PHX Response to WhiteHawk Energy’s Latest Marriage Proposal: NO!
Our observation is that WhiteHawk Energy is smitten with PHX Minerals. For the last 15 months, WhiteHawk has been trying to get PHX down the marriage aisle in any way it can. PHX has repeatedly given WhiteHawk the cold shoulder. WhiteHawk’s latest attempt, which we told you about yesterday, was an appeal to PHX shareholders to pressure the board to sell at $4 per share (see WhiteHawk Energy Keeps Up Public Pressure to Make PHX Merge). PHX didn’t waste any time responding. It was a resounding NO! Read More “PHX Response to WhiteHawk Energy’s Latest Marriage Proposal: NO!”
ECA Marcellus Trust I, the royalty interest holder in some of the wells drilled and maintained by Greylock Energy in Greene County, PA, announced Wednesday that it will issue a half-cent dividend to unitholders for the third quarter of 2024. The company paid no dividend in 2Q24. The company continues to hold back some profits ($90,000 in 3Q24) to build a cash reserve for “future known, anticipated or contingent expenses or liabilities.” 
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Exxon plans to cut almost 400 Pioneer jobs in Texas by 2026; NATIONAL: BMI says Trump presidency breeds new uncertainty for oil price; Trump weighs ‘fearless’ fracking advocate for top energy post; INTERNATIONAL: Germany rejects Russian natural gas shipments; Trump’s tariffs won’t curb EU’s reliance on U.S. LNG. 
Williams delivered its third quarter update last week. The company is working overtime to expand its extensive network of natural gas pipelines. Quick fact: Did you know that Williams’ pipeline network handles about one-third of U.S. natural gas? Massive! And it’s only going to grow, according to CEO Alan Armstrong, who said: “Not only do we have a clear line of sight to a full roster of projects that are in execution, but we continue to commercialize vital high return projects across our footprint.” Much of the expansion will come in the Marcellus/Utica region and regions adjacent to ours fed by our molecules. 
We continue to mourn the loss of Cabot Oil & Gas (100% focused on the Marcellus in northeastern PA) following its merger with Cimarex Energy (an oil driller focused on the Permian and Anadarko basins) in 2021 (see 
Two weeks ago, MDN brought you the news that Christmas had come early with the announcement of a plan to build the country’s largest natural gas-fired power plant at a proposed data center site in Pittsylvania County, Virginia (see 
Epsilon Energy issued its third quarter 2024 update last week. Epsilon, a relatively small company, used to concentrate most of its effort on developing Marcellus Shale wells. However, over the past few years, the company has expanded into other plays and now owns assets in the Anadarko (Oklahoma and Texas), the Permian (Texas and New Mexico), and most recently the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (in Alberta, Canada). Epsilon typically does not do its own drilling. The company joint venture partners with (gives money to) other companies, like Chesapeake Energy (now Expand Energy) in the Marcellus, and the other company does the drilling. For 3Q, Epsilon’s capital expenditures were $4.7 million in the upstream (drilling) division. There was no breakdown on where that money was spent, but we suspect little, if any, was spent in the Marcellus. 
Some 15 months ago, WhiteHawk Energy, headquartered in Philadelphia with ownership of mineral and royalty interests for over 1 million gross unit acres and over 3,400 producing horizontal shale wells between the Marcellus and the Haynesville, proposed marriage to PHX Minerals, based in Fort Worth, Texas, owner of 75,000 leased mineral acres principally located in the SCOOP and Haynesville plays (see 
In January, MDN brought you the news that the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) approved a plan by Catalyst Energy to convert an existing conventional gas production well on Route 646 in Cyclone (Keating Township, McKean County, PA) into a shale wastewater injection well (see 
Ascent Resources, founded as American Energy Partners by gas legend Aubrey McClendon, is a privately held company focusing 100% on the Ohio Utica Shale. Ascent, headquartered in Oklahoma City, OK, is Ohio’s largest natural gas producer and the 8th largest natural gas producer in the U.S. The company issued its third quarter 2024 update last week. The company produced 2,075 MMcfe/d (2.08 Bcfe/d), down 4% from 2,165 MMcfe/d (2.16 Bcfe/d) produced in 3Q23. Ascent pivoted to produce more liquids, including oil and NGLs, with an emphasis on producing more NGLs during 3Q24. According to the update, the company plans to continue its liquids focus in the fourth quarter. 
EOG Resources, one of the largest oil and gas drillers in the U.S. (with international operations in Trinidad and China), owns nearly a half million acres of leases in the Ohio Utica. EOG calls its position the “Ohio Utica combo play” and now considers it one of the company’s “premium plays.” EOG concentrates on oil drilling in the Utica. The company experimented with the Utica this year, however, the time for experimenting is coming to a close. During the company’s third quarter update last Friday, COO Jeff Leitzell said EOG will be “up to two full rigs and one full frac fleet by year-end” next year. 
We’ve written a number of times about the Ohio Utica Shale and its beginnings with gas legend Aubrey McClendon, who, as CEO of Chesapeake Energy, was one of (if not THE) first to recognize the Utica as an oil play. However, it was a successor company, Encino Energy, that figured out how to coax large quantities of oil out of the Utica shale. Encino is one of the big success stories of drilling for oil in the Ohio Utica Shale. However, using the right tech is only part of the equation that transformed a company founded in 2017 into the #1 largest oil producer in Ohio and all of the Marcellus/Utica. 
On November 8, 2024, FMR LLC, also known as Fidelity Investments, acquired 52,419 additional shares of Range Resources Corp. (RRC)—the very first and still one of the largest drillers in the Marcellus Shale. The acquisition increased FMR’s total holdings in the company to 27,478,205 shares, reflecting a significant commitment to Range. FMR is one of the largest shareholders of Range, now owning 11.35% of all outstanding stock. Should we be nervous? 
Last Friday (Nov. 8), the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) sent a heads-up to shale drillers and other large water users in the basin to warn them to be on the lookout for a Plan B to source water. Northeastern Pennsylvania (and other states in the northeast) are experiencing drought or near-drought conditions. The streams and rivers that some drillers use to source water for drilling and fracking are getting low in some areas. The SRBC is about to clamp down and block new withdrawals until the situation improves.