Marcellus Drilling News

Commodity Price | Industrywide Issues

NYMEX Gas Price Closed Below $3/MMBtu Psychological Barrier
August 5, 2025August 5, 2025

Yesterday, the “front month” contract (for September) for the NYMEX futures natural gas price crashed down 15.1 cents to close at $2.932/MMBtu. Bummer. The $3 level is an important psychological barrier, and we just violated it. The questions, as always, are (1) why did the price go lower (what’s rattling around inside the heads of traders); and (2) where is the price likely to go next? We aim to try to answer those questions in this post. Read More “NYMEX Gas Price Closed Below $3/MMBtu Psychological Barrier”
Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Regulation | Washington County

Range Appeals Cecil Township Frack-Ban-by-Setback to County Court
August 5, 2025August 6, 2025

Last November, three of five supervisors in Cecil Township (Washington County), PA, voted to ban all new fracking in the town via a new setback (distance from well to nearest structure) requirement of 2,500 feet (see Cecil Twp Supervisors Pull the Trigger on Frack Ban Via Setbacks). We said at the time, “Let the lawsuits begin.” And so they did. Range Resources, the only driller in Cecil Township with wells or permits to drill, filed a “Substantive Validity Challenge” to the ordinance that the Township Zoning Hearing Board heard. The Hearing Board voted 2-0 in June to dismiss the challenge, leaving the 2,500-foot setback requirement in place (see Cecil Twp Board Votes to Dismiss Challenge of 2,500-Ft Setback). Range recently appealed the dismissal to the Washington County Court of Common Pleas. Read More “Range Appeals Cecil Township Frack-Ban-by-Setback to County Court”
Energy Companies | Seneca Resources

Investor: Would NFG Consider Selling a Piece of Seneca Resources?
August 5, 2025August 5, 2025

Yesterday, MDN brought you a review and summary of National Fuel Gas Company’s (NFG) latest quarterly update (see NFG Building Pipe to Feed Shippingport Power Station in Beaver, PA). There was a lot of news in the update, including details about a new pipeline project to feed a Pennsylvania gas-fired power plant, and the fact that the company’s drilling subsidiary, Seneca Resources, hit a brand new quarterly production high of 112 Bcf of natural gas (a 16% increase). We did, however, miss one important passage in the earnings call. Would NFG consider selling at least some of Seneca Resources to investors? Read More “Investor: Would NFG Consider Selling a Piece of Seneca Resources?”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Williams

NH Gov. Kelly Ayotte Supports Reviving Constitution Pipeline
August 5, 2025August 5, 2025

NH Gov. Kelly Ayotte with EPA Admin. Lee Zeldin

Of the six New England states, there is precisely one that’s even halfway “conservative” (and not really all that conservative, if you ask us): New Hampshire. The other five are all lost causes, run by Democrat governors who are ruining them. NH has a Republican governor and has had Republicans for governors for most of its history. Current Governor Kelly Ayotte, who took office this year (previously a U.S. Senator from the state), met with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin yesterday. During the meeting, she expressed her support for resurrecting and building the Constitution Pipeline in her comments to the media. Read More “NH Gov. Kelly Ayotte Supports Reviving Constitution Pipeline”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Kentucky

Antis, Solar Industry Trash Talk Gas-Fired Power to Kentucky PSC
August 5, 2025August 5, 2025

In December 2022, Louisville Gas and Electric Company (LG&E) and Kentucky Utilities Company (KU), both subsidiaries of PPL Corporation, announced a plan to replace 1,500 megawatts of aging coal-fired generation (nearly one-third of Kentucky’s coal fleet) with two 645-MW natural gas combined-cycle units along with several unreliable, intermittent solar projects (see PPL Replacing Coal-Fired Power Plants with NatGas in Louisville, KY). The Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) issued its decision on the request in November 2023 (see Kentucky PSC Votes to Retire 2 Coal Plants, Replace w/Gas-Fired). LG&E/KU got some, but nowhere near all of what they requested. LG&E/KU is making a new attempt at convincing the PSC to reconsider those parts of the plan it denied in 2023—namely, permission to build a second gas-fired power plant. Anti-fossil fuelers and solar industry reps turned up at a public hearing to trash-talk LG&E/KU’s plan. Read More “Antis, Solar Industry Trash Talk Gas-Fired Power to Kentucky PSC”
CNG/LNG | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

DOE Approves Increase in Venture Global Calcasieu Pass LNG Exports
August 5, 2025August 5, 2025

Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass (CP) LNG export facility in Louisiana began operations in March 2022 (see Calcasieu Pass LNG Loads Inaugural Cargo; Sabine Pass LNG Expands). After liquefying and exporting over 400 cargoes of LNG from March 1, 2022, through April 2025, Venture Global said its CP LNG export facility in Louisiana was officially open for business, three years after it began shipping LNG (see Calcasieu Pass LNG Open for Business After Shipping 400+ Cargoes). CP LNG’s capacity is currently 12 MTPA (million tonnes per annum). The company filed for permission to increase the output to 12.4 MTPA. Yesterday, the Department of Energy (DOE) gave its stamp of approval. Read More “DOE Approves Increase in Venture Global Calcasieu Pass LNG Exports”
Hydrogen | Industrywide Issues | Research

EIA Says NatGas Largest Source to Produce Hydrogen Over Long-term
August 5, 2025August 5, 2025

click for larger version

The hydrogen energy dream was over before it started, as we pointed out in a post in June (see U.S. Green Hydrogen “Boom” Went Bust Before Trump & GOP Won). Even though President Autopen’s administration attempted to jumpstart “green” hydrogen production by dumping billions into it, it just didn’t combust. Now comes a sobering new analysis from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) that predicts natural gas will remain (as it historically has been) the primary source to create hydrogen in the foreseeable future. Read More “EIA Says NatGas Largest Source to Produce Hydrogen Over Long-term”
Best of the Rest

MDN’s Energy Stories of Interest: Tue, Aug 5, 2025 [FREE ACCESS]
August 5, 2025August 5, 2025

MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: PJM’s record auction proves we must keep—and build—more coal plants; Buildsylvania – Pennsylvania’s AI-driven construction boom; NATIONAL: EPA moves to rescind the Obama-era Endangerment Finding; Another Burgum order coldcocks solar and wind; The renewable illusion; why fossil fuels keep winning; INTERNATIONAL: Oil drops in choppy trade on Russia uncertainty, OPEC+ increase; BP chair to review business as pressure mounts on turnaround; Tankers deliver Russian crude to India despite US, EU pressure; Qatar’s LNG warning highlights Europe’s fragile energy strategy. Read More “MDN’s Energy Stories of Interest: Tue, Aug 5, 2025 [FREE ACCESS]”