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18 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Apr 24-30
New shale permits issued for Apr. 24-30 in the Marcellus/Utica fell from the prior week. There were 18 new permits issued last week, down from 25 in the prior week. Last week’s tally included 8 new permits for Pennsylvania, 4 new permits for Ohio, and 6 new permits in West Virginia. Last week the top receiver of new permits was Antero Resources, with 6 permits issued in Tyler County, WV. EQT (Rice Drilling) was second-highest, with 4 permits issued in Greene County, PA.
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Chesapeake Energy Corporation issued its first quarter 2023 update yesterday. The company reports making a profit of $1.39 billion in net income during 1Q23, versus losing $764 million in 1Q22 (the loss last year mainly due to derivatives). Chessy generated $241 million in free cash flow. First quarter net production was approximately 4,069 MMcfe per day (or 4.1 Bcfe/d, 90% natural gas and 10% total liquids), using an average of 14 rigs to drill 60 wells and placing 53 wells on production. Although Chesapeake drills for natural gas in both the Marcellus and the Haynesville, the company gave slightly more love to the Haynesville in 1Q23.
Gulfport Energy, the third-largest driller in the Ohio Utica Shale (by the number of wells drilled), emerged from bankruptcy in May 2021 with a new board and new top management. In January of this year, the company appointed a new CEO, John Reinhart, the former President and CEO of M-U driller Montage Resources Corporation before that company was gobbled up by Southwestern Energy (see 
Last September, EQT Corporation announced it is buying privately-owned Tug Hill Operating’s West Virginia shale assets for $5.2 billion (see 
The proxy firm hired by California hotel owner Jon Handerly is accusing CNX Resources of lying about its attempt to silence CNX CEO Nick DeIuliis. Handerly, using Proxy Impact, is attempting to get CNX shareholders to pass a proposal requiring the company to file annual reports on how the company measures up to the cockamamie “Paris goals” of reducing carbon dioxide emissions (see 
Southwestern Energy, with major assets in the Marcellus/Utica and Louisiana Haynesville, issued its first quarter 2023 update late last week. The company generated an impressive $1.9 billion in net income for the quarter versus losing $2.7 billion in 1Q22. That’s an incredible swing of $4.6 billion in one year! The company generated $99 million in free cash flow for the quarter. Southwestern reported total net production of 411 Bcfe (billion cubic feet equivalent), or 4.6 Bcfe per day, including 3.9 Bcf per day of gas and 107 MBbls (thousand barrels) per day of liquids. Southwestern invested $665 million of capital and placed 36 wells online to sales, including 13 in the Marcellus/Utica and 23 in the Haynesville.
Last week CNX Resources issued its first quarter 2023 update. The company generated $710 million of net income versus losing $923 million in the same quarter last year. However, actual revenue for selling gas and NGLs was down from a year ago ($456 million vs. $745 million). The net income figure also includes gains and losses on derivatives (hedging). In 1Q22, CNX lost $1.7 billion on its derivatives, but in 1Q23, the company made $762 million on derivatives. Production fell in 1Q23, down to 135.9 Bcfe (or 1.51 Bcfe/d), versus 150.9 Bcfe (1.68 Bcfe/d) in 1Q22.
During the second week of May, Marcellus driller Northeast Natural Energy will begin to drill a geothermal and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) data collection well–all the way down to 15,000 below the surface. The test well is being done in cooperation with (under the direction of) West Virginia University and the U.S. Dept. of Energy. The study and the data collected from the well aim to test the potential of geothermal energy in the region and gather information on the potential for underground CCS in the Appalachian basin.
EQT Corporation, the largest natural gas producer in the U.S., issued its first quarter 2023 update yesterday. The company reported a profit of $1.2 billion in net income during 1Q23 versus losing $1.5 billion in the same quarter a year ago. That’s nearly a $3 billion swing in one year! The company generated $774 million in free cash flow in 1Q. Production was 459 Bcfe (billion cubic feet equivalent) for the quarter, which works out to be 5.1 Bcfe/d, down 7% from last year’s 1Q, which was 492 Bcfe (or 5.47 Bcfe/d).
Yesterday Antero Resources, which is 100% focused on the Marcellus/Utica with over 500,000 net acres under lease (and the largest M-U driller in West Virginia), issued its first quarter 2023 update. The company reports net production averaged 3.3 billion cubic feet equivalent per day (Bcfe/d), an increase of 3% year-over-year. Of that production, liquids (NGLs) averaged 187 thousand barrels per day (MBbl/d), an increase of 17% from the year-ago period. Natural gas production averaged 2.2 Bcf/d, a decline of 3% from the year-ago period.
The war of words continues. Two days ago, MDN told you that the liberal owner of two hotels in California, Jon Handerly, who happens to own a few thousand shares of CNX Resources stock, wants shareholders to approve his cockamamie proposal to force the company to produce an annual report detailing the company’s “efforts” to comply with the nonsensical “Paris Agreement” to reduce so-called greenhouse gas emissions (see 
Air monitors at Shell’s ethane cracker plant detected elevated levels of benzene (which can cause cancer in humans) following an April 11 malfunction. However, an industrial hygienist told attendees at Tuesday night’s webinar session with local residents that the levels of benzene detected at the cracker’s community-adjacent fenceline during and after the release were too low to cause “even transient discomfort or irritation.” The highest concentrations found outside the fenceline were “in the parts per billion range.”
Last night, Shell hosted a virtual community meeting to address air monitoring and recent problems experienced at the company’s ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, PA. Executives answered questions about the plant’s environmental record over the past six months, including a recent odor event earlier this month (see 
Yesterday Range Resources Corporation issued its first quarter 2023 update and held a conference call with analysts. On the call, retiring (as of May 10th) CEO Jeff Ventura proclaimed Range sits at the best spot it’s been in history. Ventura said, “For the Marcellus, the future is very bright.” Incoming CEO (currently COO) Dennis Degner echoed Ventura’s remarks and pledged to “stay the course” and continue to “block and tackle” in the months and years ahead.