Ascent Resources

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Ascent Resources Buys Another 27K Utica Acres for $270 Million
July 11, 2022July 11, 2022

Ascent Resources, originally founded as American Energy Partners by gas legend Aubrey McClendon, is a privately-held company that focuses 100% on the Ohio Utica Shale. Ascent is Ohio’s largest natural gas producer and the 8th largest natural gas producer in the U.S. There have been plenty of rumors swirling about Ascent, one that says Gulfport Energy is interested in selling to Ascent (see Rumor: Gulfport Energy in Talks to Merge with Ascent Resources) and another that the company is close to launching an IPO (see Ohio’s Largest Shale Driller, Ascent Resources, Preps for IPO). Here’s something that’s not a rumor: The company is buying another 26,800 acres in the Ohio Utica for $270 million.
Read More “Ascent Resources Buys Another 27K Utica Acres for $270 Million”
Ascent Resources | Energy Companies | ESG | Industrywide Issues

St. Louis-based Spire Buying ‘Responsible’ Utica Gas from Ascent
July 11, 2022July 11, 2022

In 2016 Laclede Group (later renamed to Spire), a St. Louis-based natural gas utility, said it planned to build a 65-mile pipeline from St. Louis through southwest Illinois and connect to the Rockies Express (REX) and Panhandle Eastern Pipeline (see New Midwest Pipeline to Tap REX’s Marcellus/Utica Gas). The new pipeline was designed to flow low-cost Marcellus and Utica Shale gas from REX to the utility–not only for resale to gas customers, but also potentially for new natgas-powered electric plants. That pipeline, Spire STL, went online in late 2019 (see Spire Pipeline Ready to Flow Marcellus/Utica Gas to St. Louis). Another Spire subsidiary, Spire Marketing, has just brokered a deal with Ascent Resources to buy Ascent’s RSG (certified “responsibly sourced gas”) from the Ohio Utica to flow through Spire STL for resale to Spire’s customers.
Read More “St. Louis-based Spire Buying ‘Responsible’ Utica Gas from Ascent”
Apex Energy | Ascent Resources | Belmont County | Bradford County | Butler County | Chesapeake Energy | Clean Energy E&P | Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Jefferson County (OH) | Laurel Mountain Energy | Marshall County | Monroe County | Ohio | Olympus/Huntley & Huntley | Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania General Energy | Southwestern Energy | Tioga County (PA) | Tug Hill Operating | Weekly Permits | West Virginia | Westmoreland County | Wetzel County | Wyoming County (PA)

35 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jun 27-Jul 3
July 11, 2022July 11, 2022

We’re catching up the permits issued report, but not for last week. This report is for permits issued two weeks ago–June 27 through July 3. The numbers increased from the prior week (27) to 35. Pennsylvania issued the lion’s share of new permits, 25, with most of them going to Olympus Energy (12 permits in Washington County), and a significant number going to a name we’ve only seen once before: Clean Energy Exploration & Production (six permits in Tioga County). Ohio issued four new permits, with three going to Ascent Resources and one to Gulfport Energy. Finally, West Virginia also issued four new shale permits, two each for Southwestern Energy and Tug Hill Operating.
Read More “35 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jun 27-Jul 3”
Apex Energy | Ascent Resources | Belmont County | Butler County | Carroll County | Clinton County | Encino Energy | Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Laurel Mountain Energy | Marshall County | Monroe County | Ohio | PennEnergy Resources | Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania General Energy | Range Resources Corp | S.T.L. Resources | Southwestern Energy | Tioga County (PA) | Tug Hill Operating | Washington County | Weekly Permits | West Virginia | Westmoreland County

29 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jun 20-26
July 1, 2022July 1, 2022

