46 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jun 10 – 16
Three weeks ago, 31 new permits were issued to drill in the entire Marcellus/Utica region. Two weeks ago, the number dropped (dramatically) to just seven new permits. And then last week, the number of permits issued soared once again — all the way up to 46. Bam! We just kicked it up a notch. Seneca Resources took the top spot for new permits, receiving a total of nine permits, all in Tioga County, PA. Chesapeake Energy and Antero Resources tied for second place with seven new permits each, with Chessy’s permits coming in Bradford County, PA, and Antero’s in Doddridge County, WV. Coming in third was Jay-Bee Oil & Gas with six permits issued in Pleasants County, WV. State by state, PA issued 24 new permits, OH issued 9, and WV issued 13 permits.
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Two weeks ago, 31 new permits were issued to drill in the Marcellus/Utica region. Last week, June 3 – 9, the number dropped (dramatically) by 77% to just seven new permits. And that seems to be the pattern: Way up one week, way down the next. Last week, for the second week in a row, Ohio issued ZERO new shale permits. The top permit receiver for last week was HG Energy, which had five permits for a single pad in Doddridge County, WV. The other two permits were issued in PA: one to CNX in Greene County, and the other to Range Resources in Washington County.
While oil-focused and large diversified drillers in the U.S. made healthy profits during the first quarter of this year (January through March), such was not the case for natural gas-focused drillers. RBN Energy tracks 43 exploration and production (E&P) companies that are publicly traded and reports of those 43 that the 16 oil-focused and 15 diversified E&Ps were solidly profitable in 1Q24, earning $20.65/boe (barrels of oil equivalent) and $18.49/boe, respectively. However, the 12 gas-focused E&Ps were “under siege,” posting a loss of $1.65/boe.
Last November, CNX Resources CEO Nick Deiuliis signed a voluntary deal with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro to expand drilling setbacks and several other regulatory steps not mandated for shale drillers under PA law (see 
It’s kind of interesting to watch how the left operates. Especially the left’s favored mouthpieces that pretend to be objective news media when, in fact, it is the opposite — they are partisan hacks serving the extremist wing of the Democrat Party. We’re referring to the “news” outlet Capital & Main, a hard-left propaganda outfit based in California. Their latest attack is against CNX Resources’ Vice President of External Relations, Brian Aiello. A recent Capital & Main article refers to Aiello, who is in upper management at CNX, as a “lobbyist” four different times to drive home and make stick an inaccurate label. It’s kind of funny, actually, coming from partisan hacks. We’re going to refer to C&M as partisan hacks a few more times, just to drive home the point. 🙂
Last week, MDN brought you the news that CNX Resources Corp., KeyState Energy, and Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) are working together on a $1.5 billion project that, if completed, would make sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at PIT from coal mine methane gas (see 
CNX Resources Corp., KeyState Energy, and Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) are working together on a $1.5 billion project that, if completed, would make sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at PIT from coal mine methane gas. But only if the Bidenistas deeply embedded in the IRS allow coal mine methane to qualify for green energy tax credits. That’s a really big IF. CNX and KeyState announced yesterday that the two companies signed a letter of intent (non-binding for now) to build a SAF facility at PIT to turn coal mine methane into hydrogen that would be used as aviation fuel.
Last week, CNX Resources issued its first quarter 2024 update. The company’s earnings totaled a paltry $6.8 million, or just $0.04 per share in 1Q24. That compares with $710 million, or $4.22 per share, in last year’s first quarter (down 99%). CNX’s revenue for 1Q24 fell 39% to $384.6 million from $1.28 billion last year. Production was 140.4 Bcfe (billion cubic feet equivalent) in 1Q24 — which works out to 1.54 Bcfe/d — up from 135.9 Bcfe last year (up 3%). The company announced it had delayed completion activities on three Marcellus Shale pads consisting of 11 wells “due to the challenging near term gas market conditions.” By delaying, the company will produce roughly 30 Bcfe less this year for a new target of 540 to 560 Bcfe.
Two of our favorite companies in the Marcellus/Utica, one a driller (CNX Resources) and the other an oilfield services company (Deep Well Services), have partnered in a joint venture, creating a new company called AutoSep Technologies. The new JV uses groundbreaking new technology developed in CNX’s New Technologies unit that targets flowback, the “junk” that comes out of the borehole for the initial month or two after a well is drilled and fracked. Flowback includes methane and other hydrocarbons, sand, water, and fracking chemicals. All of the junk needs to be cleared so the well can start producing clean gas or oil. CNX has found a way to clean the junk that captures the methane (doesn’t escape into the air), is cheaper than current methods, and (most importantly) is safer. The process is being patented.
CNX Resources has partnered with NuBlu Energy, an EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) company, to introduce two exciting new solutions that use Marcellus/Utica gas — one solution for CNG (compressed natural gas) and the other for LNG (liquefied natural gas). The solutions are called ZeroHP CNG and Clean mLNG. Zero Horsepower (ZeroHP) CNG creates a decentralized CNG production market to meet better the growing demand for clean, affordable CNG energy. ZeroHP CNG eliminates the need for compressors to compress the CNG. How cool is that? As for LNG, a new low horsepower solution called Clean mLNG™ advances cost-effective and lower emissions production of small-scale LNG. We’re talking micro-scale LNG, making LNG available for just about anyone to use.
CNX Midstream, a subsidiary of CNX Resources, plans to construct two 13.9-mile-long, 24-inch-diameter steel natural gas pipelines and one approximately 3.9-mile-long, 20-inch-diameter high-density polyethylene (HDPE) permanent waterline in Westmoreland County, PA. The aim is to support new shale well drilling by CNX in the region. The reason we know about the project is from a notice by the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) in the weekly Pennsylvania Bulletin inviting the public to comment on a Chapter 105 Encroachments Permit for the proposed construction.
Last November, CNX Resources CEO Nick DeIuliis signed a voluntary deal with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro to expand drilling setbacks and several other regulatory steps not mandated for shale drillers under PA law (see 
In January 2023, three Marcellus/Utica companies — Chesapeake Energy, EQT, and Equitrans Midstream — launched the Appalachian Methane Initiative (AMI), a coalition committed to further enhancing methane monitoring throughout the Appalachia Basin and reducing methane emissions throughout the region (see