33 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Apr 14 – 20
Last week was another strong week for new permits issued to drill new shale wells in the Marcellus/Utica. For the week of April 14 – 20, the number of permits was down three from the previous week, but still very strong. Last week, 33 new permits were issued in the M-U. In the Keystone State (PA), 25 new permits were issued, a dramatic increase from five two weeks ago. The top permittee was Range Resources, with 10 permits, half of which were in Allegheny County and the other half in Washington County. Seneca Resources received six permits, all of which were in Tioga County. EQT and its subsidiary Rice Drilling also scored six permits, with four in Fayette County and two in Greene County. PA General Energy got two permits in Lycoming County, and Olympus Energy received one permit in Allegheny County. Read More “33 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Apr 14 – 20”
Yesterday, CNX Resources issued its first quarter 2025 update. The company lost $198 million for the quarter, compared with a profit of $6.9 million in 1Q24. On the financial plus side, the company generated $100 million in free cash flow, marking the 21st consecutive quarter of FCF generation. Production was 147.8 Bcfe (billion cubic feet equivalent) in 1Q25 — which works out to 1.64 Bcfe/d — up from 140.4 Bcfe last year (a 5.3% increase). Drilling all but stopped during 3Q24, a trend that continued in 4Q24. However, drilling picked up again in 1Q25, with the company drilling five new wells, fracking eight wells, and bringing 19 wells online to sales (called “turned-in-line” or TIL). The TILs included nine Southwest Pa. Marcellus wells, two Central Pa. deep Utica wells, and an eight-well Central Pa. Marcellus pad acquired from Apex Energy. 
Corporate welfare—the transfer of taxpayers’ money to businesses—is ugly, no matter if the money goes to large or small businesses. True to form, Pennsylvania’s Democrat Governor, Josh Shapiro, and his political operative at the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), “Acting” Secretary Jessica Shirley, yesterday launched a program to try and spread nearly half a billion dollars of taxpayer’s money from the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act (Biden’s Green New Scam) to businesses large and small in the Keystone State. They euphemistically call the program RISE PA (Reducing Industrial Sector Emissions in Pennsylvania). It should be called “Spread Taxpayer Dollars to Buy Votes” (STD BV). 
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has found some willing accomplices among PA House Democrats to introduce six bills to implement Shapiro’s nutty, very partisan energy plan, called the “Lightning Plan.” 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. Our observation: If it takes six (or more) bills to adopt his energy plan, something is seriously wrong. 
We spotted a press release that caught our attention. Duke Energy, owner of electricity utility companies serving 8.6 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky, has just sealed a deal with GE Vernova to buy up to 11 7HA gas turbines to power new gas-fired power plants. That’s in addition to eight 7HA turbines Duke has already purchased from GE Vernova. While the timing for deliveries was not specified, the announcement implies that Duke is getting its turbines sooner rather than later, which is saying something because lately there has been a years-long waiting list for these types of turbines. And yes, there is a connection to the Marcellus/Utica. 
Yeah, it happened. And we’re not happy about it. Yesterday, the NYMEX “front month” futures contract for May sank below and stayed below $3/MMBtu, closing at $2.930/MMBtu, some 9.2 cents lower than the closing price from the day before. It was the lowest settlement price since Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. The spot price for physically traded natural gas slipped, too. If there was any bright spot, the NGI Appalachia Regional Average price, an average of all the spot price trades in the Marcellus/Utica region, gained a penny yesterday. 
NATIONAL: Williams announces Chief Operating Officer appointment; AccuWeather looks at wildfire risk for USA oil, gas in 2025; The United States operates the world’s largest nuclear power plant fleet; Energy secretary aims to reassure oil bosses amid trade war; Trump emergency order accelerates oil and gas permitting; I voted to eliminate ROFR, and that was unwise; INTERNATIONAL: Oil gains as supply tightness counters trade concerns; Russia oil drilling at fastest pace in 5 years as curbs ease.