Letter Proves NY AG, Others “Unlawfully” Ganged Up on ExxonMobil
Once again there is HUGE news that points to “unlawful” (i.e. illegal) actions on the part of New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman–and mainstream media is ignoring it. Previously the Energy & Environment Legal Institute (E&E Legal) released copies of communications between Schneiderman, Massachusetts AG Maura Healey and other lefty Dems to engage in an unethical secrecy pact in their campaign to shake down Exxon Mobil by claiming the company “knew” man-made global warming exists and that burning the nasty fossil fuels the company produces contributes to it (see Smoking Gun: AGs Signed Pact to Keep Exxon Documents Secret). Now E&E Legal has released communications that show Schneiderman et al “unlawfully” colluded by forming an “informal coalition…to stem climate change and expand the availability and usage of renewable energy”. That is, they sought to attack a private company, Exxon, for not admitting mankind is causing a catastrophic toasting of Mom Earth. The AGs decided Obama’s Paris agreement needed some help–and they would do so by agreeing, and keeping secret their agreement, to target private companies like Exxon who won’t roll over and play dead on the issue of global warming. AG Schneiderman and the other lefty AGs have been caught corrupting our system of justice by forming a gang to bully companies and individuals into silence. Will we now see any justice against Schneiderman and the other law breakers? We’re not holding our breath…
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Guess who’s back with a case now before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court? Yep, the odious nutters from Big Green Groups PennFuture, THE (arrogant) Delaware Riverkeeper, and the Peters Township gang. You may recall we reported last September of the humiliating defeat suffered by these groups in the “Gorsline” case (see 
Last week MDN reported on National Fuel Gas Company’s quarterly recently-filed quarterly report (see 
EXCO Resources, a Dallas, TX-based driller with drilling operations in Texas, North Louisiana and the Marcellus/Utica, has been inching toward bankruptcy. So far the company has stayed out of bankrutpcy and hopes they can continue to do so. Their strategy, as we reported in May, is to hire new board members and try to wiggle out of long-term pipeline contracts (see 
Kudos to EQT for being a good corporate citizen. EQT, through its charitable subsidiary the EQT Foundation, doled out $1.3 million to 43 non-profit organizations located in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky during the first half of 2016. During one of the worst downturns in the oil and gas industry in a generation. The Foundation, established in 2003, has donated a cumulative $37 million since it was founded. Astonishing! Here is a partial list of the very-worthy organizations receiving money in 1H16…
Just prior to going on trial for committing felonies while in office, Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane (Democrat) needed something, ANYTHING, to distract the press from focusing on her own crimes. Since she took office in January 2013, Kane has targeted the Marcellus industry. One of the first high profile cases she manufactured (out of nothing) was to accuse XTO Energy of committing a crime in an accidental spill of a few thousand gallons of frack wastewater–an accident in Lycoming County, PA that happened years before she took office and didn’t have any long-term effects (see 
Chesapeake Energy, the second largest natural gas producer in the United States (thanks to co-founder Aubrey McClendon), issued its second quarter 2016 update yesterday. Depending on which media source you read, the update shows a company in full recovery, to a company that’s doomed. A few facts from the update: Chessy lost (on paper) $1.8 billion in 2Q16. Which is huge. But it’s much better than the $4.1 billion they lost in 2Q15–so we do see progress. Chesapeake’s debt reduction program continues. So far this year they’ve paid down another $1 billion in debt. Another good sign. As for drilling, Chesapeake currently operates 10 rigs–three each in the Eagle Ford, Haynesville and Mid-Continent plays, and one in the Utica. They’re not operating any rigs in the Marcellus at present. The company says it plans to spend close to $1.8 billion this year on drilling and will drill another 100 wells by the end of the year. Here’s the update from the biggest shale driller on the planet…
National Fuel Gas Company covers the full span of the oil and gas business–from upstream (with its wholly-owned drilling subsidiary Seneca Resources), to the midstream (with wholly-owned subsidiary Empire Pipeline) to downstream (NFG’s natural gas utility service to 740,000 customers in NY and PA). Big company. Diverse operations. Yesterday NFG issued what they call their third quarter update (everyone else’s second quarter update), covering April through June. According to NFG’s CEO Ronald Tanski, Seneca’s Marcellus production grew by an impressive 25% year over year, due to increased takeaway capacity on NFG’s pipelines and on improved gas prices in Appalachia. NFG’s pipeline business is doing very well–making more this year than last. The one part of the business that (surprisingly) lost money was the utility business. Here’s the full run-down for NFG and its various divisions…
