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WV Landowner Lawsuit Against EQT, Diversified re Old Wells Continues

In June 2018, MDN exclusively brought our readers the news that Diversified Gas & Oil (now called Diversified Energy) had purchased EQT Corporation’s Huron Shale assets, with a bunch of conventional wells, in Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia for $575 million (see Diversified Gas & Oil Adds to Conventional Assets in KY, VA, WV). A few months later, the West Virginia Surface Owners’ Rights Organization (WVSORO) accused EQT of selling off its conventional wells to avoid having to plug them (see WV Surface Owners Accuse EQT of Selling Wells Should be Plugged). Two years ago, in July 2022, Big Green groups used a couple of WV landowners in an attempt to launch a class action against EQT and Diversified (see Big Green Uses WV Landowners to Sue EQT, Diversified re Old Wells). There have been recent developments in the case.
Read More “WV Landowner Lawsuit Against EQT, Diversified re Old Wells Continues”

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Diversified Grows via Culling, Harvesting Mature Gas Wells

Every major public “upstream” (exploration and production) company invests in finding and developing reserves — except one, which happens to be the largest owner of wells in the country. Diversified Energy (formerly Diversified Gas & Oil), with major assets in the Marcellus/Utica region (also assets in other regions, too), owns approximately 8 million acres of leases with 67,000 (mostly) conventional oil and gas wells. The company’s business model is to buy lower-producing wells on the cheap and find ways to make them more productive. The company doesn’t do any of its own drilling from scratch. It buys wells drilled long ago (or, in some cases, still under development).
Read More “Diversified Grows via Culling, Harvesting Mature Gas Wells”

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Diversified Buys More East Texas Assets from Crescent Pass Energy

Diversified Energy (formerly Diversified Gas & Oil), with major assets in the Marcellus/Utica region (with assets in other regions, too), owns approximately 8 million acres of leases with 67,000 (mostly) conventional oil and gas wells. The company’s business model is to buy lower-producing wells on the cheap and find ways to make them more productive. Last September, Diversified’s CEO Rusty Huston, in an interview with Forbes, signaled that he would be looking to buy more assets outside of the Marcellus/Utica — specifically along the Gulf Coast (see Diversified CEO Says Gulf Coast has Brighter Future than Appalachia). Since that time, he’s made good on his statement. This morning, the company announced yet another Gulf Coast deal: buying 170,000 acres with 827 active conventional wells and producing 38 MMcfe/d in East Texas for $106 million.
Read More “Diversified Buys More East Texas Assets from Crescent Pass Energy”

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Diversified Energy has Already Surpassed Its 2030 Emissions Goals

Diversified Energy (formerly Diversified Gas & Oil), with major assets in the Marcellus/Utica region (with assets in other regions, too), owns approximately 8 million acres of leases with 67,000 (mostly) conventional oil and gas wells. The company’s business model is to buy lower-producing wells on the cheap and find ways to make them more productive. Diversified set a goal of reducing methane emissions by 50% over levels from 2020 and to do it by 2030. At the recent Hart Energy DUG GAS+ Conference and Expo, Diversified senior VP of EHS&R, Paul Espenan, said the company is pleased to announce it has already met that goal! And the company is well on its way to zero methane emissions by 2040. How is Diversified doing it?
Read More “Diversified Energy has Already Surpassed Its 2030 Emissions Goals”

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Diversified Buys Out Financial Backer’s Portion of Mid-Con Assets

Diversified Energy (formerly Diversified Gas & Oil), with major assets in the Marcellus/Utica region (and other regions, too), owns approximately 8 million acres of leases with 67,000 (mostly) conventional oil and gas wells. The company’s business model is to buy lower-producing wells on the cheap and find ways to make them more productive. Last week, Diversified issued its fourth quarter and full-year 2023 update. Part of the update included an announcement that Diversified is acquiring financial partner Oaktree Capital Management’s interests in the companies’ JV assets in western Oklahoma, East Texas, and northwest Louisiana for a net purchase price of $386 million.
Read More “Diversified Buys Out Financial Backer’s Portion of Mid-Con Assets”

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19 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Feb 5 – 11