Last week, for June 20-26, the number of new permits issued to drill in the Marcellus/Utica decreased just a bit to 29 (from 34 the week prior). Pennsylvania issued 15 new permits, all but one in southwestern PA. Five of PA’s permits went to PennEnergy Resources in Butler County, four to Range Resources in Washington County, and three to Apex Energy in Westmoreland County. Ohio issued 10 new permits with five going to Encino Energy (EAP) in Carroll County and three going to Ascent Resources in Belmont County. Finally, West Virginia issued four new permits, all of them to Tug Hill Operating. In each case the permits were for multiple wells on single well pads.
Read More “29 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jun 20-26”
Antero Resources | Armstrong County | Ascent Resources | Belmont County | Butler County | Carroll County | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Doddridge County | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Greene County (PA) | Guernsey County | Harrison County | Indiana County | INR/Infinity Natural Resources | Jefferson County (OH) | Laurel Mountain Energy | LOLA Energy | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Snyder Brothers | Susquehanna County | Weekly Permits | West Virginia

34 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jun 13-19
June 24, 2022June 24, 2022

We finally started to see more permits issued again last week. After the Marcellus/Utica was in the permit doldrum for nearly a month, bumping around at 20 permits or below, last week the number increased to a total of 34 permits issued to drill new shale wells. Pennsylvania issued 13 new permits, with seven of them going to Coterra Energy in Susquehanna County on the same pad. Ohio issued 14 new permits, with 12 of them going to Ascent Resources distributed across four different counties. And West Virginia issued seven new permits, all of them to Antero Resources, all in Doddridge County.
Read More “34 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jun 13-19”
Ascent Resources | Belmont County | Bradford County | Butler County | Chesapeake Energy | CNX Resources | Columbiana County | Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Harrison County | Hilcorp Energy | Monongalia County | Ohio | PennEnergy Resources | Pennsylvania | Weekly Permits | West Virginia

21 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jun 6-12
June 17, 2022June 17, 2022

The Marcellus/Utica is still struggling to get permit numbers into higher brackets. Three weeks ago a pathetically low six new permits were issued to drill shale wells across Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia (see 6 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 23-29). Two weeks ago the number improved–with 20 new permits issued (see 20 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 30-Jun 5). Last week, for June 6-12, the number increased by one, to 21 new permits issued. Anemic, but improving.
Read More “21 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jun 6-12”
Antero Resources | Ascent Resources | Belmont County | Blackhill Energy | Bradford County | Carroll County | Chesapeake Energy | Encino Energy | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Fayette County | Guernsey County | Harrison County | Ohio | Olympus/Huntley & Huntley | Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania General Energy | Range Resources Corp | Ritchie County | Tioga County (PA) | Utica Resource Operating | Washington County | Weekly Permits | West Virginia | Westmoreland County

20 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 30-Jun 5
June 10, 2022June 10, 2022

Two weeks ago a pathetically low six new permits were issued to drill shale wells across Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia (see 6 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 23-29). Last week the number improved–with 20 new permits issued. PA had 13 permits with Range Resources, Olympus Energy, and Pennsylvania General Energy all scoring three permits each. OH issued six new permits with the state’s two most active drillers, Ascent Resources and Encino Energy, collectively grabbing five of the six. WV issued just one new permit–to Antero Resources.
Read More “20 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 30-Jun 5”
Ascent Resources | Encino Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Research | Statewide OH

Ohio Utica Shale Dashboard Shows 73% of New Drilling Done by 2 Cos.
June 7, 2022June 7, 2022

On May 24, Cleveland State University researchers quietly published the “Shale Investment Dashboard in Ohio Q1 and Q2 2021” (full copy below). The new report details shale-related investment in Ohio, looking at upstream, midstream, and downstream activities. The investment estimates are from January through June of 2021–the first half of last year. The report shows investment in the Ohio Utica continued to increase last year, during the height of the pandemic. It also shows just two companies drilled 73% of Ohio’s new shale wells and 69% of the money invested in drilling new shale wells in the Buckeye State in 1H21. Which two companies?
Read More “Ohio Utica Shale Dashboard Shows 73% of New Drilling Done by 2 Cos.”
Apex Energy | Arsenal Resources | Ascent Resources | Belmont County | Bradford County | CNX Resources | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Guernsey County | Gulfport Energy | Indiana County | INR/Infinity Natural Resources | Lycoming County | Marshall County | McKean County | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Repsol | Seneca Resources | Susquehanna County | Taylor County | Tug Hill Operating | Weekly Permits | West Virginia | Westmoreland County

