EOG Resources Establishing Utica HQ Near Columbus, OH; 150 Jobs
In August, EOG Resources, one of the largest oil and gas drillers in the U.S. (with international operations in several other countries) and a Fortune 500 company, closed on the $5.6 billion purchase of Encino Energy, adding 675,000 net acres in the Utica and over 1,000 operating shale wells (see EOG Closes on $5.6B Purchase of Encino Assets in Ohio Utica). Before buying Encino, EOG owned approximately 460,000 acres in the Utica. Now, with over 1 million acres under management and active drilling operations, including five rigs and three completion crews working in Ohio, EOG needs a regional headquarters. Read More “EOG Resources Establishing Utica HQ Near Columbus, OH; 150 Jobs”
Here’s a court case that slipped under our radar. Antero Resources Corporation challenged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) approval of a two-tier fuel rate structure imposed by Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company (TGP) following an expansion project. Antero had contracted with TGP to secure firm transportation capacity by funding the construction of new compressor stations, which are energy-intensive and require substantial fuel to operate. The tariff approved by FERC stipulated that Antero would always be charged the highest marginal fuel rate, as if its gas were the last and most expensive to transport through the pipeline. In contrast, other shippers paid an average fuel rate, leading to Antero paying two to three times the fuel rate of other shippers on the same pipeline segment. 
On July 3, 2024, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued an order to EQT asking the company to produce records as part of the agency’s ongoing investigation into the release of up to an estimated 940,000 gallons of wastewater at the Brova shale gas well pad in North Bethlehem Township, Washington County, and similar failures at six other EQT well pads. The issue revolves around the use of “dump lines” at well pads. EQT states that the DEP’s request for reviewing physical paperwork is onerous, and the agency lacks the authority to regulate dump lines anyway. The DEP wants to ensure that another dump line issue (spilling of wastewater) doesn’t happen. 
Our friend Bill desRosiers, Manager of Government and External Affairs at Coterra Energy, has authored an excellent article and white paper addressing the topic of how the oil and gas industry can use virtual reality (VR) to attract new blood to the industry. The oil and gas industry is facing a significant workforce challenge: nearly 400,000 U.S. energy workers are nearing retirement, while younger generations remain hesitant to enter the field. In spring 2025, Coterra partnered with Xalter to deploy a multi-state pilot VR program to prepare the next generation of energy workers. Bill draws back the curtain to discuss the company’s experience in using VR for training and to attract new talent to the company. 
In February 2016, Shell completed a $69.7 billion buyout and merger with BG, the largest such oil and gas deal since Exxon bought Mobil in 1999, driven by the company’s love of LNG (see 
The Youngstown Vindicator is reporting that one of the first new horizontal gas and oil wells to be drilled in Mahoning County, OH, in recent years has begun producing gas and oil at its well pad. The Wehr Spring Valley Farm well is producing oil and natural gas. However, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) has not yet released any production numbers for the well. The big news here is that drilling is migrating well north of the traditional locations for Utica drilling—to the “northern part” of the Utica. Is this a foretaste of good things to come in the northern Utica? 
The mighty BP (formerly British Petroleum) is an oil and natural gas company attempting to transition into a renewable energy company. They’re failing. BP is having an identity crisis. It’s a European company and has bought into the false narrative that fossil energy is on the way out (“transitioning” to so-called renewables) due to concerns over mythical global warming. BP’s recently published Annual Energy Outlook for 2025 report (full copy below) takes a different approach from previous versions of the report. It offers two scenarios: What will happen between now and 2050 if we don’t change anything, called “Current Trajectory,” which means humans will turn Earth into a burning hell; and what will happen if the world finally gets serious about mythical global warming and commits to ensuring temperatures don’t rise more than 2 degrees Celsius, called “Below 2°.” 
For the week of September 15 – 21, the number of permits issued to drill new wells in the Marcellus/Utica decreased from the previous week, but not by much. There were 24 new permits issued across the three M-U states last week, down from 26 issued two weeks ago. Pennsylvania finally improved a bit, but only because of one driller. PA issued 11 new permits last week, with 10 of the 11 going to Range Resources. Range’s permits were spread across three counties, with one permit in Allegheny, five in Beaver, and four in Washington. The other PA permit went to Beech Resources for a well in Lycoming County. 
In October 2024, Chesapeake Energy completed its $8.2 billion merger with Southwestern Energy (renaming the combined company Expand Energy), and in the process became the country’s #1 highest producing natural gas company, taking that title away from EQT Corporation (see 
The annual 
In the closing hours of the 2014 West Virginia legislative session, the legislature passed Senate Bill (SB) 373, the Aboveground Storage Tank Act (see 