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SRBC Approved 33 Shale Gas Well Pad Water Use Permits in April
The highly functional and responsible Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), unlike its dysfunctional and irresponsible counterpart, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), continues to support the shale energy industry by approving water withdrawals and consumptive use requests for responsible, safe shale drilling. The SRBC published a notice in the May 23rd Pennsylvania Bulletin that the SRBC approved and/or renewed 33 general water use permits in April for individual shale gas well drilling pads in Bradford, Cameron, Lycoming, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, and Wyoming counties. Read More “SRBC Approved 33 Shale Gas Well Pad Water Use Permits in April”
If you live in Auburn Township in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, it’s a pretty safe bet that either there is or soon will be shale well drilling going on near you. The PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) published notice in the May 16 Pennsylvania Bulletin announcing it has issued a permit for one aboveground water pipeline for one driller and is seeking comments on a request for a second aboveground water pipeline for a second driller, both in Auburn Township. 
In February, MDN brought you the big news that Devon Energy is buying out and merging with Coterra Energy, paying $21.4 billion in Devon stock (see 
On April 5 (Easter Sunday), Coterra Energy reported that approximately 400,000 to 704,000 gallons of freshwater were released from an impoundment at the Brooks shale gas well pad in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. The release began at 8:02 a.m. when all six stanchion valves opened simultaneously, flowing by gravity into a pasture and reaching Meshoppen Creek before being discovered by a landowner’s relative that evening. Coterra attributed the incident to a corrupted software configuration file, which also prevented remote valve closure and disabled electronic notifications. 
On February 2, 2026, Devon Energy and Coterra Energy announced a landmark $58 billion all-stock merger, creating a “Super-Independent” energy producer targeting the AI-driven surge in power demand (see 
Coterra Energy issued its fourth quarter and full-year 2025 update yesterday. For this latest update, there was no earnings conference call with analysts due to the impending merger of Coterra into Devon Energy. Companies don’t want to face questions about the merger or risk screwing it up, so they keep mum. Can’t blame them. What we noticed about Coterra’s 4Q update is that the company continues to treat its Marcellus gas production as a cash cow to fund oil drilling in the Permian Basin. Even so, we were encouraged to see an increase in the number of new wells drilled in 4Q and for full-year 2025, although Marcellus production slipped in 4Q and for full-year 2025 relative to 2024. Call it maintenance mode. 
The Marcellus/Utica region received a combined 43 new drilling permits last week, Feb. 9 – 15, up 19 from the permits issued two weeks ago. The most recent high in permits (going back at least a year) occurred during the first week of December, when 60 new permits were issued (see 
Not that he isn’t already a very rich man, but Coterra Energy CEO Tom Jorden stands to rake in an additional $6 million to $9 million (possibly much more) from a “golden parachute” if the proposed merger between Coterra and Devon Energy goes through. Based on the reports following the merger announcement between Coterra and Devon, Coterra’s upper management (in particular, Jorden) is protected by substantial “golden parachute” (change-in-control) agreements. These agreements were specifically updated just before the deal was made public to ensure executive retention and fair treatment during the transition.