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13 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Oct 28 – Nov 3
For the week of Oct 27 – Nov 3, there were 13 permits issued to drill Marcellus/Utica wells, down from 17 permits issued the prior week. The Keystone State (PA) had just three new permits, one each for EQT, Range Resources, and Snyder Brothers (three different counties). The Buckeye State (OH) issued no new permits last week. The Mountain State (WV) did most of the heavy lifting by issuing 10 new permits, with most of those (seven) going to Antero Resources in Tyler County. One permit each was issued to Southwestern Energy (now Expand Energy), HG Energy, and Marion Natural Energy. Read More “13 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Oct 28 – Nov 3”
We have a second post about yesterday’s Hart Energy DUG Appalachia event held in Pittsburgh. One of the sessions was an interview with Dennis Degner, CEO of Range Resources, the very first company to drill a Marcellus well back in 2004. Range is a “pure play” company focusing 100% on the Marcellus/Utica. Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen a flurry of mergers and acquisitions, not only here in the M-U but across other plays as well (particularly in the Permian). During the Q&A discussion with Degner, the topic of M&A came up. Degner explained why he and his company have, and will continue, to sit on the sidelines of the M&A craze. 
How, exactly, did the Marcellus Shale come to be? What spurred early interest to spend millions of dollars to sink a well in the Marcellus with the hope (gamble) that natural gas would flow from it? We all know that Range Resources sunk that first well in 2004, but there was a LOT that happened before to tee up the Marcellus as a potential target. The Marcellus Shale layer has been known about since the late 1800s. However, it wasn’t until the 1970s and the Yom Kippur War that serious interest in the Marcellus as a source of natural gas began in earnest. 
In September, the Board of Supervisors for Cecil Township in Washington County, PA, caved to pressure from radical leftists and, by a vote of 3-2, instructed the town’s solicitor to prepare a new zoning ordinance that increases setbacks from “protected structures” from 500 feet to 2,500 feet (half a mile), and add a setback of 5,000 feet from schools and hospitals (almost a full mile, see 
In September, the Executive Director of the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) renewed 20 water-use permits for individual shale gas well drilling pads in Bradford, Clearfield, Lycoming, Sullivan, and Susquehanna counties. We’re just learning of the action via an official notice published in the Oct. 26 edition of the Pennsylvania Bulletin. The approvals, which are NOT subject to public review according to SRBC regulations, are general water permits. Each site will be required to receive a specific water withdrawal approval at a later date. 
Yesterday, MDN reported on Range Resources’ third quarter update (see 
What seemed like a failed exploration in the early 2000s turned into a global economic and geological treasure that helped turn the U.S. into the largest natural gas producer in the world. Thanks to the grit, determination, and belief that there was more to explore, the Range Resources team of 2004 successfully completed the first viable Marcellus Shale exploratory well – the Renz #1 – in Mt. Pleasant Township, Washington County, PA. Range personnel and other officials gathered earlier this week to mark the anniversary and view a new historical landmark plaque that will be installed at the Renz well site next spring. 
Range Resources Corporation, the very first company to drill a shale well targeting the Marcellus Shale layer in Pennsylvania (in 2004), issued its third quarter 2024 update yesterday. Range produced 2.2 Bcfe/d in Q3. The company said it now expects 2024 production to average 2.17 Bcfe/d, up ~2% over the last three years as a result of well performance and optimized gathering and compression. Liquids are expected to comprise more than 30% of production and a big reason why the company made $50.6 million in profit for the quarter. 
Today, we bring you news about a lawsuit filed just over three years ago, in September 2021, by four landowners in southwestern Pennsylvania who leased their land to Range Resources for drilling. The lawsuit is just now coming on our radar screen. Range did drill and, claims the landowners, deducted expenses from royalty checks for both methane and NGL production that were not allowed. The case is being heard in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of PA and continues to advance. On September 30, a judge certified the case as a class action with the potential to affect 204 landowners with leases containing specific language. 
According to Pennsylvania regulation 25 Pa. Code § 78a.122(b)(6)(iv), a drilling company must provide a list of the chemicals intentionally added to the stimulation [fracking] fluid by name and chemical abstract service (CAS) number in a Completion Report. The PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) says three drillers, including EQT, Range Resources, and Greylock Energy, failed to file the proper paperwork for one or more wells.
For years, MDN has told you that the very first Marcellus well to be drilled and fracked was done by Range Resources Corporation in Washington County, PA. Beyond that, we didn’t know much. Thanks to an article appearing in the Washington Observer-Reporter, we now know the full story—or at least a lot more of the story—including the name of that very first Marcellus well. 
In 2024, natural gas prices have spent almost the entire year under $3.00 per Mcf (thousand cubic feet), including a few months under $2.00/Mcf. You would think such low prices would have a negative effect on the stock prices of publicly traded Marcellus/Utica gas producers. Not so! Stock prices for our drillers have remained “remarkably stable.” In fact, Antero Resources’ price is actually UP this year. Range Resources is flat for the year so far. Others, like EQT and Coterra Energy, are down just a smidge. Given the disadvantages of the M-U basin—primarily the lack of pipeline takeaway capacity and the long distance our molecules must travel to Gulf Coast LNG export facilities—it’s surprising that stock valuations for our drillers have not been negatively impacted.