Nat’l Rig Count Adds 2 @ 585; Marcellus Up 1 @ 25, Utica Up 2 @ 13
The Baker Hughes U.S. national rig count recovered somewhat last week, adding two rigs after losing seven rigs two weeks ago. The U.S. count now stands at 585 active rigs. There was big news for the Marcellus/Utica. The combined M-U rig count was 38 last week. That is the highest M-U combined count in almost one year—since May of 2024. The Marcellus added the one rig it lost the prior week and now stands at 25 rigs across the three M-U states of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. Rigs focused on the Utica added two, and now stands at 13 rigs. PA was a big winner, adding two rigs, now with 18 active rigs — the highest number it has had since last August. However, OH also added two rigs and now operates 12, the most active rigs in the Buckeye State in over a year. Read More “Nat’l Rig Count Adds 2 @ 585; Marcellus Up 1 @ 25, Utica Up 2 @ 13”
The NYMEX natural gas price for May delivery (referred to as the “front month” contract) decreased by 28.20 cents per million British thermal units (MMBtu), or 8.0%, last week. Over the past three weeks, the NYMEX price has trended down, losing 82 cents or 20.2%. What the heck is going on? Analysts say it’s a mix of “shifting fundamentals, cash market weakness, and uncertainty caused by President Trump’s tariff campaign.” 
Local townships, whether governed by a majority of Republicans or Democrats, typically reject proposals to install massive, ugly, bird-killing (and filled with toxic chemicals) solar farms, no matter where they are tried (red or blue states). It’s a problem for the tone deaf environmental left. Solar farms are even rejected in blue New York! Another such installation tried to gain approval in Stark County, Ohio, recently. The Ohio Power Siting Board, citing local opposition, rejected a permit for a 150 megawatt solar farm that would have gobbled up 860 acres in Washington Township. 
U.S. marketed natural gas production remained “relatively flat in 2024,” according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Gas production last year grew “by less than 0.4 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) compared with 2023 to average 113 Bcf/d,” according to EIA’s latest Natural Gas Monthly report. Translated another way, production grew around 400 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) last year. Statistically, it’s about three-tenths of one percent, which rounds to zero. Still, it GREW. It did not shrink. And that’s what should be emphasized. 
Donald Trump’s new EPA Administrator, Lee Zeldin (from Long Island), has been a smash hit in his new role. He continues to delight and surprise. Zeldin is aggressively rolling back many of the over-the-top regulations adopted during the evil Biden years, regulations that don’t improve the environment but only serve to destroy American businesses. In a recent interview with the New York Post, Zeldin did not hold back on the lunacy of New York’s climate law and how it hurts the most vulnerable in the state. He called NY’s policies “delusional” and a “catastrophe.” 
AI, artificial intelligence, has been in the news a lot lately, particularly in the Marcellus/Utica region. Most of the stories we’ve brought you deal with huge new AI data centers being built in the M-U region, requiring a big increase in electricity to power them. Most of the electricity comes from natural gas-fired power plants. But this post is not about AI data centers, it’s about how energy companies, like Encino Energy, are using AI to drill better, faster, cheaper, and smarter. It’s about how AI is helping our companies become better at what they do—extracting and flowing natural gas and oil. 
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Did D.C.’s AG play favorites when awarding Sher Edling a lucrative contract?; Valero announces closure of Bay Area refinery; Puerto Rico needs power, not political lawsuits; $182 million gas pipeline replacement project kicks off in southeast Michigan; NATIONAL: Lee Zeldin is hovering right over the target; DOT spiked Biden-era emissions rule; Green hydrogen, CCS not viable in steelmaking until 2030s; INTERNATIONAL: Spain gets EU approval for €455M hydrogen aid scheme; Russian LNG phaseout makes room for U.S. supplies; Heritage Foundation discusses how low oil may go.