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22 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jan 27 – Feb 2

For the week of Jan 27 – Feb 2, the number of permits issued in the Marcellus/Utica to drill new shale wells recovered from the previous week. Two weeks ago, only 7 new permits were issued. Last week, the number increased to 22 new permits issued. Whereas the Keystone State (PA) issued no new permits two weeks ago, PA issued 13 new permits last week. Six of those permits went to Apex Energy in Westmoreland County. Five permits were issued to EQT (Rice Drilling) in Greene and Lycoming counties. And two permits went to Expand Energy (Chesapeake) in Bradford County. Read More “22 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jan 27 – Feb 2”

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INR IPO Grows, Adds Another $37M for $302M Total in Proceeds

We previously reported that INR (Infinity Natural Resources), which drills exclusively in the Marcellus/Utica region, floated an initial public offering (IPO) that brought in money on the high end of expectations and that the newly issued stock immediately started trading some 10% higher (see INR IPO Does Better than Expected, Stock Trading Pops 10% Higher). We have more good news about INR and its IPO. The investment bank underwriters elected to exercise their options to issue even more shares, netting the company another $37.3 million. Add it all up, and INR’s IPO brought in just over $302 million. Read More “INR IPO Grows, Adds Another $37M for $302M Total in Proceeds”

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ODNR Uses Drones to Sniff Out Orphaned Oil & Gas Wells in Ohio

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management, is about to fly drones equipped with magnetometers to sniff out orphaned oil and gas wells in Van Wert County. The ODNR previously completed drone flights in Auglaize, Hancock, Mercer, and Wood counties. The ODNR issued a press release to inform (warn) about the upcoming flights, no doubt to prevent the mass hysteria we’ve seen in recent months about drone flights along the Eastern seaboard. Read More “ODNR Uses Drones to Sniff Out Orphaned Oil & Gas Wells in Ohio”

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WSJ Agrees with MDN on Josh Shapiro’s Blame Shift re Electric Rates

Do the editors of the Wall Street Journal read Marcellus Drilling News? No, we don’t expect they actually do. Although the editorial published by the editors of the WSJ on Feb. 4 looks like it could have been written by your humble MDN editor—because it says all the things we’ve said for months about Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and his attempt to blame the PJM Interconnection grid for causing high electricity prices that have, in reality, been caused by Shapiro and his “green” policies. Read More “WSJ Agrees with MDN on Josh Shapiro’s Blame Shift re Electric Rates”

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Wellington Mgmt Makes Major Investment in Coterra, Now Owns 11%

We spotted some news on the investor website GuruFocus that surprised us. Major investment firm Wellington Management Group made “a significant” addition to its portfolio by acquiring 10,406,240 shares of Coterra Energy on Jan. 31. The company paid $27.72 per share, a $288 million investment. But that’s not the biggest surprise. Wellington already owned a significant number of shares. With the addition of the recent 10.4 million shares, Wellington now owns 81,616,253, or 11.1% of Coterra’s total shares. Wellington is one of the largest investor/owners of Coterra Energy. Read More “Wellington Mgmt Makes Major Investment in Coterra, Now Owns 11%”

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WV Leads 22 States in Suing NY Over $75B Climate Superfund Law

At the end of the last legislative session in December, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, an extremist liberal, signed into law a new climate bill forcing a short list of Big Oil companies to pay $75 billion in “recovery” assessments over the next 25 years for their alleged role in causing mythical global warming (see NY Gov. Hochul Goes Nuts: Signs Law Billing O&G Companies $75B). We outlined how the law is unconstitutional and illegal (see The Legal Case Against NY Law Taxing O&G $75B for Global Warming). Yesterday, the Attorneys General for 22 states, led by the AG from West Virginia, filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging NY’s Climate Superfund Act. Read More “WV Leads 22 States in Suing NY Over $75B Climate Superfund Law”

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DOI Sec. Burgum Signs 6 Orders to Restart Drilling on Fed Lands

Doug Burgum

These days, we feel like a kid in a candy shop, with the actions being taken by President Trump and his all-star cabinet picks. “Ooooo, I love this chocolate (gobble gobble gobble). Oh! I love this one too! (gobble gobble gobble). And what about this one!!” Pretty soon, the kid gets a stomachache from overeating all that candy. In our metaphor, we’re getting a stomachache (headache) from trying to cover all the important energy-related news from Washington, D.C. The changes are MASSIVE. We previously reported on orders and missives issued by President Trump (see Trump’s First-Day EOs Nothing Short of Revolutionary for Oil & Gas), by the new Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright (see Energy Sec. Wright’s 1st Order Cancels Net-Zero, Streamlines Permits), and new EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin (see New EPA Plan Puts Energy to Power AI at Top of Agency’s Agenda). Now comes word of yet another key energy-related agency, the Department of the Interior (DOI), issuing earth-shattering directives. Read More “DOI Sec. Burgum Signs 6 Orders to Restart Drilling on Fed Lands”

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Equinor Sees the Light – Cuts Renewable Investment, Expands O&G

We’ve been pretty hard on Equinor since 2018 when Statoil changed its name to Equinor, apparently ashamed of being associated with the term oil (see Statoil Gets a New Name Starting Today – Equinor). Equinor, which is based in and owned by Norway, is the largest supplier of energy to Europe. Equinor’s activities span 36 countries, including the U.S., and it ranks among the world’s top oil and gas companies in terms of production, revenue, and influence in the energy sector. Equinor lost its way for the past six years, thinking it would transition itself (a tranny oil company!) into a renewable energy company. As other big European companies like Shell and BP have discovered, oil drillers don’t make money in renewables. Equinor has finally seen the same light and is significantly scaling back its investments in renewable programs. Instead, it is growing the money it spends to drill for oil and gas. Read More “Equinor Sees the Light – Cuts Renewable Investment, Expands O&G”

Other Stories of Interest: Fri, Feb 7, 2025

MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Major increase in net outflows of gas from the northeast, as warmer weather cuts demand; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Judge dismisses New Jersey’s NGO-funded climate lawsuit in fiery opinion; Why oil and gas companies want state oversight for carbon dioxide injection; New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration gives up on new offshore wind; NATIONAL: Five things to know about AI’s thirst for energy; Energy industry wants DOE to eliminate seven-year export deadline; EIA natural gas storage draw of -174 Bcf exceeds analyst expectations; INTERNATIONAL: European natural gas prices surge to 16-month high amid cold snap; JP Morgan says global oil demand ‘surged’ to over 101MM bpd in January; Europe’s latest energy squabble – England versus Norway. Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Fri, Feb 7, 2025”