Deep Utica Well Still Flowing 42 MMcf/d After 10 Months
The operator roundtable at THE SUMMIT: Appalachia on July 28 put three very different companies on the same stage — EQT, the biggest gas producer in the country; PennEnergy Resources, a private driller running three-quarters of a Bcf/d north of Pittsburgh; and Huntley & Huntley, an Armstrong County outfit that’s been at this since 1912. What came out of it was the most technically useful hour of the day: hard numbers on deep Utica well performance, a clear-eyed look at stacking the Upper Devonian, and a warning about who the antis are coming for next. MDN was an advertising partner for the event and obtained the transcripts with the organizer’s permission. This is the third of four articles chronicling the event. Yesterday we brought you EQT’s correction of the record (see EQT Exec Corrects the Record: We Never Said 100 Bcf/d of Demand). On Monday, we brought you comments made by former Senator Joe Manchin (see Manchin Tells Pittsburgh Crowd He Wrote the IRA in Secret). Tomorrow, our final installment will share with you which state mineral buyers say is “easy pickings.” Don’t miss it! Read More “Deep Utica Well Still Flowing 42 MMcf/d After 10 Months”
We purposely waited to release the permit numbers, intending to do so last Thursday, ahead of taking off on Friday. But we waited because we thought perhaps more permits would be added to the various state databases on Thursday or Friday (or maybe even Saturday). But no. The only permits we can find for the week of June 9 – 14 are two Pennsylvania permits, both in Butler County. Ohio’s ODNR has issued no new permits for two weeks in a row (are they lazy, or were there really no new permits issued?). West Virginia issued no new permits after issuing just one the prior week. 
Regional and national indicators are driving optimism in the Marcellus/Utica Basin, which currently supplies 31% of U.S. natural gas. Despite recent constraints from low prices and limited pipeline capacity, drillers like Infinity Natural Resources and Expand Energy now predict significant output growth coming in the new year. This resurgence is fueled by surging in-basin demand from AI data centers, major power plant conversions in Pennsylvania, and improved takeaway prospects, such as Boardwalk’s proposed Borealis pipeline to the Gulf Coast (see 
At the recent 2025 DUG Appalachia Conference & Expo held in Pittsburgh in August, Hart Energy honored the biggest, best, and most efficient private (not publicly traded) E&Ps in the Appalachian Basin’s Marcellus and Utica shales. Hart Energy’s editorial leadership chose honorees from among companies operating in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. Editors evaluated operator metrics, looking for cost efficiency, production, inventory preservation, and other factors. Who is the best of the best among privately owned drillers? 
In 2021, PennEnergy Resources made a request to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to withdraw up to 3 million gallons of water a day from Big Sewickley Creek (Beaver County) and one of its tributaries for shale fracking (see