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U.S. Rig Count Adds One Rig, M-U Drops Another Rig
For the first time since June, the national active U.S. rig count added rigs–a single rig–last week. The new active U.S. rig count is 632, up from 631 the previous week. Unfortunately, the Marcellus/Utica lost yet another rig, sinking to 39 active rigs. Once again, West Virginia was the unlucky state that lost a rig, now running just 8 shale rigs. The rig counts for both Pennsylvania and Ohio stayed the same last week.
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Quick! Apply pressure to the wound before the patient (in this case, the Marcellus/Utica) bleeds out. Another week, another lost rig in the Marcellus. We can’t seem to stem the flow of rigs leaving. The national rig count also lost one rig overall. For the eighth week in a row and the 17th of the last 18 weeks, the U.S. active rig count lost rigs. The total is now down to 631 active rigs across both oil and gas (down from 632 last week). At least the loss is slowing. West Virginia dropped one rig after adding one last week. The rig counts for both Pennsylvania and Ohio stayed the same last week.
The Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) released production numbers for the second quarter of 2023 late last week, and nobody noticed…except MDN (thanks to a tip from a good friend). ODNR no longer issues a press release to summarize the results as they once did. We’ve got the full spreadsheet with oil and gas production details for all 3,233 active shale wells in the Buckeye State. We’ve sliced and diced the numbers and have our usual Top 25 lists for natural gas and oil wells. We’ve added a couple of new charts summarizing the data, showing the total production for the quarter by driller (gas and oil) and the total production for the quarter by county. You’re gonna love it!
The rig count carnage continues. For the seventh week in a row and the 16th of the last 17 weeks, the U.S. active rig count lost rigs. A lot of rigs. Last week, the number decreased by 10 rigs after falling by 12 for the prior week. The total is now down to 632 active rigs across both oil and gas. Oil rigs have now fallen for a ninth straight month, while the combined oil and gas count has fallen for four straight months. After losing three rigs two weeks ago, the Marcellus/Utica count added one rig last week–in West Virginia.
It’s getting even uglier out there. For the sixth week in a row and the 15th of the last 16 weeks, the U.S. active rig count lost rigs. A lot of rigs. Last week the number decreased by a whopping 12 rigs after falling by five rigs per week for the three weeks prior. The total is now down to 642 active rigs across both oil and gas. Sadly, the Marcellus/Utica dropped three rigs last week (after losing two the week before) for a combined M-U rig count of 40–the lowest this year. Last week Pennsylvania picked up two rigs after losing two the week before, but the additions in PA came at the expense of Ohio (lost 2 rigs) and West Virginia (lost 3 rigs).
Folks new to the Marcellus/Utica may not know this, but Chesapeake Energy’s then-CEO Aubrey McClendon first “discovered” the Ohio Utica about 15 years ago. Under McClendon, Chesapeake spent over $2 billion acquiring rights to drill 1.3 million acres in Ohio–or roughly 5% of the state’s land area. McClendon pegged the value of the Utica for Ohio at half a trillion dollars. He famously said the Ohio Utica is “the biggest thing economically to hit Ohio, since maybe the plow.” McClendon was tossed out of the company he founded by corporate raider Carl Icahn, so he started a new company (to target the Ohio Utica) that eventually became Ascent Resources. Tragically, McClendon died in March 2016, so he never got to see his dream turn into reality (see 
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 (356,700 leased acres) and the 8th largest natural gas producer in the U.S. The company issued its second quarter 2023 update on Wednesday. Ascent’s net production averaged 2.1 Bcfe/d (billion cubic feet equivalent per day) during 2Q23, up 6% over 2Q22 but down from 2.2 Bcfe/d in 1Q23. The company made $250 million in profit during 2Q23, down just a bit from the $285 million it made in 2Q22.
In 2020, EOG Resources, one of the largest oil and gas drillers in the U.S. (with international operations in Trinidad and China), sold *all* of its Marcellus assets, which were located in Bradford County, PA, to Tilden Resources for $130 million (see 
For the fourth week in a row and the 13th time in the last 14 weeks, the U.S. active rig count lost rigs. It’s grueling. Last week the number decreased by five rigs after falling five rigs the week before–now down to 659 active rigs across both oil and gas. The Marcellus dropped one rig (in Pennsylvania) for a combined M-U rig count of 45–the lowest this year. Some 14 weeks ago, the M-U lost four rigs (going from 53 down to 49). Seven weeks ago, we lost another rig, down to 48. Last week we lost two more down to 46, and this week another. The trend is not our friend.
DT Midstream (DTM), headquartered in Detroit, owns major assets in the Marcellus/Utica region and other regions. DTM issued its second quarter 2023 update yesterday. The company announced it had reached a final investment decision (FID) to build a new greenfield gathering system in the Ohio Utica Shale. The gathering system will transport associated gas from new wells being drilled in the rich window of the Utica.
For the third week in a row and the 12th time in the last 13 weeks, the U.S. active rig count lost rigs. Last week the number decreased by five rigs after falling six rigs the week before (see 
In January, Ohio House Bill (HB) 507 became law with the signature of Gov. Mike DeWine (see 
Researchers with the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) recently published a study in the journal Ecological Indicators. The study’s intent was to measure whether or not frack waste dumped in local landfills has radiation that is leaking out in groundwater (leachate) from those facilities. Research like this, if legitimate (and accurate), is a good thing. We need to know if the waste we’re dumping is causing a problem. But a funny thing happened during the study. The researchers found a big problem with recordkeeping.
In early June, shale drillers could, for the first time, begin to apply for permits to drill under (not on top of) Ohio state lands and state parks under newly formulated rules established by the Ohio Oil & Gas Land Management (OGLM) Commission (see