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22 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Oct 16 – 22
New shale permits issued for Oct 16 – 22 in the Marcellus/Utica rebounded. There were 22 new permits issued last week, versus 14 the week before. Last week’s permit tally included 17 new permits in Pennsylvania, 5 new permits in Ohio, and no new permits in West Virginia. Chesapeake Energy was the top permittee for the week, drawing 7 permits between two counties in PA: Susquehanna and Wyoming (northeastern part of the state). EQT had 5 permits across two PA counties: Greene and Washington (southwestern part of the state). And Ascent Resources had 5 permits in Ohio in two counties: Guernsey and Harrison.
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Oh boy, here we go again. The rumor mill is in overdrive. Reuters (which is pretty reliable with these kinds of reports) is reporting that Chesapeake Energy Corporation is sniffing around Southwestern Energy, looking to buy out and merge in its closest O&G peer. Both Chesapeake and Southwestern have significant, long-time Marcellus assets (in Pennsylvania), and both have added new assets in the Louisiana Haynesville in recent years. They are on parallel tracks with their strategy of using Marcellus assets as a cash cow to fund more drilling in Haynesville, with an eye on grabbing higher prices in foreign markets by exporting Haynesville gas as LNG. It certainly makes sense that one company would be interested in combining with the other. If the two do combine, it would become the #1 shale gas driller in the U.S., surpassing EQT (in market value).
According to an analysis by S&P Global Commodity Insights, large U.S. shale gas drillers (namely Marcellus/Utica drillers) have hedged (pre-sold at a specific price) an average of 50% of anticipated shale gas production for the second half of 2023. The average price of the hedges is $3.35/Mcf, far above the average NYMEX Henry Hub price that has been bumping along between $2.25 and $2.75. CNX Resources is the top hedger, hedging 80% of its production in 2H23 at $3.04/Mcf.
In August, the Executive Director of the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) approved 34 water-use permits for individual shale gas well drilling pads in Bradford, Lycoming, Sullivan, Susquehanna, and Tioga counties. We’re just learning of the action via an official notice published in the Sept. 23 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.
Investors in shale oil and gas companies suffered for years with little or no returns for the money they invested. Five of eight large Marcellus/Utica drillers saw their share prices decrease by an astonishing 85% or more from 2008 to 2019 (see 
Two Marshall County, WV landowners with the same last name (obviously related) sued Southwestern Energy (SWN), accusing the company of “well bashing,” in March of this year (see 
Southwestern Energy, with major assets in the Marcellus/Utica and Louisiana Haynesville, issued its second quarter 2023 update late last week. The company generated $231 million in net income for the quarter versus profiting $1.2 billion in 2Q22. Like other gas drillers, the price of natural gas dropping into the basement over the past eight months or so has caused profits to slide. But hey, they’re still in the black! Southwestern reported total net production of 423 Bcfe (billion cubic feet equivalent), or 4.6 Bcfe per day, including 4.0 Bcf per day of gas and 106 MBbls (thousand barrels) per day of liquids (86% natgas, 12% NGLs, 2% oil). Southwestern invested $595 million of capital, drilled 38 wells, completed 46 wells, and placed 50 wells online to sales, including 28 in the Marcellus/Utica and 22 in the Haynesville.