There were 19 new permits issued to drill in the Marcellus/Utica during the week of Feb. 5 – 11, versus 20 permits issued the prior week. Pennsylvania issued 13 new permits last week. Ohio issued 4 new permits. West Virginia issued 2 new permits last week. Range Resources scored the most new permits with 5 split between Allegheny and Beaver counties in PA. Chesapeake Energy received 4 permits in Bradford County, PA. Seneca Resources received 4 permits in Elk County, PA. Encino Energy received 4 permits in Guernsey County, OH. And Diversified Energy received 2 permits in Harrison County, WV.
Read More “19 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Feb 5 – 11”

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20 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jan 29 – Feb 4

There were 20 new permits issued to drill in the Marcellus/Utica during the week of Jan. 29 – Feb. 4, versus 27 permits issued during the prior week. Pennsylvania issued 12 new permits last week. Ohio issued 6 new permits. West Virginia issued 2 new permits last week. We had a tie for the company receiving the most permits. Seneca Resources received 4 permits to drill in Tioga County, PA, and Ascent Resources received 4 permits to drill in Harrison County, OH.
Read More “20 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jan 29 – Feb 4”

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Activist Investor Attacks Diversified, Tries (Fails) to Tank Stock

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Ever heard of short selling? It’s a trading strategy of speculating on a stock’s decline in price. According to Investopedia, “In short selling, a position is opened by borrowing shares of a stock, bond, or other asset that the investor believes will decrease in value. The investor then sells these borrowed shares to buyers willing to pay the market price. Before the borrowed shares must be returned, the trader is betting that the price will continue to decline and they can purchase the shares at a lower cost.” A so-called activist investor (we call them corporate raiders) in London called Snowcap Research bought (or borrowed) shares of Diversified Energy’s stock and then issued a 39-page screed claiming Diversified won’t be able to plug the wells it owns and will likely cut its dividend within 12 months. The screed is aimed at forcing the price of Diversified’s stock down so Snowcap can make a profit.
Read More “Activist Investor Attacks Diversified, Tries (Fails) to Tank Stock”

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23 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jan 8 – 14

There were 23 new permits issued to drill in the Marcellus/Utica during the week of Jan. 8-14, versus 18 permits issued for the prior week. Pennsylvania issued 13 new permits last week. Ohio issued just 2 new permits. West Virginia issued 8 new permits — for the second week in a row. EQT scored the top slot for new permits, receiving 7 permits to drill in Lycoming and Greene counties in PA.
Read More “23 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jan 8 – 14”

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Diversified Sells Major Stake in Select Appalachian Wells for $200M

Diversified Energy Company, with major assets in the Appalachian region (including the Marcellus/Utica), announced yesterday the company had sold a majority stake in an unspecified number of Appalachian conventional oil and gas wells to an investment company called DP Lion Equity Holdco, for $200 million. We could not find who owns DP Lion. The company was registered as an LLC in the State of Delaware on Oct. 19, 2023. That’s about all we know about the buyer. The deal includes Diversified retaining a 20% ownership in the wells (80% goes to DP Lion). Diversified will also continue to operate the wells.

1/4/24 UPDATE: A sharp MDN reader sent us a link to a previous Diversified SEC filing that shows DP Lion Equity Holdco, LLC, is, in fact, a subsidiary of Diversified. So Diversified raised new money by selling some of its assets to itself! Or, more likely, to a slightly different set of investors, but the assets are still controlled (essentially owned) by Diversified.
Read More “Diversified Sells Major Stake in Select Appalachian Wells for $200M”

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4 U.S. House Democrats Launch Witch Hunt Against Diversified Energy

Democrats play dirty. At least, four Democrats from the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee are playing dirty. On Monday, Diversified Energy, with major assets in the Appalachian region (including the Marcellus/Utica), began to trade its stock on the New York Stock Exchange alongside of continued trading on its “home” exchange, the London Stock Exchange. The very same day, four Democrats — Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Kathy Castor (D-FL), Diana DeGette (D-CO), and Paul Tonko (D-NY) — sent a very public letter to Diversified CEO Rusty Hutson launching a probe into the company, implying that Diversified will never be able to plug all of the old wells that it owns (when it comes time to retire them), essentially accusing the company of planning to defraud the public. News of the Democrat smear job hit like a hammer, causing Diversified’s stock price to plunge by more than 15% (although it has since somewhat recovered).
Read More “4 U.S. House Democrats Launch Witch Hunt Against Diversified Energy”

