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Nat’l Rig Count Down 2 @ 576; Marcellus Even @ 25, Utica Adds 1 @ 11

The U.S. national rig count lost two more rigs last week, going from 578 to 576, tying January 24th of this year as the lowest national rig count in the past 12 months. Rigs targeting the Marcellus layer remained the same with 25 rigs last week, while the Utica (in Ohio) picked up one rig and now operates 11 rigs for a combined total of 36. Pennsylvania was static with 18 rigs, Ohio moved up from nine to ten rigs, and West Virginia remained the same with eight rigs. Read More “Nat’l Rig Count Down 2 @ 576; Marcellus Even @ 25, Utica Adds 1 @ 11”

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Ascent 1Q Drilled 18 Wells, Produced 2 Bcfe/d, Lost $362 Million

Ascent Resources, founded as American Energy Partners by gas legend Aubrey McClendon, is a privately held company focusing 100% on the Ohio Utica Shale. Ascent, headquartered in Oklahoma City, OK, is Ohio’s largest natural gas producer and the 8th largest natural gas producer in the U.S. The company issued its first quarter 2025 update on May 7. 1Q25 net production averaged 2,002 MMcfe/d (2.0 Bcfe/d), consisting of 1,680 MMcf/d of natural gas, 13,833 bbls/d of oil, and 39,789 bbls/d of natural gas liquids (NGLs), putting liquids at 16% of the overall production mix for the quarter. Read More “Ascent 1Q Drilled 18 Wells, Produced 2 Bcfe/d, Lost $362 Million”

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PJM Approves 6 New Gas-Fired Power Plants, 32 Gas-Fired Expansions

In December, MDN told you that the country’s largest electric grid, PJM Interconnection, which covers all or parts of 13 states, including PA, OH, and WV, proposed changes to how it decides which new power plants can connect to the system first. The new policy *favors* adding natural gas-fired power over other types of power like unreliable solar and wind (see New PJM Policy Favors Gas-Fired Power Over Solar & Wind). The change comes in response to the rapidly increasing demand for more electricity from data centers and artificial intelligence computing. PJM’s gas-favoring policy change rankled the environmental left. According to green grifters, the PJM proposal unfairly allows gas-fired projects to “jump the queue” ahead of unreliable renewables. Good news: On May 2, PJM announced it had selected 51 projects (out of 94) for fast-track approval. Read More “PJM Approves 6 New Gas-Fired Power Plants, 32 Gas-Fired Expansions”

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NRG Buys 18 Gas-Fired Power Plants, Including 5 in PA, for $12B

map showing the location of the power plants being purchased by NRG (click for larger version)

NRG Energy agreed to acquire LS Power’s portfolio of natural-gas power plants in a deal valued at roughly $12 billion, including debt, that will expand NRG’s footprint in Texas and along the East Coast. NRG said the acquisition would give it 18 more natural-gas-fired facilities in nine states—including five in Pennsylvania and one in Ohio—doubling its generation capacity to about 25 gigawatts (GW). The PA acquisition includes the Springdale natural gas power station in Allegheny County, the Armstrong plant in Indiana County, the Gans plant in Fayette County, the Chambersburg plant in Franklin County, and the Ironwood plant in Lebanon County. Read More “NRG Buys 18 Gas-Fired Power Plants, Including 5 in PA, for $12B”

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Infinity Natural Resources Adds Second Rig to Drill in PA Marcellus

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 $1.18 billion market capitalization (see INR IPO Does Better than Expected, Stock Trading Pops 10% Higher). INR issued its second public quarterly update yesterday. Among the bits of news is that INR recently contracted a second drilling rig to drill four natural gas wells in the Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale, which are expected to be turned online to sales this summer. Read More “Infinity Natural Resources Adds Second Rig to Drill in PA Marcellus”

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Gulfport Energy Signals It Wants to Buy Another Ohio Driller

Wow, what a difference four years can make! In May 2021, Gulfport Energy, the third-largest driller in the Ohio Utica Shale (by the number of wells drilled), emerged from bankruptcy with a new board and new management (see Gulfport Energy Emerges from Bankruptcy w/New Board, CEO/CFO Gone). Later in 2021, the rumors began to swirl that Gulfport was looking to sell itself (see Big News: OH Utica Driller Gulfport Energy Looking to Sell Itself). In the spring of 2022, the rumors centered on a combo with (sale to) fellow Ohio driller Ascent Resources (see Rumor: Gulfport Energy in Talks to Merge with Ascent Resources). None of the rumors came true. In last week’s first quarter update, Gulfport CEO John Reinhart indicated his company is now looking to DO the buying, rather than be bought. Read More “Gulfport Energy Signals It Wants to Buy Another Ohio Driller”

