Pipeline politics, grid failures, and commodity swings translated into sharp prose — delivered before the trading desk opens Monday morning.
Built for the
gap in the coverage.
In the spring of 2022, watching a major wire service file its third "energy prices rise on supply concerns" story in a week — each one identical, each one useless — I stopped reading and started writing.
The readers who found Dispatch first weren't looking for another aggregator. They were analysts who needed the why behind the number, policy staffers who needed the docket context before the Tuesday hearing, and producers who needed to know whether the pipeline tariff fight in FERC Docket RM24-7 actually mattered to their basis differential.
Three years, 142 issues, and one correction later — the answer is always: it depends, and here's what it depends on.
Waha Hub Went Negative Again.
Here's What the Wire Missed.
MIDLAND, TX — When the Waha Hub spot price dropped to -$1.43/MMBtu on February 19th, the headlines followed a familiar script:"West Texas gas prices turn negative amid pipeline constraints." Accurate. Useless.
What the wire didn't tell you: the constraint isn't infrastructure capacity — it's a tariff dispute sitting in FERC Docket RM24-7 that has effectively frozen interruptible capacity on the Permian Highway Pipeline since January 14th. The dispute involves three shippers and one midstreamer who would prefer you didn't know their name yet.
The implication for upstream operators in the Delaware Basin is specific and calculable: at current curtailment levels, the basis differential widens another $0.30–$0.45/MMBtu before any FERC ruling. That ruling — if it follows the precedent from the 2021 Rover case — will take 60 to 90 days. Mark your calendar for late April.
Editor's Note
FERC Docket RM24-7 filing deadline is March 12th. Interventions accepted until March 26th. Worth watching if you hold Delaware Basin acreage.
The broader read: this is not a Waha story. It's a preview of what happens when the Permian's gas-to-oil ratio keeps climbing while the regulatory machinery runs on a different clock. Three more operators are expected to file curtailment notices before end of Q1.
"The constraint isn't infrastructure — it's a tariff dispute sitting in a docket nobody's reading."
Dispatch · Vol. 3 No. 7Read before you subscribe.
The SPR Is Empty and Nobody Has a Plan B
A 220-million-barrel drawdown, an election year, and a Brent curve that disagrees with the IEA. What the reserve math actually says.
ISO-NE's Capacity Auction Just Told You Something About Winter 2027
Clearing prices up 34% year-over-year. Three gas plants that didn't clear. One offshore wind project that did. The grid reliability story hiding in the data.
Haynesville Is Cooling. Here's Who Feels It First.
Rig count down 18% from peak. DUC inventory thinning. Two midstreamers with take-or-pay contracts that looked smart in 2023 and don't now.
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