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DUG Appalachia: Diversified Buys, Optimizes, Holds for Long-Term

One of the speakers at the recent Hart Energy DUG Appalachia event in Pittsburgh was Douglas Kris, senior vice president of Diversified Energy. For years, we have highlighted Diversified’s “contrarian” business model (see our Diversified stories here). Diversified Energy (formerly Diversified Gas & Oil), with major assets in the Marcellus/Utica as well as other regions, owns approximately 8 million acres of leases with 67,000 (mostly) conventional oil and gas wells. The company’s business model is to buy lower-producing (older) wells on the cheap, find ways to make them more productive and keep them for decades to come. Kris further explained the company’s model and philosophy at DUG…
Read More “DUG Appalachia: Diversified Buys, Optimizes, Holds for Long-Term”

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Diversified CEO Says Gulf Coast has Brighter Future than Appalachia

Diversified Energy (formerly Diversified Gas & Oil), with major assets in the Marcellus/Utica region (and other regions, too), owns approximately 8 million acres of leases with 67,000 (mostly) conventional oil and gas wells. The company’s business model is to buy lower-producing wells on the cheap and find ways to make them more productive. For years, we have highlighted Diversified’s “contrarian” business model (see our Diversified stories here). Recently, oil and gas expert David Blackmon (who writes for the Forbes website) interviewed Diversified CEO Rusty Hutson, who had some interesting comments about the Appalachian region.
Read More “Diversified CEO Says Gulf Coast has Brighter Future than Appalachia”

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Diversified Picks Up Pace Plugging Old Wells – 174 So Far in 2023

Diversified Energy (formerly Diversified Gas & Oil), with major assets in the Marcellus/Utica region (and other regions, too), owns approximately 8 million acres of leases with 67,000 (mostly) conventional oil and gas wells. The company’s business model is to buy lower-producing wells on the cheap and find ways to make them more productive. The company issued its latest update, for the first half of 2023, last Friday. Paul Gough, from the Pittsburgh Business Times, listened to the conference call and combed through the update. He hit on a key piece of news: Diversified has accelerated its program to plug old wells (its own wells in addition to orphaned wells) this year. In fact, the company has already (as of June 30) plugged 174 wells for the first half of the year. That number includes 87 of Diversified’s own wells.
Read More “Diversified Picks Up Pace Plugging Old Wells – 174 So Far in 2023”

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EQT, Diversified Ask WV Fed Court to Toss Abandoned Well Lawsuit

Last summer, MDN brought you the news about a lawsuit against Diversified Energy and EQT over the issue of old and “abandoned” wells in West Virginia (see Big Green Uses WV Landowners to Sue EQT, Diversified re Old Wells). In April, a West Virginia federal judge allowed that lawsuit to continue as a class action (see Fed Court Rules EQT, Diversified Must Face WV Class Action). However, it appears to us (untrained in the ways of the law) that perhaps the lawsuit is in trouble. The plaintiffs keep amending their complaint, dropping bits and pieces, hoping to keep it alive. The fourth complaint (the third time amending it) was filed in June. Diversified and EQT have just filed a strong motion to dismiss the latest complaint (i.e. dismiss the lawsuit).
Read More “EQT, Diversified Ask WV Fed Court to Toss Abandoned Well Lawsuit”

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SRBC Water Withdrawal Restrictions Hit 42 PA Oil & Gas Operators

The weather has been fantastic for those of us living in the northeastern U.S. over the past few weeks. Clear blue skies (when they aren’t clouded with wildfire smoke from Canada), really warm temperatures, and absolutely no rain to spoil outdoor activities. Here in the Binghamton, NY area, we went from a surplus of rain and swollen rivers and lakes just a month ago to a rain deficit today. Lawns and fields and beginning to turn brown. Hey, we’re not complaining! But we do need some rain. The lack of rain in the Susquehanna River Basin has triggered water withdrawal restrictions for 42 oil and gas drillers and four other large water users (46 in all) by the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC). In many cases, the SRBC order is to “cease withdrawal.”
Read More “SRBC Water Withdrawal Restrictions Hit 42 PA Oil & Gas Operators”