New WV Law Puts Teeth Behind Gov. Morrisey’s “50 by 50” Energy Plan
West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey is spearheading what he calls the “50 by 50” energy initiative, a plan for the state to grow its electric energy production from a current 16 gigawatts (GW) of generation to 50 GW by 2050 (see WV Gov. Morrisey Plan for 50 GW of PowerGen by 2050 Takes Shape). While the plan is aspirational and inspirational, Morrisey wants it to be tangible. Something with “teeth.” So Morrisey worked with the legislature to introduce and pass House Bill (HB) 5381, the Comprehensive Energy Policy and Development Plan Act of 2026. Morrisey signed the bill into law last Friday. Read More “New WV Law Puts Teeth Behind Gov. Morrisey’s “50 by 50” Energy Plan”
Last year, MDN warned readers that the newly elected, incoming governor of Virginia, Abigail Spanberger, is a radical left Democrat (see 
Two bits of LNG news to share with you, both of which affect the Marcellus/Utica because both use our molecules. Last Friday, Cheniere Energy announced that Train 5 at its Corpus Christi LNG expansion project is now operating at full capacity. Yesterday, Golden Pass LNG, a joint venture between QatarEnergy and ExxonMobil, produced its first LNG at its new facility. Golden Pass expects to begin exports early in the second quarter. 
U.S. natural gas liquids (NGL) exports climbed 7% to 3.1 million barrels per day in 2025, fueled by high domestic production and rising global demand for petrochemical feedstocks. Ethane exports grew 19% due to new international cracker projects, while propane reached a record 1.8 million b/d, supported by significant growth in India. Butane also hit record highs, serving as a vital cooking and industrial fuel in emerging markets like Indonesia and India. While China and Canada remain top destinations, the United States continues to dominate the global market by leveraging low domestic prices to meet diverse international energy needs. NGL exports from the M-U region also hit a new record-high last year. 
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Polar LNG launches and appoints Joel Riddle as President and CEO; Spire announces sale of gas marketing business to Boardwalk Pipelines for $215 million; Blakeman backs fracking but not the CLCPA; NATIONAL: U.S. natural gas futures fall as spring weather curbs demand; AI, data-centers, ignorant politicians: The coming electricity crisis; Iran war scrambles energy values across the Gulf Coast loading dock; INTERNATIONAL: WTI settles above $100 amid escalation; Trump tells aides he’s willing to end war without reopening Hormuz. 
Last week was not a good week for the national rig count nor the count in the Marcellus/Utica. The national count dropped by 9 rigs to 543, while Pennsylvania lost 2 rigs and now operates 18, a level it hasn’t seen since January of this year. Both Ohio and West Virginia maintained the same counts last week at 11 and 8, respectively. The combined M-U count was 37 rigs last week, the lowest number since the Nov. 18, 2025, rig count report. Yuck. 
The Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC) voted on Friday to open more than 8,700 acres of public land, including an additional 513 acres under Salt Fork State Park and 8,236 acres under Egypt Valley Wildlife Area, for shale fracking. This move makes Egypt Valley the largest fracking project *under* (not on) state-owned land, despite vociferous public opposition from citizens and left-wing environmentalists. The next step in the process is to put the parcels out for bid. 
Upper Burrell residents (Westmoreland County, PA) recently received notifications from consulting firm Verdanterra regarding upcoming surveying for natural gas lateral wells. These horizontal wells will be drilled from EQT’s Hermes well pad in neighboring Murrysville (also in Westmoreland County), following EQT’s recent acquisition of Olympus Energy. While Township Supervisor Chairman Ross Walker described the process as a standard, “innocuous” procedure conducted by foot without land disturbance, the project highlights the increasing length of well laterals in the Appalachian region. 
EQT is leveraging its position as the largest natural gas producer in the Marcellus/Utica (second largest in the country) to transition from a “single-target” driller to a “multi-bench” developer. The company aims to drill in more of the M-U’s “stacked pay zones.” What are the zones (layers) that EQT will target in addition to the Marcellus? And where is it experimenting with stacked pay zones right now? 
In a March 25, 2026, decision in the Omni Energy Group, LLC v. Ohio Department of Natural Resources court case, Judge Algenon L. Marbley from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio dismissed Omni’s amended complaint regarding Class II injection well permits. Omni alleged that the ODNR unlawfully set injection pressures too low, rendering its multimillion-dollar investment in two injection wells inoperable. This case goes back to events that began in 2019, events we previously covered in a 2024 post (see 
Venture Global (VG) and Edison S.p.A., an Italian electric utility company headquartered in Milan, have signed a commercial agreement to fully resolve their pending arbitration regarding the Calcasieu Pass LNG project. Expected to conclude by the end of Q2 2026, the settlement terminates all legal disputes between the companies. As part of the deal, VG will deliver additional LNG cargoes to Europe, specifically targeting the Italian market through the Adriatic LNG Terminal starting in May 2026. This agreement strengthens their long-term partnership and enhances Italy’s energy security amidst global geopolitical disruptions. 
The Marcellus/Utica region received a combined 11 new drilling permits last week, Mar. 16 – 22, down 6 from the 17 permits issued two weeks ago. Pennsylvania issued 10 of the permits. Ohio issued 1. And, West Virginia issued no new permits last week. The drillers who received new permits last week included EOG Resources, EQT, and Laurel Mountain Energy. 
Nine Energy Service, a Houston-based provider of onshore completion solutions with operations in a number of shale basins, including major operations in the Marcellus/Utica, received court approval for a prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan earlier this month (see