Oil Prod. in Northern Utica Comes Alive – Encino Cracks Oil Code
The Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) recently released production numbers for the first quarter of 2023, and wow! What a surprise! Oil production in the northern Utica Shale skyrocketed, led by wells drilled by Encino Energy. According to an analysis by the Youngstown Business Journal, four shale wells drilled by Encino in Columbiana County have “shattered previous production figures in the county.” Adding up all oil production by all drillers, Encino had the most oil production in the state, with 53.7% of the total oil produced in the Utica/Point Pleasant during the first quarter. It certainly looks like Encino has cracked the oil code in the Buckeye State!
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Almost from the first day when MDN editor Jim Willis began to write the MDN blog/news site, he heard of the concept of “peak oil.” For many years, peak oilers said that the world’s oil supply would soon run out–there’s just not enough oil left to extract out of the ground. Which is a joke. When the world saw the power of shale energy, it became evident even to the most hardened liars that they could no longer sell the concept of peak oil supply. Seemingly overnight, they changed and began to peddle peak oil demand. The lefties at Bloomberg are now predicting peak oil (for all uses) is coming in 2029. Which reminds us of the end-of-the-world predictions that surface from various cults every few years. This time it’s a prediction coming from the cult of anti-fossil fuelism.
An energy analyst and trader writing on the Seeking Alpha investor’s website published an intriguing post this morning that claims we are a few months away from the “potential start of a global energy crisis.” He predicts a massive energy price spike starting this fall and into next year, with both oil and gas prices potentially setting new all-time highs. He cites cuts in OPEC+ oil production, the big drop in U.S. shale drilling, and Europe’s “precarious” natural gas situation will combine to spike energy prices. Is he right?
Yesterday MDN told you about a new assault on the oil and gas industry in Pennsylvania coming from the Chairman of the House Environmental Resources & Energy Committee, anti-fossil fuel zealot Greg Vitali, who (along with 13 other leftists) introduced House Bill (HB) 962, aimed at raising the bonding rates for drilling new conventional wells in the state (see 
We read with some amusement a column by the CEO of Qamar Energy (an OPEC-tied consultancy based in Dubai, UAE) that says yep, American shale oil output has hit its zenith. It’s all downhill from here. The Big Oil companies have taken over all of the good shale assets in the States and they plan to drill less in places like the Permian Basin (in West Texas and eastern New Mexico). This latest prediction makes us laugh out loud. How many times before have we heard the same thing uttered from noobs, both domestic and (in this case) foreign. They consistently underestimate American ingenuity. Just when everyone predicts “peak oil” and declares shale production is all over, a new discovery is made. A new piece of technology is introduced. A new shale layer is explored. A new technique is adopted. This is the American way. And it confounds the “experts” every single time. Such is the power of free enterprise and capitalism.
Once a month, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) analysts issue the agency’s Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), their best guess about where energy prices and production will go in the next 12 months. Yesterday’s latest edition once again revises down the price EIA believes the Henry Hub will average for all of 2023. Last month’s STEO predicted an annual average of $3.02/MMBtu in 2023. This month’s STEO says the HH will average $2.94. Let’s add some color around that prediction.
Some interesting insights from S&P Global Commodity Insights into how the world has changed. S&P’s analysts say the Russia-Ukraine war is in the process of “resetting” the energy sector, with natural gas turning into a global and interconnected market affected by events and dynamics far beyond its traditional physical scope. In fact, S&P says natural gas is now similar, to some extent, to what oil used to be for decades. We will explain.
The NYMEX futures price for natural gas recently hit a 30-month low (see 
U.S. energy officials from some of the largest U.S. shale drillers had a private dinner last night with the tyrants and dictators of OPEC at CERAWeek in Houston. The annual confab between our shale drillers and OPEC is something of a tradition now (this is the fifth year it has taken place). Not much is known about the discussions at the meeting since it was private. However, Devon Energy CEO Rick Muncrief summarized the main takeaway as a general concern there is very little extra capacity in world oil markets right now.
We’ve heard the peak oil theory peddled countless times since we began publishing Marcellus Drilling News in January 2009. Every single time predictions that the world (or the U.S.) has reached its limit and will now begin using less oil have been astoundingly wrong. Yet every few months, you’ll read another “expert” or guru announce this it…we’ve finally reached peak oil. Have we? NO. Not even close. When will we? We’ve got an answer.
