Report: M-U has Lowest Methane Emission Intensity of Any O&G Basin
The Appalachian Methane Initiative (AMI) is a coalition of leading U.S. natural gas companies in the Marcellus/Utica, including Ascent Resources, CNX Resources, EQT Corporation, Equitrans Midstream Corporation (now part of EQT), Expand Energy Corporation, MPLX, and Seneca Resources. AMI uses independent monitoring providers, technical consultants, and top-tier universities to monitor and track methane emissions in the M-U. Yesterday the group released the findings of its 2024 basin-wide methane monitoring program. The report confirms that the Appalachian Basin (the M-U) has the lowest methane emissions intensity of any major oil and gas producing basin in the United States. Read More “Report: M-U has Lowest Methane Emission Intensity of Any O&G Basin”
CNX Resources’ Radical Transparency™ program is a first-of-its-kind public-private collaboration announced between CNX and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro in November 2023 (see 
There are a lot of nonprofits that do a lot of great work. MDN editor Jim Willis has served on several boards of such groups. We say that to preface two posts today that take aim at nonprofits (otherwise called NGOs or nongovernmental organizations) that are NOT doing great work and, in some cases, are corrupt. Most large public companies will find a few NGOs and hand money to them as part of their “S” in ESG (environment, social, governance) programs. Companies that donate allow NGOs to distribute the money to various agencies, causes, and other nonprofits. The problem is the NGOs often don’t do a good job. Sometimes, the NGOs have sticky fingers and keep some of the money for themselves. CNX Resources, a big publicly traded driller in the Marcellus/Utica, takes a different approach to charity. 
Enverus Intelligence Research (EIR), a subsidiary of Enverus, issued a summary of the fourth quarter and full-year 2024 upstream M&A (mergers and acquisitions) activity yesterday. Two of the top five M&A deals include deals in the Marcellus/Utica. Coming in at #3 on the list was EQT’s sale of non-operated assets to Equinor for $1.25 billion in October (see 
In December, CNX Resources announced it had struck a deal to buy the assets of Apex Energy II, LLC, a portfolio company of funds managed by Carnelian Energy Capital Management, for $505 million (see 
The experts at RBN Energy recently analyzed the Q3 2024 financial results for the gas-focused producers the company tracks (mainly Marcellus/Utica producers). The gas-weighted E&Ps RBN follows had the best total shareholder return performance of the three peer groups they tracked through the first nine months of 2024, with a median gain of 14%. On the high side, CNX Resources’ share price was amazing, up more than 60% for the first nine months of last year. On the other end, Coterra Energy’s share price lost value. 
CNX Resources announced in December that it had struck a deal to buy the assets of Apex Energy II, LLC, a portfolio company of funds managed by Carnelian Energy Capital Management, for $505 million (see 
A leftist anti-fossil group calling itself Protect PT (Penn-Trafford), located in Westmoreland County, PA, backed with big money from Big Green groups, has for years challenged Penn Township ordinances that allow Apex Energy and Huntley & Huntley (now Olympus Energy) to drill and operate shale wells. Protect PT finally struck out (legally) at the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in May 2020 (see 
For the week of Dec 9 – 15, permits issued in the Marcellus/Utica remained healthy. There were 22 new permits issued last week, down just a bit from the 28 issued the week before. The Keystone State (PA) issued 17 new permits, with the bulk of them, 11, going to a single driller, PennEnergy Resources, for a single pad in Beaver County. Seneca Resources scored three new permits in Tioga County. One permit each was issued to Pennsylvania General Energy (Lycoming County), Coterra Energy (Susquehanna County), and CNX Resources (Westmoreland County). 
According to an extensive report appearing on the World Oil website (and in the November issue of the magazine), multiple possible futures lie ahead for the Marcellus and Utica shales. So, which future will come to pass? Today, both industry and government see the Marcellus and Utica formations as tremendous opportunities for companies and state governments, with domestically produced energy, jobs, and a huge economic impact. 
CNX Resources filed a request with the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) in April 2023 to build two pipelines—two for natural gas—along a 13.9-mile route in Bell, Loyalhanna, and Salem Townships in Westmoreland County. An additional 4-mile pipeline would be built for water. Called the Slickville Trunkline Project, the DEP originally told CNX its application was “incomplete.” The DEP later told CNX (in March of this year) the agency considered the application “withdrawn” because it hadn’t received any more information (see