Marcellus Drilling News

Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp

Range Leases Lycoming County-Owned Land for $5.4M + 2% Royalty
September 16, 2025September 16, 2025

Following three years of negotiations, Lycoming County Commissioners celebrated closing a deal with Range Resources to lease 1,350 acres in Jackson Township for shale drilling. The county is receiving a $5.4 million signing bonus, which works out to $4,000 per acre. Sweet. However, the county will receive just a 2% royalty for any oil/gas produced from the property. You read that right (not a typo)—just 2%, which has to be the lowest royalty rate we’ve ever seen negotiated, either with a private landowner or a municipality. Read More “Range Leases Lycoming County-Owned Land for $5.4M + 2% Royalty”
Antero Resources | Energy Companies | Expand Energy | Gulfport Energy | Industrywide Issues | INR/Infinity Natural Resources | M&A | Ohio | Statewide OH

Potential Buyers Emerge for Antero Resources’ Ohio Utica Assets
September 16, 2025September 16, 2025

Earlier this month, we brought you the bombshell news that Antero Resources, the country’s fifth-largest natural gas producer and largest producer in West Virginia, is preparing to market its Ohio Utica assets, hoping to fetch $900 million to $1 billion (see Rumor: Antero Preparing to Sell Ohio Utica Upstream, Midstream). The rumors keep coming that Antero’s 82,000 net acres in the Utica, as well as long-haul takeaway and supporting midstream assets, are catching the attention of several big M-U companies. Read More “Potential Buyers Emerge for Antero Resources’ Ohio Utica Assets”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Apex Energy | CNX Resources | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Westmoreland County

Anti Group Claims Clock Ran Out for CNX to Drill 2 Penn Twp Wells
September 16, 2025September 16, 2025

In June, we reported that the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board (EHB), a special court in PA that hears appeals of decisions made by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), had ruled in favor of CNX Resources to allow two previously permitted wells in Penn Township (Westmoreland County) to move forward with construction (see Anti-Shale Group Loses EHB Appeal to Block CNX Wells in SWPA). A local anti-shale group called Protect PT, backed with Big Green money and lawyers, appealed the decision to the state’s Commonwealth Court. CNX has also appealed the EHB decision. While the lawsuit plays out, the original DEP permits in question have expired. Protect PT claims CNX will need to reapply all over again—that the clock has run out. Read More “Anti Group Claims Clock Ran Out for CNX to Drill 2 Penn Twp Wells”
Accidents | Energy Services | Eureka Resources | Industrywide Issues | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Wastewater

PA DEP: Spill Cleanup at Eureka Williamsport Plant Nearly Complete
September 16, 2025September 16, 2025

On August 17, Eureka Resources’ Williamsport Second Street facility (one of the three previously operated by Eureka) leaked some of its stored untreated wastewater, which ended up in the nearby Susquehanna River via a storm drain (see ‘Black Goop’ Spills into Susquehanna River from Closed Eureka Plant). Two weeks ago, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) provided an update on the cleanup of the spill to say half of the leaked wastewater had already been recovered (see PA DEP Reports Half of Eureka 16,000 Gal. Wastewater Leak Recovered). We have a new update: nearly all of what spilled that can be gathered, has been collected. Read More “PA DEP: Spill Cleanup at Eureka Williamsport Plant Nearly Complete”
CNG/LNG | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Industrywide Issues

EQT’s Shift in Focus Back to LNG Came from Two Factors
September 16, 2025September 16, 2025

EQT Corporation, at one time the largest natural gas producer in the U.S. (now #2 behind Expand Energy), recently signed its third deal to buy LNG from a Gulf Coast liquefaction plant, positioning the company as an LNG trader in addition to being the second largest natural gas producer in the country and a major midstream player (see EQT Signs Third Deal to *Buy* LNG – This One Commonwealth LNG). Not all that long ago, the company was focused on landing deals to provide its gas to regional power plants (see Toby Rice: Strong Power Demand Pleasantly Surprised EQT During 1H). So what changed the company’s focus back to LNG? Read More “EQT’s Shift in Focus Back to LNG Came from Two Factors”
Electrical Generation | Greene County (PA) | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Pennsylvania

French Investment Firm Sells SW Pa. Gas-Fired Power Plant for $1B
September 16, 2025September 16, 2025

A power project we’ve been tracking since 2017 is a 620-megawatt (MW) Marcellus-fired electric plant in Greene County, PA, called the Hill Top Energy Center (see our stories here). In 2019, investment firm Ardian, based in Paris, France, announced that it had purchased a 41.9% stake in the project, becoming the majority owner (see SWPA Gas-fired Electric Plant Project Gets French Investment). In April of this year, Ardian announced it had purchased the other 58.1% stake it did not already own, becoming the sole owner (see French Investment Firm Buys Out SW Pa. Gas-Fired Power Plant). And now, Ardian has just sold it all to investment firm Blackstone Energy Transition Partners for nearly $1 billion. Read More “French Investment Firm Sells SW Pa. Gas-Fired Power Plant for $1B”
CNG/LNG | Exporting | Industrywide Issues

Former Driftwood LNG Plant Already 22% Built, On Track to Start 2029
September 16, 2025September 16, 2025

MDN chronicled the rise and fall of Tellurian, founded by Charif Souki (who also founded Cheniere Energy), and Tellurian’s LNG export project, Driftwood. Tellurian’s primary focus was to build Driftwood LNG, a 27.6 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) facility that would cost $14.5 billion. Construction began on the project in March 2022, even without a final investment decision (see Tellurian Begins Construction of Driftwood LNG with No FID). The company spent more than $1 billion building Driftwood before all the wheels came off financially. In July 2024, Australian LNG giant Woodside announced a deal to buy Tellurian (and Driftwood) for $1.2 billion, renaming it Louisiana LNG (see Australia’s Woodside Buying Tellurian & Driftwood LNG for $1.2B). Woodside pulled the trigger on an FID earlier this year. Read More “Former Driftwood LNG Plant Already 22% Built, On Track to Start 2029”
Best of the Rest

MDN’s Energy Stories of Interest: Tue, Sep 16, 2025 [FREE ACCESS]
September 16, 2025September 16, 2025

OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Natural gas helps power Massachusetts’ economic growth; The green agenda turned New England into an energy price punchline; NATIONAL: U.S. natural gas price gains on warmer weather outlook; Exxon, other oil companies defeat climate lawsuit by Puerto Rican towns; Per capita energy-related CO2 emissions decreased in every state 2005-2023; Rising bills, bad blame – what’s really driving electricity prices; National Clean Energy Week…re-education please; INTERNATIONAL: Oil gains on Russian tensions; Europe provoked its own destruction — with crises that threaten the entire West; India LNG demand set to fall in 2025; Poland delivers 14 Bcf of US LNG to Ukraine; Cheap Russian LNG keeps flowing despite EU promises. Read More “MDN’s Energy Stories of Interest: Tue, Sep 16, 2025 [FREE ACCESS]”