Frac Sand: Does Size Really Matter?
Today, we introduce you to a new advertiser on Marcellus Drilling News: MS Industries. Below is a sponsored post from MS Industries. Such posts on MDN are extremely rare. We only accept sponsored posts if we believe the content is (a) very high quality and (b) directly relevant to MDN readers. This post on frac sand hits the bullseye. Among MDN’s audience are many who work for drillers (i.e., producers) and those who work for the oilfield services companies that work for those drillers. Believe it or not, frac sand is one of the keys, one of the closely-guarded secrets of drillers, that determines the success of their drilling programs. MS Industries, serving the Marcellus/Utica (and other plays), offers a range of high-grade frac sand, including whole grain silica microproppant. Matt Henry, one of the principals of MS Industries, writes about the role of microproppants in fracking. Click to learn more about the critical role of frac sand and why size *does* matter… Read More “Frac Sand: Does Size Really Matter?”
CNX Resources, one of the original founding partners in the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2) project created during the Biden administration, has “paused” its participation in the project. CNX is no longer listed as a partner on the 
Hart Energy reports that Expand Energy, formed by the combination of Chesapeake Energy and Southwestern Energy, drilled a massive 5.6-mile lateral in northern West Virginia’s dry-gas Utica—and it was drilled in five days with just one bit run. Expand’s Shannon Fields OHI #3H well, located in Ohio County, WV, has a 29,687-ft lateral. We always get in trouble when we make statements like this (because some drillers don’t disclose details for their wells), but we’re pretty sure this is the longest onshore shale well lateral ever drilled in the U.S. Maybe even in the world! 
Yesterday, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro visited Voith Hydro North America (in York, PA) to announce that key components of his extremely flawed “Lightning Plan” will be introduced in the General Assembly in the coming weeks by sychophantic Democrats. Shapiro claims his so-called Lightning Plan is “a comprehensive, all-of-the-above energy plan to secure Pennsylvania’s energy future.” Except his plan puts the thumb of the government on the scales in favor of wind, solar, and hydro and purposely disadvantages natural gas. 
Joe Stalin was a brutal dictator in the Soviet Union (Russia) who ruled with an iron fist during the early 20th century. He established the totalitarian political system known as 
Earlier this month, the Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Association (TIPRO) released the 10th edition of its “State of Energy Report,” offering a detailed analysis of national and state trends in oil and natural gas employment, wages and other key economic factors for ?the energy industry in 2024 (full copy below). TIPRO’s “State of Energy Report” series was developed to quantify and track the economic impact of the domestic oil and natural gas sector, emphasizing the state of Texas. However, the report has a lot of great data, including a breakdown of key O&G employment and economic stats for Pennsylvania and Ohio. One thing that caught our attention is that nationwide those classified as working in “natural gas extraction” jobs made an average annual salary of $176,800 in 2024, up $10,740 from 2023. Hey, we’re in the wrong business! 
Up/down, up/down, up/down, up/down… We can’t count how many times the Freeport LNG export facility has come online to go offline again, with the cycle repeating (
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: First LNG cargo produced at Corpus Christi Stage 3 export facility; NATIONAL: Oil CEOs back Trump’s energy agenda as crude hits fresh low; US LNG exporters seek to renegotiate deals to cover rising costs; CFACT warns about dangerous wind and solar PFAS pollution; Technicals suggest natgas futures in ‘early innings of a long-term bullish cycle’; Trump just reversed course on two key U.S. climate pledges; U.S. could reach deal with Canada that avoids oil and gas tariffs; Gunvor eyes boosting US natural gas production assets; The future for oil takes center stage at CERAWeek opening day; INTERNATIONAL: Enbridge appoints Steven W. Williams as Chairman of the Board; The world has reached ‘peak oil trade’ (LOL); Oil prices rebound as market metrics signal oversold conditions; Energy market implications of Ukraine-Russia ceasefire could be huge.