14 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Apr 11-17
Last week Pennsylvania issued 12 new shale well permits, down three from the prior week. Coterra Energy (formerly Cabot Oil & Gas) had the most permits with four, all on the same pad in Susquehanna County. Southwestern had three permits all on the same pad in Susquehanna County. Chesapeake Energy also had a permit in Susquehanna County, making that county the top spot for new permits with eight last week. Ohio had no new shale permits issued last week. Bummer. West Virginia had just two permits, one for Southwestern Energy in Ohio County, and one for Antero Resources in Tyler County.
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Epsilon Energy concentrates most of its effort on the Marcellus Shale in Susquehanna County, PA. Epsilon doesn’t typically do its own drilling. The company joint venture partners with (gives money to) other companies, like Chesapeake Energy, and the other company typically does the drilling. Epsilon issued its fourth quarter and full-year 2021 update last week. The company’s Marcellus net gas production was 2.6 Bcf (billion cubic feet) in 4Q21. The company generated revenues of $13.8 million during 4Q21, compared to $5.9 million for 4Q20. Realized natural gas prices averaged $3.65/Mcf including hedges, and $4.36/Mcf excluding hedges.
Coterra Energy (formerly Cabot Oil & Gas) remains one of our favorite Marcellus/Utica drillers. We personally know some of the great people who work there. We’ll never forget having a private tour of a drill site in Susquehanna County, PA by Coterra’s chief Marcellus driller, Buddy Wylie. During the tour, Buddy waxed eloquent on mud logging, showing us rock chips under a microscope. Seeing a drilling operation up close, understanding how wells are planned a year or more in advance, coordinating all of the logistics (when the sand needs to arrive, pipe inventory, trucks to move equipment, backhoes to get the pad ready, etc.) it dawned on us, this stuff really is rocket science! The smart folks at Coterra have done it again–more rocket science. This time they’ve developed a new method for predicting natural gas and oil reservoirs.
One year ago, in March 2021, Eureka Resources announced plans to build a Marcellus Shale wastewater treatment facility in Dimock (Susquehanna County), Pennsylvania (see
In June 2020, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro (Democrat) announced an indictment of Cabot Oil & Gas for allegations of methane migration going back more than a decade, long before he was elected as AG (see
As predicted last week by Reuters, Chesapeake Energy announced yesterday it is buying Marcellus driller Chief Oil & Gas plus associated non-operated assets from Tug Hill Operating for $2 billion in cash and approximately 9.44 million common shares. The total purchase price (given the current CHK stock price of $67/share) is roughly $2.6 billion. The combination makes Chesapeake a powerhouse driller in the northeast Pennsylvania Marcellus with 653,000 acres of leases.
Last week 18 permits were issued to drill new shale wells in the Marcellus/Utica, down from 24 the week before. Pennsylvania had the most new permits with 12, mostly in the northeastern part of the state in Lycoming and Susquehanna counties. Ohio had four permits evenly divided between Columbiana and Harrison counties. West Virginia had just two lonely permits, one in Lewis and one in Wetzel counties.