Marcellus Drilling News

Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Ohio | Statewide OH

Gulfport Energy Signals It Wants to Buy Another Ohio Driller
May 13, 2025May 13, 2025

Wow, what a difference four years can make! In May 2021, Gulfport Energy, the third-largest driller in the Ohio Utica Shale (by the number of wells drilled), emerged from bankruptcy with a new board and new management (see Gulfport Energy Emerges from Bankruptcy w/New Board, CEO/CFO Gone). Later in 2021, the rumors began to swirl that Gulfport was looking to sell itself (see Big News: OH Utica Driller Gulfport Energy Looking to Sell Itself). In the spring of 2022, the rumors centered on a combo with (sale to) fellow Ohio driller Ascent Resources (see Rumor: Gulfport Energy in Talks to Merge with Ascent Resources). None of the rumors came true. In last week’s first quarter update, Gulfport CEO John Reinhart indicated his company is now looking to DO the buying, rather than be bought. Read More “Gulfport Energy Signals It Wants to Buy Another Ohio Driller”
DT Midstream | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Millennium Pipeline | New York | Pipelines | Statewide NY | TC Energy/TransCanada

Millennium Pipe Open Season for Expanded Capacity in NY, New England
May 13, 2025May 13, 2025

click for larger version

The Millennium Pipeline, which stretches 263 miles from Corning, NY, to just outside New York City, delivers Pennsylvania Marcellus and Utica gas to utility and power plant markets across New York State and New England. Several companies jointly own the pipeline, which operates under its own corporate structure. In 2022, DT Midstream became the majority owner with 52.5% (see DT Midstream Becomes Majority Owner of Millennium Pipeline). The minority owner, TC Energy (47.5%), is the pipeline operator. On a conference call with analysts to discuss first quarter results, DT Midstream discussed something we were unaware of: Millennium is conducting an open season to gauge interest in expanding the pipeline’s capacity to deliver more M-U molecules to New York and New England markets. UPDATE: We have a copy of the official open season document below.
Read More “Millennium Pipe Open Season for Expanded Capacity in NY, New England”
Belmont County | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Regulation

Ohio Delays Decision to Frack Under Egypt Valley Wildlife Area
May 13, 2025May 13, 2025

Earlier this year, an undisclosed shale driller asked the Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC) to consider opening up an additional 4,360 acres of state-owned Egypt Valley Wildlife Area in Belmont County for shale drilling under the land (see New Request to Frack Under Another 4,743 Acres of OH Wildlife Areas). At a meeting on Monday, May 5, the OGLMC decided to delay a decision on the proposal until a future meeting. However, the May 5 meeting was not without controversy. A Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter tried to confront commission members to ask questions and was turned back by a police officer. The reporter said the officer “grabbed her arm.” A video of the event shows no such thing happening. Read More “Ohio Delays Decision to Frack Under Egypt Valley Wildlife Area”
Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | M&A

WhiteHawk Prevails, Gets PHX Minerals Down the Aisle for $187M
May 13, 2025May 13, 2025

WhiteHawk Energy is smitten with PHX Minerals. WhiteHawk has been trying to get PHX down the marriage aisle in any way it can for nearly two years. PHX has repeatedly given WhiteHawk the cold shoulder (see our WhiteHawk/PHX articles here). After begging, pleading, threatening, and appealing to shareholders, WhiteHawk has finally done it. WhiteHawk, one of the largest royalty owners in the Marcellus Shale, will acquire PHX Minerals Inc., a mineral rights owner with holdings in the Haynesville Shale and elsewhere, for $187 million ($4.35 per share). Read More “WhiteHawk Prevails, Gets PHX Minerals Down the Aisle for $187M”
Carbon Capture | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Surface Owners Join Forces with Enviros to Challenge CCS Primacy
May 13, 2025May 13, 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. Earlier this year, the federal EPA bestowed “primacy” on West Virginia, granting the WV Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) the authority to approve new Class VI injection wells, bypassing the federal EPA (see EPA Bestows West Virginia with CO2 (Class VI) Injection Well Primacy). WV is only one of four states with Class VI primacy. The West Virginia Surface Owners’ Rights Organization (WVSORO) has joined forces with the Sierra Club, the West Virginia Rivers Coalition, Inc., and the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy (three anti-fossil fuel organizations) to petition a federal appeals court to overturn WV’s Class VI primacy designation. Read More “WV Surface Owners Join Forces with Enviros to Challenge CCS Primacy”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Transco | Williams

Pipeline Giant Williams Getting New President/CEO
May 13, 2025May 13, 2025

Chad Zamarin – Williams’ new CEO

Williams is arguably the biggest and most important pipeline company in the Marcellus/Utica. Williams is the owner of the 10,000+ mile Transco pipeline that carries M-U molecules to the South and Southwest. It owns a major gathering system in northeastern Pennsylvania. Williams continues to innovate, replacing compressor stations along its pipelines with more efficient, lower emissions technology. Much of the credit for these accomplishments goes to the company’s CEO, Alan Armstrong, who began his tenure with Williams some 40 years ago as an engineer. Armstrong announced he is leaving the day-to-day responsibility of running the company, stepping down (or is it up?) from CEO to become the chairman of the board. Read More “Pipeline Giant Williams Getting New President/CEO”
Industrywide Issues | Regulation

Trump Eliminates So-Called Social Cost of Carbon Used for Regs
May 13, 2025May 13, 2025

In his first two days in office, Joe Biden declared war on the oil and gas industry. One of the first things he did was to revive an interagency working group on the “social cost” of greenhouse gas emissions and directed the issuance of an “interim” cost (see What Biden’s First Two Days on the Job Mean for the O&G Industry). The social cost of carbon dioxide emissions is a metric that regulators use to assess the monetary impact of emissions increases. On his first day in office, Biden restored the so-called climate cost estimate to $51 per ton of carbon dioxide emissions after the first Trump administration reduced the figure to $7 or less per ton. Read More “Trump Eliminates So-Called Social Cost of Carbon Used for Regs”
Best of the Rest

MDN’s Energy Stories of Interest: Tue, May 13, 2025 [FREE ACCESS]
May 13, 2025May 13, 2025

MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: PA DEP issues RFP for abandoned O&G well plugging services; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Equinor weighs killing NY wind farm after White House visit; CIP to invest $500 million in BKV CCUS projects; Colorado Supreme Court allows Boulder to sue Exxon, Suncor over climate change; NATIONAL: Oil prices rise on eased trade tensions; Why is the USA natural gas price rising?; Trump proposes slashing DOE budget by $19.3B; JP Morgan says oil demand in early May ‘indicates tepid YoY growth’; Natgas price heats up as futures rally on warmer weather outlook; INTERNATIONAL: Shell profit beats expectations, buybacks kept steady; BP-Shell megadeal would create European rival to Exxon Mobil; After Spain’s blackout, questions about renewable energy are back; Ukrainian parliament ratifies natural resources deal with USA; US, Russia explore ways to restore Russian gas flows to Europe, sources say. Read More “MDN’s Energy Stories of Interest: Tue, May 13, 2025 [FREE ACCESS]”