Allegheny County | Armstrong County | Arsenal Resources | Ascent Resources | Beech Resources | Chesapeake Energy | Chief Oil & Gas | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Encino Energy | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | EXCO Resources | HG Energy | Jefferson County (OH) | Lewis County | Lycoming County | Marshall County | Ohio | Olympus/Huntley & Huntley | Pennsylvania | Snyder Brothers | Southwestern Energy | Sullivan County | Susquehanna County | Taylor County | Tioga County (PA) | Tug Hill Operating | Weekly Permits | West Virginia | Westmoreland County
Weekly Shale Drilling Permits for PA, OH, WV: May 3-9
All three M-U states received permits to drill new shale wells last week. Pennsylvania received a big 18 new permits (after receiving no new permits the previous week). More than half of those 18 permits were for wells on two pads in southwestern PA. Ohio received 7 new permits last week all in one county (Jefferson), split between Encino Energy and Ascent Resources. And West Virginia received 10 new permits with 7 of them for a single pad in Lewis County.
Read More “Weekly Shale Drilling Permits for PA, OH, WV: May 3-9”
In July 2020, PA Gov. Tom Wolf signed into law House Bill (HB) 732, a bill that grants tax breaks to companies willing to build brand new petrochemical plants in the Keystone State–plants that use huge quantities of Marcellus Shale gas (see 
Cabot Oil & Gas is and has been (for years) one of the premier drillers in the Marcellus Shale. Cabot concentrates their drilling in one location in northeastern Pennsylvania: Susquehanna County. Cabot has lower costs to drill than almost any other driller. They also turn a profit year after year, unlike many other drillers. During 1Q21 Cabot made $126 million in net income, versus $54 million in 1Q20. Yet the company’s stock price continues to languish, something that has CEO Dan Dinges “hacked off.”
One of the criticisms often leveled against the shale industry is that shale drillers have destroyed shareholder value (the price of company stock) over the past decade or so (see 
Cabot Oil & Gas hosts a series of in-person and virtual events called Think About Energy (TAE). Since the pandemic, the events have been all virtual (webinars). Earlier this week another virtual TAE event was hosted by Cabot executive director of public relations (and MDN friend), George Stark. George had an interesting discussion with Congressman Fred Keller, Republican from Synder County, PA, and U.S. House Whip Steve Scalise, Republican from Louisiana. The topic? American energy independence and the importance of shale energy to our country’s future.
Analysts with S&P Global Market Intelligence say that shale gas drillers in the Marcellus/Utica region have finally learned their lesson and are sticking to their promise to keep capital spending restrained this year–even with an increase in the price of gas. Both spending and rig counts are predicted to stay low this year as drillers work on boosting free cash flow and improving company share price.
The experts at RBN Energy have, for the past five years, closely tracked the spending and production of a representative collection of 39 major public E&P (exploration & production) companies. RBN splits the companies tracked into three groups: Oil-Weighted E&Ps, Diversified E&Ps, and Gas-Weighted E&Ps. In a recent post, RBN reveals what those 39 companies have announced they will spend, and produce, in 2021. For eight of the nine gas-weighted E&Ps that produce gas in the Marcellus/Utica, the numbers show drillers will spend 15% less this year, but overall will produce 2% more natural gas than they did last year.
Who are the biggest natural gas sellers in the U.S.? You might be surprised to learn that the biggest *sellers* are not necessarily the biggest *producers* of natural gas. Oh, you might recognize some of the names of the top sellers (BP, Shell, ConocoPhillips). But others might be more of a mystery (Macquarie, Tenaska, Sequent, and J. Aron & Co.). Would it surprise you to learn that BP (i.e. British Petroleum) is the #1 seller of natural gas in the U.S. and has been for many years?
We hate reporting these kinds of stories because of the pain and suffering experienced by the family involved, but report it we must. A contract worker (46-year-old man) who was working at a Cabot Oil & Gas well pad off Hoag Hill Road in Rush Twp. (Susquehanna County, PA) around midnight Tuesday was injured at the pad and rushed to the hospital in Montrose, PA. He later died at the hospital.
The data crunchers at the Pittsburgh Business Times have been sifting through the data for 2020 and have composed a list of the “
Yesterday Cabot Oil & Gas issued its fourth-quarter and full-year 2020 update. Cabot continues to be one of the few drillers that consistently makes a profit quarter after quarter, year after year–even during a downturns like what happened in 2020. Although down from 2019, in 2020 Cabot made just over $200 million in net income. They drilled 74 wells, completed 86 wells, and produced an average of 2.3 billion cubic feet equivalent per day (Bcfe/d) last year.
Cabot Oil & Gas, the powerhouse dry gas producer operating in one northeastern Pennsylvania county (and producing roughly 2.5% of the natgas for the entire nation from that one county) is not due to release full 4Q and full-year 2020 numbers until Feb. 19. However, the company did provide some high-level numbers for last year and a preview of what it plans to do in 2021.