32 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Aug 26 – Sep 1
For the week of Aug. 26 – Sept. 1, a total of 32 permits were issued to drill new shale wells in Marcellus/Utica, nearly matching the previous week’s 34. It’s nice to see the numbers returning to higher levels. The Keystone State (PA) had 18 new permits. PA’s top recipient was EQT (and its subsidiary Rice Drilling), with ten permits in Greene County. Seneca Resources was second, with five new permits issued in Lycoming County. Olympus Energy received three permits in Westmoreland County. Read More “32 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Aug 26 – Sep 1”

Shell is putting numbers to the gross transgression of Venture Global in screwing over its contracted customers for LNG shipments. Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass LNG export facility received Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) authorization to place the final three liquefaction blocks (7-9) into service in November 2023 (see
There’s just no way to sugarcoat the fact that the low low price for natural gas is having an impact on shale drillers in the Marcellus/Utica. According to an analyst with RBN Energy, a price plunge to near the $2/MMBtu level in early 2023 “crippled” financial results for the companies RBN monitors that are gas-focused (namely M-U companies). However, most producers on the RBN list have remained in the black through spending less and cutting back on production. Down but far from out. How did the major M-U companies that are publicly traded perform in 2Q24? We have the numbers below.
As you know, the Biden-Harris administration has been a big promoter of hydrogen energy, even though (a) it’s expensive to produce and (b) there are no customers (currently) who want more supplies of it. Because hydrogen is “clean” energy, the left is pushing it as energy nirvana. (Most leftists alive today don’t know what the
We’ve been waiting for this! For the past few years, since EOG Resources acknowledged it had quietly amassed nearly half a million acres of leases in the Ohio Utica Shale, the company has been experimenting with crude oil drilling in the Utica. Each quarter EOG’s managers have sung the praises of the Utica (see
In 2015, a group of nearly 60 landowners in northeastern Pennsylvania who had leased their land for fracking filed a lawsuit against Chesapeake Energy, Anadarko, Statoil (now Equinor), Mitsui E&P, and Access Midstream (later bought by Williams), alleging the companies had improperly deducted post-production costs (e.g., gas gathering and transportation expenses) from royalties owed to the landowners in breach of their respective leases. The lawsuit also alleged collusion and conspiracy to defraud the landowners. The lawsuit was on hold for many years while other lawsuits played out. Earlier this year, a federal court in Scranton unpaused this lawsuit, and yesterday, the judge ruled, tossing out the landowners’ claims.
The Board of Supervisors for Cecil Township in Washington County, PA, has caved to pressure from radical leftists and is floating a plan to effectively ban all new shale drilling in the township by increasing setbacks from “protected structures” from 500 feet to 2,500 feet (a half a mile!). The supervisors will hold a special meeting tonight to discuss this lunacy. We strongly recommend you attend and voice your opposition.
On May 1, a section of the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) ruptured during final pressure testing in Roanoke County, Virginia (see
Here’s a lawsuit that flew under our radar — until now. Several landowners in West Virginia sued Jay-Bee Oil & Gas, alleging “improper royalty deductions” were made from royalty checks for post-production work from 2010 to 2023. The landowners (their lawyers) convinced a court to turn the lawsuit into a class action. Jay-Bee denies the claims in the lawsuit but has agreed to settle the dispute to avoid additional litigation by paying $42.6 million into a settlement fund established to disburse payments to participating class members.
We bet you never thought that old idiom about pigs flying was true. In this case, it is! Range Resources operates a temporary above-ground water pipeline in Mount Pleasant Township (Washington County), PA. The pipeline (essentially a giant water hose) flows Ohio River water to Range’s fracking sites. Range sent a PIG (pipeline inspection gauge) down the pipeline, and it got caught. The water pressure built up and exploded the pipe, sending the PIG flying through the air. Yes, Virginia, pigs can fly! OK, OK. After we got done laughing out loud about a flying pig, we settled down to read and better understand the situation. The pipeline explosion resulted in damage to a local farmer’s property, which was no laughing matter for the farmer.
MDN has an exclusive update on a lawsuit by several West Virginia surface landowners who are suing Diversified Energy over Diversified’s failure to plug their unproducing conventional wells. At the prompting of the Sierra Club, the landowners attempted to turn the lawsuit into a class action. Yesterday, a federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of WV struck down the class action request, meaning a couple of surface owners from the original lawsuit can proceed with their lawsuit. The outcome won’t affect anyone else. However, a second related case and a second request for a class action are still alive.
ExxonMobil published its annual “The Global Outlook” yesterday, the company’s latest view of energy demand and supply through 2050. The document forms the basis for Exxon’s business planning and is “underpinned by a deep understanding of long-term market fundamentals.” Exxon is making short-term decisions based on this long-term document. And what does this document say? It says oil and natural gas in 2023 was 56% of all energy produced. In 2050, some 25 years from now, that number is virtually unchanged at 54% of all energy produced. Today, more than 100 million barrels per day (MMBpd) of oil is produced and used. In 2050, it will be the same.
Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass LNG export facility received Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) authorization to place the final three liquefaction blocks (7-9) into service in November 2023 (see