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M-U Driller Stock Prices Soar Over Past Month Based on LNG Exports
Since Russia illegally and immorally invaded Ukraine on February 24, the stock price for Marcellus/Utica natural gas drillers has skyrocketed based on the fear that Russia will cut off natural gas to Europe in response to their response to the war (sanctions on Russia). The Russia/Ukraine war has stoked concerns that Europe will need much more natgas from the U.S. and therefore the U.S. will have to drill and pump more gas to supply it, making gas drillers an attractive investment.
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The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) finally got their reporting system back online after it had gone down for a second time in three weeks. We have collected the permits issued over a two-week period in this report, to catch things up (and because PA didn’t issue any permits for one of the two weeks). This current report shows permits issued from Monday, Feb. 28 through Sunday, Mar. 13. PA issued 15 new permits over the two-week period. The top permitees in PA were EQT and CNX, both with five permits each. In Ohio, 11 new permits were issued, with Encino Energy receiving four and Gulfport three permits. West Virginia also issued 11 new permits for the two-week period. Antero received six of WV’s permits, and both Southwestern Energy and Arsenal Resources scored two each.
According to S&P Global, shale gas producers behaved themselves during the fourth quarter of 2021 and didn’t, even as the price of gas went sky high, do anything more than maintain current production. Gas drillers kept spending in check, didn’t do any more drilling than was necessary to maintain production, and plowed free cash flow back into dividends and stock buybacks. The result? Investors loved it and share prices soared.
Using investment capital from Preferred Capital Securities, WhiteHawk Energy is buying mineral and royalty rights in southwestern Pennsylvania, primarily in Washington and Green counties, for $52.5 million. The assets include production and cash flow from over 950 horizontal Marcellus Shale wells. The wells are operated by EQT, CNX Resources, and Range Resources.
Range Resources, the very first company to sink a Marcellus well back in 2004, issued its fourth quarter and full-year 2021 update yesterday. The update includes a preview of what’s ahead for 2022. Among the blockbuster news is that after five years, Range, which has long specialized in drilling “wet gas” wells in southeastern Pennsylvania, is returning to northeastern PA this year to drill some dry gas wells. Why? The economics are there, says Dennis Degner, Range’s COO and top driller.
Last June, Range Resources announced it had joined the Project Canary TrustWell™ Responsible Gas Program (see 
With the ever-changing landscape of mergers and acquisitions in the shale industry, including here in the Marcellus/Utica, it’s helpful to check in every now and again with a “top 10” list. This time our top 10 list is for the largest shale drillers/operators in Pennsylvania. The Pittsburgh Business Times recently updated its “Book of Lists” for active PA shale drillers, all 47 of them. We have a quick list of the top 10 below.
Holy smokes! What just happened? For months (and months and months) the cumulative number of weekly permits issued to drill new shale wells in the Marcellus/Utica has fluctuated from the low teens to perhaps 30 total on the upper end. Last week, from Jan. 17-23, an amazing 61 permits were issued to drill new shale wells. Double the usual. Wow! Pennsylvania issued 24 new permits, Ohio issued 9, and blow-the-doors-off-we’ve-never-seen-so-many-permits-issued-in-one-week for West Virginia, the Mountain State issued 28 new shale permits.
In May 2021 S&P Global Market Intelligence ran an article on which Marcellus/Utica drillers are likely targets to be acquired, and which drillers are doing the targeting (see 
Everyone loves a “top x” list, right? We sure do. Hart Energy, publisher of must-have industry magazines including E&P (Exploration & Production), and Oil and Gas Investor, recently published a special publication called