Is Midstream on the cusp of another infrastructure wave? East Daley will explore the potential in our annual Dirty Little Secrets market report in early December with a webinar to follow.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict has pushed commodity prices higher and spurred greater global demand for US energy products. Meanwhile, more disciplined growth from the upstream has infrastructure finally filling up across commodities. Will exports power the next infrastructure boom?
Dirty Little Secrets is East Daley’s annual report on energy markets and the road ahead for Midstream. We share our macroeconomic outlooks for US oil, natural gas and NGLs, highlight key infrastructure opportunities, update on the state of the Energy Transition, and share our view on Midstream’s future role in energy.
The Dirty Little Secrets 2023 Report was released on December 13, 2022. The webinar and Dirty Little Secrets Report are available to download and view after you fill out this form. An email will be sent to you with a link to the page with the report and the webinar recording. You can also view last year's!
Dirty Little Secrets After Hours: The Natural Gas Undoing Project
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Competition during the last buildout was fierce. Rates on these new oil pipelines were offered at a significant haircut to legacy system rates, and the average Permian transport rate fell as a result. The pandemic only made things worse: rig counts plummeted and utilization rates on Permian crude pipes dropped as low as mid-40%. Some operators started to offer deeply discounted incentive rates to attract the marginal barrel, putting further pressure on rates across the basin.
Fast-forward to today, and Midstream is in a vastly different environment. Permian crude production now outpaces pre-pandemic levels, driven by more productive operators supplying more with fewer rigs. Thanks to this recovery, pipeline operators can breathe a sigh of relief. Utilization rates have almost doubled from their lows and currently sit at 75%, according to East Daley’s Crude Hub Model (see chart).
The outlook for LNG exports has never been brighter. By the end of this decade, US liquefaction capacity could expand to nearly 30 Bcf/d, East Daley reveals in 2023 Dirty Little Secrets, fueling long-term demand growth for natural gas.
LNG markets entered 2022 with momentum as global economies exited Covid lockdowns. Then Russia attacked Ukraine on February 24, pouring gasoline on the fire in markets. Our latest forecast reflects the rapid commercial progress made in 2022 by LNG projects based mainly on the Gulf Coast, including several new entrants to the field.
In May, East Daley published a Midstream Navigator highlighting the rapid surge in natural gas demand via LNG exports (log in to see our May 10 Navigator, “Gas Market Eyes New LNG Project Wave). Total US LNG exports hit multiple record highs in early 2022, peaking at 12.1 Bcf/d in March before an outage at the Freeport facility hobbled export capacity. Demand from Europe has driven exports as utilities there sought alternatives to Russian gas. European Union countries took in 74% (8.4 Bcf/d) of the LNG sent overseas in March and April, according to Energy Information Administration (EIA) data. This compares to Europe’s average 34% market share for US LNG exports in 2021. The war in Ukraine has sent a strong signal that Russia cannot be depended upon for energy resources, making US LNG an attractive substitute.
Key highlights from Dirty Little Secrets 2022
In Dirty Little Secrets 2022: Midstream’s Role in the Future of Energy, we share our macroeconomic outlooks for U.S. Oil, Natural Gas, and NGLs, review producer discipline scenario implications on midstream, highlight key infrastructure opportunities, as well as assess the Energy Transition opportunity and its investment potential.
Over the next few years, Midstream is in a unique position where it can invest in incremental growth projects, increase shareholder returns, reduce debt, invest in energy transition, and decrease its own emissions. DLS 2022 expands on that theme and more.
Contact us below to request an overview of our 2022 DLS report, or to inquire about access to our forthcoming Dirty Little Secrets 2023.