Expand Closely Watching Scaledown in Permian to Boost Production
Expand Energy, formed by the merger of Chesapeake Energy and Southwestern Energy, is the largest natural gas producer in the U.S. with approximately 1.9 million leased net acres. Expand drills and operates in three distinct regions: Northeast Appalachia (Pennsylvania), Southwest Appalachia (mostly West Virginia, but also Pennsylvania and Ohio), and the Haynesville (Louisiana). The company issued its first quarter 2025 update two weeks ago. In 1Q25, Expand operated an average of 11 rigs drilling 46 wells and turning 89 wells in line to sales, resulting in net production of approximately 6.79 Bcfe per day (92% natural gas). The company expects to exit 2025 at a production level of roughly 7.2 Bcfe per day, with projections to grow to 7.5 Bcfe per day in 2026. Read More “Expand Closely Watching Scaledown in Permian to Boost Production”
Yesterday, MDN brought you the news that the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) is laying the blame for a series of low-level earthquakes in southeastern Ohio on fracking at a shale well in Noble County (see 
In December, MDN told you that the country’s largest electric grid, PJM Interconnection, which covers all or parts of 13 states, including PA, OH, and WV, proposed changes to how it decides which new power plants can connect to the system first. The new policy *favors* adding natural gas-fired power over other types of power like unreliable solar and wind (see 
In March, MDN told you about a legislative proposal from newly elected West Virginia Governor Pat Morrisey, a measure called the Power Generation and Consumption Act (House Bill 2014) to expand data center development in the state (see 
Diversified Energy, with significant assets in the Marcellus/Utica region (and other regions too), owns approximately 8 million acres of leases with close to 70,000 (mostly) conventional oil and gas wells. The company’s business model is to buy lower-producing wells on the cheap and find ways to make them more productive. One of the new ways Diversified is looking to make money with old wells is by mining cryptocurrency at wells in remote locations not hooked to a pipeline network. In March 2023, MDN told you that Diversified would try crypto-mining at a well in Elk County, Pennsylvania (see 
Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the first step in the DOE’s “largest deregulatory effort in history,” proposing the elimination or reduction of 47 regulations that are driving up costs and lowering the quality of life for the American people. Once finalized, these actions (the list of all 47 is published below) will save the American people an estimated $11 billion and cut more than 125,000 words from the Code of Federal Regulations. These actions, in accordance with President Donald Trump’s Executive Order, “Zero-Based Regulation to Unleash American Energy,” advance President Trump’s promise to restore consumer freedom, lower costs, and unleash American energy dominance. 
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Cleveland-Cliffs shifts away from hydrogen project at Ohio steel mill; NATIONAL: U.S. electricity prices continue steady increase; Bearish storage build, weak demand weigh on market as natural gas futures crater; As hydrogen market evolves, best uses will focus on cost, sustainability; Liability for climate change – an inequitable economic disaster; US to speed up oil and gas land parcel reviews for federal leasing; Why the proposed “phaseout” of IRA subsidies is unacceptable; INTERNATIONAL: Crude slips after inventory surge; Aramco pens $90B deals with US companies; OPEC+ makes careful start to supply revival; Europe will struggle to wean itself off Russian gas; BP’s chief U.S. economist worries China is winning the global energy war; GALACTIC: Webb’s Titan forecast – partly cloudy with occasional methane showers.