EQT Corp (EQT) News - Nov 29
Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2022 4:00 pm
EQT's Toby Rice: Increasing natural gas production key to solving climate problem
By Paul J. Gough – Reporter, Pittsburgh Business Times
Nov 29, 2022 Updated Nov 29, 2022, 3:27pm EST
Toby Rice, head of America's largest independent natural gas producer, told an audience in Pittsburgh that increased natural gas production and more pipelines will not only solve the climate crisis, but will provide dividends in ending poverty and other societal ills across the world.
A rise in domestic natural gas production is a cornerstone of what EQT (NYSE: EQT) and Rice calls "Unleashing LNG": Producing natural gas from the ground, shipping it to the East and Gulf Coasts where it is compressed into liquified natural gas (LNG) and then shipped overseas to the countries that need the energy. Rice said that it has always made sense, but that now, with the world in an energy crisis and with Russia and Ukraine at war, it's needed by America's allies more than ever.
"That's going to bring peace, that's going to bring prosperity, that's going to bring security" to America and its allies, Rice said. Rice spoke Tuesday afternoon at the Pittsburgh Business Times' Vision Pittsburgh event at the Duquesne Club in downtown Pittsburgh.
Rice credited the shale boom, which he helped pioneer as a founder and president of Rice Energy, to shield the United States from the big rise in natural gas prices that have hit Europe and elsewhere due to shortages and war. Adding more LNG production will make the United States' energy security better and keep the cost low as well as allowing it to help prices and ease climate change impacts.
"Because of what we do, the robust production base we have in the United States is a shield against geopolitical shocks in the world," Rice said. "We're talking about making that shield bigger, making it bulletproof."'
Rice said that natural gas makes sense — and is financially as well as environmentally sustainable — due to the many years of supply in Appalachia. Increased production and shipping of LNG around the world will also eliminate the foreign coal that is used when energy supply is short. The global emphasis on reducing emissions is key to solving the climate issue.
"That's where all the emissions are and that's where the world needs help," Rice said.
Appalachia — including the Pittsburgh region — have a big role to play in the Rice/EQT Unleashing LNG plan. Adding 50 rigs will mean increased production in Appalachia, creating jobs and boosting the economy as well as industries in the region like manufacturing. So will a transition to hydrogen, of which EQT is a major player in the effort to create a hydrogen hub and carbon capture and storage.
But he said that for this to work, environmentalists should have less control over the permitting and building of the pipelines that would carry natural gas to markets domestically and overseas and also, in the future, low/no-carbon hydrogen and captured carbon. He said that canceled and delayed pipelines, the latter including the Mountain Valley Pipeline that would carry EQT-produced gas to the Southeast, have been hampering the industry's ability to increase production to solve the energy shortages and keep prices low.
"Appalachia is the power child for pipeline cancellation," he said.
By Paul J. Gough – Reporter, Pittsburgh Business Times
Nov 29, 2022 Updated Nov 29, 2022, 3:27pm EST
Toby Rice, head of America's largest independent natural gas producer, told an audience in Pittsburgh that increased natural gas production and more pipelines will not only solve the climate crisis, but will provide dividends in ending poverty and other societal ills across the world.
A rise in domestic natural gas production is a cornerstone of what EQT (NYSE: EQT) and Rice calls "Unleashing LNG": Producing natural gas from the ground, shipping it to the East and Gulf Coasts where it is compressed into liquified natural gas (LNG) and then shipped overseas to the countries that need the energy. Rice said that it has always made sense, but that now, with the world in an energy crisis and with Russia and Ukraine at war, it's needed by America's allies more than ever.
"That's going to bring peace, that's going to bring prosperity, that's going to bring security" to America and its allies, Rice said. Rice spoke Tuesday afternoon at the Pittsburgh Business Times' Vision Pittsburgh event at the Duquesne Club in downtown Pittsburgh.
Rice credited the shale boom, which he helped pioneer as a founder and president of Rice Energy, to shield the United States from the big rise in natural gas prices that have hit Europe and elsewhere due to shortages and war. Adding more LNG production will make the United States' energy security better and keep the cost low as well as allowing it to help prices and ease climate change impacts.
"Because of what we do, the robust production base we have in the United States is a shield against geopolitical shocks in the world," Rice said. "We're talking about making that shield bigger, making it bulletproof."'
Rice said that natural gas makes sense — and is financially as well as environmentally sustainable — due to the many years of supply in Appalachia. Increased production and shipping of LNG around the world will also eliminate the foreign coal that is used when energy supply is short. The global emphasis on reducing emissions is key to solving the climate issue.
"That's where all the emissions are and that's where the world needs help," Rice said.
Appalachia — including the Pittsburgh region — have a big role to play in the Rice/EQT Unleashing LNG plan. Adding 50 rigs will mean increased production in Appalachia, creating jobs and boosting the economy as well as industries in the region like manufacturing. So will a transition to hydrogen, of which EQT is a major player in the effort to create a hydrogen hub and carbon capture and storage.
But he said that for this to work, environmentalists should have less control over the permitting and building of the pipelines that would carry natural gas to markets domestically and overseas and also, in the future, low/no-carbon hydrogen and captured carbon. He said that canceled and delayed pipelines, the latter including the Mountain Valley Pipeline that would carry EQT-produced gas to the Southeast, have been hampering the industry's ability to increase production to solve the energy shortages and keep prices low.
"Appalachia is the power child for pipeline cancellation," he said.