2 Marcellus Drillers Clipped $5.3 Million for Clean Air Violations
Yesterday, the Biden Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Biden Department of Justice (DOJ) announced settlements with two Pennsylvania shale drillers claiming violations of the federal Clean Air Act and the Pennsylvania Air Pollution Control Act. The Bidenistas alleged that XTO Energy and Hilcorp Energy violated emissions limits at oil and gas production facilities in Butler County, Lawrence County, and Mercer County. XTO is on the hook to pay a $4 million fine, while Hilcorp must pay $1.275 million. In addition, XTO will be made to pay another $1.4 million to plug orphaned wells the company had nothing to do with orphaning. That passes as “justice” with the Bidenistas. Read More “2 Marcellus Drillers Clipped $5.3 Million for Clean Air Violations”
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) released production numbers for the second quarter of 2024 yesterday. The story the numbers tell continues to be about Utica oil, which continues to rise each quarter. Ohio’s total oil production during 2Q24 was 8.01 million barrels, up 23% from 2Q23’s 6.5 million barrels and up 11% from 1Q24’s 7.2 million barrels. The story of oil in the Buckeye State can’t be told apart from Encino Energy (EAP), which produced nearly half of all the state’s oil during 2Q24. As for natural gas production, it’s no surprise it went down slightly in 2Q24, given the current low price for gas. The state produced 526.6 Bcf in 2Q24, down 3.7% from 2Q23’s 547.0 Bcf, and down 1.4% from this year’s first quarter number of 534.0 Bcf. MDN pulled the numbers from the ODNR quarterly report and produced top 25 lists for both gas and oil wells.
Two days ago, MDN brought you the list of the Top 100 private oil and gas producers in the Lower 48 states, which includes four Marcellus/Utica drillers in the Top 10 (see 
Who doesn’t love a good Top 10 (or, in this case, Top 100) list? Yesterday, Hart Energy published a list of the Top 100 private oil and gas producers in the Lower 48 states. The list is based on information provided by Enverus and Oil and Gas Investor. The article’s point was to call attention to the dramatic change in the list given the consolidation (mergers and acquisitions) over the past 18 months — changes which are “reshaping the landscape,” according to Hart Energy. When perusing the list, the first thing we noticed is that four of the Top 10 in the list of Top 100 are major gas and oil producers operating in the Marcellus/Utica.
The left is nervous about the oil and gas sector giving money to the campaign of Donald J. Trump. The New York Times, a bastion of leftist Democrat propaganda, has a headline and story blaring, “Biden and Big Oil Had a Truce. Now, It’s Collapsing.” Bloomberg’s version says, “Oil Titans Help Give Trump an Edge Over Biden in Fundraising.” Both stories reference a fundraising lunch being held today in Houston, Texas. The event will have a Who’s Who in the O&G industry, including Kelsy Warren from pipeline giant Energy Transfer, Harold Hamm, founder of oil driller Continental Resources, and Vicki Hollub, CEO of oil drilling giant Occidental Petroleum. They are ALL opening their wallets for Mr. Trump. And that makes the left nervous.
Yesterday, the Ohio Oil & Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC) met to award contracts to drill under (not on) several Ohio state parks, including the 20,000-acre Salt Fork State Park in Guernsey County. Anti-fossil fuel nutters didn’t disappoint. They showed up and dressed up in burlap bags and silly hats, standing along a wall to protest against the proceeding. Fortunately, the protesters didn’t disrupt or stop the proceeding (they had been threatened with arrest if they did). The big news (for us) is that Encino Energy, which has long coveted the Salt Fork State Park property, did NOT win the contract for it! At some point, Encino pulled its proposal for Salt Fork and instead concentrated on several other parcels. The contract for Salt Fork was awarded to Infinity Natural Resources. We have the complete list of who won which contracts and how much they are paying in signing bonuses and royalties.
Columbiana County, OH, located in the northern portion of the Utica Shale play in the Buckeye State, has recently come roaring back to life. In 2022, there were 41 permits issued to drill in the Utica in Columbiana County. So far, in 2023, there have been 35 permits issued to drill in Columbiana County. But here’s the thing: 16 of this year’s 35 permits (half!) were issued in November! It’s like Columbiana had been asleep for most of this year, and then it suddenly came alive.
New shale permits issued for Nov 6 – 12 in the Marcellus/Utica slipped but still turned in a respectable number. There were 22 new permits issued last week, versus 37 issued the week before. Last week’s permit tally included 6 new permits in Pennsylvania, 16 new permits in Ohio, and no new permits in West Virginia. Hilcorp Energy was the winner of most permits issued, with 12 new permits issued for a single well pad in Columbiana County, OH.
Once upon a time (roughly 12 years ago), Chesapeake Energy and other shale drillers were leasing property in Columbiana County, OH, in deals that often paid $6,000 per acre for a signing bonus and granted 20% royalties for any oil or gas produced. According to an analysis by the Youngstown Business Journal, those days are long gone. However, many of those original leases have expired, and there is a new push to re-lease in the county, says a Youngstown attorney specializing in oil and gas. Just don’t expect big signing bonuses and royalty rates.
Yesterday MDN brought you the news that a third-party contractor “struck a well head” on a Hilcorp shale well pad in Columbiana County, Ohio, resulting in a leak that forced the evacuation of 450 people within a mile of the well site (see 