The Good News
2020 August/September
Pg 3 - The Sunshine Express
¡°Radical environmental groups have twisted the
intent behind NEPA and leveraged the legal sys-
tem to their advantage in a coordinated effort to
slow and stop progress.¡±
¡°This long overdue modernization will get Ameri-
can infrastructure projects out of the courtroom
and onto the construction site.¡±
You¡¯ve Got A Friend
POTUS: ¡°Police Are Heroes¡±
AG Barr says Justice Department may
support lawsuits if states go too far
U.S. Attorney General William Barr said in April
that the Department of Justice will consider sup-
porting lawsuits when states go too far in re-
stricting commerce and civil liberties in the fight
against COVID-19.
Barr talked about the DOJ¡¯s role in an interview
with radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt, report
Bloomberg, NBC News and NPR.
Barr said COVID-19 shutdown orders were
imposed for the limited purpose of bending the
curve, not as a comprehensive way to fight CO-
VID-19, according to a transcript.
Now that shutdowns are slowing the spread of the
virus, more targeted approaches are needed, he
said.
Hewitt asked Barr whether citizens could file
lawsuits against governments that fail to reduce
restrictions, either under the takings clause or
Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act.
Barr replied that the first line of defense for
people is the political process in their states.
Barr added, however, that if people sue, the DOJ
will ¡°look at it at that time.¡±
¡°And if we think it¡¯s, you know, justified, we
would take a position. That¡¯s what we¡¯re do-
ing now. We, you know, we¡¯re looking carefully
at a number of these rules that are being put
into place. And if we think one goes too far, we
initially try to jawbone the governors into rolling
them back or adjusting them.¡±
¡°And if they¡¯re not and people bring lawsuits, we
file statement of interest and side with the
plaintiffs.¡±
Barr said the DOJ had already filed a statement of
interest in a lawsuit by a Greenville, Mississippi,
church over a ban on drive-in church services.
The city council later revised its order to allow
drive-in services, as long as people keep the
windows rolled up, the Delta Democrat-Times
reported.
[A note from the editor: ¡°...the Court held that
plaintiffs were not barred by the Eleventh Amend-
ment or other immunity doctrines from suing the
governor and other officials of a state alleging
that they deprived plaintiffs of federal rights un-
der color of state law...¡± See >> www.law.cornell.
edu/constitution-conan/amendment-11/suits-
against-state-officials]
Market Rebalance Underway
After Painful Shock To System
AEA Applauds NEPA Modernization
Announcement; Long overdue overhaul will
get American infrastructure projects out of
the courtroom and onto the construction site
WASHINGTON DC, July 15, 2020: Today, the
American Energy Alliance voiced its support for the
White House¡¯s Council on Environmental Quality
(CEQ) final rule updating regulations implementing
the procedural provisions of the National Environ-
mental Policy Act (NEPA).
When it was first signed into law in 1970, NEPA
served as a way for federal agencies to consider
the impacts of their actions, helping them to bal-
ance a range of interests.
Today, NEPA is a massively expensive and time-
consuming liability that threatens to derail crucial
infrastructure and energy development projects.
NEPA, as it currently operates, is the model of an
outdated regulation that has been exploited be-
yond recognition from its original purpose.
After forty years, an overhaul was clearly overdue,
and today¡¯s announcement paves the way forward
to de-politicize America¡¯s permitting and infra-
structure improvement process.
Thomas Pyle, President of the American Energy
Alliance, issued the following statement in support
of the announcement:
¡°The American Energy Alliance applauds the
administration¡¯s modernization of the National En-
vironmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA is one of the
most inefficient, growth-slowing, infrastructure-
stopping laws we have in the U.S., desperately in
need of this modernization.¡±
¡°Americans need, and deserve, updated infrastruc-
ture to get them safely where they need to go and
ensure affordable, reliable energy arrives to their
cities, communities, businesses, and homes.¡±
Six months into commodity price wars,
a global pandemic and dramatic impact to
supply and demand, Enverus is cautiously
optimistic about a return to normalcy
for oil & gas markets
Austin, TX, July 8: Enverus, the leading oil & gas
SaaS and data analytics company, has released
its latest FundamentalEdge report titled ¡®Don¡¯t
Call It a Comeback¡¯, that explores the company¡¯s
current, cautiously optimistic view of the oil,
natural gas, and NGL markets, and where they
are headed over the next five years.
Six months into a pandemic that brought the
global economy to its knees, green shoots have
begun to appear, reads the crude oil overview in
Enverus¡¯ latest report.
In April, more than half of the world¡¯s population
was in lockdown. Today, that estimate is closer to
25%.
Indicators of traffic congestion in major urban
centers around the world also show signs of a
partial recovery in personal mobility and econom-
ic activity, the key drivers of global oil demand.
In addition to supply and demand recovery for
crude oil, Enverus¡¯ report also covers impacts to
natural gas prices.
While natural gas demand losses due to CO-
VID-19 were higher than production declines,
upcoming peak demand for winter is expected
to produce an impressive bump for the price of
natural gas.
With prices averaging under $2/MMBtu in 2020,
Enverus could see prices increasing above $3.50/
MMBtu as soon as winter 2020-2021, with the
most production growth coming from the Marcel-
lus/Utica, Haynesville, and Permian Basins.
