Diversified G&O Update: 30% of Production Comes from Shale
Diversified Gas & Oil (DGO) owns close to 8 million acres of leases with some 60,000 (mostly) conventional oil and gas wells. Their focus has been to acquire quality production and cash flow–regardless of the well or commodity type (gas or oil)–in the Appalachian Basin. DGO currently owns over 400 Marcellus/Utica shale wells in their portfolio too. Earlier this week the company issued its fourth-quarter and full-year 2020 update. Although the company reported a $23 million loss for 2020 (versus making $99 million in 2019), CEO Rusty Hutson says he is “exceptionally pleased with our results in 2020” and the way the company navigated a turbulent 2020.
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Hilcorp is a major driller founded in 1989 by Jeff Hildebrand. It is one of the largest privately-held (stock not publicly traded) oil and natural gas exploration and production companies in the U.S. Headquartered in Houston, TX, Hilcorp has over 1,825 employees in multiple operating areas including the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana, Wyoming, New Mexico, Alaska, and (yes) in the Marcellus/Utica. While they don’t have a huge presence here in the northeast, Hilcorp does actively drill shale wells in Lawrence County, PA and Columbiana County, OH. The Youngstown Business Journal reports Hilcorp is advancing its program in the northern portion of the Ohio Utica.
In early February, Northern Oil and Gas, Inc., a company that invests in non-operated oil and gas assets (they let others do the drilling), announced it had purchased 64,000 net acres producing ~120 MMcfe/d (million cubic feet equivalent per day) in the Marcellus/Utica from Reliance Industries Limited (see 
In early February MDN editor Jim Willis had the pleasure of doing a remote video interview with George Stark, Director of External Affairs for Cabot Oil & Gas. Jim has known George (via various industry events) for perhaps the last 10 years. Cabot is the sponsor of a series of in-person and online events called Think About Energy (TAE). George is conducting a series of interviews about good sources of information for the oil and gas industry and he wanted to highlight MDN. Thanks George! In the interview (watch it below), Jim talks about how MDN got started and some of the key issues facing the M-U today. Enjoy!
All three M-U states received permits to drill new shale wells last week. Pennsylvania received 9 new permits, with 5 of those permits going to Cabot Oil & Gas and their drilling program in Susquehanna County. Ohio received 4 new permits, all for the same company (Encino Energy) in the same county (Harrison) on the same well pad. And West Virginia received 3 new permits, all for the same company (Northeast Natural Energy) in the same county (Monongalia) on the same well pad.
Chesapeake Energy has screwed over landowners in northeastern Pennsylvania (and elsewhere) for years. Under the provisions of a “settlement” just brokered by PA’s shale-hating Attorney General, Josh Shapiro, Chesapeake will get away with settling the royalty case for pennies on the dollar. The average landowner will get just over $300 from this “settlement.” What a cruel joke. This is all about headlines and showmanship for Shapiro who hopes to run for governor next year. Don’t fall for his “I’m the savior of landowners” schtick. He just sold landowners down the river in return for a headline his campaign can use.
Last November Gulfport Energy, the third-largest driller in the Ohio Utica Shale (by the number of wells drilled), filed for a “pre-arranged” Chapter 11 bankruptcy (see 
Banpu is Thailand’s largest coal mining company. But Banpu is far more than just a coal company. It has multiple subsidiaries in various energy industries scattered around the globe. For example, here in the U.S. Banpu partners with Kalnin Ventures and operates BKV Corporation, the American shale drilling arm of Banpu. We spotted an article in today’s Bangkok Post that says Banpu is about to enter the U.S. power generation market by purchasing a gas-fired power plant–this year.
Shell, one of the world’s biggest traders of LNG, released its fifth annual LNG Outlook report for 2021 last week (full copy below). Shell says global demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) increased from 358 million tonnes (Mt) in 2019 to 360 Mt in 2020. It would have been a lot higher had it not been for the coronavirus pandemic and the shutdown of the worldwide economy. Hauling out the crystal ball, Shell makes a compelling case in the latest Outlook that worldwide demand for LNG will double to 700 Mt by 2040–in under 20 years! Can you imagine?
You have to admire Canadian driller Questerre Energy–they never give up. Questerre has patiently waited for years to begin drilling on their extensive Utica Shale acreage in the St. Lawrence Lowlands of Quebec, Canada. Quebec is like New York–completely closed to the oil and gas industry, particularly shale and fracking (see 
The data crunchers at the Pittsburgh Business Times have been sifting through the data for 2020 and have composed a list of the “