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Nat’l Rig Count Down 9 @ 578; Marcellus Even @ 25, Utica Down 3 @ 10

We’re catching up on two weeks of changes in the rig count, and wow! Things changed. And NOT in a good way. The national count lost nine rigs over the past two weeks, going from 587 on April 25 to 584 on May 2 and then down to 578 on May 9. But it was the Marcellus/Utica that caught our attention. Two weeks ago, for the May 2 Baker Hughes rig count, Ohio dropped three rigs in a single week, going from 12 on April 25 to nine on May 2. The Ohio count remained at nine on May 9. Consequently, the combined M-U count went from 38 two weeks ago to 35 and has remained at that level. Both Pennsylvania and West Virginia kept their same counts of 18 and 8, respectively. Read More “Nat’l Rig Count Down 9 @ 578; Marcellus Even @ 25, Utica Down 3 @ 10”

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Nat’l Rig Count Adds 2 @ 587; Marcellus Even @ 25, Utica Even @ 13

The Baker Hughes U.S. national rig count crept up again last week, adding two more rigs after adding two in the prior week. The U.S. count now stands at 587 active rigs. The M-U rig count remained the same at a combined 38 last week—the second week in a row. We are at the highest combined M-U count since May of 2024. The Marcellus kept its 25 rigs across the three M-U states of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. The Utica kept its 13 rigs across the same three states, mainly in Ohio. PA had 18 active rigs for the second week — the highest number it has had since last August. OH operated 12 rigs for the second week in a row, the most active rigs in the Buckeye State in over a year. WV dropped maintained eight rigs for a second week, the lowest number of active rigs in the Mountain State since last September. Read More “Nat’l Rig Count Adds 2 @ 587; Marcellus Even @ 25, Utica Even @ 13”

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6th Circuit Reverses Lower Court, Blocks EOG from Surface Drilling

This is news of a lawsuit with implications for drillers, rights owners, and surface land owners that we were not previously aware of. EOG Resources, an oil and gas drilling giant with nearly half a million leased acres in Ohio, holds drilling rights on land owned by Lucky Land Management in Ohio—we could not determine the exact location or county. The two sides couldn’t agree on whether EOG’s rights to drill included the right to drill from Lucky Land’s surface out to adjacent properties as well. So EOG sued. EOG then asked a district court to grant a preliminary injunction, allowing the company to access the land to cut down trees and begin constructing wells. The district court did so, finding that EOG would probably succeed on the merits of the case. Read More “6th Circuit Reverses Lower Court, Blocks EOG from Surface Drilling”

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Nat’l Rig Count Adds 2 @ 585; Marcellus Up 1 @ 25, Utica Up 2 @ 13

The Baker Hughes U.S. national rig count recovered somewhat last week, adding two rigs after losing seven rigs two weeks ago. The U.S. count now stands at 585 active rigs. There was big news for the Marcellus/Utica. The combined M-U rig count was 38 last week. That is the highest M-U combined count in almost one year—since May of 2024. The Marcellus added the one rig it lost the prior week and now stands at 25 rigs across the three M-U states of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. Rigs focused on the Utica added two, and now stands at 13 rigs. PA was a big winner, adding two rigs, now with 18 active rigs — the highest number it has had since last August. However, OH also added two rigs and now operates 12, the most active rigs in the Buckeye State in over a year. Read More “Nat’l Rig Count Adds 2 @ 585; Marcellus Up 1 @ 25, Utica Up 2 @ 13”

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Nat’l Rig Count Drops 7 @ 583; Marcellus Down 1 @ 24, Utica Even @ 11

The Baker Hughes U.S. national rig count cratered last week, losing seven rigs. The U.S. count is now 583 active rigs, the biggest weekly decline since June 2024. As for the Marcellus/Utica, the rig count was a combined 35 last week, losing one rig it had gained the week before. The Marcellus lost one of the two rigs it had gained two weeks ago and now sports 24 rigs across the three M-U states of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. Rigs focused on the Utica remained unchanged at a combined 11. However, there were shifts among two of the three M-U states. PA picked up one rig and now operates 16 rigs. The last time PA operated 16 rigs was last December. The biggest news is that WV, which had operated 10 or more rigs for most of the past year (34 weeks in a row), broke its streak and lost two rigs. WV now operates nine rigs. Read More “Nat’l Rig Count Drops 7 @ 583; Marcellus Down 1 @ 24, Utica Even @ 11”