24 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 16-22
May 26, 2022May 26, 2022

Just last week MDN told you we will, from now on, bring you new permit data for the previous week on Fridays. Yet here it is Thursday and we’re sharing the permit data for last week. What gives? MDN and its author, Jim Willis, are taking a break Friday (tomorrow) and next Monday for the Memorial Day holiday. Well, we’re taking Monday off for the holiday. We’re taking Friday off because there’s a wedding in Jim’s family this weekend. There are preparations to make, and celebrations to partake in. So we’re bringing you the permit data today, on Thursday. Speaking of which, there were 24 new permits issued last week, with 14 of them going to Pennsylvania, seven to Ohio, and three to West Virginia. We break it down below.
Read More “24 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 16-22”
Apex Energy | Arsenal Resources | Ascent Resources | Belmont County | Bradford County | CNX Resources | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Guernsey County | Gulfport Energy | Indiana County | INR/Infinity Natural Resources | Lycoming County | Marshall County | McKean County | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Repsol | Seneca Resources | Susquehanna County | Taylor County | Tug Hill Operating | Weekly Permits | West Virginia | Westmoreland County

35 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 9-15
May 20, 2022May 27, 2022

We’re giving Fridays a shot as the day we will release weekly updates for permits issued for the prior one-week period. Today’s report is for the period of May 9-15 (last week, not this week). It seems as if the various state agencies have the data updated by the end of the week following, so that’s how we’ll release it (for now). Last week, Pennsylvania issued 22 new permits with Seneca Resources taking the lion’s share of 12 permits on two different pads (eight in Lycoming County and four in McKean County). Repsol scored four permits in Bradford County.
Read More “35 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 9-15”
Ascent Resources | Energy Companies | ESG | Industrywide Issues | PennEnergy Resources | Seneca Resources | Southwestern Energy

Project Canary Intros Freshwater Usage Metric in NatGas Cert
May 18, 2022May 27, 2022

Project Canary is one of three major “responsible gas” certification schemes. Project Canary has its TrustWell Certification program, Equitable Origin has its EO100 certification, and MiQ has its own self-named standard too. The TrustWell Certification assesses data points in 24 operational categories, ranging from water management to well integrity. Project Canary announced earlier this month that one its metrics for measuring and mitigating the effects of operations on local water resources has been peer-reviewed and published (as a study) by a third-party assessor in a leading industry journal. Several Marcellus/Utica drillers have achieved Project Canary’s Freshwater Verified Attribute as part of their TrustWell certification.
Read More “Project Canary Intros Freshwater Usage Metric in NatGas Cert”
Antero Resources | Ascent Resources | Columbiana County | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Encino Energy | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Greene County (PA) | Guernsey County | Harrison County | Lycoming County | Ohio | Olympus/Huntley & Huntley | Pennsylvania | Seneca Resources | Susquehanna County | Tioga County (PA) | Washington County | Weekly Permits | West Virginia | Westmoreland County | Wetzel County

Corrected: 25 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 2-8
May 16, 2022May 27, 2022

We always wait a few days into a new week before grabbing new shale well permits data to give the folks at the various state agencies time to update their systems for the previous week. Last Wednesday we told you that Pennsylvania had issued 11 new permits, Ohio issued none, and West Virginia issued just one (see 12 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 2-8). In rechecking today, we discovered PA actually issued 13 new permits and OH issued 11 permits during that period (both states updated their data since last Wednesday). WV remained at one new permit. We include the revised and corrected reports below.
Read More “Corrected: 25 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 2-8”
Ascent Resources | Energy Companies | Ohio | Statewide OH

