Ohio’s Orphan Well Program Plugged >1,200 Wells Last 5 Years
Something is clearly wrong in Pennsylvania. Over the past three years, PA has plugged a little over 300 old orphaned (no current owner) wells (see PA Gov Shapiro Puffs His Chest to Announce Plugging 300 Old Wells). During the same period, Ohio plugged over 700 old wells. Why can OH plug nearly twice as many wells as PA in the same period? The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) reports it has plugged over 1,200 wells in the last five years! OH is leaving PA behind in the proverbial dust. Read More “Ohio’s Orphan Well Program Plugged >1,200 Wells Last 5 Years”
Last week, the Baker Hughes U.S. rig count continued its downward trend, losing another two rigs to end at 540 active rigs nationwide. The count has been down 13 of the last 14 weeks, with the only slight increase happening three weeks ago. The Marcellus/Utica count remained the same (after gaining one rig two weeks ago) at a combined 36 active rigs. PA is running 18 active rigs. OH is running 11 rigs. And WV is operating 7 rigs. 
Data centers are all the rage these days. It seems like a new data center is announced weekly somewhere in the Eastern U.S. Ohio has its fair share of them coming to the Buckeye State (
In January 2023, Ohio House Bill (HB) 507 became law with the signature of Gov. Mike DeWine (see 
We spotted a fascinating Hart Energy article that summarizes information from a recently released Mizuho Securities study. Mizuho researcher Nitin Kumar says that we are roughly halfway through the shale revolution. He posits that approximately 290,000 horizontal wells have been landed in shale rock in the Lower 48 and that under current economic conditions and with current technology, another 270,000 locations remain. It will take another 25 years to drill them, says Kumar. Which is interesting, although we take some issue with those findings. However, embedded in the statistics is something that caught our attention: the value of undeveloped acreage in various shale plays, including the Marcellus. 
The media fuss is hard to miss about today’s Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit being held at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. PA Senator Dave McCormick organized the event. Among the attendees will be President Trump, several cabinet secretaries, and other White House officials. Much of the buzz is around $90 billion in AI and energy investments expected to be announced. In preparation for the big event, a roundtable was held yesterday at CNX headquarters in Washington County, PA, to discuss clearing away permitting obstacles and red tape to help PA realize some (if not most) of that $90 billion in investments. 
The Baker Hughes U.S. rig count has been hemorrhaging for 11 consecutive weeks. Last week, the U.S. rig count declined by another two rigs to its lowest level since October 2021, ending the week at 537 active rigs. You have to go back to the dark days of the pandemic, July 2020, for the previous 11+ consecutive weeks of decline in the rig count. The Marcellus/Utica stayed even (after falling by one two weeks ago) at a combined 35 active rigs. There were 23 rigs targeting the Marcellus and 12 rigs targeting the Utica last week. 
The number crunchers at the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) analyzed proved reserves data for 2023 (the most recent year available) and determined that proved reserves of U.S. natural gas decreased 12.6% year over year, from 691.0 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) to 603.6 Tcf. This was the first annual decrease in U.S. natural gas reserves since 2020. Looking at the numbers for Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, natural gas proved reserves decreased by 4% (PA), 13% (OH), and 6% (WV) from 2022 to 2023. The report shows that Marcellus gas reserves dropped 5.9% in 2023. 
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 
This is an unfortunate part of mergers and acquisitions. The Houston Chronicle is reporting that a WARN notice (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) filed by Encino Energy indicates that 121 Encino workers will be laid off on or around August 17. No reason is given, however, EOG Resources is in the process of buying out and merging in Encino’s Ohio Utica assets (see 
It’s not often this happens. Last week, for the week of Jun 9 – 15, only Pennsylvania issued new permits to drill shale wells. Neither Ohio nor West Virginia issued any new shale permits. Bummer. PA issued 18 new permits last week. Eight of the permits went to Pennsylvania General Energy for a single pad in Lycoming County. Another six permits went to Range Resources for a single pad, also in Lycoming County. Ergo, 14 of the 18 permits were issued in Lycoming County. 
A month ago, NRG Energy announced a deal 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 (see