OFS Co. with 75 Jobs Moves from Washington, PA to Chester, WV
Here’s something you don’t read about every day. An oilfield services company, Heavy Iron Oilfield Services, recently moved from its birthplace (founded in 2011) in Washington (Washington County), PA, across the border to a new location in Chester (Hancock County), WV. Washington County is a hotbed of drilling activity in Southwestern PA. But then again, Hancock County sees a lot of drilling, too. The reason for the move? Easier access to multiple job sites in the tri-state area and a pool of qualified workers to expand the business.
Read More “OFS Co. with 75 Jobs Moves from Washington, PA to Chester, WV”
Last week, the Baker Hughes rig count gained three rigs after losing two rigs the week before. The count went from 626 active rigs two weeks ago to 629 last week. It is the highest total rig count in the U.S. since September 22, 2023! The national count had consistently stayed between 620 and 625 (or one or two above or below that range) since last October, but now appears to be breaking out of that pattern and moving higher. The Marcellus/Utica regained the one rig it had lost two weeks ago. Pennsylvania remained at 24 rigs (the most since last June). Ohio stayed at 12 rigs. West Virginia regained a rig it had lost in the prior week and now operates 8 rigs. The M-U combined is running 44 rigs.
There were 18 new permits issued to drill in the Marcellus/Utica during the week of Feb. 19 – 25, up from 13 permits issued the prior week. Pennsylvania issued 8 new permits last week. Ohio issued 9 new permits (after issuing none the week before). West Virginia issued just 1 new permit last week. Encino Energy took the prize for the most permits issued with 9 permits, all for Carroll County, OH. Repsol had the second most permits with 5 issued for Bradford County, PA. Everyone else had a single new permit: Beech Resources (Lycoming County, PA), Chesapeake Energy (Bradford County, PA), CNX Resources (Westmoreland County, PA), and HG Energy (Lewis County, WV).
West Virginia State Treasurer Riley Moore has sent notices to six additional financial institutions warning them of potential inclusion on the state’s Restricted Financial Institution List (can’t do business with the state) after his office made an initial determination that the institutions appear to be engaged in boycotts of fossil fuel companies as defined under state law. This is not the first time Moore has put Big Banks on the blacklist (see 
Members of the Wet Virginia State Senate voted on Friday to permanently retain a flawed oil and gas well valuation formula. The Senate vote comes after the House had previously voted to do the same thing (see 
According to Reuters, oilfield service companies and drillers have put the brakes on hiring and “further job cuts could loom” as natural gas producers respond to sliding prices by slashing spending on new wells to reduce excess production. We told you yesterday that Chesapeake Energy announced a coming rig and frac crew cut in the Marcellus (see 
Two really big (huge) pieces of news are coming from yesterday’s Equitrans Midstream fourth quarter and full-year 2023 update. The first bit of news is that Equitrans is actively considering a buyout offer. The company doesn’t use that exact language, but that’s what’s happening. This should come as no surprise, given the rumor mill on a potential Equitrans sale heated up last December (see 
Last summer, MDN told you that a new system to assess valuations of shale wells in West Virginia had turned into a royal mess (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 in West Virginia), issued its fourth quarter and full-year 2023 update yesterday. The company reports net production averaged 3.4 billion cubic feet equivalent per day (Bcfe/d) during 4Q23, an increase of 6% year-over-year. Production for the full year 2023 averaged 3.4 Bcfe/d as well. Of the company’s 2023 production, liquids (NGLs) averaged 193 thousand barrels per day (MBbl/d), an increase of 14% from 2022. Natural gas production averaged 2.2 Bcf/d, up 2% from 2022. The company made $95 million in 4Q23 versus a profit of $730 million in 4Q22 — down a big 87% year over year. For 2023, Antero made $243 million versus $1.9 billion in 2022, down 87% year over year.
Earlier this week, MDN reported on a bill making its way through West Virginia’s legislative sausage-making process (see 
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has an excellent article reporting on an effort by Tenaska, one of the largest privately operated companies in the U.S., to build a carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) hub spanning tens of thousands of acres in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. Landmen are “knocking on doors again” in all three states, looking to sign up landowners to store carbon dioxide deep underground. We have the details below, including how much money Tenaska is paying as a signing bonus and how much is on offer (per acre) each year.