Marcellus Drilling News

Energy Companies | INR/Infinity Natural Resources | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA

Infinity Natural Resources Launches IPO, Hopes to Raise ~$250M
January 22, 2025January 22, 2025

MDN reported in October that Marcellus/Utica driller Infinity Natural Resources (INR) intended to file an initial public offering (IPO) with the Securities and Exchange Commission hoping to raise $100 million (see M-U Driller Infinity Natural Resources Files for $100 Million IPO). We further reported in December that INR added seven Big Banks to the existing list of four as underwriters (see Infinity Natural Resources Picks Up Another 7 Banks for Utica IPO). All signs pointed to an imminent launch of the IPO. That day is here. INR announced yesterday that it has launched an offering of 13.25 million shares of stock, hoping to fetch between $18.00 and $21.00 per share. Read More “Infinity Natural Resources Launches IPO, Hopes to Raise ~$250M”
Electrical Generation | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Pipelines

Southern NatGas & Elba Look to Expand Southeast Pipe by 1.3 Bcf/d
January 22, 2025January 22, 2025

Last August, MDN told you about several potential new pipeline projects under consideration to help feed new data centers and artificial intelligence (AI) operations, most of them located in the southeastern U.S. (see Big Midstream Companies Eye Data Center/AI Market for New Pipes). One of the projects we mentioned in passing was Kinder Morgan’s South System Expansion 4 (SSE4) Project, a $3 billion project to construct fourteen new natural gas pipeline loops (noncontiguous) of various diameters totaling approximately 279 miles primarily along Southern Natural Gas Company’s (SNG) existing South Mainline in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. Landowners in Alabama got to ask questions about the project at a recent open house in Tuskegee. Read More “Southern NatGas & Elba Look to Expand Southeast Pipe by 1.3 Bcf/d”
Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Regulation

Pres. Trump Promotes Republican Mark Christie to FERC Chairman
January 22, 2025January 22, 2025

Mark Christie

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Commissioner Mark Christie, who first became a FERC commissioner when appointed by President Trump during his first term, was promoted to become the Chairman of FERC by Trump on Monday. Wow! We never saw that one coming. We didn’t even know Trump had FERC on his radar for the first day, let alone the first week or month. Yet he did. Christie replaces Democrat Willie Phillips as Chairman. Phillips, who frankly we liked, was appointed by Joe Biden. Phillips ran afoul of many leftwing Democrats because he sided with the two Republicans on the commission to form a 3-member majority in approving pipeline projects. Phillips will remain as a “regular” commissioner. Read More “Pres. Trump Promotes Republican Mark Christie to FERC Chairman”
Carbon Capture | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

EPA Bestows West Virginia with CO2 (Class VI) Injection Well Primacy
January 22, 2025January 22, 2025

A key issue has come about with the rapid increase in carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) projects around the country, including here in the Marcellus/Utica region. Where does one store (sequester) all that carbon dioxide (CO2)? The answer is underground in a Class VI injection well. Class VI wells are a relatively new classification for injection wells, created by the federal EPA in 2010. Who regulates Class VI wells is a flashpoint of controversy. Until yesterday, the EPA was the primary regulator (has “primacy”) in regulating Class VI wells in all but three states: North Dakota, Wyoming, and Louisiana. Yesterday, West Virginia was added to the Class VI primacy list. Read More “EPA Bestows West Virginia with CO2 (Class VI) Injection Well Primacy”
Electrical Generation | Fayette County | Industrywide Issues | Ohio

Amazon Buys Land in Central Ohio to Build New Data Center
January 22, 2025January 22, 2025

Fayette County, OH

AI (artificial intelligence) and data centers are a big deal, as we’ve been actively discussing since last summer (see M-U Drillers Excited About Growing Demand from Nearby Data Centers), although we first discussed data centers all the way back in 2012 (see Data Centers May Relocate to Use Marcellus Shale Gas). As you will read in a companion post today, a new consortium will invest a mind-blowing half a trillion dollars in data centers and AI over the next four years. However, the future is now. Amazon Data Services has just plunked down $102 million to buy 589.8 acres in Jefferson Township (Fayette County), OH, to build a new data center. Read More “Amazon Buys Land in Central Ohio to Build New Data Center”
Economic Impact | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues

AI, Data Centers Go Mainstream – Big Do at WH re $500B Investment
January 22, 2025January 22, 2025

Left to right: Donald Trump, Masayoshi Son (SoftBank), Larry Ellison (Oracle), Sam Altman (OpenAI)

We flipped on the TV to Fox News yesterday in the late afternoon. Much to our delight, President Trump talked about AI (artificial intelligence) and a massive new investment in AI data centers from a consortium that includes OpenAI (ChatGPT), SoftBank, and Oracle. All big and important companies. When we heard the amount the group pledges to invest in the next four years, $500 billion (half a trillion dollars!), our jaw hit the floor. As we point out in a companion post today, these data centers are HUGE new natural gas customers because gas will generate the electricity they need to operate. We mean, WOW, can you imagine how much gas will be needed to power $500 billion worth of new data centers? Read More “AI, Data Centers Go Mainstream – Big Do at WH re $500B Investment”
CNG/LNG | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

LNG Carrier Reflagged Under Jones Act Loophole to Service P.R.
January 22, 2025January 22, 2025

Puteri Intan LNG carrier

For years, we’ve railed against the Jones Act, signed into law in 1920, which requires any ship that travels between U.S. ports to be built in the U.S., flagged as a U.S. ship and crewed by American citizens (see our Jones Act articles here). No modern LNG cargo carriers qualify as they are all built in other countries, meaning we can’t load a ship along the Gulf Coast (or Atlantic Coast, like Cove Point or Elba Island) with LNG and then transport it to another U.S. port like Boston or Puerto Rico. Shipping giant Crowley has just found a way around that restriction—at least for shipments heading to Puerto Rico. Read More “LNG Carrier Reflagged Under Jones Act Loophole to Service P.R.”
Best of the Rest

Other Stories of Interest: Wed, Jan 22, 2025
January 22, 2025January 22, 2025

MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: PJM prepares for high electricity demand; Hochul must abandon ALL her insane climate-change tax grabs; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Fight over CT’s energy future; NATIONAL: Foreign billionaire is behind effort to take down ExxonMobil using courts; IPAA says “misguided, irrational energy policies are done”; API applauds President Trump’s Day One energy executive orders; Oil majors flirt with electricity; INTERNATIONAL: Europe gas jumps as Germany seeks to subsidize storage refills; EU is set to shrink ESG reporting rules amid French demands; Habeck urges Europe to limit reliance on US energy; Iran’s energy crisis. Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Wed, Jan 22, 2025”