Ohio Tax Commissioner Putting New O&G Pipelines at Risk
The Ohio Tax Commissioner is facing a lawsuit from Rover Pipeline over an aggressive property tax assessment that inflates the project’s market value. The dispute centers on the state treating $2.2 billion in weather-related construction overruns and an unrealistic “infinite lifespan” assumption as value-adding assets. Critics argue that this approach violates constitutional principles of fair market valuation, under which taxes should reflect what a willing buyer would pay rather than total development costs. Read More “Ohio Tax Commissioner Putting New O&G Pipelines at Risk”
Ohio already has 217 data centers with more on the way. Data centers are warehouses filled with computer equipment that generates a lot of heat. To cool down the computers, data centers use massive amounts of water. If data centers want to get rid of that water after it’s been used, they have to apply for a permit called the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) through the Ohio EPA. Currently, data centers must apply for an individual NPDES permit, which is detailed and unique to their operations. The OEPA is looking to streamline the process to make it faster and easier. That’s a good thing. 
Here we go again. The environmental left is attacking the shale industry by accusing it of shipping drill cuttings (the leftover rock and dirt that comes out of a borehole) to local landfills in the Buckeye State (Ohio), where it will irradiate everyone and everything close to it. According to the left, drill cuttings “could be contaminated with radioactivity and other chemicals.” And, according to the same people, lack of regulations in Ohio “allows it [radioactive drill cuttings] to slip by regulators, especially in Ohio,” and end up in the same landfills as “household trash.” Is there anything to the claim that drill cuttings are radioactive and a threat to those who live near landfills? 
We first told you about a frac sand company called Smart Sand some 13 years ago (see 
In honor of the new Wizard of Oz movie coming this week: “Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!” The environmental left version of that is, “Fossil fuels, fracking, and data centers, oh never!” Just yesterday, we outlined a trend we see in Pennsylvania (and on the national level): anti-fracking groups morphing into anti-data center groups (see 
Existing pipelines in the Marcellus/Utica region are testing the market for expansion. Two weeks ago, we told you that DT Midstream (50% owner of NEXUS Pipeline) is eyeing the growing AI data center market in northwestern Ohio as a customer for M-U molecules that flow through NEXUS (see 
One month ago, we reported that Ohio Republican Senators had introduced Senate Bill (SB) 219, the first significant update to Ohio’s oil and gas laws since the Kasich administration more than a decade ago (see 
EOG Resources, one of the largest oil and gas drillers in the U.S. (with international operations in several other countries), issued its third quarter update last week. EOG closed on its purchase of Utica driller Encino Energy in August (see 
Ascent Resources, founded as American Energy Partners by Aubrey McClendon, a gas industry legend, is a privately held company that focuses 100% on the Ohio Utica Shale. Ascent, headquartered in Oklahoma City, OK, is Ohio’s largest natural gas producer and one of the largest natural gas producers in the U.S. The company issued its third quarter 2025 update yesterday. Net production for the quarter averaged 2,247 MMcfe/d (2.25 Bcfe/d), consisting of 1,900 MMcf/d of natural gas, 16,130 bbls/d of oil, and 41,652 bbls/d of natural gas liquids (NGLs), putting liquids at 15% of the overall production mix for the quarter. 
Gulfport Energy is the third-largest driller in the Ohio Utica Shale (by the number of wells drilled). Gulfport released its third quarter update yesterday. The company is going full steam ahead in its natgas drilling in the Ohio Marcellus. Gulfport is aggressively expanding its future drilling potential. The company nearly tripled its Marcellus inventory, adding roughly 125 gross locations. Concurrently, Gulfport successfully finished two Utica U-development test wells, a move that proves drilling feasibility and unlocks an additional 20 gross Utica dry gas locations. 
In January 2023, Ohio House Bill (HB) 507 became law with the signature of Gov. Mike DeWine (see 
Antero Resources, the largest Marcellus/Utica (M-U) driller in West Virginia, released its Q3 2025 update with two significant announcements. One is that newly appointed CEO Michael Kennedy is “excited” for the company to return to dry gas drilling after “more than a decade,” with the first new dry gas well specifically intended to service the data center market. Second, we can confirm our prior speculation to say that Antero is officially marketing its Ohio Utica assets for sale. We previously brought you that rumor in early September (see 
Yesterday, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and JobsOhio (a private nonprofit economic development corporation) launched the $100 million JobsOhio Energy Opportunity Initiative, a five-year fund to bolster economic development through energy production. The initiative will provide grants and low-interest loans to qualifying companies to offset costs related to natural gas, power generation, and nuclear power, specifically Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). 
Proposed Ohio legislation, Senate Bill (SB) 294, seeks to redefine “clean energy” to include natural gas, a fossil fuel, and, according to lefties, a major contributor to mythical global warming. At the same time, the bill would declare renewable sources like wind and solar “unreliable.” SB 294 would compel the Ohio Power Siting Board to favor energy projects it deems both clean and reliable, effectively prioritizing natural gas power plants. The bill’s sponsors argue this leverages Ohio’s substantial shale gas reserves and provides a cleaner alternative to coal. 