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26 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 5 – 11
For the week of May 5 – 11, the number of permits issued to drill new wells in the Marcellus/Utica was up four from the previous week. Last week, 26 new permits were issued in the M-U. In the Keystone State (PA), 13 new permits were issued. The top permittee was Seneca Resources, which had eight permits spread across two pads in Lycoming and Tioga counties. Olympus Energy, which is being sold to EQT, scored four permits for a pad in Allegheny County. And Infinity Natural Resources (INR) received a single permit in Indiana County. Read More “26 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 5 – 11”
In February, President Trump signed an executive order (EO) creating the National Energy Dominance Council, directing the new council to move quickly to increase domestic oil and gas production (see 
West Virginia has more than 21,000 abandoned and orphaned oil and gas wells. Plugging them to prevent environmental problems is a thorny issue, as it is in other states like Pennsylvania and Ohio (and Texas, and Oklahoma, etc.). Regulatory hurdles make it expensive. A WV bill not previously on our radar made its way through the legislature and was signed yesterday by Governor Patrick Morrisey: House Bill (HB) 3336. The bill (now law) makes it cheaper and faster to plug abandoned and orphaned oil and gas wells in the Mountain State. 
We spotted a story that got us thinking. Pennsylvania is the #1 exporter of electricity in the country, exporting some 26% of all the electricity it produces. Such exports give the state an opportunity to profit from building more gas-fired power, leveraging cheap Marcellus gas. However, exporting electricity is a complex issue. PA State Senator Kristin Phillips-Hill, Republican from York, PA, is sounding the alarm over the electricity exporting issue. She makes some great points… 
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) issued its latest monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook last week, the agency’s monthly best guess about where energy prices and production will go in the next 12 months. In this latest assessment, EIA dropped its estimates for the Henry Hub spot price. The agency expects the HH price to average $4.10 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) in 2025, $0.20 lower than last month’s forecast. However, EIA expects the annual average price in 2026 to be $4.80/MMBtu, which is $0.20 higher than last month’s forecast. EIA forecasts the Henry Hub spot price will average $4.20/MMBtu during the third quarter of 2025. 
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that the average number of wells completed simultaneously (simul-frac’d) at the same location in the Lower 48 states has more than doubled, increasing from 1.5 wells in December 2014 to more than 3.0 wells in June 2024. By completing (fracking) multiple wells at once rather than sequentially, operators can accelerate their production timeline and reduce costs per well. 
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Gov. Shapiro’s “Lightning Plan” tax credit, community energy pass PA House; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: NE needs natural gas, Dems block it; NATIONAL: A fraction of proposed data centers will get built; Storage build pressures natural gas futures; Natural gas price forecast – decline deepens after breaking key support levels; Energy private equity patiently waits to pounce and lead the next wave of oil and gas M&A; What will Republican defenders of the IRA do now?; INTERNATIONAL: Legislation for Great British Energy passes through Parliament; Oil slips as Trump eyes Iran deal; Russia oil export revenue at lowest since 2023 as prices slump; EIA forecasts world oil consumption growth to slow amid less economic activity.