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Cecil Twp Board Considers Revising Drilling Setbacks to 1,500 Feet
About 150 people packed a hearing of the Cecil Township (Washington County), PA, Board of Supervisors meeting yesterday to express their concerns about Range Resources’ fracking activities near their homes. Some attendees were paid activists (holding signs), but judging from media reports, many were just local residents. The Board held a hearing to consider modifications to existing ordinances that control how close drilling can happen to homes and other structures in the town.
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Range Resources Corporation, the very first company to drill a shale well targeting the Marcellus Shale layer in Pennsylvania (in 2004), issued its first quarter 2024 update earlier this week. Unlike other large Marcellus/Utica drillers, Range is holding its production flat (not decreasing). The company zags while everyone else zigs. During 1Q, Range produced 2.14 Bcfe/d (billion cubic feet equivalent per day), with approximately 68% of production comprised of natural gas and the rest in NGLs and oil. The company averaged 2.14 Bcfe/d, with 69% of that as natural gas, for all of 2023 (see 
The new permits report for two weeks ago showed just four new permits, which we called “below dismal” (see 
MDN is not a stock-picking service, but we spotted an interesting article appearing on the Seeking Alpha investor’s website about where to invest now so that when the price of natural gas eventually rebounds (and with it, lifts the stock price of gas producers), investors can make money. The investor/writer, who is a nuclear power engineer by training, proposes the theory that investing in the Marcellus/Utica is a better choice than investing in other gas plays because (a) our drillers have lower breakeven costs and (b) some of our drillers also produce NGLs, which fetch more money than methane.
Range Resources was the very first company to sink a Marcellus shale well back in 2004. The company went all-in on the Marcellus and has remained a pure-play driller ever since (to their credit). The company initially set up a regional headquarters in Southpointe (Washington County, PA) with a 60,000-square-foot office. It later upgraded to an office with 182,000 square feet — an entire building all to itself. Although the company has two years left on its lease, Range is, according to sources, looking to downgrade again. The company wants an office space of around 80,000 square feet.
Some residents living in Cecil Township (Washington County), PA, are frustrated and concerned over drilling activities by Range Resources near their homes — things like flaring, loud noises, and smells. They took their concerns and complaints to the March 4 meeting of the Cecil Township Board of Supervisors. The Board voted to give Range one week to respond with a plan to address the issues, or else the Board promised to file a lawsuit against Range in county court.
Range Resources Corporation, the very first company to drill a shale well targeting the Marcellus Shale layer in Pennsylvania (in 2004), issued its fourth quarter and full-year 2023 update yesterday. The company previously released operational details for 4Q23 (see 
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.”