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”

A key issue has come about with the rapid increase in carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) projects around the country, including right here in the Marcellus/Utica region. Where does one store (sequester) all that carbon dioxide (CO2)? The answer is underground in a Class VI injection well. Class VI wells are a relatively new classification for injection wells, created by the federal EPA in 2010. Who regulates Class VI wells is a flashpoint of controversy. Right now, the EPA is the primary regulator (has “primacy”) in regulating Class VI wells in all but three states (North Dakota, Wyoming, and Louisiana). According to a notice coming in tomorrow’s Federal Register by the EPA, a fourth state is about to be added to the list: West Virginia.
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
On May 30, 2023, a fire and subsequent explosion damaged an above-ground storage tank and the upper process building at the already-closed Fairmont Brine Processing plant in Fairmont, WV (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.
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?
Three weeks ago, Pennsylvania’s rig count dropped to just 12 rigs, the lowest that state has operated in the last 17 years (see
In August, MDN brought you up to speed on a lawsuit filed by several West Virginia landowners (turned into a class action) against Diversified Energy and EQT over EQT’s sale of 11,350 conventional wells and 2.5 million acres of leases spread across several states, including West Virginia (see
DT Midstream (DTM), headquartered in Detroit, owns major assets in the Marcellus/Utica region and other regions like the Haynesville. DTM issued its third quarter 2024 update last week. Of high interest to us was the announcement that DTM is upsizing a previously announced project to connect its Stonewall Gathering System to Equitrans Midstream’s (now EQT) Mountain Valley Pipeline in West Virginia, giving DTM customers the ability to reach Mid-Atlantic markets with their molecules.
The realignment 