Marcellus Drilling News

Carroll County | Encino Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Ohio

OH Rights Owner Wins Case Against Encino re Post-Production Deductions
August 26, 2025August 26, 2025

Another important lawsuit involving whether or not a driller can deduct from royalty checks for post-production expenses was just decided by the Ohio Court of Appeals for the Seventh District in Carroll County. The rights owner in this case, Gateway Royalty II, sued Encino Energy (EAP Ohio) over the issue of deducting post-production expenses from the company’s overriding royalty interests. This is slightly different from the usual post-production issue for landowners/rights owners. Read More “OH Rights Owner Wins Case Against Encino re Post-Production Deductions”
DeepRock Disposal | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Regulation | Washington County (OH) | Wastewater

Marietta, OH Officials Ask ODNR to Deny Permit for Injection Well
August 26, 2025August 26, 2025

The war of words continues. Two weeks ago, a county Republican meeting in Washington County, Ohio, where the City of Marietta is located, turned into a shouting match over a potential fifth shale wastewater injection well proposed by DeepRock Disposal Solutions (see OH Republican Officials Squabble in Public Over Injection Wells). The open hostility continues with Marietta officials, including the city’s mayor, law director, water superintendent, and a majority of city council members, asking the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Oil and Gas Chief Eric Vendel to deny a permit application from DeepRock for the Stephan #1 injection well. Read More “Marietta, OH Officials Ask ODNR to Deny Permit for Injection Well”
Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Statewide WV | Taxation | West Virginia

WV Oil & Gas Production Up, $$ from Severance, Property Tax Up Too
August 26, 2025August 26, 2025

West Virginia’s oil, gas, and coal industries are experiencing a resurgence, fueled by supportive state and federal policies. Gas & Oil Association of West Virginia (GO-WV) President Charlie Burd reports that Fiscal Year FY25 severance tax collections rose to $318 million, alongside record natural gas production, 90% of which is exported out of the state. Property taxes levied on oil and gas in the state were $428 million for FY24 (the 2025 numbers are not out yet). Burd said the O&G industry continues to directly employ around 15,000 people. Read More “WV Oil & Gas Production Up, $$ from Severance, Property Tax Up Too”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Regulation | Virginia

Virginia SCC Hits Pause on VNG Proposed Compressor in Chesapeake
August 26, 2025August 26, 2025

Despite a “public outcry” (of 13 people), the Chesapeake City (Virginia) Council voted 6-3 in July to approve a compressor station for Virginia Natural Gas (see Chesapeake City Council Approves Va. NatGas Compressor Station). The proposed site is already zoned industrial and has other VNG operations already in place. It’s not like it’s being constructed in the middle of a neighborhood. However, the State Corporation Commission (SCC) has hit the pause button on the project to give it extra time to sift through the barrage of incoming lies that this compressor station is racist. Read More “Virginia SCC Hits Pause on VNG Proposed Compressor in Chesapeake”
CNX Resources | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

CNX Extends E-Fracking Contract with Evolution Another 32 Months
August 26, 2025August 26, 2025

In 2018, CNX Resources announced it had signed a long-term contract with Evolution Well Services to use Evolution’s 100% natural gas-fueled electric pressure pumping equipment (see CNX Signs Deal with Evolution to Use 100% Electric Fracking Fleet). That is, CNX would use electric fracking equipment, with the electricity generated by burning natural gas, instead of diesel. In May 2019, the e-fracking fleet for CNX spun up and began operating in Greene County, PA (see CNX Operates SWPA’s Sole 100% All-Electric Fracking Unit). In 2022, CNX announced it had signed a four-year extension with Evolution to keep on e-fracking (see CNX Extends E-Fracking Contract with Evolution Another 4 Years). And now, CNX and Evolution have signed another extension, adding another 32 months to the deal, meaning the two will have worked together for a full decade. Read More “CNX Extends E-Fracking Contract with Evolution Another 32 Months”
Encino Energy | Energy Companies | Energy Services | MarkWest Energy

Ray Walker, Former Encino Energy COO, Joins MPLX Board of Directors
August 26, 2025August 26, 2025

Ray Walker

Ray Walker is a legend in the Marcellus/Utica industry. He worked from 2006 to 2018 as Executive Vice President and COO (Chief Operating Officer) at Range Resources. You may recall that Range was the very first driller to sink a successful Marcellus Shale well in 2004. Ray joined Range not long after the first well and was responsible for growing Range’s Marcellus program. In 2018, Ray joined Encino Energy as that company’s COO, helping Encino figure out how to crack the oil code in the Ohio Utica (see Oil Prod. in Northern Utica Comes Alive – Encino Cracks Oil Code). Ray moved on from Encino after EOG Resources acquired the company (see EOG Closes on $5.6B Purchase of Encino Assets in Ohio Utica). Read More “Ray Walker, Former Encino Energy COO, Joins MPLX Board of Directors”
Industrywide Issues | Research

EIA Predicts Record High U.S. Natural Gas Consumption in 2025
August 26, 2025August 26, 2025

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) published a blog post yesterday to proclaim that it expects record-high natural gas consumption this year, 2025. The EIA forecasts natural gas consumption in the U.S. will increase 1% to set a record of 91.4 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2025. In the agency’s latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), EIA predicts natural gas consumption to increase across all sectors *except* for electric power, which had been the source of most natural gas consumption growth in the previous decade. Say what? Read More “EIA Predicts Record High U.S. Natural Gas Consumption in 2025”
Best of the Rest

MDN’s Energy Stories of Interest: Tue, Aug 26, 2025 [FREE ACCESS]
August 26, 2025August 26, 2025

OTHER U.S. REGIONS: California ‘anti-poverty activist’ and Dem mega-donor pleads guilty to carbon-credit scam; NATIONAL: WTI tops $64 on technical break; Early fall weather chilling natural gas market as futures trade sideways; The cheapest power plant is in your home; Americans’ quality of life jeopardized due to reduction of refineries; American fossil fuels are the key to energy freedom; INTERNATIONAL: India refiners to curb Russian oil buys. Read More “MDN’s Energy Stories of Interest: Tue, Aug 26, 2025 [FREE ACCESS]”