Carrizo Oil & Gas, a Houston-based driller, actively drills in the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas, the Delaware Basin in West Texas, the Niobrara Formation in Colorado, and until mid-year in 2015, they did have an active drilling program in the Ohio Utica and Pennsylvania Marcellus. No more. They haven’t drilled in Appalachia since 3Q15. According to Carrizo’s latest quarterly update for 2Q16, that (sad) state of affairs continues…
Score an important victory against the forces of darkness. The radical leftist PA-based group Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) does its best to trick townships into passing illegal bans on fracking and injection wells. In 2013 the CELDF fooled Highland Township in Elk County, PA into passing a ban on wastewater injection wells. They also tricked Grant Township in Indiana County, PA to do the same thing. Both towns are in court defending their illegal actions. One of the idiotic legal tactics used by the CELDF in both cases is to claim that an ecosystem is a “person” under the law–a person who can file to join the town’s lawsuit in an effort to protect itself (see 
Rice Energy, a young company headed by relatively young leaders (the Rice boys), continues to impress with their latest quarterly update, for 2Q16. Net production for Rice hit a record 758 million cubic feet equivalent per day (MMcfe/d), which is a 43% increase over 2Q15 and a 12% increase over 1Q16. As CEO Dan Rice said, “We had a remarkable quarter, marked by several notable achievements, including record-low development costs and lease operating expenses, record-high production and midstream throughput volumes, and we turned to sales a company-record 18 operated wells in April.” Rice continues to focus completely on the Marcellus and Utica region, a “pure play” company. Because they’ve lowered costs, Rice is adding another $65 million to their Utica drilling budget in 2016. Cool. About the only bad news from yesterday’s quarterly update is that the company lost $138.7 million in 2Q16, versus losing $63.5 million in 2Q15. But keep an eye out. The Rice boys are bound to turn the financials around. Here’s the update, with details on what Rice accomplished in both the Marcellus and Utica in 2Q16…
Noble Energy, a driller with a significant presence in the Marcellus but with a bigger presence in other shale plays, (and operations in other countries and offshore), announced in February that of the four shale plays they operate in onshore in the U.S.–the DJ Basin, Eagle Ford, Delaware and Marcellus–in 2016 they plan to focus on the first three and scale back in the Marcellus, limiting their Marcellus activity to completing previously drilled wells (see 
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…
Antero Resources, one of the biggest drillers in the Marcellus, released their second quarter 2016 update yesterday. Antero has one of, if not THE best, hedging programs in the entire Marcellus/Utica region. Hedging means they get a higher price for selling their gas than just about anyone else through prearranged financial/trading contracts. But Antero’s famed hedging program wasn’t enough to keep the company from losing $596 million in 2Q16. By comparison, Antero lost $145 million in 2Q15. However, it wasn’t all doom and gloom. Antero’s production was up a healthy 19% in 2Q16–to an average 1.762 billion cubic feet per day (or 1,762 MMcf/d, a new record for the company). If you mix in oil, natural gas liquids and hedging, Antero got $3.95 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) for their hydrocarbons, while the actual spot sale price averaged $1.93/Mcf–which shows just how savvy Antero’s hedging program is. Lately the company has been snapping up more Marcellus acreage, mostly in WV (see 
Rex Energy released their second quarter 2016 update yesterday. While production was up a small 2% over the same period last year, both operating revenue and profits were down. Operating revenue in 2Q15 was $35.8 million, revenue in 2Q16 was $31.2 million. The good news is that the bleeding is slowing. In 2Q15 Rex lost $153 million, while in 2Q16 Rex lost $55 million. At least it’s heading in the right direction. In Rex’s Moraine East Area (Butler County, PA) Rex drilled 5 gross (1.8 net) wells in 2Q16. Due to a delay in a gathering line, Rex did not (as previously expected) put the 4-well Fleeger II well pad online last quarter. In Rex’s Warrior North Area (Carroll County, OH), Rex placed the 3-well Goebeler pad and the 2-well Perry pad online. Below is the full update…
Stone Energy, an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company (E&P) headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana drills mainly in the Gulf of Mexico but also has a presence in the Marcellus/Utica Shale with