M-U Rigs Steady @ 35; National Rig Count Drops Another Rig @ 582
The Baker Hughes national rig count dropped another rig last week and now sits at 582. The national count continues to be rangebound between 581 and 589 since June. Slicing the national count slightly differently—by oil-focused vs. gas-focused rigs—oil rigs fell by two to 477 last week, their lowest since July, while gas rigs rose by one to 100. Last week, all three Marcellus/Utica states maintained the same count for the third week in a row, with PA operating 15 active rigs and Ohio and West Virginia operating 10 rigs each, for a combined 35 rigs. That’s the third week in a row the M-U has operated 35 rigs. It feels like the doom and gloom is finally starting to lift. Read More “M-U Rigs Steady @ 35; National Rig Count Drops Another Rig @ 582”
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is aiding and abetting radical environmental groups in circumventing the state legislature. In what amounts to a classic leftist “sue-and-settle” case, radical environmental groups (including the Clean Air Council and Environmental Integrity Project) petitioned the state Environmental Quality Board (EQB), asking the board to amend 25 Pa. Code Chapter 78a by increasing “setbacks” for oil and gas well drilling to a minimum of 3,281 feet from any building or water wells (5,280 feet from hospitals and schools), and 750 feet from any river, creek, or mud puddle (i.e., surface waters). Such an increase in setbacks would stop ALL new shale drilling in the state, which is the goal of these radicals. The DEP ruled that the petition to the EQB was right and proper and should move forward. 
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) was busy last Thursday during its latest open meeting. Not only did the commissioners approve an expansion for Elba Island LNG, they also approved a meter station project that will connect the Rover pipeline in Washington County, PA, to Energy Transfer’s Revolution Cryogenic Facility, a facility that extracts natural gas liquids (NGLs) from field gas and partially fractionates mixed NLGs to produce natural gas products like ethane. 
The rig count in the Marcellus/Utica appears to have stabilized, and that’s a good thing. For a while, it was in freefall, at least in Pennsylvania. In October, Pennsylvania’s rig count dropped to just 12 rigs, the lowest that state has operated in the last 17 years (see 
For the week of Nov 11 – 17, permits issued in the Marcellus/Utica were strong, with 30 new permits issued, down just slightly from the 34 issued the prior week (but way up from the piddly numbers issued in prior weeks). The Keystone State (PA) issued 16 new permits, with seven going to Range Resources, all in Washington County. Six permits went to EQT in Lycoming County. Two permits were issued to Olympus Energy in Westmoreland County. A single permit was issued to Chesapeake Energy (now Expand Energy) in Susquehanna County. 
Yesterday, the Biden Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Biden Department of Justice (DOJ) announced settlements with two Pennsylvania shale drillers claiming violations of the federal Clean Air Act and the Pennsylvania Air Pollution Control Act. The Bidenistas alleged that XTO Energy and Hilcorp Energy violated emissions limits at oil and gas production facilities in Butler County, Lawrence County, and Mercer County. XTO is on the hook to pay a $4 million fine, while Hilcorp must pay $1.275 million. In addition, XTO will be made to pay another $1.4 million to plug orphaned wells the company had nothing to do with orphaning. That passes as “justice” with the Bidenistas. 
Range Resources, the very first company to drill a Marcellus well back in 2004, leases office space in the Southpointe II business park in Cecil Township (Washington County), PA. Yeah, that Cecil, the one that has banned all new drilling by Range or anyone else via a 2,500-foot setback regulation (see 
UGI Corporation, a diversified energy company with midstream (pipeline) operations in the Marcellus and one of Pennsylvania’s largest utility companies, is selling its 169-megawatt natural gas-fired power plant near Wilkes-Barre, PA, to Castleton Commodities International for an undisclosed amount. The plant’s owner/seller is actually a wholly-owned subsidiary of UGI Corp. called UGI Energy Services. 
Permitting in Pennsylvania overseen by the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has been a hot mess for years. A Chapter 102 Erosion and Sedimentation permit sometimes takes two, three, or even six months for approval — instead of the policy-mandated 14 days. According to a DEP press release from yesterday, that’s all behind us now. DEP Acting Secretary Jessica Shirley and Gov. Josh Shapiro said the agency has eliminated the backlog for oil and gas permits. Credit where credit is due. 
Environmental wackos have made building a new natural gas pipeline anywhere in the northeast (or southeast) such a heinously nasty experience with multiple and repeated regulatory challenges and a blizzard of lawsuits that nobody has ventured to propose a new “greenfield” (brand new from scratch) pipeline since Mountain Valley Pipeline, which took a decade to complete at double the original budget. We’re hopeful the situation will change under the new Trump administration. The Marcellus/Utica industry recognizes we need another new pipeline to move more of our molecules to other regions. What would be the “driving force” to prompt a company to be willing to try once again?