas, propane, or gas-powered equipment” that have been seen in the past few years….
 

December 29, 2022 — District 2 Texas state Senator Bob Hall says a bill he has filed for the upcoming session of the State Legislature will likely result in a more resilient ERCOT grid.

One of the keys for grid resilience is efficiency and reliability, Hall said recently in explaining his SB 330.

Hall added that he’s been advocating for a stronger grid for a long time, working for measures to remove vulnerability to both man-made such as cyberattacks and electromagnetic pulse attacks and natural threats such as the recent Winter Storm Elliott…..
 

December 28, 2022 — The Railroad Commission on Tuesday, Dec. 27, launched an investigation on the performance of Atmos Energy, Mid-Tex Division’s gas distribution system during last week’s Winter Storm Elliott. On Friday, …

December 24, 2022 — A nationwide cold snap moved through Texas Thursday, taxing the grid that makes up most of the state along with utilities and retail provider systems.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) grid held up through Winter Storm Elliott Thursday and Friday but the system faces challenges getting into Christmas Eve even as local, rather than statewide, power outages sent crews from CenterPoint, Oncor and other providers scrambling to bring tens of thousands back online…..
 

December 18, 2022 —  Texas Oil & Gas Association President Todd Staples added this statement regarding last week’s West Texas earthquake; Saturday’s statement from the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) follows: “Industry operators …

December 16, 2022 — The US Geological Survey says a West Texas earthquake about 5:35 Friday afternoon registered a 5.4 and was centered about 14 miles north-northwest of Midland at a depth of …

December 16, 2022 — The Senate Committee on State Affairs held a hearing in Marshall, Texas, on Thursday investigating the expansion of the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) movement. Texas is leading the fight to halt ESG practices, a woke investment strategy that places a priority on subjective environmental and social metrics instead of financial metrics that ensure quality returns for investors. It is estimated that ESG has decreased investments for reliable energy (thermal) by 90% over the last five years.

“Your retirement account is collateral damage to radical environmentalists, who are leveraging Wall Street through ‘woke’ ESG investment strategies to kill the oil and gas industry,” Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian said. “This hearing is extremely important to keep the spotlight on ESG’s fraudulent practices and the Wall Street corporations enabling it. As a 30-year financial services veteran, I’ve seen no greater threat to fiduciary ethics than ESG; and as an energy leader, I’ve also seen no greater threat to the survival of the American way of life which is powered by fossil fuels.”

This week, Chairman Bryan Hughes and members of the Texas Senate Committee on State Affairs continued their investigation of major Wall Street firms to determine whether these firms are using ESG principles that impact state retirement funds, as well as impacting oil and gas production….
 

December 16, 2022 — The White House has announced the first repurchase of oil in an attempt to begin refilling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.….
 

December 16, 2022 — As a series of cold fronts approach Texas, ERCOT continues to closely monitor weather forecasts and models, the grid authority said on Friday.

“ERCOT expects sufficient generation to meet forecasted demand and will continue to provide updates.

In a news release, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas said, “Earlier today, ERCOT issued an Operating Condition Notice (OCN), a procedural notification to transmission and distribution owners and generation resources that temperatures will meet ERCOT’s criteria of 25 degrees or lower in the Austin/San Antonio and the Dallas Fort-Worth areas between Thursday, December 22 through Monday, December 26…..
 

By Alex Mills

Accurately predicting the price of crude oil, gasoline and other petroleum products is like wandering through a dark, strange room trying to find the light switch.

An economics professor once jokingly commented forecasters who rely heavily on the use of a crystal ball to predict the future price of oil end up eating a lot of glass.

Thousands, if not millions, of companies, individuals and governments search for the right data to reach right conclusions at the right time.

Three agencies – the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the Energy Information Administration at the U.S. Department of Energy (EIA) – hire a lot of experts to crunch the numbers daily and issue a report each month.

This week each issued their most recent reports and here’s a summary….
 

December 14, 2022 — There is some concern about a possible winter storm arriving in Texas next week that could plunge temperatures to near freezing almost statewide, and ERCOT notes that it’s closely watching weather forecasts and is preparing for record electricity demand.

In a statement to The Texas Energy Report, an ERCOT spokeswoman said…
 

December 14, 2022 — Permian Resources is planning to appoint a new chairman, now that the current chairman has notified the board of his intention to retire, while the current CFO is also …

December 13, 2022 — RRC Commissioner Christi Craddick was unanimously elected Chairman of the Railroad Commission of Texas during today’s RRC open meeting.

Following her election, Chairman Craddick thanked Commissioner Wayne Christian for his leadership as Chairman for the past year. “Chairman Christian has led this agency through serious rulemakings related to Winter Storm Uri, and I am proud of the work this agency has completed to keep gas flowing in this state.”…
 

December 13, 2022 –The RRC is making the first of several changes in its earthquake response plans following a West Texas earthquake last month.

Here’s the announcement:

“Following a 5.4 magnitude earthquake on November 16 in Reeves County, the Railroad Commission of Texas is implementing several revisions to the seismicity reduction response plan in the Northern Culberson-Reeves Seismic Response Area (SRA).

“The SRA was created to address the intensity and frequency of earthquakes in the area and reduce the occurrence of high-magnitude seismicity such that recurrence of 3.5 magnitude events is decreasing by December 31^st, 2023….
 

By Alex Mills

Crude oil prices declined again this week on speculation that future demand will decrease as the global recession gains more strength into 2023.

Brent crude oil prices closed at $79 per barrel on the international exchange in London on Dec. 7 and West Texas Intermediate closed at $72, which is below the previous low of $76 recorded on Jan. 1.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) at the Department of Energy released its Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) on Wednesday estimating that Brent price will average $92 per barrel in 2023, which is $3 less than it forecast last month.

EIA also forecast global oil inventories will fall by 200,000 barrels per day (b/d) during the first half of 2023.

Crude oil inventories in the U.S. have declined recently to 413.9 million barrels, which is 19 million barrels less than it high point of 432 million barrels in August….
 

December 7, 2022 — Recent legislation like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act gives a huge boost to the nation’s efforts to achieve a clean energy transition.

The energy transition, a global transformation of energy systems away from fossil fuels to renewable and clean energy sources by 2050, is necessary to ward off the worst impacts of climate change. It will entail overhauling our energy resources, systems, economics, policies, and our behavior. It will require a huge expansion of renewable energy sources, the phase out of coal and oil, and increased energy efficiency across the board. It will not be easy. Below are five factors that will be crucial in order to decarbonize our society, according to Columbia University….