INR Grabs Two Former Equitrans Employees for Upper Mgmt Positions
Infinity Natural Resources (INR), headquartered in Morgantown, WV, focuses 100% on the Marcellus/Utica. The company went public earlier this year with a $265 million ($20/share) initial public offering, giving INR a market capitalization of $1.18 billion (see INR IPO Does Better than Expected, Stock Trading Pops 10% Higher). As we told you in June, the company is on the hunt for assets in the Ohio Utica to buy (see Infinity Natural Resources on the Hunt for More Ohio Utica Assets). INR announced yesterday it is adding two people to important upper management roles to help the company “execute its growth strategy.” INR is adding a Chief Accounting Officer and a VP of technology. Read More “INR Grabs Two Former Equitrans Employees for Upper Mgmt Positions”
Verne, Inc., a California-based energy company, announced last week that it will open its first manufacturing plant in the Marcellus Energy Park near Muncy, Lycoming County, PA. Verne developed a process to increase the density of hydrogen by storing the gas in a cold and compressed state, making it more efficient to transport in larger volumes. The new PA facility (which should be up and running in nine months) will build the storage tanks for this cold hydrogen. The hydrogen will be transported via truck to power data centers, drilling sites, construction sites, and more. 
Fox Tank Company, a Texas-based provider of steel storage tanks and pressurized separation vessels for the oil and gas industry, has opened a new manufacturing facility in Coshocton County, OH, at the former site of Crozier Welding. Fox has pledged to invest $7.9 million and create 89 new jobs at the facility. Fox chose the site due to its proximity to the growing Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling for oil and gas, as well as its proximity to the company’s existing customers. 
This is an unfortunate part of mergers and acquisitions. The Houston Chronicle is reporting that a WARN notice (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) filed by Encino Energy indicates that 121 Encino workers will be laid off on or around August 17. No reason is given, however, EOG Resources is in the process of buying out and merging in Encino’s Ohio Utica assets (see 
Pennsylvania’s community colleges stand to be big winners in the data center sweepstakes. In January, MDN brought you the news that TECfusions, based in Tampa, Florida, had purchased 1,395 acres in Upper Burrell (Westmoreland County), PA, for a groundbreaking data center project called TECfusions Keystone Connect (see 
Yesterday, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro took credit for brokering a deal that will see Amazon build at least three huge data centers (which Democrats typically dislike) in eastern Pennsylvania, investing $20 billion to do so. It is a huge coup 
In early April, MDN brought you the exciting news that THE largest gas-fired power plant in the country, along with a MASSIVE data center complex, will be built at a former coal-fired power plant site in Indiana County, PA (see 
The State of West Virginia’s fiscal year begins on July 1 each year and runs through June 30 of the following year. Looking at the state’s most recent fiscal year of July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, the natural gas and oil industry in WV accounted for over $660 million in state revenue via severance and property taxes. That’s according to the Gas and Oil Association of West Virginia (GO-WV). In addition, the O&G sector employed over 15,000 direct jobs and an additional 73,000 indirect jobs, with an average annual salary of more than $97,000. Shale energy has been an economic miracle in the Mountain State! 
Earlier this month, the Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Association (TIPRO) released the 10th edition of its “State of Energy Report,” offering a detailed analysis of national and state trends in oil and natural gas employment, wages and other key economic factors for ?the energy industry in 2024 (full copy below). TIPRO’s “State of Energy Report” series was developed to quantify and track the economic impact of the domestic oil and natural gas sector, emphasizing the state of Texas. However, the report has a lot of great data, including a breakdown of key O&G employment and economic stats for Pennsylvania and Ohio. One thing that caught our attention is that nationwide those classified as working in “natural gas extraction” jobs made an average annual salary of $176,800 in 2024, up $10,740 from 2023. Hey, we’re in the wrong business! 
How often have we read that shale energy doesn’t create jobs and isn’t the economic boom to local communities as advertised. The enviro-left peddles the lie that oil and gas companies get fat on profits while everyone else suffers. We have the perfect story that exposes the left’s lies about the economic benefits of shale energy—and it comes from Youngstown, OH. Dearing Compressor & Pump designs and manufactures compressor packages for three major business lines including natural gas pipelines. 
JobsOhio
Yesterday, the Energy Workforce & Technology Council released its monthly jobs report, highlighting a rebound in employment across the U.S. energy services sector. Total jobs in the sector were reported at 655,630 for November 2024, reflecting an increase of 1,890 positions from October, according to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and analysis conducted by the Energy Workforce & Technology Council. Overall employment in the energy sector has been higher each month compared with corresponding months last year beginning in June—an indicator that activity in oil and gas is ever-so-gradually beginning to increase again. 