President Trump Signs Congress Resolution Overturning Methane Tax
After the shocking news in 2022 that then-U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (from West Virginia) had sold out his state and the entire country by agreeing to support the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) bill (better named the Green New Scam), the details began to come out about just how bad the bill (now law) really is for the oil and gas industry. First and foremost, it slapped a new methane tax on oil and gas activities (see Joe Manchin’s Green New Deal Cave Slaps O&G with Big Methane Tax). Endless lawsuits and regulatory challenges ensued. However, on their way out the door late last year, the Bidenistas pulled the trigger and implemented the tax (see Parting Shot: Biden-Harris EPA Slaps $1,500/Ton Tax on Methane). The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate voted to overturn Biden’s methane tax in late February (see House & Senate Vote to Overturn Biden IRA Methane Tax, Trump to Sign). On Friday, at a special ceremony at the White House, President Trump signed the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution overturning the methane tax. VICTORY! Read More “President Trump Signs Congress Resolution Overturning Methane Tax”
For the week of Mar 3 – 9, the number of permits issued in the Marcellus/Utica to drill new shale wells increased by six from the previous week. Last week, 22 new permits were issued, with 13 (more than half) going to the Keystone State (PA). Expand Energy (Chesapeake Energy) scored five permits for a single pad in Bradford County. Coterra Energy also received five permits for a single pad in neighboring Susquehanna County. EQT had two new permits for a single pad in Washington County. And Range Resources rounded out PA’s permits with a single permit in Washington County. 
Hart Energy reports that Expand Energy, formed by the combination of Chesapeake Energy and Southwestern Energy, drilled a massive 5.6-mile lateral in northern West Virginia’s dry-gas Utica—and it was drilled in five days with just one bit run. Expand’s Shannon Fields OHI #3H well, located in Ohio County, WV, has a 29,687-ft lateral. We always get in trouble when we make statements like this (because some drillers don’t disclose details for their wells), but we’re pretty sure this is the longest onshore shale well lateral ever drilled in the U.S. Maybe even in the world! 
After five weeks of adding rigs, the Baker Hughes U.S. rig count decreased by a single rig last week. The national rig count now stands at 592. As for the Marcellus/Utica, the rig count was a combined 35 last week, retaining a rig added in West Virginia three weeks ago. Rigs focused on the Marcellus were a combined 24 across the three M-U states of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. Rigs focused on the Utica were a combined 11. PA has operated 15 rigs (or more) for the past 17 weeks. OH has operated nine rigs for the past 14 weeks. WV had operated 10 rigs for an astonishing 23 weeks in a row. Three weeks ago, WV added (and has kept) one additional rig and now operates 11 active rigs. Good things are happening in the Mountain State. 
This morning, Diversified Energy, FuelCell Energy, and TESIAC announced a strategic partnership “intended to address the urgent energy needs of data centers” by supplying as much as 360 megawatts (MW) of electricity to three distinct locations in Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky. The partnership has agreed to create an Acquisition and Development Company (ADC), essentially a joint venture, focused on delivering reliable, cost-efficient, so-called net-zero power from natural gas and captured coal mine methane (CMM) to meet the soaring demand of data centers for reliable power. The way they will provide the power is quite interesting. 
There are deadbeats in every industry, including (unfortunately) the oil and gas industry. Some O&G producers in West Virginia are gaming the system by not paying landowners/rights owners the royalties they are due. Typically, this does not apply to shale drillers, mostly larger companies. However, with (some, very few) smaller conventional drillers, they just don’t pay royalties owed. And if the check is for under a hundred bucks, what can a landowner do? Hiring a lawyer to litigate would cost more than the money received. A new bill making its way through the WV Senate would fix the situation. 
You know we delight in connecting the dots that others often miss. We spotted big news in the quarterly update for DT Midstream (DTM), headquartered in Detroit, which owns major assets in the Marcellus/Utica region and other regions like the Haynesville. Earlier this year the company closed on the purchase of three pipeline systems, two of which flow Marcellus/Utica molecules (see