PA IFO Reports Highest-Ever NatGas Production in 2025 – 21.3 Bcf/d
Yesterday, the Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) released its latest quarterly Natural Gas Production Report for October through December 2025 (full copy below). There were 129 new horizontal wells spud (drilled) in 4Q25, a big increase of 46 wells (+55%) compared to 4Q24. Natural gas production volume was 1,934 billion cubic feet (Bcf) in 4Q25 (same as 3Q25), up 63 Bcf (+3.4%) from 1,871 Bcf produced in 4Q24. The average Pennsylvania spot hub price was $3.08, an increase of $1.07 (+53%) from the prior year’s $2.01. All in all, it was a great fourth quarter for the PA Marcellus. The numbers are going in the right direction. However, the big news is annual production. Read More “PA IFO Reports Highest-Ever NatGas Production in 2025 – 21.3 Bcf/d”
Range Resources issued its fourth quarter and full-year 2025 update yesterday. Range’s production averaged 2.24 Bcfe/d in 4Q, approximately 69% natural gas. Range used two rigs and drilled ~225,000 lateral feet across 15 wells during the quarter. 4Q25 drilling and completion expenditures were $167 million. In addition to D&C spending, Range spent approximately $10 million on acreage and $6 million on infrastructure, pneumatic devices, and other investments. For the entire year, Range drilled 69 laterals with an average horizontal length of 14,800 feet, with total activity exceeding 1 million lateral feet drilled. 
Gulfport Energy is the third-largest driller in the Ohio Utica Shale (by the number of wells drilled). Gulfport released its fourth quarter and full-year 2025 update yesterday. The company reports delivering a strong performance during the period, with total net production reaching 1.10 Bcfe per day and net liquids production rising 12% over the fourth quarter of 2024 to 18.2 MBbl per day. Financial highlights included $132.4 million in net income and $234.8 million in adjusted EBITDA, supported by $185.4 million in net cash from operating activities and $120.2 million in adjusted free cash flow. Gulfport spent $25 million on drilling and completions (D&C) and $11.4 million on maintenance, land, and leasehold spending. The company spent an additional $55.7 million on discretionary appraisal and development. Furthermore, the company expanded its footprint through the acquisition of $47.2 million in opportunistic acreage. 
Several Big Green groups, including the Sierra Club, Wild Virginia, Appalachian Voices, and the Center for Biological Diversity, have filed a legal challenge against a permit issued by Virginia for the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) Southgate extension. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) approved a water permit for the project in January 2026. Big Green radicals argue that the pipeline “threatens” 138 streams, wetlands, and regional drinking water supplies. It’s the typical lawfare tactic used by the left to stall work on projects, hoping to delay them long enough that the builder (EQT in this case) gives up. Or if the builder won’t give up, they have to pay double or triple the price to construct it. That’s the game the radicals are playing. 
METLEN (Greek energy company) and Shell have signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply and trading between 2027 and 2031. This partnership allows the Greek company to secure up to one billion cubic meters of LNG annually, leveraging domestic terminals and the Vertical Gas Corridor to supply Central Europe and Ukraine. The agreement highlights Greece’s growing importance as a strategic energy hub designed to replace Russian gas with U.S.-produced alternatives. This shift is further reinforced by increased Mediterranean exploration by major U.S. firms such as Chevron and ExxonMobil, solidifying the region’s role in European energy security. Believe it or not, there are implications for the Marcellus/Utica region. 
West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey is leading a 21-state coalition urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Department of Energy efficiency standards adopted during the dark Biden years that effectively ban many natural gas furnaces and water heaters. Challenging a D.C. Circuit ruling, the states argue the mandate violates federal law by eliminating appliances with protected performance characteristics. McCuskey emphasizes that the rule would disproportionately burden low-income and rural families, forcing expensive structural renovations in older homes incompatible with new condensing technology. 
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Steelton pipe plant to benefit entire commonwealth; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Most natgas pipelines built in 2025 connect the South Central U.S. to supply; NATIONAL: U.S. natural gas gains as March contract expires; Salazar’s shale bets fuel new “Two Texas Presidents” family office; Slowing USA shale growth has fracking companies finding new markets; INTERNATIONAL: Crude volatile ahead of Iran talks; Biggest oil cos need to find 22mm bpd by 2040; ‘Green’ ideology a force for African oppression; Australia ships LNG 25,000 kilometres to Eastern Canada amid Asian slump.