OH Short Line Railroad Gears Up to Carry More Utica Frac Sand
We’re always suckers for a good railroad story. We spotted an article in Railway Age magazine announcing the publication’s 2025 Short Line and Regional Railroads of the Year. Among the list of honorable mentions was the Columbus & Ohio River Rail Road Company (CUOH), owned by Genesee & Wyoming. CUOH operates in Ohio, with its main line stretching from Columbus to Mingo Junction near Steubenville on the Ohio River. Spanning 277 miles of track, it connects central and eastern Ohio, serving various industries, including the Utica Shale industry. Read More “OH Short Line Railroad Gears Up to Carry More Utica Frac Sand”
Here’s a factoid that had escaped our notice until now: The NYMEX “front month” contract price for natural gas today is ~150% higher than it was one year ago. Yesterday, February 24, 2025, the NYMEX natural gas front-month contract (March 2025) settled at $3.994 per MMBtu. The same price a year ago was $1.602 per MMBtu (Feb. 23, 2024)—technically 142% higher over the past year. Any way you slice it, gas prices are up, and according to an analysis by Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com, the price is likely to stay higher. 
The great folks at Steel Nation, headquartered in Canonsburg, PA, have built over 2,200 compressor stations and other structures for the oil and gas industry in the Marcellus/Utica (and beyond) over the past 17 years. Last November, Steel Nation announced it had launched a new division to build electric microgrids for companies looking to create their on-site power plants to ensure their operations run efficiently 24/7/365 (see 
Shell, which dropped “Royal Dutch” from its name after leaving The Netherlands in 2022 due to high taxes and overregulation, is one of the world’s supermajors (oil and gas driller). Shell is also one of (perhaps THE) largest producers and vendors of LNG, or liquefied natural gas, worldwide. The company has just released its ninth annual LNG Outlook 2025 (full copy below), which highlights key trends in 2024 and hauls out the crystal ball to predict where things are heading over the next 15 years. Shell predicts that global demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) is forecast to rise by around 60% by 2040, which is largely driven by economic growth in Asia, emissions reductions in heavy industry and transport, and the impact of artificial intelligence. 
LPG, or liquefied petroleum gas, is known by the more common name of propane. Propane is an NGL (natural gas liquid). Propane is a byproduct of drilling for oil and natural gas. In fact, according to a new article in LPGas magazine, it’s a misconception to say companies drill for oil or natural gas. The more accurate description is that drillers drill for hydrocarbons because every hole they sink brings multiple hydrocarbons out of the ground, including crude oil (or condensate), methane (CH4), ethane (C2H6), propane (C3H8), and other hydrocarbons like pentane, butane, and others. It would be accurate to say drillers primarily drill for single hydrocarbons, namely crude oil and/or natural gas. However, other hydrocarbons, including propane, come out of the ground as byproducts. 
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Under extremist legislation, New Yorkers will pay $3 billion a year more for energy; New York green car law has auto dealers fired up as looming deadline doesn’t match ‘reality’; NATIONAL: Winter finally gives us natural gas room to run; INTERNATIONAL: Oil edges up amid uncertainty; BP set to scrap oil and gas production cuts. 
For the fourth week in a row, the Baker Hughes U.S. rig count added rigs—to the highest level since last June! Three weeks ago, the rig count gained four rigs to 586. Two weeks ago, the count regained another two rigs to 588. Last week, the count added four new rigs for 592. Note that the national count remained in a tight range of 581-589 for much of last year. We’ve just broken through. As for the Marcellus/Utica, the rig count was a combined 35 last week, adding a new rig to the mix. The new rig was added in West Virginia. 
On President Trump’s very first day in office, he signed an executive order called “Declaring a National Energy Emergency” (see 
Pennsylvania State Senator Katie Muth (Democrat from Berks, Chester, and Montgomery counties) is clever and dedicated in her mission to halt shale drilling in the Keystone State. We’ve written plenty about Muth over the years (
Not all that long ago, we recall Big Tech, companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook (now called Meta), Google, and others insisting on “green” energy to power their operations. They refused to buy electricity from nasty fossil-fired power plants, even those using clean natural gas. Now? It’s a complete 180-degree turnaround. It’s amazing. It’s startling. Now, Big Tech can’t find enough gas-fired power for their AI data centers. 
For the week of Feb 10 – 16, the number of permits issued in the Marcellus/Utica to drill new shale wells soared. Two weeks ago, 24 new permits were issued. Last week, the number increased to 36 new permits issued. The Keystone State (PA) issued the vast majority with 23 new permits last week. Seven permits went to PennEnergy Resources, all on a single pad in Armstrong County. Snyder Brothers received five permits for a single pad, also in Armstrong County (meaning half the PA permits went to Armstrong). Range Resources was third in line with four new permits for a single pad in Washington County. 
We’re still coming to grips with understanding how the power generation market works with respect to providing electricity for AI data centers. Data centers can potentially be huge and important new customers for natural gas—especially Marcellus/Utica molecules, as some 25% of all the data centers currently operating in the country are located in northern Virginia, where they use M-U molecules. Ten days ago, we brought you a post to help you better understand the various scenarios for how powergen gets provided to these data centers (see