¡°We¡¯re cautiously optimistic, but not ready to
label this a comeback,¡± said Bernadette Johnson,
vice president of Strategy and Analytics at
Enverus. ¡°We anticipate some operators to carry
that same theme, too. A lot of the pain should be
behind them now. Capex has been cut, costs were
lowered in both development and production, and
hedges provided parachutes. Demand is on the
uptick, for now at least.¡±
Key takeaways from the report:
Crude oil prices staged an impressive recovery
in May and June after deep production cuts and a
partial recovery in demand for motor fuels. After a
painful shock to the system, rebalancing is cur-
rently underway.
The recovery in demand remains tenuous, though,
and anemic refining margins and the recent rise
in new COVID-19 cases do raise concerns. We
nevertheless remain cautiously optimistic that
the rebalancing will continue, with much needed
inventory draws coming over the second quarter
of 2020, extending into 2021.
The natural gas market remains very bearish,
with prices averaging under $2/MMBtu in 2020.
Demand losses due to COVID-19 have been higher
than the production declines so far. However, cur-
rent production levels are not enough to meet the
upcoming peak-demand winter months.
Therefore, Enverus expects prices to increase
north of $3.50/MMBtu as soon as this winter
2020-21 in order to incentivize drilling activity.
Based on breakeven prices, production growth will
come from the Marcellus/Utica, Haynesville, and
Permian.
As production for crude oil and natural gas
declines, Natural Gas Liquids production will also
decline. While C3+ pricing fell along with crude,
propane and butane have seen a nice recovery
due to stable demand and declining production.
C5 is still depressed, as demand for the gasoline
blend stock and diluent is depressed in the current
market environment.
Ethane has seen an uptick in pricing over the past
two months, as demand at petrochemical facili-
ties has remained strong, and higher prices will
likely be needed in the future to incentivize ethane
recovery in order to accommodate additional de-
mand from new petrochemical facilities.
Q2¡¯20 earnings will begin in the back half of
July. All eyes will be on curtailments, activity, costs
and liquidity. The April-through-June quarter saw a
range of budget fluctuations, bankruptcies, shut-
ins and operational disruptions.
With WTI eclipsing $40 in late June, we expect op-
timistic but erratic results, with a continued focus
on balance sheet health and hedges to suppress
near-term ambiguity.
To stay informed of the latest market conditions
visit: www.enverus.com/managing-the-energy-
market
Overdue Overhaul
The stories corporate media won¡¯t tell
The White House, July 13, 2020: Last June,
Kemira Boyd¡¯s 12-day-old baby suddenly began
to choke. In distress, Boyd jumped into her car,
speeding to get help as quickly as possible.
Deputy William Kimbro, a South Carolina police
officer, pulled over Boyd for a routine traffic stop
when he saw her vehicle.
After finding the frantic mother and child inside,
he immediately went to work, clearing the baby¡¯s
windpipe and helping her to begin breathing
again until an emergency medical team arrived.
Kimbro saved the child¡¯s life.
Today, Boyd¡¯s child is now Deputy Kimbro¡¯s god-
daughter.
America¡¯s police officers aren¡¯t the enemy. The
vast majority of our country¡¯s law enforcement
heroes honor their uniforms each day by saving
countless lives and keeping our neighborhoods
free from drugs, theft and violence.
Yet in recent weeks, the men and women in blue
have faced attacks from rioters and hostility from
leftwing pundits and politicians.
Radical Democrats in both Congress and city
halls across our country have echoed calls to
defund or even abolish police forces.
¡°Our officers have been under vicious assault,
and hundreds of police have been injured, and
several murdered,¡± President Trump said today.
¡°Reckless politicians have defamed our law en-
forcement heroes as the enemy... and even call
them an ¡®invading army¡¯.¡±
So today, the President gathered a group of
Americans at the White House to tell stories
about our police that we almost never hear from
the corporate mass media:
Battling substance abuse since the age of 11,
Kenneth Bearden has suffered over 30 overdos-
es. Police officers had to help revive him more
than a dozen times.
Today, Kenneth is 6 years sober. ¡°My son would
not have his father today if it wasn¡¯t for [those]
police officers.¡±
Spencer Bohan, a non-verbal child with au-
tism, ¡°doesn¡¯t really have a sense of danger, so
when he goes missing, it¡¯s like life or death,¡± his
mother Sara said.
When he climbed out of his bedroom window and
went missing, the Roanoke County Police came
and found Spencer within 12 minutes of search-
ing.
Pastor Perry Cleek¡¯s church, Lighthouse Bap-
tist in Tennessee, chose to give $1,000 to every
member of the town¡¯s police department.
¡°The voice of small-town America is seldom
heard... I think small towns all over America feel
like we do,¡± Pastor Cleek said.
Last year, 89 U.S. law enforcement officers were
killed in the line of duty.
Today, there are direct, often fatal consequences
for residents of American cities whose leaders
turn their backs on policing.
Last month, there were 205 shootings in New
York City, the most violent June for the city since
1996.
In Chicago, between just Friday night and Sun-
day, 64 people were shot, 11 of whom died. Six
teenagers were among those lost.
President Trump signed an executive order last
month (June) on Safe Policing for Safe Communi-
ties, which incentivizes law enforcement agencies
to adopt best practices in the use of force and
other areas.
Rather than defund police departments, these
reforms will help officers share information and
build better relationships with their communities.
¡°I can assure you that while some are talking
about defunding the police, under this President
and this Administration, we¡¯re going to defend
the police,¡± Vice President Mike Pence said today.
¡°We¡¯re going to back the blue.¡±
¡°Being a hero is about the
shortest-lived profession
on earth.¡± - Will Rogers