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23 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Nov 17 – 23
The number of new permits issued in the Marcellus/Utica from November 17 – 23 was 23, down from 31 issued the prior week. Pennsylvania issued 13 new permits, down 1 from the prior week. Ohio got skunked, issuing no new permits. Must be the ODNR staffers went on vacation early for Thanksgiving. West Virginia made up for Ohio’s poor performance by issuing 10 permits, down 2 from the prior week. Read More “23 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Nov 17 – 23”
Wow! The price of natural gas, both for futures contract trading and for spot prices (at least here in the Marcellus/Utica), continues to soar. Not two months ago prices were struggling to stay above $3/MMBtu. As of last Friday, the NYMEX front-month futures price gained 29.2 cents (6.4%) to close at $4.85/MMBtu. The NYMEX price for the month of November gained 72.6 cents per MMBtu, up 17.6%. And get this: The overall average for all physical/spot trading hubs in the M-U region closed at $4.03 on Friday. That’s huge! Cold weather is the primary factor, although new record-high demand coming from LNG export facilities also helps. 
In September, MDN told you that two major Kinder Morgan pipeline projects that will flow Marcellus/Utica molecules in the southeastern U.S. took a big step forward at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) with FERC actively working on an environmental impact statement (EIS) for both projects (see 
U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright issued an emergency order on November 25 directing PJM Interconnection and Constellation Energy to keep Units 3 and 4 at Pennsylvania’s Eddystone Generating Station (near Philadelphia, in Delaware County) operational through the winter. Effective from November 26, 2025, to February 24, 2026, the mandate aims to ensure grid reliability following PJM’s record winter demand in January 2025. This directive follows two previous orders that kept the aging, dual-fuel units online to support energy security during summer heatwaves. The DOE asserts that despite planned retirements, these 380-MW units remain essential for stabilizing the regional power supply. Big Green is unhappy. 
A couple of weeks ago, we told you that a pending lawsuit had stalled the implementation of the All-Electric Buildings Act (passed in 2023), which was supposed to require that any new home or business being built in New York could not (by law) connect to natural gas (see 
Last week, the Baker Hughes U.S. national rig count got wacked good, losing 10 rigs from the previous week. The national count went from 554 to 544 (as of Wednesday, when BH reported the numbers). Bummer. It had gained rigs for each of the prior three weeks. Rigs in the Marcellus/Utica remained the same last week after gaining one rig the week before. Pennsylvania has held at 18 for two weeks in a row. Ohio was the same at 13 rigs, which it has operated since September 26. West Virginia maintained its 7 rigs, which it has operated since May 30. There were 24 rigs targeting the Marcellus and 14 targeting the Utica, for a combined 38 rigs in the M-U. 
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Hawaii’s return to gas puts energy reliability in the spotlight; NATIONAL: Trump issues EO to launch DOE-led Genesis Mission; Gunvor eyes investment in U.S. oil and gas; Many fighting climate change worry they are losing the information war; A few markers on the road to the demise of the climate apocalypse; America’s power grid will be able to withstand the $2.5T A.I. datacenter boom; Cummins X15N marks return of natural gas to class 8 trucking; INTERNATIONAL: Oil notches fourth monthly drop; OPEC+ holds oil output steady, agrees capacity mechanism; OPEC’s numbers are an exercise in artistic deception; Carney loses Quebec minister after energy deal; Europe’s drilling comeback challenges US energy pledges.