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31 New Shale Well Permits Reported for PA-OH-WV Jun 22 – 28
The Marcellus/Utica region received 31 new drilling permits last week, June 22 – 28, the very same number issued two weeks ago! Can’t remember the last time that happened. Last week, Pennsylvania issued just 5 new permits. Ohio issued 13 new permits. West Virginia also issued 13 new permits last week. The drillers who received new permits included: Antero Resources, EOG Resources, EQT, Expand Energy, Infinity Natural Resources, Laurel Mountain Energy, and Pennsylvania General Energy. Read More “31 New Shale Well Permits Reported for PA-OH-WV Jun 22 – 28”
Ohio’s Utica shale boom ignited around 2011 in northeastern counties, with Carroll County emerging as the epicenter of early drilling. Operators like Chesapeake Energy targeted the oil and liquids-rich “wet gas” windows in Carroll, Columbiana, and Harrison counties. However, as operators refined their geologic understanding, they discovered the formation’s most prolific “dry gas” window lay to the southeast. Development steadily migrated toward Belmont, Monroe, Jefferson, and Guernsey counties, where deeper, overpressured rock formations yielded massive volumes of natural gas. By the mid-2010s, these southern counties dominated Ohio’s Utica production, eclipsing the northern pioneers that first proved the play’s potential. However, three years ago, Encino Energy “cracked the code” on Ohio Utica oil drilling, and activity began migrating north again (see 
Data center growth is rapidly reshaping Northeast power and natural gas markets, with projects clustering near transmission lines, substations, gas-fired power generation, and pipeline corridors. Virginia remains the epicenter, led by Northern Virginia’s massive hyperscale hub and tens of gigawatts of planned capacity. Ohio is emerging fast around Columbus, with more than 15 GW proposed. Pennsylvania could become a major growth story, pairing Marcellus/Utica gas resources with large campuses such as Homer City’s planned 4.5-GW gas-fired/data center redevelopment. However, PA is attempting to shoot itself in the foot with talk of both short- and long-term moratoriums on new data center construction. So, the jury is still very much out on how successful PA will be with data centers. 
Yesterday, pipeline giant Williams announced the appointment of Lloyd W. “Billy” Helms Jr. and Robb E. Turner as its newest board members, expanding its board from 10 to 12 members. Helms brings more than 40 years of oil and gas experience, including senior leadership roles at Utica driller EOG Resources, where he served as president and chief operating officer. Turner brings 35-plus years of experience in energy operations, finance, and investing, including co-founding ArcLight Capital Partners and serving as chair of The Madava Group and Revenant Energy. The question is, how do these two additions connect to and impact Williams’ Marcellus/Utica operations? 
In April, MDN reported that PowerTransitions, an independent power producer specializing in redeveloping legacy power facilities, had agreed to acquire five New York gas-fired power plants — Batavia, Hillburn, Massena, Shoemaker, and Sterling — totaling 323 megawatts (MW) from Alliance Energy Group affiliates (see 
Wow! Where did the last 10 years go? In June 2015, MDN brought you the news of two Pennsylvania business groups, the Delaware County Chamber and the Washington County Chamber, along with two labor unions, the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA) with 25,000 members and the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 66 with 7,000 members, joining forces to form the 
Like most proud Americans, MDN is taking a break tomorrow, July 3rd, to celebrate Independence Day. It is a day to enjoy parades, barbeques, fireworks, and baseball! Or camping, gathering with family and friends, and many other ways to celebrate. We hope you have a great day! And a shout-out to those who won’t be taking off Friday (or even Saturday) from work—firefighters, police officers, EMTs, nurses and doctors working in our hospitals, and even those toiling away drilling shale wells (it’s a 24/7/365 job). We salute them all and hope they get double pay!
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Marcellus Shale Coalition statement on America 250 Fair; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: NJ’s $50B climate superfund bill stalls as Democrats, labor raise red flags; NATIONAL: U.S. natural gas futures fall ahead of storage data; Towering power burns buttress natural gas spot prices; Oil execs predict future WTI oil prices; INTERNATIONAL: Crude extends losses on glut fears; Saudis make rare spot oil sales; Why the U.A.E. broke up with OPEC; French Socialists would save us from the “scourge” of air conditioning. 
All we can say is, get the heck out of New York while you still can. Sooner or later, property values in the “Empire” State will crash. (Probably sooner rather than later.) Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2nd Circuit) ruled in support of New York State banning natural gas from being used in new home (and business) construction across the entire state. If it stands, it is the beginning of the end for NY. The end will eventually come when Wall Street firms finally give up and move from New York City to Texas or Florida, completely bankrupting the state from lost revenues. 
In February, MDN alerted you to yet another gas-fired power plant project that Williams (the pipeline giant) was adding to its roster. Williams entered the gas-fired power plant space (actually building and operating them) in April 2025 via a subsidiary called Will-Power (see 
Northampton Capital Partners, a middle-market infrastructure asset manager with roughly $1.4 billion under management, has partnered with New Jersey–based Olympus Power to form a joint venture called Winslow Power. Winslow has agreed to acquire three natural gas–fired power plants totaling 752 MW from a Vistra Corp. subsidiary: the 541-MW Casco Bay combined-cycle facility in Veazie, Maine; the 108-MW Beaver Falls dual-fuel turbine in Croghan, NY; and the 103-MW Syracuse dual-fuel turbine in Solvay, NY. Pending regulatory approval, the deal is expected to close later in 2026. And yes, there is a Marcellus/Utica connection in this story. 
In February, Expand Energy fired its CEO, Nick Dell’Osso, the guy who grew the company into the largest natural gas producer in the U.S. (see 
The Golden Pass LNG terminal is a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal and regasification facility in Sabine Pass (Port Arthur), Texas. It is among the largest LNG facilities in the world. It can accommodate up to 15.6 million metric tons (MT) of LNG per year, the equivalent of approximately 2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day (Bcf/d). In April, Golden Pass exported its first LNG cargo (see 
The Supreme Court will hear a North Dakota eminent domain dispute (Leonard Hoffman v. WBI Energy Transmission) over whether gas pipeline companies must pay landowners’ attorney fees when taking property under the Natural Gas Act. While the case is specific to North Dakota, it has the potential to affect the entire country—landowners and drillers everywhere should watch this case closely. The case stems from WBI Energy Transmission’s 12-mile pipeline across ranchland in the Bakken, where landowners challenged compensation offers and later sought more than $383,000 in legal fees.