Roughnecks are Disappearing from the Oil Field, Replaced by Tech & AI
The oilfield is rapidly transforming as AI and automation replace many traditional roughneck roles, shifting work from mud-soaked rigs to remote data monitoring. So claims a new article appearing in Fortune magazine. Since 2014, the U.S. has lost 35% of its oil, gas, and mining jobs—about 270,000 positions—while companies like Chevron, BP, and ConocoPhillips remain profitable by cutting costs through technology. Autonomous drilling, AI-driven fracking, and data analytics enable longer wells, faster operations, and fewer rigs, thereby reducing labor needs. Read More “Roughnecks are Disappearing from the Oil Field, Replaced by Tech & AI”
On September 8, Blackhill Energy informed the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) of an “inadvertent return” that occurred during horizontal drilling for the Brad-Tenn Loop Pipeline in Granville Township, Bradford County. Blackhill reported that while drilling beneath Route 6 and Sugar Creek, they experienced a pressure issue. The company discovered that 18,000 gallons (approximately 430 barrels) of nontoxic bentonite drilling mud had been lost. The company stopped drilling ops at that point and reported it to the DEP. 
Two pipeline kingpins are engaged in a deathmatch with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to get their competing pipeline projects approved. One is Williams’ Transco Southeast Supply Enhancement Project (SESE), the other is EQT’s MVP Southgate project. Both projects would be built in the same general area, starting at the same point near Chatham, Virginia, and ending near Eden, North Carolina. Both claim they have customers ready to take their gas. In a recent FERC filing, Williams said that its project could easily handle Southgate MVP’s capacity by adding meter tubes and regulation at an existing station (see 
Patrick Morrisey served as the 34th attorney general of West Virginia from 2013 to 2025. Last November, he was elected as the state’s 37th governor, assuming office in January. Morrisey has been an unabashed champion for fossil fuels since taking office. He’s a visionary, charting out the future of the state’s economy. Gov. Morrisey cast a vision for the future of the state earlier this month at the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting and Business Summit (see 
The AI Horizons Pittsburgh Summit, held in Pittsburgh from Wednesday of this week through today, brought together Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Senator David McCormick, and dozens of top AI (artificial intelligence) and industry CEOs to spotlight how Pennsylvania is leading with AI that solves complex problems, drives economic growth, and accelerates breakthroughs. One of the industry CEOs speaking yesterday was EQT CEO Toby Rice. He said natural gas in the Marcellus Shale and elsewhere will be key for the future of AI in the U.S. 
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro was one of the speakers at yesterday’s AI Horizons Pittsburgh Summit in Pittsburgh. He was there speaking out of both sides of his mouth, as he so often does. Out of one side of his mouth, he claimed he wants PA to use “as much clean energy as possible,” meaning unreliable renewables. Out of the other side, he said converting old coal plants to use natural gas “is environmentally sustainable.” Yet he continues to seek to levy a carbon tax on natural gas-fired power plants via the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). 
It finally happened. After the front-month NYMEX natural gas futures price closed above $3 on September 2, it once again sank below a $3 closing price at yesterday’s close. The price closed down 9.5 cents yesterday at $2.934 per million British thermal units (MMBtus). On the bright side, the price is still 8.8% higher than the lowest price (so far) in 2025, which was $2.696 hit on Monday, Aug. 25. Where do we go from here? And, is the futures price affecting regional spot prices in the Marcellus/Utica? 
In September 2022, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), a dysfunctional, hot mess of an organization, voted to extend a permit to build the special LNG export dock along the shoreline of the Delaware River in New Jersey by an extra three years (see 
In early August, MDN told you that someone had lit a fire under the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the agency’s program to plug old wells. To date, the DEP has plugged a little over 300 old orphaned wells in the past three years under do-nothing Governor Josh Shapiro, but that Ohio’s Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) has plugged over 700 wells in the same period (see 
Earlier this week, NextDecade Corporation announced it had reached a final investment decision (FID) to move forward with construction of Train 4 at its Rio Grande LNG export facility in Brownsville, Texas, within the Port of Brownsville. Rio Grande LNG is being developed on a 984-acre site along the Brownsville Ship Channel, approximately 3 miles east of Port Isabel. The expected LNG production capacity of Train 4 is 6 MTPA (million tonnes per annum, which translates to roughly 0.8 Bcf of natural gas used per day), bringing total expected LNG production capacity under construction at Rio Grande LNG to approximately 24 MTPA (3.2 Bcf/d). 
According to the Financial Times (of London), the world’s biggest oil and gas companies are cutting jobs, slashing costs, and scaling back investments at the fastest pace since the coronavirus market collapse, as executives brace for a prolonged period of lower crude prices. The reason for the cuts is low oil prices, which FT says have hit the U.S. shale industry “particularly hard.” There is no denying that the price has steadily sunk to new lows each month over the past year. However, we now appear to be entrenched in the $60s, although that could change. 
Two weeks ago, Marietta, OH, officials, including the city’s Republican mayor, law director, water superintendent, and a majority of city council members, asked the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Oil and Gas Chief Eric Vendel to deny a permit application from DeepRock Disposal Solutions for the Stephan #1 injection well, which would be the company’s fifth injection well in the area (see 
It took eight years and untold legal fees (on both sides) before a tiny 3.4-mile, 8-inch natural gas pipeline under the Potomac River was finally built and went online in July (see 
Despite a “public outcry” (of 13 people), the Chesapeake City (Virginia) Council voted 6-3 in July to approve a compressor station for Virginia Natural Gas (see 
Newly elected Republican Congressman Rob Bresnahan defeated incumbent Democrat Matt Cartwright in last November’s election to represent Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District, located in the northeastern corner of the state. Bresnahan hit the ground running, particularly in addressing energy issues. His district includes Wayne and Pike counties, where landowners have had their right to drill for natural gas seized by the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC). Bresnahan introduced a bill in June that would heighten DRBC accountability and oversight. We call it putting the DRBC on a short leash (see