EQT Working on Deals with Data Centers; MVP & Southgate Key Assets
EQT Corporation, the nation’s second-largest natural gas producer after Expand Energy, delivered its fourth quarter and full-year 2024 update yesterday. The company, which drills solely in the Marcellus/Utica, produced 605 Bcfe of natural gas and equivalents during 4Q, which works out to be 6.58 Bcfe/d, despite curtailing 27 Bcfe (or 0.29 Bcfe/d, the same as 290 MMcf/d). Aside from the stats of what happened in 4Q24 and for the full year, much of the chatter in the update was about what is coming in 2025. EQT’s top brass said it is deep in discussions with multiple data centers and will likely have a few signed deals to provide gas to data center power plants by the end of 2025. Read More “EQT Working on Deals with Data Centers; MVP & Southgate Key Assets”
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Yesterday, MDN noted the NYMEX “front month” futures price of natural gas had jumped 28.2 cents to close just above $4/MMBtu (see 
Two days ago, President Trump signed yet another executive order, this one called “Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies.” We’ve lost count of how many he’s signed! This latest EO is a really, hairy, big deal. This EO gives the president sweeping control over the budgets, policies, and regulations of independent U.S. agencies that oversee the energy sector, financial markets, trade, and transportation. Agencies like the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Predictably, the left is shouting, “Dictator!” They are in full meltdown mode. The right is arguing the 50+ “independent” agencies created by Congress (but nominally under the Executive Branch) are an unelected bureaucracy not accountable to anyone—not to the President, not to Congress, and not to the courts. 
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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 2024 update last week. The company reports net production in 4Q24 averaged 3.43 Bcfe/d, up ever-so-slightly from 3.42 Bcfe/d in 4Q23. Natural gas production averaged 2.1 Bcf/d, a 7% decrease from the same period in 2023. Liquids (NGL) production averaged 217 MBbl/d, a 14% increase from the year-ago period. A little less gas, a little more liquids. Antero achieved a net income of $150 million and adjusted net income of $181 million. Additionally, the company realized a 27% reduction in drilling and completion capital expenditures compared to the prior year. 
Hold on, everyone. The NYMEX natural gas price roller coaster is climbing up the next hill, and there is no telling how high it will go—or how quickly it will go down again. Yesterday, the NYMEX “front month” (March contract) for natural gas futures based on the price at the Henry Hub soared 28.2 cents to close at $4.0070 (call it $4.01). It was the sixth day in a row that the price has gone higher. The current cold snap (weather) in the central and eastern sections of the country is credited with the rise in the price. NGI reports its nationwide average for the spot price of natgas soared $1.010 to $6.880, its highest level since Winter Storm Enzo in mid-January. 
According to a recent report from PJM Interconnection, the manager of the electric grid in all or parts of 13 states plus D.C., three electric transmission zones that are wholly or partly in Pennsylvania are expected to see sharp increases in power demand from current and new data centers in the next few years. For all three zones, PJM says the increase in demand will mostly come from existing and planned new data centers. The solution? Build more Marcellus-fired power plants to meet the demand. 
This is one of those “man bites dog” stories. It wouldn’t be news if a Virginia House of Delegates member who is Republican proposed allocating $15 million of taxpayer money to provide “road extension, grading, and natural gas pipeline extension” for a natural gas power plant and potential data center in Pulaski County, in rural Southwest Virginia. But it definitely IS news when a Democrat proposes it! 
During President Trump’s first term, he tried to change (tweak) the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to strip away some of the governmental red tape that has built up over the years, like plaque in an artery, preventing important infrastructure projects like pipelines, dams, bridges, and roads from getting built (see 
Huntley & Huntley Energy Exploration (HHEX), a shale driller headquartered in Southpointe (Washington County), PA, that leases ~100,000 acres and drills in the Pittsburgh suburbs, was founded in 2012. The company renamed itself to Olympus Energy in 2019 (see 
Have you ever considered all the different goods and services required to plug an orphaned well? It’s a surprisingly long and complex list! You might think (as we did), “There’s an old well, pull up with a cement mixer, dump cement down the hole, and voila, it’s done.” Not so! The process begins with locating orphaned/abandoned wells, using drones and other equipment to sniff out leaking old wells, and attempting to ascertain ownership (land records, title searches, etc.). Then, there’s preparing the site (permits required), doing the work, and monitoring after it’s done. It’s a looooong list.