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SRBC Renews Water Use Permits for 34 Marcellus/Utica Shale Pads
The highly functional and responsible Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), unlike its completely dysfunctional and irresponsible cousin, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), continues to support the shale energy industry by approving water withdrawals and consumptive use for responsible and safe shale drilling. The SRBC published a notice in the March 22 Pennsylvania Bulletin that the Commission renewed 34 general water use permits in January for individual shale gas well drilling pads in Bradford, Centre, Clinton, Elk, Lycoming, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, and Wyoming counties. Read More “SRBC Renews Water Use Permits for 34 Marcellus/Utica Shale Pads”
For the week of Mar 3 – 9, the number of permits issued in the Marcellus/Utica to drill new shale wells increased by six from the previous week. Last week, 22 new permits were issued, with 13 (more than half) going to the Keystone State (PA). Expand Energy (Chesapeake Energy) scored five permits for a single pad in Bradford County. Coterra Energy also received five permits for a single pad in neighboring Susquehanna County. EQT had two new permits for a single pad in Washington County. And Range Resources rounded out PA’s permits with a single permit in Washington County. 
Last week we told you that it is the end of an era with the retirement of Dan Dinges from the Coterra Board of Directors (see 
Two weeks ago, MDN brought you the exciting news that President Trump pledged to get the long-dead Pennsylvania Marcellus to New York State Constitution Pipeline built (see 
Coterra Energy, formed by the merger of Cabot Oil & Gas (drills for natural gas in the Marcellus) and Cimarex Energy (drills for oil in the Permian and Anadarko basins), issued its fourth quarter and full-year 2024 update yesterday. The headline news (for us) is that the company announced it will restart its Marcellus drilling program in Susquehanna County, PA, “in the coming months” of early 2Q25. Whew! That puts a big, fat smile on our face. Also of note: Coterra exited 2024 with a three-year production high in the Marcellus, although that statement is not backed up with the raw data. Coterra produced 2,042.8 MMcf/d (2.04 Bcf/d) in 4Q24, versus producing 2,304.9 MMcf/d (2.30 Bcf/d) in 4Q23—11% less than the year ago period. In the bowels of the report, we learned that the company had stopped curtailing production in December. So, must be the “production high” was the rate flowing in December. 
Never in our wildest dreams did we see this one coming. And we must caution against too much hope. However, we are JAZZED. Last Friday, President Trump signed yet another executive order. This EO creates the National Energy Dominance Council, directing the new council to move quickly to increase domestic oil and gas production (see our companion post today for details). During comments with reporters at the EO signing, Trump vowed to complete the long-dead Pennsylvania Marcellus to New York State Constitution Pipeline! Trump’s own words: “We are going to get this done, and once we start construction, we’re looking at anywhere from nine to 12 months.” Holy smokes!!!! 
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 
Last November, Coterra Energy announced it would buy “certain assets of Franklin Mountain Energy and Avant Natural Resources” located in the Permian (see 
The highly functional and responsible Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), unlike its completely dysfunctional and irresponsible cousin, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), continues to support the shale energy industry by approving water withdrawals and consumptive use for responsible and safe shale drilling. The SRBC published a notice in the January 25 Pennsylvania Bulletin that the Executive Director of the SRBC gave his approval to or renewed 18 general water use permits in December for individual shale gas well drilling pads in Bradford, Cameron, Centre, Clearfield, Lycoming, Susquehanna, and Tioga counties. 
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.