Experts Say Buyers “Starved” for Top-Tier NatGas Assets in M-U
Hart Energy is know for its DUG events — Developing Unconventional Gas. In years gone by, Hart would host separate DUG events in their respective regions. This year is different. Hart combined the Marcellus/Utica (called Appalachia), which, of course, covers Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, with the Haynesville, which covers northern Louisiana and East Texas. Both are the leading natural gas-focused plays in the country. This year’s combined event, called DUG Gas+, was held two weeks ago in Shreveport, LA. One of the interesting discussions coming from this year’s event was talk about buyers (and investors) being “starved” for top-tier natural gas assets, and that Appalachia could become a dealmaking hotspot in the coming years.
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A royalty case that took nearly four years and hundreds of filings by both sides was finally decided by an Ohio jury in March (see 
Here’s a strange one we don’t quite understand. Yet. Two weeks ago we brought you the news that a jury in a federal court had decided a group of Utica shale drillers, including Rice Drilling (now EQT), Ascent Resources, XTO, and Gulfport Energy, were not guilty of “unjust enrichment” by drilling into the Point Pleasant shale layer that sits immediately below the Utica (see 
There were 17 new permits issued to drill in the Marcellus/Utica during the week of Feb. 26 – Mar. 3, down 1 from 18 permits issued the prior week. Pennsylvania issued 8 new permits last week. Ohio issued 4 new permits. And West Virginia issued 5 new permits last week. Four companies tied for the top slot of receiving 3 permits each: Chesapeake Energy (Susquehanna County, PA), Seneca Resources (Tioga County, PA), Gulfport Energy (Harrison County, OH), and Antero Resources (Ritchie County, WV). Arsenal Resources received 2 permits (Taylor County, WV). Three companies received a single new permit: Laurel Mountain Energy (Butler County, PA), Campbell Oil & Gas (Westmoreland County, PA), and EOG Resources (Noble County, OH).
Gulfport Energy, the third-largest driller in the Ohio Utica Shale (by the number of wells drilled), emerged from bankruptcy in May 2021 with a new board and top management. Yesterday, Gulfport issued its fourth quarter and full-year 2023 update. Company CEO John Reinhart, who took the reigns of the company in January 2023, reported the company drilled and turned to sales 24 gross wells, which included 2 Marcellus wells, 2 SCOOP wells, and 20 wells in the Ohio Utica. The company drilled and completed its first two operated Marcellus wells in Belmont County last year, with a promise to return to Marcellus drilling in 2025.
Yesterday, the Ohio Oil & Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC) met to award contracts to drill under (not on) several Ohio state parks, including the 20,000-acre Salt Fork State Park in Guernsey County. Anti-fossil fuel nutters didn’t disappoint. They showed up and dressed up in burlap bags and silly hats, standing along a wall to protest against the proceeding. Fortunately, the protesters didn’t disrupt or stop the proceeding (they had been threatened with arrest if they did). The big news (for us) is that Encino Energy, which has long coveted the Salt Fork State Park property, did NOT win the contract for it! At some point, Encino pulled its proposal for Salt Fork and instead concentrated on several other parcels. The contract for Salt Fork was awarded to Infinity Natural Resources. We have the complete list of who won which contracts and how much they are paying in signing bonuses and royalties.
How was 2023 with respect to the return on investment (ROI) in the stocks of gas-focused (largely Marcellus/Utica) drillers? Of the three classes of O&G companies — oil-focused, diversified, and gas-focused — it was the gas-focused drillers who had the best stock returns in 2023, according to an analysis by RBN Energy. Gas-weighted E&Ps posted a 7% median gain last year, according to RBN. Most of the companies in RBN’s list of gas-focused drillers have major operations in the M-U. Let’s have a look at how each one did.
Earlier this week MDN told you that two of Gulfport Energy’s major investors were conducting a sale of what amounts to 3.5% of the company’s stock (see 
Gulfport Energy, the third-largest driller in the Ohio Utica Shale (by the number of wells drilled), emerged from bankruptcy in May 2021 with a new board and top management. In January of this year, the company appointed a new CEO, John Reinhart, the former President and CEO of M-U driller Montage Resources Corporation before Southwestern Energy gobbled up that company (see 
The Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) released production numbers for the third quarter of 2023 late last week, and nobody noticed…except MDN (thanks to a tip from a good friend). ODNR no longer issues a press release to summarize the results as they once did. We’ve got the full spreadsheet with oil and gas production details for all 3,281 active shale wells in the Buckeye State. We’ve sliced and diced the numbers and have our usual Top 25 lists for natural gas and oil wells. We’ve included a couple of charts summarizing the data, showing the total production by driller (gas and oil) and the total production for the quarter by county. You’re gonna love it!