Nat’l Rig Count Adds 2 @ 585; Marcellus Up 1 @ 25, Utica Up 2 @ 13
The Baker Hughes U.S. national rig count recovered somewhat last week, adding two rigs after losing seven rigs two weeks ago. The U.S. count now stands at 585 active rigs. There was big news for the Marcellus/Utica. The combined M-U rig count was 38 last week. That is the highest M-U combined count in almost one year—since May of 2024. The Marcellus added the one rig it lost the prior week and now stands at 25 rigs across the three M-U states of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. Rigs focused on the Utica added two, and now stands at 13 rigs. PA was a big winner, adding two rigs, now with 18 active rigs — the highest number it has had since last August. However, OH also added two rigs and now operates 12, the most active rigs in the Buckeye State in over a year. Read More “Nat’l Rig Count Adds 2 @ 585; Marcellus Up 1 @ 25, Utica Up 2 @ 13”
Last week was an interesting week for new permits issued to drill new shale wells in the Marcellus/Utica. For the week of Apr 7 – 13, the number of permits issued soared, up 15 from the previous week. Last week, 36 new permits were issued. The surprising thing is just how few of those new permits were issued in the Keystone State (PA). Just five new permits went to PA. CNX Resources had four of PA’s new permits, all for the same well pad in Westmoreland County. The other permit went to EQT in Fayette County. 
In March, MDN told you about a legislative proposal from newly elected West Virginia Governor Pat Morrisey, a measure called the Power Generation and Consumption Act (House Bill 2014) to expand data center development in the state (see 
Here’s a lawsuit that was not previously on our radar. A West Virginia couple, Bart Mickey and Jami Mickey, sued EQT alleging the company concealed a 2020 Surface Access and Use Agreement allowing EQT to remove a pond, diminishing the value of a property the Mickey’s purchased in Marshall County for $350,000. The Mickeys said in their lawsuit that EQT signed a deal with the previous owners of the property, allowing EQT to remove a pond for $10,000 (an action required under a 2015 Consent Decree with the EPA and WVDEP). Then, EQT (according to the Mickeys) delayed recording the easement with the county. When buying the property, the Mickeys said the easement/deal did not appear in a title search. 
Earlier this week, MDN told you about a mineral/royalty rights purchase made by WhiteHawk Energy, increasing its ownership interest in 475,000 gross acres in the Marcellus Shale for $118 million (see 
The State of West Virginia’s fiscal year begins on July 1 each year and runs through June 30 of the following year. Looking at the state’s most recent fiscal year of July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, the natural gas and oil industry in WV accounted for over $660 million in state revenue via severance and property taxes. That’s according to the Gas and Oil Association of West Virginia (GO-WV). In addition, the O&G sector employed over 15,000 direct jobs and an additional 73,000 indirect jobs, with an average annual salary of more than $97,000. Shale energy has been an economic miracle in the Mountain State! 
The Baker Hughes U.S. national rig count lost one rig last week (after gaining one the week before), now operating 592 active rigs. As for the Marcellus/Utica, the rig count was a combined 35 last week. However, there was a notable change in the totals. Rigs focused on the Marcellus were down by one to a combined 23 across the three M-U states of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. Rigs focused on the Utica picked up the lost Marcellus rig, now at a combined 12. PA had operated 15 rigs (or more) for 19 weeks straight. That streak was broken last week when PA lost a rig. OH had operated nine rigs for 16 weeks in a row but picked up one last week and now stands at ten active rigs. WV had operated 10 rigs for an astonishing 23 weeks in a row. Six weeks ago, WV added (and has kept) one additional rig and operates 11 active rigs. 
Toby Rice, CEO of EQT Corporation, took part in a presentation by natural gas industry leaders at the West Virginia Capitol on Wednesday. The group was briefly joined by Gov. Patrick Morrisey, who was there to promote an expansion of electric microgrids in the state to power data centers. Morrisey is pushing legislature, House Bill 2014, to do just that (see 
Here’s an interesting lawsuit that never appeared on our radar. It involves a lease in Fayette County, West Virginia, and the right to establish an injection well in an old conventional well on the leased property. The party leasing and using the old injection well, Webb Construction, was later sued by the party leasing out the property, North Hills Group, after new board members over at North Hills. The lawsuit accused Webb of improperly using the old well as an injection well without first trying to see if the well could be rejuvenated as a productive gas well and building a pipeline to the well that leaked wastewater on North Hill’s property. A Fayette Circuit Court jury in 2022 found in favor of Webb and against North Hills, dismissing all claims against Webb. North Hills asked the judge to grant a new trial to overturn the jury verdict, which the judge did. North Hills won in the new trial. 
Hope Gas, a large local utility company that provides gas service to more than 131,000 residential, industrial, and commercial customers in thirty-seven West Virginia counties, filed a rate case with the state Public Service Commission (PSC) in August 2024 looking to convert customers who use a “farm tap” gas system to either propane fuel or electric heat for their homes (see 
Antero Resources, which is 100% focused on the Marcellus/Utica with over 500,000 net acres under lease and the largest M-U driller and producer in West Virginia, shoots to produce 3.4 billion cubic feet equivalent per day (Bcfe/d) of natural gas in the Mountain State. The company recently reported net production averaging 3.43 Bcfe/d in 4Q24, up ever so slightly from 3.42 Bcfe/d in 4Q23 (see 
In December, MDN told you the country’s largest electric grid, PJM Interconnection, which covers all or parts of 13 states, including PA, OH, and WV, proposed new changes to how it decides which new power plants can connect to the system first. The new policy *favors* adding natural gas-fired power over other types of power like unreliable solar and wind (see