4Q Earnings for M-U Drillers Bounced Back After Down First 3 Qtrs
The experts at RBN Energy track 38 exploration and production (E&P) companies to monitor financial and operational performance. In a recent blog post, RBN found the 10 gas-weighted E&Ps (all but one with significant operations in the Marcellus/Utica) experienced a rebound in earnings during Q4 2024 after a rough first three quarters of the year. Earnings for the 10 gas-weighted E&Ps averaged $3.02/boe (barrels of oil equivalent) in Q4 2024 after losses in Q2 and Q3 2024. Cash flow averaged $10.18/boe, 52% higher than the $6.71/boe generated in Q3 2024. Realized prices averaged nearly $18/boe in Q4 2024, 24% higher than the $14.52/boe recorded in Q3 2024. Things are looking up for M-U drillers. Read More “4Q Earnings for M-U Drillers Bounced Back After Down First 3 Qtrs”
Infinity Natural Resources (INR), headquartered in Morgantown, WV, focuses 100% on the Marcellus/Utica. The company went public earlier this year with a $265 million ($20/share) initial public offering, giving INR a $1.18 billion market capitalization (see 
The highly functional and responsible Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), unlike its completely dysfunctional and irresponsible cousin, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), continues to support the shale energy industry by approving water withdrawals and consumptive use for responsible and safe shale drilling. The SRBC published a notice in the March 29 Pennsylvania Bulletin that the Executive Director of the SRBC gave his approval to or renewed 50 (!) general water use permits in February for individual shale gas well drilling pads in Bradford, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Lycoming, Potter, Susquehanna, and Tioga counties in Pennsylvania. 
For the week of Mar 17 – 23, the number of permits issued in the Marcellus/Utica to drill new shale wells dropped by nine from the previous week. Last week, 22 new permits were issued, with 16 going to the Keystone State (PA). PennEnergy Resources took the lion’s share with 11 permits for a single pad in Butler County. PA General Energy received four permits for a single pad in Lycoming County. Range Resources got one new permit in Washington County. 
On March 27, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) online Hydrologic Conditions Monitor showed low stream flows have triggered restrictions on 18 shale gas water withdrawal points in Bradford, Potter, Susquehanna, Tioga, and Wyoming counties. Another 17 shale gas withdrawals are approaching restrictions. Of the water withdrawal points regulated by SRBC, only shale gas development water withdrawals currently have restrictions because they take water from smaller streams. 
Toby Rice, CEO of EQT Corporation, took part in a presentation by natural gas industry leaders at the West Virginia Capitol on Wednesday. The group was briefly joined by Gov. Patrick Morrisey, who was there to promote an expansion of electric microgrids in the state to power data centers. Morrisey is pushing legislature, House Bill 2014, to do just that (see 
EQT Corp. remains committed to its low-carbon aviation fuel (LCAF) project and the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2) even though federal funding for ARCH2 and other hydrogen hub projects around the country is now in question. EQT CEO Toby Rice told the Pittsburgh Business Times that his company continues to evaluate building a clean hydrogen plant. EQT remains a lead partner in ARCH2. 
Antero Resources, which is 100% focused on the Marcellus/Utica with over 500,000 net acres under lease and the largest M-U driller and producer in West Virginia, shoots to produce 3.4 billion cubic feet equivalent per day (Bcfe/d) of natural gas in the Mountain State. The company recently reported net production averaging 3.43 Bcfe/d in 4Q24, up ever so slightly from 3.42 Bcfe/d in 4Q23 (see 
For the week of Mar 10 – 16, the number of permits issued in the Marcellus/Utica to drill new shale wells increased by nine from the previous week. Last week, 31 new permits were issued, with 16 going to the Keystone State (PA). EQT (and its subsidiary Rice Drilling) scored nine permits across Fayette, Greene, and Washington counties in southwestern PA. Range Resources took five permits, all of them in Washington County. And Rev Resources received two permits in Tioga County. 
Epsilon Energy issued its fourth quarter and full-year 2024 update yesterday. Epsilon, a relatively small company, used to concentrate most of its effort on developing Marcellus Shale wells. However, over the past few years, the company has expanded into other plays and now owns assets in the Anadarko (Oklahoma and Texas), the Permian (Texas and New Mexico), and most recently, the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (in Alberta, Canada). Epsilon typically does not do its own drilling. The company joint venture partners with (gives money to) other companies, like Expand Energy in the Marcellus, and the other company does the drilling. Epsilon’s CFO, Andrew Williamson, began his comments on a conference call with investors by saying, “The tides have shifted in the Marcellus, and we’re off to a great start there in 2025.” 
CNX Resources, one of the original founding partners in the Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2) project created during the Biden administration, has “paused” its participation in the project. CNX is no longer listed as a partner on the 
Hart Energy reports that Expand Energy, formed by the combination of Chesapeake Energy and Southwestern Energy, drilled a massive 5.6-mile lateral in northern West Virginia’s dry-gas Utica—and it was drilled in five days with just one bit run. Expand’s Shannon Fields OHI #3H well, located in Ohio County, WV, has a 29,687-ft lateral. We always get in trouble when we make statements like this (because some drillers don’t disclose details for their wells), but we’re pretty sure this is the longest onshore shale well lateral ever drilled in the U.S. Maybe even in the world! 