Ascent 1Q – Drills 17 Ohio Wells, Loses $1.5B on Bad Derivatives
May 12, 2022May 12, 2022

Ascent Resources, originally founded as American Energy Partners by gas legend Aubrey McClendon, is a privately-held company that focuses 100% on the Ohio Utica Shale. Ascent is Ohio’s largest natural gas producer and the 8th largest natural gas producer in the U.S. The company issued its first quarter update earlier this week. Ascent averaged production of 2.0 Bcfe/d for the quarter, a 9% increase over 1Q21. Nearly all of Ascent’s production (93%) was natural gas, while the rest was oil and NGLs. Ascent generated -$2 million of free cash flow (yes, negative free cash flow) and lost $1.5 billion during 1Q based on bad bets on derivatives/hedging.
Read More “Ascent 1Q – Drills 17 Ohio Wells, Loses $1.5B on Bad Derivatives”
Allegheny County | Antero Resources | Ascent Resources | Belmont County | Bradford County | Carroll County | Chesapeake Energy | Encino Energy | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Greene County (PA) | Guernsey County | Indiana County | INR/Infinity Natural Resources | Marshall County | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Southwestern Energy | Tyler County | Weekly Permits | West Virginia | Wetzel County

35 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Apr 25-May 1
May 4, 2022May 4, 2022

Last week Pennsylvania issued 16 new shale well permits. EQT led the way with ten permits, all of them for wells in Greene County. You just HAVE to read the names of the wells (below). After getting skunked for two weeks in a row, Ohio finally issued permits once again last week–ten of them. Ascent Resources scored six permits, mostly in Belmont County. Encino Energy had four permits, all in Carroll County. Finally, West Virginia had nine permits. Antero Resources scored seven of the nine (six in Wetzel County), and Southwestern took the remaining two permits (both in Marshall County).
Read More “35 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Apr 25-May 1”
Antero Resources | Ascent Resources | Bradford County | Doddridge County | Energy Companies | HG Energy | Jefferson County (OH) | Marshall County | Ohio | Ohio County | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Repsol | Ritchie County | Seneca Resources | Southwestern Energy | Tioga County (PA) | Washington County | Weekly Permits | West Virginia

34 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Apr 4-10
April 13, 2022April 20, 2022

Last week Pennsylvania issued 15 new shale well permits (up one from the prior week), with Repsol taking five, and both Range Resources and Seneca Energy grabbing four each. All permits for each of the three were on a single pad. Ohio issued five new permits last week, with all five going to Ascent Resources. West Virginia issued a big 14 permits (after issuing no permits in the prior week). Antero Resource received six permits, with Southwestern Energy and HG Energy each receiving four permits in WV.
Read More “34 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Apr 4-10”
Ascent Resources | Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | HG Energy | Industrywide Issues | M&A | XTO

4 Cos. Shopping M-U Assets – Represents 11.5% of M-U Production
April 7, 2022April 7, 2022

We recently received a couple of recent issues of a monthly news/analysis newsletter from The Capitol Forum (TCF). The author shared with us (and is allowing us to share with you) the March and April monthly editions of TCF Upstream Monthly, a publication that focuses on drilling in the Appalachian Basin. The April issue tackles the rumored Gulfport Energy/Ascent Resources merger we recently reported on (see Rumor: Gulfport Energy in Talks to Merge with Ascent Resources). Analysis of that potential merger is fascinating. However, it was tangential information part of the analysis that caught our eye. If you add up all of the assets currently rumored or known to be in play (for sale or merger), it amounts to 11.5% of all M-U production.
Read More “4 Cos. Shopping M-U Assets – Represents 11.5% of M-U Production”