Marcellus Drilling News

Energy Companies | HG Energy

Elliott Invests $500M in Fund Aimed at Buying WV Driller HG Energy
March 12, 2024March 12, 2024

HG Energy drills for natural gas and oil in the Marcellus/Utica. The company, headquartered in Parkersburg, WV, is backed with private equity money managed by Quantum Capital Group (formerly Quantum Energy Partners). One of the companies co-investing in HG is Elliott Management, a so-called activist investor. The Wall Street Journal reports Elliott has just ponied up an additional $500 million (half a BILLION dollars!) to a fund managed by Quantum aimed at “retiring previous vehicles” that fund HG. In other words, retire older IOUs with newer IOUs. Elliott wants to grow its share of ownership in HG.
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Belmont County | Ohio

Driller Nominates Wildlife Area in Belmont County, OH for Fracking
March 12, 2024March 12, 2024

A map of Egypt Valley Wildlife Area. (Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources)

In January 2023, Ohio House Bill (HB) 507 became law with the signature of Gov. Mike DeWine (see OH Gov. Signs Bill Expanding Drilling in State Parks, NatGas “Green”). The new law allows shale drilling under (but not on top of) Ohio state-owned land, including state parks. HB 507 encourages (pushes for) more drilling under state-owned land. The special commission created to award contracts — called the Ohio Oil & Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC) — met in September to consider 12+ “nominations” or requests to drill received at that point (see Ohio Comm. Says 12.5% Royalties for State Land Drilling Too Cheap). More nominations have continued to roll in, including a nomination to drill under Egypt Valley Wildlife Area in Belmont County.
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Energy Companies | Energy Services | EQT Corp | Equitrans/EQT Midstream | Industrywide Issues | M&A

The Main Reason EQT is Buying Back Equitrans Midstream
March 12, 2024March 12, 2024

Yesterday, the big news broke that driller EQT Corporation is reuniting with pipeline company Equitrans Midstream (see Stop Press! EQT Buying Equitrans Midstream in All-Stock Deal). It’s not a total surprise. In February, Equitrans had telegraphed to the market that it was actively considering an offer from an unnamed buyer (see Equitrans Looking at Potential Buyer; MVP Now Delayed Until 2Q). We sort of figured it would be another pipeline company doing the buying, but then EQT stepped up. Why? What is the primary motivation for EQT to want to buy back what it once owned?
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Energy Companies | Energy Services | EQT Corp | Equitrans/EQT Midstream | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Pipelines

Will EQT Sell the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) Crown Jewels?
March 12, 2024March 12, 2024

Yesterday, EQT Corporation announced a deal to buy its former midstream division, now called Equitrans Midstream, for roughly $5.46 billion (see Stop Press! EQT Buying Equitrans Midstream in All-Stock Deal). Equitrans owns 1,200 miles of gathering pipelines (the main reason for the purchase) and another 940 miles of interstate pipelines. The crown jewels for Equitrans is the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), which is due to be finished and online in the next few months. Would EQT sell off the crown jewels?
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Blackhill Energy | Bradford County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation

PA DEP Issues Violation to Blackhill Energy for Methane Migration
March 12, 2024March 12, 2024

On February 8, 2024, the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued a notice of violation (NOV) to Blackhill Energy for failing to prevent the migration of shale gas into groundwater that contaminated three nearby private water wells in Springfield Township (Bradford County) in June of 2022. Yes, the NOV took nearly two years to get issued. We’re not sure why it takes so long to issue an NOV (perhaps a full investigation takes that long?), but it does. Blackhill self-reported the issue back in 2022 and presumably has already corrected it.
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Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Regulation

Texas Sues EPA to Block “Radical” Methane Regs Threatening Drillers
March 12, 2024March 12, 2024

EPA Administrator Michael Regan used a considerable amount of fossil energy and emitted tons of carbon dioxide to jet over to Dubai in December to participate in the COP28 confab, where he released a final rule that was “two years in the making” to force the U.S. oil and gas industry to cut methane emissions by using budget-busting new technologies and onerous (frequent) inspections (see Bidenistas Unleash Hellscape of U.S. Methane Regs at COP28). An analysis by Enverus said these onerous new regs will likely force the closure of some one-third (34%) of actively producing gas wells in the country and result in the bankruptcy of many small drillers (see New Biden EPA Methane Rule Will Kill One-Third of Active Gas Wells). The State of Texas has just filed a lawsuit challenging the rule. Texas is the first to sue, but certainly won’t be the last.
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Best of the Rest

Other Stories of Interest: Tue, Mar 12, 2024
March 12, 2024March 12, 2024

NATIONAL: United States produces more crude oil than any country, ever; INTERNATIONAL: Shell gas and LNG veteran to leave the company; Visualizing natural gas reserves by country.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Tue, Mar 12, 2024”