NATIONAL: U.S. natural gas futures give back gains; U.S. LNG feedgas drops dramatically during spring maintenance season; INTERNATIONAL: Oil falls as ceasefire holds; Trump broke OPEC – he may regret it; War puts LNG future in the spotlight; Norway to reopen gas fields that were shut down; EU energy ministers to discuss domestic gas drilling, document says. Read More “MDN’s Energy Stories of Interest: Wed, May 6, 2026”
Devon Energy and Coterra Energy shareholders have approved all proposals needed to complete the companies’ previously announced all-stock merger, which is expected to consummate on May 7, 2026. More than 98% of the votes cast by Devon shareholders and more than 99% by Coterra shareholders supported the deal. Executives said the merger will create a larger shale operator with complementary assets, improved scale, enhanced margins, free cash flow growth, and stronger shareholder returns. Read More “Devon and Coterra Shareholders Approve Merger; Happening May 7”
Yet another rankly hypocritical move by the Democrats in the Pennsylvania legislature. Yesterday, every single Democrat in the PA House voted in lockstep (as they typically do, under the leadership’s complete control) to pass House Bill (HB) 2076, titled “Advancing Geothermal Energy Development.” The Dems were assisted by 16 Republicans who were (charitably) hoodwinked. No matter. The bill won’t pass in the Senate. But why point out this vote? Because the “advanced” geothermal energy that the House wants to promote and regulate uses the very same drilling rigs and fracking as is used to drill in the Marcellus shale, revealing the hypocritical lies of the Democrat left in demonizing fracking. But there’s another reason we’re highlighting this news: The environmental left (including House Democrats) is seeking to increase drilling setbacks in the state from 500 feet to 3,281 feet (and, in some cases, 5,280 feet). Do the House Dems realize the new setbacks would not only ban ALL shale fracking in the state but also all geothermal fracking? Read More “PA’s Democrat House Passes Bill to Allow Fracking for Geothermal”
President Donald Trump’s proposal for a $33 billion, 9.2-gigawatt gas power plant in Ohio—funded by Japanese investment, including SoftBank—aims to address soaring energy demands from data centers (see Trump Announces Largest-Ever U.S. Gas-Fired Plant Coming to Ohio). As the largest gas-fired power plant in the U.S., it promises a massive surge in electricity to the PJM grid. It also promises to use enormous amounts of Marcellus/Utica molecules to feed it. Needless to say, the environmental left is doing anything and everything it can to block the project. The left’s latest attempt is to badmouth the project, claiming it’s “too big to succeed.” Read More “Big Green Splashes Cold Water on Largest-Ever Gas-Fired Plant in OH”
U.S. Senator Dave McCormick (R-PA) is making a run at the permitting reform issue to see if he can succeed where many others have failed. Last week, McCormick introduced the “Unlock American Energy and Jobs Act,” legislation aimed at streamlining the federal permitting process for energy infrastructure projects. The bill addresses four key areas: (1) water permitting reform to prevent states from abusing the Clean Water Act to indefinitely delay projects like natural gas pipelines, (2) LNG export deregulation to expedite approvals for selling natural gas abroad, (3) nuclear licensing modernization to extend initial operating licenses and reduce red tape, and (4) National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) litigation reform to limit legal challenges that halt approved projects. This legislation seeks to accelerate infrastructure development, reduce costs, and enhance American energy’s global competitiveness by establishing clear timelines and modernizing approval processes, unlocking over $1 trillion in stalled projects. Read More “Labor Unions & Biz Groups Support Sen. McCormick’s Permitting Bill”
Last week, CNX Resources issued its first quarter 2026 update. During 1Q26, CNX drilled 14 Southwest PA Marcellus wells, frac’d 6 wells (3 SWPA Marcellus and 3 Central PA Utica wells), and turned-in-line (TIL’ed) 12 wells (6 SWPA Marcellus, 3 CPA Marcellus, and 3 CPA Utica wells). Included in that activity were three of the company’s longest Marcellus laterals to date, all of which exceeded 22,000 feet, including a company record lateral that reached 23,369 feet (4.4 miles!), and a company daily drilling record of 9,252 feet of lateral in 24 hours. Production in 1Q26 was 1,693.0 MMcfe/d, up from 1Q25 (1,642.3) and up from 4Q25 (1,654.8). Read More “CNX Swings to $348M Profit, Drills Record 4.4-Mile Lateral”
What happens on the other side of the world sometimes affects the Marcellus/Utica. So far, the Iran war has not affected prices (or demand) in the M-U for natural gas. However, if the war continues to drag on for months, it could potentially affect us by affecting the price of LNG on the world market. About one-fifth (20%) of global LNG trade depends on the Strait of Hormuz, with effectively no other way to get it out. Oil can, potentially, find other pathways out of the Persian Gulf (via overland pipelines). But such is not the case with LNG from Qatar. Read More “Why Hormuz Cannot Be Fully Replaced, Especially for LNG”
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: N.J. senator says we can’t lower energy costs without natural gas; NATIONAL: U.S. natural gas futures settle higher; Trump II vs. Biden – energy policy reversal; Treasury’s 990 overhaul – major implications for dark money networks fueling climate lawfare; INTERNATIONAL: Oil surges on Middle East attacks; Shipping freeze deepens in Strait of Hormuz; Chevron CEO says shortages in oil supply will begin appearing; Qatar extends force majeure on LNG supply through mid-June; OPEC report shows oil demand reached over 105MMBpd in 2025; OPEC+ decides to boost output; What about Earth’s threatened and endangered PEOPLE?; Gulf oil production could be restored quickly. Read More “MDN’s Energy Stories of Interest: Tue, May 5, 2026”
