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More American LNG means national security AND global stability. What's not to like?
IEA (1/28/26) report: "A surge in liquefied natural gas supply is expected to play a key role in rebalancing global gas markets in 2026, leading to stronger demand growth after a slowdown last year, according to the IEA’s latest quarterly Gas Market Report. The report, out today, finds that global gas demand growth slowed markedly to less than 1% in 2025 following a relatively strong increase in 2024. Tighter gas supplies in the first half of 2025 resulted in higher spot prices. These, along with weaker industrial activity, weighed on gas consumption, particularly in Asia. The supply situation began to ease from mid-2025 as global production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) accelerated. Global LNG supply rose by almost 7% in 2025, with around three-quarters of this growth concentrated in the second half of the year. New LNG capacity coming online in North America was by far the largest driver of the global increase, pushing global LNG supply into double-digit growth in the second half of 2025 and contributing to falling spot prices in both Europe and Asia. The growing share of destination-flexible LNG also strengthened links between regional markets, with price correlations reaching new highs."
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I wonder how New England could have avoided this problem?
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I'm from the Sierra Club, and I'm here to help.
Commonwealth Beacon (1/27/26) reports: "If Rep. Mark Cusack's effort to weaken Massachusetts’s ambitious 2030 climate commitments was the first shot across the bow in the contentious energy affordability debate, the nation’s largest environmental organization is making an unprecedented move to try to blunt his influence. The gamble from Cusack, a Braintree Democrat who chairs the House Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy, prompted a backlash in November that knocked legislative leaders on their heels. Protesters filled the State House with signs reading, 'Stop Rep. Cusack’s Big Beautiful Bill,' a reference to President Trump’s landmark law enacted last summer that featured sweeping cuts in federal support for health care and nutrition programs and clean energy initiatives... The Massachusetts chapter of the Sierra Club is set to call on House Speaker Ron Mariano to remove Cusack as chair of the powerful energy committee on Tuesday, citing his legislative efforts to use Gov. Maura Healey’s energy affordability legislation as a vehicle to pull back on the state’s clean energy targets and energy efficiency program."
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I've heard of novel legal theories before, but this one takes the cake.
The Detroit News (1/27/26) reports: "Attorney General Dana Nessel on Friday filed a federal antitrust suit against the nation's largest oil companies, arguing the businesses had acted as a 'cartel' to restrain trade and slow renewable energy competition and growth. The result, the attorney general argued in a statement, has been 'artificially high home and transportation energy costs.' The state is 'facing an energy affordability crisis' because of that restrained competition, Nessel said."
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"But as millions of Americans across the nation endure Winter Storm Fern, I hope they will take the time to honor the sacrifices of the men and women working to restore our electricity. These linemen will never seek it out, but they are worthy of our praise and admiration."
– Ronnie Shows, Former Congressman for Mississippi's 4th District
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Natural gas demand growth
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New England's Clean Energy Connect provided little power during the storm.
Institute for Energy Research (1/28/26) blog: "The New England Clean Energy Connect, the region’s new power line, has been ineffective since late Saturday, as Hydro-Quebec kept the electricity it produced for its own needs. Residents of Quebec mainly use electricity for heating. The new 145-mile, $1.6 billion transmission line through western Maine was promised to consistently deliver more than 1,000 megawatts of power. Hydro-Quebec, however, needed that power... A Massachusetts “clean” energy law passed in 2016 resulted in three utilities — Eversource, National Grid, and Unitil — entering into long-term contracts with Hydro-Quebec for its hydropower. Those contracts also helped finance the construction of the line. The Massachusetts bill also required utilities to enter into long-term contracts with offshore wind companies. The contracts with Hydro-Quebec were supposed to bring low-cost electricity to 20% of Massachusetts’ homes that would lower ratepayer bills by $50 million each year. The line took nearly ten years to be built, and during the last three years, Hydro-Quebec suffered from drought that forced the company to import electricity from New England... Despite fawning media articles about the promise of new electricity from the new line, it was not able to deliver when most needed during winter storm Fern."
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Energy Markets
WTI Crude Oil: ↑ $63.10
Natural Gas: ↓ $6.29
Gasoline: ↓ $2.88
Diesel: ↑ $3.60
Heating Oil: ↑ $267.98
Brent Crude Oil: ↑ $68.12
US Rig Count: ↓ 577 |
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