Marcellus Drilling News

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35 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Dec 11-17
December 22, 2023January 24, 2024

New shale permits issued for Dec 11 – 17 in the Marcellus/Utica continued the trend up over the previous week. There were 35 new permits issued last week versus 27 issued two weeks ago. Last week’s permit tally included 17 new permits in Pennsylvania, 13 new permits in Ohio, and 5 new permits in West Virginia. The company receiving the most permits last week was Ascent Resources with 8 new permits in two different counties: Guernsey and Belmont counties in OH. Antero was second highest with 5 new permits in Ritchie and Doddridge counties in WV.
Read More “35 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Dec 11-17”
Cambria County | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania

Cambria Gas-Fired Power Plant Shows Grace in Tax Refund Due
December 22, 2023January 24, 2024

Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) Fairview Energy Center is a 1,050-megawatt natural gas and ethane-fueled two-by-one combined-cycle electric generating plant 60 miles east of Pittsburgh (Cambria County) that came online in December 2019 (see CPV Marcellus-Fired Power Plant in Cambria “Ahead of Schedule”). It is the only plant of its kind, using both natural gas and ethane, in the world. Unfortunately, the local taxing authorities got a little too zealous in collecting and spending tax revenue from the plant. The county used a company to perform a tax assessment that was found to be factually wrong, using an incorrect methodology for the appraisal, resulting in CPV paying WAY too much in tax — $5.7 million too much. CPV is showing grace to the local school district in stretching out repayment of the $3.7 million it owes back to the company.
Read More “Cambria Gas-Fired Power Plant Shows Grace in Tax Refund Due”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA

Baker Hughes U.S. Rig Count Loses 3 @ 620, M-U Drops 1 @ 40
December 22, 2023January 24, 2024

The venerable Baker Hughes U.S. rig count turned in its totals a day early this week. Likely because workers were heading for the exits early (we can’t blame them). The overall rig count lost ground again last week, as it has for the past couple of weeks. The count went from 623 active rigs last week down to 620 this week. The Marcellus/Utica lost a rig (in Pennsylvania) to end up at 40 active rigs, while our main competitor, the Haynesville, added another rig and now stands at 44 active rigs. Bummer. Not that many weeks ago, the M-U was running more rigs than the Haynesville.
Read More “Baker Hughes U.S. Rig Count Loses 3 @ 620, M-U Drops 1 @ 40”
Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Regulation | Statewide OH

Ohio HB 201 Adds Fee to Utility Bills to Upgrade NatGas Pipes
December 22, 2023January 24, 2024

Ohio House Bill (HB) 201 was recently passed by both the state House and Senate and now sits on the desk of Gov. Mike DeWine (a somewhat swampy Republican, although far superior to governors like Kathy Hochul and Josh Shapiro). HB 201 started life as a bill to block the Buckeye State from following California’s lead in adopting emissions that are stricter than national regulations and call for the phaseout of the internal combustible engine by 2035. Somewhere along the way, the bill added an additional measure allowing the state’s natural gas utilities to recover the costs of installing new pipelines by tacking a fee on utility bills. It is the pipeline amendment that has the radicals going nuts in the state.
Read More “Ohio HB 201 Adds Fee to Utility Bills to Upgrade NatGas Pipes”
Energy Services | Keystone Clearwater Solutions

PA Shale Water/Wastewater Company Expands to Texas Permian
December 22, 2023January 24, 2024

It’s been a few years since we reported on Keystone Clearwater Solutions, a company that provides water services (clean water for fracking and wastewater hauling) for shale drillers in the Marcellus/Utica. At last check, in 2021, the company purchased the operations of competitor ECM Energy Services, based in PA, further expanding Keystone’s operations in the Keystone State (see Keystone Clearwater Buys ECM Energy’s PA Water Transport Biz). We’re happy to report Keystone is expanding to the Texas Permian oil play.
Read More “PA Shale Water/Wastewater Company Expands to Texas Permian”
Commodity Price | Industrywide Issues

Bernstein Analyst Predicts Average NYMEX HH Price in 2024 Mid-$2
December 22, 2023January 24, 2024

It is that time of year when various analysts, agencies, organizations, and everyone else offer their predictions for 2024. When it comes to what will happen with the price of natural gas, we like to select various predictions that we think are interesting and offer a view we find compelling. We spotted such a prediction about the price of natural gas in 2024 from an analyst with Bernstein. She makes the sobering prediction that the average price for NYMEX natural gas futures contract (THE price most quoted, from the Henry Hub) will be…
Read More “Bernstein Analyst Predicts Average NYMEX HH Price in 2024 Mid-$2”
About MDN

MDN Will be Off for Holidays from Dec. 25 Through Jan. 1
December 22, 2023January 24, 2024

We wish you a Merry Christmas…and a Happy New Year! MDN will take off (i.e. no new stories posted) between Monday, Dec. 25th, and Monday, Jan. 1st, in observance of the holiday season. Don’t worry, we’ll still keep an eye on the news, and if anything earth-shattering happens, we’ll post about it. However, our intent is to take a break from writing for an entire week. We will see you again on Tuesday, January 2nd. A brief note to thank you, our loyal readers, from the bottom of our heart. Thank you for subscribing and resubscribing year after year. We take our responsibility seriously to bring you the news — in context — throughout the year. We look forward to 2024 with eager anticipation for what it will bring in the Marcellus/Utica.
Best of the Rest

Other Stories of Interest: Fri, Dec 22, 2023
December 22, 2023January 24, 2024

OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Alaska Democratic Party considers a call to end all oil production; NATIONAL: USGS updates database for O&G wastewaters with 23 new datasets; GOP report highlights 2023 energy; The needs of the grid are changing, infrastructure must change too; Republicans hold hearing ‘to prevent energy poverty’ in America; INTERNATIONAL: Startup of Russian LNG project delayed over US sanctions.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Fri, Dec 22, 2023”