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American Energy Partners Buys 467 PA/WV Conv. Wells for $10.8M
American Energy Partners, Inc. (AEPT), based in Allentown, PA, is a small but diversified company. They have their fingers in a number of different oil and gas pies, including subsidies in drilling, remediation, water, valuation services, and education. AEPT announced a new deal today to purchase three conventional oil and gas operators with assets in Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia for $10.8 million. The three operators (unnamed) come with a collective 467 conventional wells and 1,250 MMcfe/d of natural gas production.
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The experts at RBN Energy have, for the past five years, closely tracked the spending and production of a representative collection of 39 major public E&P (exploration & production) companies. RBN splits the companies tracked into three groups: Oil-Weighted E&Ps, Diversified E&Ps, and Gas-Weighted E&Ps. In a recent post, RBN reveals what those 39 companies have announced they will spend, and produce, in 2021. For eight of the nine gas-weighted E&Ps that produce gas in the Marcellus/Utica, the numbers show drillers will spend 15% less this year, but overall will produce 2% more natural gas than they did last year.
Who are the biggest natural gas sellers in the U.S.? You might be surprised to learn that the biggest *sellers* are not necessarily the biggest *producers* of natural gas. Oh, you might recognize some of the names of the top sellers (BP, Shell, ConocoPhillips). But others might be more of a mystery (Macquarie, Tenaska, Sequent, and J. Aron & Co.). Would it surprise you to learn that BP (i.e. British Petroleum) is the #1 seller of natural gas in the U.S. and has been for many years?
Is there something weird in the water over at EQT headquarters? Yesterday the company issued a statement supporting the draconian, over-the-top federal methane emissions rule implemented under Lord Obama that goes way beyond reasonable when it comes to trapping every last molecule of methane (extremely costly with no real benefit to the environment). President Trump wisely rescinded the Obama rule two months after taking office, back in 2017 (see 
We hate reporting these kinds of stories because of the pain and suffering experienced by the family involved, but report it we must. A contract worker (46-year-old man) who was working at a Cabot Oil & Gas well pad off Hoag Hill Road in Rush Twp. (Susquehanna County, PA) around midnight Tuesday was injured at the pad and rushed to the hospital in Montrose, PA. He later died at the hospital.
Just yesterday MDN told you that Chesapeake Energy had enrolled in the same program EQT Corporation previously enrolled in to certify its natural gas as “responsibly sourced” (see 
In January EQT Corporation announced it would partner with a Denver, CO company calling itself “Project Canary” to run a test on two of its shale gas pads, to prove the natural gas produces is “certified responsibly sourced” (see 
There’s a lot of gum-flapping about sustainability and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) these days. It seems as if every upstream and midstream company has suddenly gotten the ESG religion. But at the end of the day, what does it actually mean? How do companies really effect positive change, not just talk about it? CNX Resources doesn’t just talk a good game. CNX is investing $30 million to focus on local, underserved communities and populations in the tri-state region. CNX is looking for real results, not just pretty slide shows to show investors.
Only Pennsylvania, of the three active Marcellus/Utica drilling states, issued new shale drilling permits last week. But PA’s permits were more than enough to make up for Ohio and West Virginia. PA issued 20 new permits in 7 different counties, scattered across the state (although most of the permits were issued in the dry gas northeastern part of the state).
Last week in our “best of the rest” links we included a note that one of the co-founders of Antero Resources, Glen Warren, is retiring effective the end of this month. Warren is currently President and Chief Financial Officer of Antero Resources and President of Antero Midstream. What we didn’t know at the time, but has since come to light, is a major reshuffling in top management that will happen following his departure.
Dan Rice IV, former CEO of Rice Energy and a board member of EQT Corp. (where his younger brother is now the CEO), is making a big bet–we’d call it a gamble–of $1 billion on so-called renewable natural gas, mainly from landfills. Rice’s “blank-check” acquisition firm, called Rice Acquisition Corp., is acquiring and merging together Archaea Energy ($347 million) and Aria Energy ($680 million) into a single company focused on providing renewable natural gas (RNG) and “green” hydrogen.
Last week MDN told you that Epsilon Energy, which concentrates most of its effort on the Marcellus in Susquehanna County, PA, had sued its joint venture partner Chesapeake Energy over Chessy’s refusal to allow Epsilon to drill four shale wells on land Chessy doesn’t want to drill (see 
A month ago MDN told you about some of the biggest drillers in the Marcellus/Utica announcing new or expanded ESG (environment, social, governance) programs during their quarterly updates (see 
There are those who talk a good game about fighting back against the cultural rot that is consuming our country, fighting back against those who spread the false gospel of socialism and claim that capitalism is somehow evil. There are those who talk a good game about supporting fossil fuel energy. And then, there are those who actually do something about it. Talk is cheap. Action is expensive. You can classify Nick Deiuliis, CEO of CNX Resources, as an action guy. Yesterday Nick announced an exciting new mentorship program for high schoolers.
As you can probably divine from our headline, we’re not fans of the so-called “Bipartisan” Policy Center–a group founded by leftist Democrats and RINOs (Republicans in Name Only), which is how mainstream/Democrat media defines bipartisanship. As near as we can determine, the BPC is devoid of anyone who calls him or herself a conservative. But, whatever. The big news is that Toby Rice, CEO of EQT Corporation, has joined the BPC’s American Energy Innovation Council (AEIC) where his expertise will be used “to assist in accelerating the mission toward a clean energy economy.” Good luck Toby.