FERC Grants Request to Extend Lake Charles LNG Construction by 3 Yrs
Energy Transfer’s (ET) Lake Charles LNG project is in the news again. In April, we told you that ET had landed a new partner to help pay for the project, MidOcean Energy, which will cover 30% of the cost of building the plant (see MidOcean Partners with Energy Transfer on Lake Charles LNG Exports). Not long after that news, ET filed a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to add an extra three years to the permit to get the facility built and online (see ET Asks FERC to Extend Lake Charles LNG Construction Extra 3 Years). FERC just responded in the affirmative. Read More “FERC Grants Request to Extend Lake Charles LNG Construction by 3 Yrs”
Commonwealth LNG has finalized a binding agreement with Glencore LTD, one of the world’s largest globally diversified natural resource companies, to form a strategic LNG partnership. Under the terms of the agreement, Glencore will purchase 2 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of LNG for 20 years from Commonwealth. Yes, there is a key link between Commonwealth LNG and the Marcellus/Utica. 
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: EPA terminates $15M climate justice grant to Pittsburgh and Philly non-profits; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Aramco in talks with Woodside for Louisiana LNG stake; New York and New Jersey need natural gas; Could Trump make it easier for DTE to build natural gas plants?; NATIONAL: S&P Global says USA crude oil production now expected to decline in 2026; After more than a decade of little change, U.S. electricity consumption rising again; US oil output has peaked, but don’t expect a rapid decline; U.S. LNG feedgas demand dropped due to maintenance and outages; Navigating the diverging landscape of climate disclosure laws; INTERNATIONAL: Crude rebounds over 11% from lows; President Trump visits Saudi Arabia. 
Wow, what a difference four years can make! In May 2021, Gulfport Energy, the third-largest driller in the Ohio Utica Shale (by the number of wells drilled), emerged from bankruptcy with a new board and new management (see 
Earlier this year, an undisclosed shale driller asked the Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC) to consider opening up an additional 4,360 acres of state-owned Egypt Valley Wildlife Area in Belmont County for shale drilling under the land (see 
WhiteHawk Energy is smitten with PHX Minerals. WhiteHawk has been trying to get PHX down the marriage aisle in any way it can for nearly two years. PHX has repeatedly given WhiteHawk the cold shoulder (
A key issue has come about with the rapid increase in carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) projects around the country, including 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. Earlier this year, the federal EPA bestowed “primacy” on West Virginia, granting the WV Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) the authority to approve new Class VI injection wells, bypassing the federal EPA (see 
In his first two days in office, Joe Biden declared war on the oil and gas industry. One of the first things he did was to revive an interagency working group on the “social cost” of greenhouse gas emissions and directed the issuance of an “interim” cost (see 
For the week of April 28 – May 4, the number of permits issued to drill new wells in the Marcellus/Utica was down two from the previous week. Last week, 22 new permits were issued in the M-U. In the Keystone State (PA), 10 new permits were issued. The top permittee was NFG’s Seneca Resources, which had four permits in Tioga County. PennEnergy Resource received two permits in Butler County. Expand Energy (SWN) received two permits in Lycoming County. Finally, both Coterra Energy and EQT (Rice Drilling) received a single permit, in Susquehanna and Washington counties, respectively. 
We’re catching up on two weeks of changes in the rig count, and wow! Things changed. And NOT in a good way. The national count lost nine rigs over the past two weeks, going from 587 on April 25 to 584 on May 2 and then down to 578 on May 9. But it was the Marcellus/Utica that caught our attention. Two weeks ago, for the May 2 Baker Hughes rig count, Ohio dropped three rigs in a single week, going from 12 on April 25 to nine on May 2. The Ohio count remained at nine on May 9. Consequently, the combined M-U count went from 38 two weeks ago to 35 and has remained at that level. Both Pennsylvania and West Virginia kept their same counts of 18 and 8, respectively. 
Coterra Energy, formed by the merger of Cabot Oil & Gas (drills for natural gas in the Marcellus) and Cimarex Energy (drills for oil in the Permian and Anadarko basins), issued its first quarter 2025 update last week. There was a lot of news coming from the update. However, two things stood out for us: (1) Coterra confirmed that talks to revive the Constitution Pipeline project are underway now, and (2) the company is drilling again in the PA Marcellus and may add another $50 million to 2025’s planned $300 million budget for the Marcellus. 
A few weeks ago, MDN told you that EQT Corporation, the second-largest natural gas producer in the country (and the largest producer in the Marcellus/Utica) is buying out and merging in Olympus Energy for $1.8 billion (see 
In November 2023, CNX Resources CEO Nick DeIuliis signed a voluntary deal with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro to expand drilling setbacks and several other regulatory steps not mandated for shale drillers under PA law (see