Marcellus Drilling News

Energy Companies | INR/Infinity Natural Resources

INR 1Q “Pivotal” – Wells Jumped 1.5x to 395, Pipes to 250 Miles
May 14, 2026May 14, 2026

Infinity Natural Resources (INR) shared its first quarter 2026 update yesterday. CEO Zack Arnold said during an earnings call with analysts, “The first quarter was pivotal for Infinity.” How so? INR successfully closed the Antero, Ohio Utica acquisition in late February and added working interest in the company’s Pennsylvania assets through the Chase acquisition. These acquisitions immediately increased INR’s scale (dramatically) by boosting the company’s operated well count from 154 to 395 (more than 1.5 times) and by boosting its midstream system to over 250 miles of gathering and water pipelines. Read More “INR 1Q “Pivotal” – Wells Jumped 1.5x to 395, Pipes to 250 Miles”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | North Carolina | Pipelines | Regulation | Transco | Virginia | Williams

4th Circuit Judge Tells Antis to Post a $100M Bond to Block Pipe
May 14, 2026May 14, 2026

It seems that not all of the judges who sit on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (4th Circuit) are clowns, the way the three judges who oversee cases dealing with the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) Southgate project are (see 4th Circus Clown Judges Badmouth MVP Southgate in Oral Arguments). Another major pipeline project that, in some senses, competes with Southgate, Williams’ Transco Southeast Supply Enhancement Project (SESE), is also being sued by Big Green to block it (see Big Green Sues to Cancel Water Permit for Transco SESE Project). The case is also before the 4th Circuit, where oral arguments were heard yesterday. The SESE case is being heard by three judges different from those hearing the Southgate case. Read More “4th Circuit Judge Tells Antis to Post a $100M Bond to Block Pipe”
AI | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA PUC Officially Adopts High Tax on New Data Centers
May 14, 2026May 14, 2026

Last November, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) approved a Tentative Order by a 3-2 vote, proposing a statewide model tariff (tax) to manage the growing impact of large-load customers, such as AI data centers, on the electric grid (see PA PUC Votes 3-2 to Levy New Taxes & Regs on AI Data Centers). The stated goal of the new tariff is to encourage investment and job growth while protecting existing ratepayers from cost-shifts and ensuring reliability. The PUC failed. The proposed order was passed on a partisan basis, with the three Democrat commissioners voting to make it harder and more expensive for data centers to locate in the Keystone State, potentially jeopardizing $92 billion of investments promised to the state related to data centers. The PUC published its flawed proposal in the November 22 Pennsylvania Bulletin, kicking off a 30-day comment period as a prelude to final adoption (see PA PUC Continues Down Road to Taxation Perdition re Data Centers). Read More “PA PUC Officially Adopts High Tax on New Data Centers”
Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

FERC Chair Swett Threatens PJM to Its Face: “Too Big to Function”
May 14, 2026May 14, 2026

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has been blaming the PJM Interconnection grid for the soaring costs of electricity when his own policies are to blame, even threatening to pull out of the cooperative (see Gov. Josh “Bully” Shapiro Renews Threat to Pull PA Out of PJM Grid). What we didn’t see coming was criticism of PJM from the other side, from Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairwoman Laura Swett. She attended PJM’s annual meeting on Tuesday in Baltimore and told those in attendance (to PJM’s face) that the organization may be “too big to function” and has an “unacceptable” governance structure. Swett announced that FERC will hold a July 23 “technical” conference to discuss reforms for the biggest U.S. grid. With friends like this, who needs enemies, right? Read More “FERC Chair Swett Threatens PJM to Its Face: “Too Big to Function””
Delaware County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Statewide NY

How Much Will New York Pay if It Loses Frack Ban Lawsuit?
May 14, 2026May 14, 2026

About a month ago, MDN brought you the exciting news that a father and son who own land in Upstate New York (not far from MDN HQ) have sued New York State for “taking” their right to allow shale drilling and fracking under their land (see New Lawsuit Brought Against NY Claims State Frack Ban a “Taking”). No doubt the lawsuit will take years to play out, but at the end of it all, if the state loses and is forced to pay landowners (not just these two, but all affected landowners), how much money are we talking about? Read More “How Much Will New York Pay if It Loses Frack Ban Lawsuit?”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Dominion Energy | Electrical Generation | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | South Carolina

Big Green Continues Smear Campaign Against Dominion SC Power Plant
May 14, 2026May 15, 2026

In February 2024, members of the South Carolina Public Service Commission approved a proposed project to build a 2,200-megawatt (MW) gas-fired power plant in the state’s Lowcountry, in Colleton County (see SC PSC Approves Gas-Fired Power Plant Proposed for Edisto River). The Canadys project is a 50/50 partnership between Dominion Energy (formerly South Carolina Electric & Gas) and Santee Cooper (South Carolina’s state-owned electric and water utility). As they have from the beginning, the two companies continue to defend the project against attacks by anti-fossil fuel groups. Big Green continues its PR and lawfare campaign against the project. Read More “Big Green Continues Smear Campaign Against Dominion SC Power Plant”
Best of the Rest

MDN’s Energy Stories of Interest: Thu, May 14, 2026
May 14, 2026May 14, 2026

OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Healey’s reelection bid confronts volatile energy politics; NATIONAL: U.S. natural gas futures edge up ahead of storage data; BLM fully rescinds public lands rule; NYT op-ed on demoting the climate pitch; INTERNATIONAL: Oil retreats after inventory data; JP Morgan publishes first oil price forecast in 2 months; Iran conflict fundamentally altered global energy landscape; Two-thirds of Europe’s LNG imports to come from the US amid increased reliance; Qatar asks vessels at key LNG port to go dark for safety. Read More “MDN’s Energy Stories of Interest: Thu, May 14, 2026”