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Nat’l Rig Count Drops 4 @ 559; Marc. Even @ 24, Utica Even @ 12
Last week, for the sixth week in a row, the Baker Hughes U.S. rig count dropped, down another four rigs to its lowest level since November 2021. It was the first time since September 2023 that the count has fallen for six (or more) weeks in a row. Free fallin’. However, the Marcellus/Utica count remained the same, at a combined 36 active rigs. The Pennsylvania Marcellus operated 18 rigs. The Ohio Utica operated 11 rigs. And West Virginia operated seven rigs. Read More “Nat’l Rig Count Drops 4 @ 559; Marc. Even @ 24, Utica Even @ 12”
Republicans in the Buckeye State (Ohio) are treading on thin ice with a proposed change in the upcoming state budget. When GOP members began advocating for drilling under (not on) state-owned land and state parks in 2011, one of the arguments was that the revenue it would generate would improve state parks. A change in plans is underway with the latest two-year state budget, which would shift those revenues from park improvements to general operations instead. Is this a bait-and-switch? 
The Center for Energy & Environmental Analysis (CEEA) claims it is a “non-partisan think tank” that studies energy and environmental trends and their impact on the future. Attached to the University of Texas at Austin, the CEEA is actually very partisan (Democrat) and anti-fossil fuel. However, the CEEA has done us all a favor. The organization recently released a report aimed at denigrating a flurry of new natural gas pipeline projects planned or being built, and in the process, provides a list of 104 active pipeline projects that our side can celebrate. 
Bloomberg reports that Donald Trump is using our dominance of a niche petroleum gas, ethane, as a bargaining chip in his trade war with China. Last week MDN brought you the news that the Trump U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is blocking at least three (possibly more) cargoes of ethane by rejecting permits to export to Enterprise Products Partners (see 
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Gulf of America oil and natural gas production expected to remain stable through 2026; Southern California air regulators weigh a plan to phase out gas furnaces, water heaters; INTERNATIONAL: Morgan Stanley says OPEC+ quota hikes yet to deliver oil surge; Oil rises as solid USA jobs data pushes algos to drop short bets; Ukraine plots fracking revolution.