Apex Energy | CNX Resources | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Pennsylvania | Westmoreland County
CNX Resources Buys Apex Energy for $505M, Adds Pa. M-U Assets
CNX Resources announced yesterday it had struck a deal to buy the assets of Apex Energy II, LLC, a portfolio company of funds managed by Carnelian Energy Capital Management, for $505 million. Apex owns wells, acreage, and pipelines in Westmoreland County, PA. The Apex assets are close to, in some cases adjacent to, CNX’s considerable assets in the region. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025. Read More “CNX Resources Buys Apex Energy for $505M, Adds Pa. M-U Assets”
One month ago, National Fuel Gas Company (NFG) CEO David Bauer confirmed that his company had given up after battling for 10 years to build the Northern Access Pipeline, a 97-mile pipeline from McKean County in Pennsylvania into and through Allegany, Cattaraugus, and Erie counties in New York that would have flowed Marcellus gas into New York State (see 
Come and get it! Only ten companies have applied to plug 77 orphaned wells in Pennsylvania as part of $44.4 million allocated for PA’s Methane Emissions Reduction Program (MERP) grant program. By our calculations, more than $41 million remains in the pot unclaimed. However, the clock is ticking. There is a Dec. 16 deadline to meet if you want some of the money. Use it or lose it. What are you waiting for? 
The research arm of Enverus (formerly Drillinginfo), one of the most trusted, energy-dedicated SaaS platforms offering real-time access to analytics, insights, and benchmark cost and revenue data, earlier this week published a new report on the Utica Shale. The report specifically discusses Utica oil—the production performance for Utica wells, and the economics of the play. The analysts of Enverus conclude that the Utica is “America’s modest middleweight contender.” However, that’s not the biggest news. 
The country’s largest electric grid, PJM Interconnection, which covers all or parts of 13 states, including PA, OH, and WV, has made changes to how it decides which new power plants can connect to the system. The new policy *favors* adding natural gas-fired power over other types of power like unreliable solar and wind. The change comes in response to the rapidly increasing demand for more electricity from data centers and artificial intelligence computing. PJM’s gas-favoring policy change has rankled the environmental left. 
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Hawaii County official admits climate lawsuits are “another source of funding”; N.C. town accuses utility giant of deceiving the public on climate change; NATIONAL: Harvard set up worthless carbon offsetting scheme that sold millions of junk credits; Gas-fired generation likely needed to maintain reliability for years; Oilfield service consolidation to increase under Trump, report says; INTERNATIONAL: USA Navy destroyers counter attack while escorting USA chemical tanker; OPEC+ delays revival of its oil production by 3 months; Gas price shock set to add to Europe’s industrial pain. 
We have some exciting news to share. What was Pennsylvania’s largest coal-fired power plant, the Homer City Generating Station, located in Center Township, Indiana County, PA, shut down operations in July 2023. In its heyday, the massive plant produced 1,888 megawatts of electricity (nearly 2 GW). Demolition of the old plant and construction of a new gas-fired power plant are about to begin. According to a former county commissioner who now works for the project, the new gas-fired plant will produce “at least double” the energy it produced with coal. That would make it as big (possibly bigger) than the current largest gas-fired power plant in the country! The West County Energy Center in Palm Beach County, Florida, produces 3,777 MW of electricity and is the country’s largest gas-fired plant. Homer City may well exceed it. 
Every budget season in Pennsylvania, it’s the same old dog-and-pony show by the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). “We don’t have enough money to pay our staff,” and “We aren’t making as much money from (insanely high) shale permit fees anymore, so we need more taxpayer money to make up the difference.” Etc. Yet a few months later, after the budget is adopted, the DEP somehow finds money lying around to donate to various leftwing causes. Case in point: The DEP announced yesterday it is donating $600,000 to 12 leftist organizations to spread more wokeness across the Commonwealth under the banner of “environmental justice” (EJ). 
Wow! Trump winning the election has clearly emboldened some CEOs in the oil and gas sector. Anti-fossil fuel zealots long ago figured out if they could stop new pipelines from getting built, they could block the growth of new shale drilling. The antis have been devastatingly effective in places like the northeast U.S. in places like New York, New England, and even in the three active Marcellus/Utica states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. The problem, in a nutshell, is that states have a role in approving permits for new interstate pipelines under the Clean Water Act. One CEO wants to see that changed. 
The U.S. Supreme Court is gearing up to hear arguments for and against a proposed railway that would connect Utah’s oil-rich Uinta Basin to Colorado. Other than this is a railroad story (and you know we’re suckers for a good railroad story), how does it connect to the Marcellus/Utica? The case could fundamentally change how the federal government conducts environmental reviews. This case revolves around what should and should not be part of a so-called environmental review. A Circuit Court of Appeals wanted more nonsense included in such a review. The conservative Supreme Court is now going to review their work with a potential eye on overruling them. 
A Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) inspector showed up at Stonehaven Energy’s Class IID “Latshaw 9” oil and gas wastewater injection well in Cranberry Township, Venango County, on Nov. 27 for a routine inspection. He found the well is not in use and hasn’t been in use since March 2023. The well was inspected in March 2024, yet no violations were issued at that time. However, the inspector tagged the well with a violation on Nov. 27, claiming the well had been “abandoned.” 
Yesterday, the Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) released its latest quarterly Natural Gas Production Report for July through September 2024 (full copy below). There were 63 new horizontal wells spud (drilled) in 3Q24, the same exact number as in 2Q24, but 3Q’s number was a decrease of 39 wells (-38%) compared to the third quarter of 2023. The number of new wells drilled, 63, is the lowest since 2008 (except for 2Q24, which was also 63). This was the eighth consecutive quarter with a year-over-year (YOY) decline in new wells spud. Natural gas production volume was 1,838 billion cubic feet (Bcf) in 3Q24, down 33 Bcf (1.8%) from the 1,871 Bcf produced in 3Q23.