IFO 3Q24 Report: New Wells Drilled in Pa. Lowest Since 2008
Yesterday, the Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) released its latest quarterly Natural Gas Production Report for July through September 2024 (full copy below). There were 63 new horizontal wells spud (drilled) in 3Q24, the same exact number as in 2Q24, but 3Q’s number was a decrease of 39 wells (-38%) compared to the third quarter of 2023. The number of new wells drilled, 63, is the lowest since 2008 (except for 2Q24, which was also 63). This was the eighth consecutive quarter with a year-over-year (YOY) decline in new wells spud. Natural gas production volume was 1,838 billion cubic feet (Bcf) in 3Q24, down 33 Bcf (1.8%) from the 1,871 Bcf produced in 3Q23. Read More “IFO 3Q24 Report: New Wells Drilled in Pa. Lowest Since 2008”

In June, we told you that a once-respected oil and gas consultancy had become a partisan purveyor of pap (see
The Baker Hughes national rig count dropped another rig last week and now sits at 582. The national count continues to be rangebound between 581 and 589 since June. Slicing the national count slightly differently—by oil-focused vs. gas-focused rigs—oil rigs fell by two to 477 last week, their lowest since July, while gas rigs rose by one to 100. Last week, all three Marcellus/Utica states maintained the same count for the third week in a row, with PA operating 15 active rigs and Ohio and West Virginia operating 10 rigs each, for a combined 35 rigs. That’s the third week in a row the M-U has operated 35 rigs. It feels like the doom and gloom is finally starting to lift.
In October, MDN told you about a Congressional investigation looking into the Department of Energy’s use of a prematurely released “study” as an excuse to “pause” (i.e., ban) new LNG export approvals (see
The rig count in the Marcellus/Utica appears to have stabilized, and that’s a good thing. For a while, it was in freefall, at least in Pennsylvania. In October, Pennsylvania’s rig count dropped to just 12 rigs, the lowest that state has operated in the last 17 years (see
Some interesting research coming from Penn State (and Binghamton University). A paper recently published in the Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists found that companies contributing the greatest pollution and emissions were more committed to reducing pollution because they faced greater public scrutiny and risked being labeled as “greenwashers” — entities that make false claims about their environmental impact. In other words, public shaming and bullying (our words) make companies change their behavior. But there was another finding that equally intrigued us… 
Three weeks ago, Pennsylvania’s rig count dropped to just 12 rigs, the lowest that state has operated in the last 17 years (see
Yesterday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee issued a report exposing the Biden administration’s massive green group giveaway (copy of the report below). The EPA received $41 billion from the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), legislation made possible by Joe Manchin’s vote and signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022 (see
U.S. ethane production increased steadily over the last decade and reached a record of 3.0 million barrels per day (b/d) in May 2024. Ethane production in the first half of 2024 (1H24) averaged a record 2.8 million b/d, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Petroleum Supply Monthly. Ethane production in the Marcellus/Utica region (called the Appalachian No. 1 refining district), which straddles most of the Appalachian Basin production area in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, increased during 1H24, averaging 327,000 b/d, up from 292,000 b/d in 1H23.
Hydrogen is all the rage, at least in the D.C. swamp. Joe Biden and his sidekick Kamala Harris held a Hydrogen Hunger Games contest and in 2013 awarded seven proposed projects around the country with a total jackpot of $7 billion. Among the winners was the West Virginia-led Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2), which is a project that will use Marcellus/Utica natural gas as the feedstock to produce “blue” hydrogen, which is hydrogen made from natgas where carbon dioxide from the process is captured and either used or stored underground (see
Last week, National Center for Energy Analytics (NCEA) Senior Fellow Tristan Abbey published a report examining the politicization of liquid natural gas (LNG) exports and recommending three pathways to ensure the United States maintains and expands the economic and geopolitical benefits from its dominant position in the global LNG market. In “A Generational Opportunity: Achieving U.S. Dominance in Global LNG” (full copy below), Abbey explores the history of LNG exports, the mechanisms by which the U.S. ascended to primacy, and the urgency in pursuing reform to capture a “once-in-a-generation” opportunity.
The realignment