Last week, the combined Marcellus/Utica Baker Hughes rig count remained at 37 active rigs for the sixth week in a row. The M-U’s chief competitor, the Haynesville, added two rigs and now runs 58 active rigs, some 21 more than the M-U. Clearly, drillers are choosing to put their money into the Haynesville over the M-U despite that play’s higher costs because (a) it’s closer to the Gulf Coast LNG export facilities, and (b) it’s easier to build pipelines in Louisiana and Texas than it is in the northeast. The national count added three rigs last week and now operates 547 rigs. Read More “M-U Rigs Even @ 37; Haynesville Up 2 @ 58; Nat’l Up 3 @ 547”
Last Friday, TC Energy reported a robust first quarter in 2026, highlighted by a 14% increase in comparable EBITDA to $3.1 billion and record delivery volumes across its North American pipeline network. For the Marcellus and Utica shale region, the standout development is the newly announced $1.5 billion Appalachia Supply Project on the Columbia Gas system. Slated for 2030, this expansion will add 0.8 Bcf/d of takeaway capacity to meet surging electricity and data center demand. Appalachia is explicitly identified as a major contributor to the growth in U.S. natural gas production, and is expected to account for over 55% of the growth by 2035. Read More “TC Energy Announces $1.5B Expansion to Columbia Gas for Powergen”
The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Equinor USA Onshore Properties Inc. (formerly Statoil) in a multi-million dollar tax dispute last Friday. The case has major implications for how the state calculates severance taxes for natural gas liquids. The decision reversed an intermediate court’s procedural dismissal, entitling Equinor to over $19 million in tax refunds for the years 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019. The dispute centered on the definition of “gross proceeds” and the timeliness of administrative appeals in a years-long battle with the West Virginia tax commissioner. Read More “WV Supreme Court Delivers Major Decision on O&G Severance Tax”
In January, MDN reported that Fidelis New Energy and 8090 Industries together had launched a new company, American Intelligence & Power Corporation (AIPCorp), to develop the Monarch Compute Campus in Mason County, West Virginia (see Huge New Data Center Coming to Mason County, WV with 2 GW Gas Power). This 2,380-acre microgrid project provides behind-the-meter power for AI and hyperscale data centers, bypassing standard grid delays. In March, AIPCorp announced it had sold itself to Nscale Global Holdings Limited, one of the fastest-growing hyperscalers in the world (see Mason County, WV Data Center Project (Gas Powered) Sold to Nscale). The new owners filed an application (on April 20, just coming to light now) for a construction permit. The application reveals some important new details about the project. Read More “Mason County, WV Data Center: 3 Bldgs, 984 NatGas, Diesel Engines”
Antero Resources, the largest Marcellus/Utica (M-U) driller in West Virginia, released its Q1 2026 update last week. Antero placed 20 Marcellus wells to sales during Q1 with an average lateral length of 11,652 feet. Thirteen of these wells have been online for approximately 60 days with an average rate per well of 25 MMcfe/d, including 1,457 Bbl/d of liquids per well. Antero’s drilling and completion capital expenditures during Q1 were $222 million. In addition to capital invested in drilling and completion activities, the company invested $25 million in land during the first quarter. Through its land investment, Antero added approximately 5,400 net acres, representing 24 incremental drilling locations at an average cost of approximately $900,000 per location. Read More “Antero 1Q Record-High Production 3.9 Bcfe/d, $657M Free Cash Flow”
What in the world is going on with natural gas prices, around the planet and here at home? How is the Iran war affecting natgas prices abroad and here? According to a Bloomberg analysis article, the Iran war has disrupted global energy supplies, driving gas prices up by roughly 40% in Europe and 50% in Asia. Yet the U.S. faces the opposite problem — a massive natural gas surplus. Permian Basin producers in West Texas have generated so much gas as an oil byproduct (called associated gas) that pipeline infrastructure cannot keep pace, pushing regional prices to historic lows of -$9.60/MMBtu. Yes, that’s MINUS $9.60! It’s hard for M-U molecules to compete with producers willing to pay customers to take their natgas. Read More “U.S. Has More Natural Gas Than It Can Use; Permian Prices Negative”
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Trump approves “Keystone Light” Canada-U.S. oil pipeline; NATIONAL: Natural gas rises as markets wait for warmer temperatures; Occidental announces CEO succession; ‘Republican’ Green energy fantasies and casualties; The EIA launches pilot surveys on data center usage; US shatters crude, diesel, gasoline export records; Affordability continues to collide with misguided climate policies; Amazon’s AI spending boom signals massive energy needs ahead; INTERNATIONAL: Oil slips as Iran talks hang in balance; European natural gas prices jump amid ongoing Hormuz uncertainty. Read More “MDN’s Energy Stories of Interest: Mon, May 4, 2026”
The Marcellus/Utica region received 12 new drilling permits last week, Apr. 20 – 26, down 10 from the 22 permits issued two weeks ago. Pennsylvania issued all 12 of last week’s permits. Neither Ohio nor West Virginia issued any new permits. What a disappointment! The drillers who received new permits in PA last week included: Expand Energy, PennEnergy Resources, and Snyder Brothers. Read More “12 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Apr 20 – 26”