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Texas Gas Project to Build ~180 Miles of Greenfield Pipe in OH Utica

Last week MDN brought you the great news that Boardwalk Pipeline Partners launched an open season to offer an extra 2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of capacity along its 5,975-mile Texas Gas Transmission pipeline network that stretches from Ohio to Louisiana, running through Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Arkansas along the way (see Texas Gas Pipe Expanding to Flow Extra 2 Bcf/d of M-U Gas to La.). What we didn’t know at the time (not referenced in the Boardwalk announcement) is that the Borealis Natural Gas Pipeline Expansion Project, as it is called, will include building roughly 180 miles of new greenfield pipeline that spans nearly the entire length of Southern Ohio. Read More “Texas Gas Project to Build ~180 Miles of Greenfield Pipe in OH Utica”

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Nat’l Rig Count Down 2 @ 590; Marcellus Up 2 @ 25, Utica Down 1 @ 11

The Baker Hughes U.S. national rig count lost two rigs last week and now operates 590 active rigs. As for the Marcellus/Utica, the rig count was a combined 36 last week—the highest it has been since last August! Rigs focused on the Marcellus were up by two to a combined 25 across the three M-U states of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. Rigs focused on the Utica dropped one rig (after increasing by one the week before), now at a combined 11. PA had operated 15 rigs (or more) for 19 weeks straight. That streak was broken two weeks ago when PA lost a rig. PA picked it back up again and had 15 active rigs last week. OH had operated nine rigs for 16 weeks in a row but picked up one two weeks ago and kept it, meaning the dropped Utica rig from last week was in either PA or WV. Likely, the rig was repurposed from Utica to Marcellus in PA. OH currently operates ten active rigs. WV had operated 10 rigs for an astonishing 23 weeks in a row. Seven weeks ago, WV added (and has kept) one additional rig and continues to operate 11 active rigs. Read More “Nat’l Rig Count Down 2 @ 590; Marcellus Up 2 @ 25, Utica Down 1 @ 11”

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6th Circuit Upholds OH Landowner Claims Against Antero re Deductions

An important decision was recently issued in a federal court case (in Ohio) that potentially affects landowners and drillers with shale leases throughout the Marcellus/Utica. At least, we believe it has broader implications. The case, The Grissoms, LLC v. Antero Resources Corporation, was decided by the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (6th Circuit) on April 2, 2025. The case involves a dispute between a certified class of 370 Ohio landowners and Antero. The landowners alleged that Antero underpaid them $10 million in natural gas royalties by improperly deducting certain processing and fractionation costs from their royalty payments, violating their lease agreements. In 2023, the landowners won against Antero in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division (see OH Fed Court Ruling Further Clarifies Post-Production Deductions). Antero appealed the case to the 6th Circuit. Now, the 6th Circuit has also ruled in favor of the landowners. Read More “6th Circuit Upholds OH Landowner Claims Against Antero re Deductions”

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Large Appalachia Mineral/Royalty Packages Available for Bid Now

Earlier this week, MDN told you about a mineral/royalty rights purchase made by WhiteHawk Energy, increasing its ownership interest in 475,000 gross acres in the Marcellus Shale for $118 million (see WhiteHawk Energy Doubles Ownership Interest in 475K Marcellus Acres). It appears there are more of those kinds of deals on the immediate horizon. According to Darin Zanovich, president and CEO of Mesa Minerals, “a couple of large, $100 million-plus transactions” in the Marcellus/Utica are coming to market now, apart from the WhiteHawk deal. Read More “Large Appalachia Mineral/Royalty Packages Available for Bid Now”

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Pipeline Co. Aspire Energy of Ohio Celebrates 10th Anniversary

Ten years ago, MDN told you that Chesapeake Utilities, a diversified energy company with businesses in natural gas distribution, transmission and marketing, electricity distribution, propane distribution and wholesale marketing (nothing to do with Chesapeake Energy) had purchased a small midstream company in Ohio—Gatherco, Inc (see Chesapeake Utilities Buys OH Midstream Co, Targets Shale Industry). The motivation for the purchase was to target the Utica Shale industry in Ohio. On April 1, 2015, Chesapeake Utilities announced the deal was done, and Gatherco had been renamed and merged with Chesapeake subsidiary Aspire Energy of Ohio (see Chesapeake Utilities Completes $59M Purchase of OH Midstream Co.). Chesapeake Utilities took the occasion of the 10th anniversary of that purchase to toot its own horn about Aspire Energy. Read More “Pipeline Co. Aspire Energy of Ohio Celebrates 10th Anniversary”