Where are Big Marcellus/Utica E&Ps Beginning to Drill Again?
The answer to the question posed in the headline of this article, asking where drillers are starting to drill again now that they are starting to drill again, is–it depends on the driller. There is no particular geography in the Marcellus/Utica, nor is there a preference for a given layer (Marcellus or Utica) across the major players. Each of them is following their own strategy. Here’s a rundown for several major players and their strategies…
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As you have no doubt noticed, we are in the midst of quarterly reports season. Public companies (those with stocks) must file quarterly financial reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Along with those filings comes a version of the same news constructed for consumption by investors and the general public. The overall “feel” of reports coming from most Marcellus/Utica drillers has been upbeat. The obvious trend is that the big drillers–EQT, Cabot, Southwestern, others–plan to drill more wells in 2Q16 than originally forecast. However, given the recent severe downturn, most drillers are sounding notes of caution as a balance to the good news that more drilling is on the way. Perhaps “cautiously optimistic” is the best way to put it…
EQT, one of the big Marcellus/Utica drillers, with its headquarters in Pittsburgh, released an interesting second quarter 2016 update yesterday. Along with the update came a quarterly conference call with analysts. You may recall that the Utica Shale play previously turned the head of EQT (see 
In May MDN told you that EQT, a major Marcellus (and Utica) driller based in Pittsburgh, had cut a deal to purchase all of Norwegian Statoil’s Marcellus assets in West Virginia (see 
Another day, another attack on natural gas by the radicals of the Sierra Club. In this case, the Virginia chapter of the Sierra Club found a retired geologist they could buy, er, a, hire to write a report slamming the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a $3.5 billion, 301-mile pipeline that will run from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA. The pipeline is due to be built by EQT, NextEra Energy and several other partners. The geologist who sold himself out to the Sierra Club says the pipeline would run through a “karst” area–an area of sinkholes and caves–and building the pipeline could potentially damage the water aquifer in that area. Below is a news report and a copy of the sham report released by the Virginia Sierra Clubbers…
A few days ago MDN told you how proud we are of the Marcellus/Utica industry for stepping up the plate and donating money (and time) to assist flood victims in West Virginia (see 
In January, three liberal Democrat county commissioners from Fayette County, WV, with the backing and help of the radical WV Mountain Party, voted to ban injection wells in the county (see 
Yesterday MDN brought you the news that EQT has cut a deal to buy all of Norwegian Statoil’s operated Marcellus assets in West Virginia for $407 million (see 
Two weeks ago MDN told you that Rice Energy had offered a “stalking horse” bid of $200 million for the shale assets of now-bankrupt coal company Alpha Natural Resources (see 
And then there were four. The Center for Sustainable Shale Development (CSSD) has fought stiff headwinds from the beginning. The organization was founded by a group of shale industry people and environmentalists reaching across the isle to forge strict standards that both sides can live with. Environmental leftists, like Mamma Teresa Heinz Kerry and her Heniz Endowments, pulled support and have actively worked against the CSSD (see 
Everybody loves a list. We do too! We spotted a ranking in a recent issue of the Pittsburgh Business Times that lists the top 37 shale gas producers in southwestern Pennsylvania, based on the amount of gas they produced in 2015. We pulled the names of the top 10, listed in order from most to least…