Repsol Continues Cleanup at Bradford Pad, No Stream Impacts
Earlier this week, MDN brought you the news about an “uncontrolled release” of production fluid at a Repsol well in northeastern Pennsylvania (see Uncontrolled Release of Wastewater at Repsol Pad in Bradford County). The fluid escaped secondary containment and specially-constructed gravel berms set up and poured over into the surrounding environment at Repsol’s 7H gas well on the Broadleaf Holdings pad in Troy Township, Bradford County. The uncontrolled release went on for 34 hours until a second plug was installed to stop the flow. Earlier this week, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) did a follow-up inspection. Fortunately, there have been no significant impacts on nearby streams. Read More “Repsol Continues Cleanup at Bradford Pad, No Stream Impacts”
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. 
As we previously reported, a truly mind-blowing event was held in Pittsburgh last week—the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit, organized by PA Senator Dave McCormick (see 
On July 8, PA State Senator Art Haywood (Democrat from Philadelphia) introduced PA Senate Bill (SB) 910, which slaps a 6.5% severance tax on the gross production of all oil and natural gas produced in the state (see 
We finally saw some relief last week for the Baker Hughes U.S. rig count, which added rigs for the first time in three months (12 weeks). The U.S. count added seven rigs and now stands at 544 active rigs. However, it was gas-focused rigs that saved the day. The number of oil-focused rigs continued to fall last week (down another two) while gas-focused rigs had a massive increase (up by nine). The Marcellus/Utica count stayed even last week (after falling by one three weeks ago) at a combined 35 active rigs. There were 23 rigs targeting the Marcellus and 12 rigs targeting the Utica last week. 
Two years ago, Texas Eastern Transmission Pipeline Company (aka TETCO) filed to build the Appalachia to Market II Project (A2M II) and the Entriken HP Replacement Project (see 
For the week of July 7 – 13, the number of permits issued to drill new wells in the Marcellus/Utica remained the same as the previous week. There were 21 new permits issued across the three M-U states last week. The Keystone State (PA) issued seven new permits. Range Resources secured three permits, spread across Beaver and Washington counties, in the southwestern part of the state. Seneca Resources received two permits in Tioga County, in the northeastern part of the state. Greylock Energy and Coterra Energy each received a single permit, in Potter and Susquehanna counties, respectively. 
As we reported on Wednesday, a truly mind-blowing event was held in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit organized by PA Senator Dave McCormick (see 
Talen Energy, a leading energy producer in the U.S., which owns and operates approximately 10.7 gigawatts (GW) of power infrastructure, has announced the acquisition of two gas-fired power plants: one located near Wilkes-Barre in northeastern Pennsylvania, and the other in Guernsey County, in eastern Ohio, for $3.8 billion. The PA plant is fed by Marcellus molecules, and the OH plant is fed by Utica molecules. We have followed both projects from inception through commissioning and operation. 
After returning from the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation summit held on Tuesday of this week in Pittsburgh, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin published an op-ed highlighting steps his agency is taking to reduce burdensome regulations, unleash American energy dominance, and make America the AI capital of the world. The EPA is working on clearing away red tape on the federal level, while GOP legislators in Pennsylvania are working on clearing away red tape on the state level. It will take both efforts to ensure the $92 billion pledged for energy projects in PA actually happens. 
The largest amount of money to be invested in Pennsylvania in the coming decade by a single company, announced yesterday at Senator Dave McCormick’s Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit held in Pittsburgh, came from Blackstone, the world’s largest alternative asset manager. Blackstone pledged to invest *at least* $25 billion in the next 10 years in the Keystone State to (a) build data centers in the northeastern part of the state, and (b) build new Marcellus-fired power plants to provide electricity for those data centers. It’s a staggering amount of money. Blackstone President & COO, Jon Gray, was at yesterday’s event and said PA’s access to natural gas gives it a considerable advantage. “You can co-locate the data centers directly next to the source of power. That’s really the secret sauce here.” The Marcellus is responsible for Blackstone’s $25 billion investment! STAGGERING.