BKV Still Planning to Launch an IPO – When the Time is Right
About one month ago, the Wall Street Journal published an article about BKV Corporation (Banpu Kalnin Ventures), the American arm of Banpu, Thailand’s largest coal mining company (see Bumpy Financial Road for BKV – Company Bets on Carbon Capture). The article pulled the curtain back to give us a better view of what happened with the company’s aborted plan to launch an initial public offering in 2023 (see BKV IPO On Hold, M&A Deals Falling Apart Due to Low Gas Prices). In a new exclusive interview with Hart Energy, BKV CEO Chris Kalnin said his company is still very interested in an IPO.
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Yesterday we brought you the latest update on EOG Resources’ oil drilling program in the Utica Shale (see 
Perhaps our headline is slightly misleading. EOG is not the modern equivalent of Jed Clampett walking along and seeing crude bubbling up out of the ground (as in the fictional 
According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Range Resources, the first driller to sink a Marcellus well back in 2004, has applied for and received a conditional use application to build three well pads in Fawn Township in Allegheny County, PA. The township secretary says a road into the property is now being built. Construction of the well pads is not expected “until the weather breaks.”
XTO Energy began to drill four shale wells in Prospect Borough, Butler County, PA, in 2019. At least one of the wells was drilled down to a depth of nearly 2,000 feet. At some point since that time, XTO decided not to finish the wells and filed a request to plug the wells. A Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) inspector visited the well pad, the Coretsky well pad, in September of last year and issued a “failure to plug” notice of violation for the four wells (called the Patton wells). Although it took a few months, XTO said the equipment would be delivered last week and that, as of today (Monday), the process would begin to cap and plug the four abandoned wells.
There were 23 new permits issued to drill in the Marcellus/Utica during the week of Jan. 8-14, versus 18 permits issued for the prior week. Pennsylvania issued 13 new permits last week. Ohio issued just 2 new permits. West Virginia issued 8 new permits — for the second week in a row. EQT scored the top slot for new permits, receiving 7 permits to drill in Lycoming and Greene counties in PA.
Shippers, including drillers, utility companies, and others that buy and sell natural gas, are now free to buy and sell producer-certified gas (PCG) or responsibly sourced gas (RSG) at all pooling points across the Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) system following a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (DC Circuit). The judges of the DC Circuit dismissed a case brought by Antero Resources and EQT Corporation attempting to block TGP’s plan. We will explain.
In November, the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County (MAWC) issued a water conservation warning asking more than 56,000 MAWC customers to conserve water due to the lack of rainfall and the low level of the Beaver Run Reservoir (see 
One of our favorite Marcellus/Utica people is Nick Deiuliis, CEO of CNX Resources. Apart from Nick’s great work in leading CNX, he is also a writer and thinker. Like a few others, he understands political and philosophical issues related to energy. And Nick isn’t afraid to “say it straight.” Nick is in the process of releasing three videos called “A Rational Thinker’s Guide to Climate Change and Related Policies.” We previously brought you Part 1, Diagnosing the Problem and Issue (see 
Antero Resources is one of the largest drillers in the Marcellus/Utica (with major assets in West Virginia). As good and careful as companies like Antero are when hiring, sometimes there’s a rotten apple found in the barrel. Such was the case with a former employee who headed up the company’s operations in WV — where most of its drilling happens. The former employee took bribes and kickbacks from a vendor over a period of years (2012-2015), steering contracts to that vendor. The vendor’s performance was not as good as other competitors. At the end of years of litigation, Antero was finally awarded compensation from a jury, and a bit extra from a judge, to make up for the actions of their rogue employee (see 
Even though separately (and together) Chesapeake Energy and Southwestern Energy own MORE assets in the Marcellus/Utica than in the Haynesville shale play, the main driver to do a merger between the two companies is the Haynesville and that play’s close proximity to LNG export facilities along the Gulf Coast. That is the conclusion of most analysts based on comments made yesterday by Chesapeake and Southwestern in announcing a $7.4 billion deal to combine the companies (see 
Hyperion Midstream LLC, a subsidiary of Olympus Energy, is seeking a special exception to a Penn Township (Westmoreland County) zoning ordinance so it can build a six-generator compressor station along Wilderness Road over the next four years. Last night, Hyperion representatives and witnesses testified at a township zoning hearing in favor of the plan. Those who spoke said the proposed compressor site would not create a problem for the air and water quality of that area.