Ascent Res. 2Q: Drilled 23 Wells, Produced 1.95 Bcfe/d, Lost $617M
Ascent Resources, originally founded as American Energy Partners by gas legend Aubrey McClendon, is a privately-held company that focuses 100% on the Ohio Utica Shale. Ascent is Ohio’s largest natural gas producer and the 8th largest natural gas producer in the U.S. The company issued its second quarter 2021 update earlier this week. The company produced 1.95 billion cubic feet equivalent per day (Bcfe/d) during 2Q (91% natural gas). Ascent generated $38 million of free cash flow, but like other M-U drillers, hedging bets on derivatives resulted in a big loss of $617 million for the quarter.
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In an effort to flow more Marcellus natural gas to a starving New York City, Kinder Morgan cut a deal with utility company Consolidated Edison in 2019 to provide more gas by beefing up capacity along its Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) that feeds NYC, allowing Con Ed to avoid cutting customers off from natgas hookups (see 
Somehow the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) thinks it can tell the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) what it can and can’t do with respect to evaluating pipeline projects. EPA is “advising” FERC to begin incorporating the “social cost of carbon” into its environmental reviews, taking an added look at the climate change impacts of natural gas infrastructure projects. Who the heck does the EPA think it is? Climate God?
The latest weekly Enverus U.S. rig count shows total rigs in use hitting a new post-pandemic high. For the week ending August 12, the rig count stood at 617, up 14 rigs from the previous week. That’s the highest rig count since April 2020. The Marcellus play lost another rig from the previous week (second week in a row), while the Utica stayed even. Collectively the M-U is currently running 44 rigs, down one rig from the previous week.
The price of gasoline at the pump in the U.S. is up a full dollar over the past year. Even half-with-it politicians like Joe Biden knows high pump prices equal rebellion at the ballot box. Biden killed the Keystone XL pipeline on his first day in office. Then he blocked new drilling on federal lands. Biden’s disastrous picks to run Interior, Energy, EPA, and FERC are killing the fossil fuel industry here at home. Oil production is tanking. So how does old dementia Joe propose to “fix” high prices at the pump? How will he fix the mess he’s made? Biden goes begging, hat in hand, to the vicious tyrants that run OPEC+ (America’s enemies), begging them to pump more oil to drive down gas prices. What a pathetic dope. Not even the weak, genuflecting American Petroleum Institute (API) can stomach Biden’s OPEC+ begging.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: PJM Tracker: Warmer weather, higher gas prices boost power prices in July; New York’s pension fund to review oil holdings, axes more coal investments; For nation’s and West Virginia’s sake, natural gas must remain player in national energy policy; Oil and gas reps, Jefferson County, OH citizens to connect; NATIONAL: USA EIA reveals new oil price forecast; U.S. energy markets progress toward carbon capture solutions; EIA expects U.S. natural gas inventories to enter winter heating season below average; INTERNATIONAL: IEA is sleepwalking the world into an oil supply crisis; Europe could face a natural gas crisis this winter.