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PA+WV+OH Produced Nearly One-Third of All U.S. NatGas in 2023
Yesterday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported five states produced more than 70% of the record 113.1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of U.S. marketed natural gas production in 2023. Two of the five were in the Marcellus/Utica: Pennsylvania (18% of the country’s gas) and West Virginia (8% of the country’s gas). We did some digging and found that when adding the production from PA, WV, and OH, the three together represented 31.5% of all the natural gas produced in the U.S. in 2023. It is an astonishing fact! Read More “PA+WV+OH Produced Nearly One-Third of All U.S. NatGas in 2023”
One month ago, we brought you the news that Diversified Energy and EQT Corporation had settled a class action lawsuit originally brought by several West Virginia landowners (see 
The Baker Hughes national rig count dramatically increased last week, adding seven rigs for a national count of 589. Note that the national count continues to be rangebound between 581 and 589 since June (except for Sep. 13, when it hit 590 for a single week). Will we break out of the rut and go higher? Stay tuned. Meanwhile, the Ohio Utica lost one rig last week, but the Pennsylvania Marcellus picked it up, keeping the combined M-U count at 35. 
For the week of Nov 25 – Dec 1, permits issued in the Marcellus/Utica dropped dramatically. Only 12 new permits were issued last week, less than half the 28 issued the week before. The Keystone State (PA) issued just two new permits, one to EQT in Greene County and the other to Range Resources in Washington County. The Buckeye State (OH) issued six new permits last week. All six went to Encino Energy (EAP), with four in Carroll County and two in Columbiana County. The Mountain State (WV) issued four new permits, three of which went to Southwestern Energy (now Expand Energy) in Ohio County and one to Antero Resources in Tyler County. 
According to an extensive report appearing on the World Oil website (and in the November issue of the magazine), multiple possible futures lie ahead for the Marcellus and Utica shales. So, which future will come to pass? Today, both industry and government see the Marcellus and Utica formations as tremendous opportunities for companies and state governments, with domestically produced energy, jobs, and a huge economic impact. 
There is an important development for landowners AND drillers in a class action case that began some seven years ago. A civil suit was brought by Harrison County oil and gas owners against Antero Resources Corp., claiming the company had deducted post-production costs from royalties not allowed under the leases they had signed. In 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia ruled mostly in favor of the landowners. The District Court sent two certified questions to the state Supreme Court. The Supremes ruled on both issues in November. The court ruled that energy companies cannot deduct post-production costs without explicit lease language, favoring royalty owners over drillers. 
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. 
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. 
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 
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