Marcellus Drilling News

Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Baker Hughes U.S. Rig Count Finishes Year @ 622, M-U @ 40
January 2, 2024January 2, 2024

In what has become a repeating pattern, indicating we may have hit bottom, last week, the Baker Hughes U.S. rig count added two rigs, going from 620 two weeks ago to 622 last week. The pattern is to lose a few and then gain a few every couple of weeks. After Pennsylvania lost a rig two weeks ago (see Baker Hughes U.S. Rig Count Loses 3 @ 620, M-U Drops 1 @ 40), the rig count for the three combined Marcellus/Utica states remained the same last week at 40 active rigs. Disappointingly (for the M-U), the Haynesville, our main competitor (for drillers and money), remained at 44 active rigs last week.
Read More “Baker Hughes U.S. Rig Count Finishes Year @ 622, M-U @ 40”
Best of the Rest

Other Stories of Interest: Tue, Jan 2, 2024
January 2, 2024January 2, 2024

OTHER U.S. REGIONS: La. granted power by Biden to approve wells storing CO2; LNG developer Tellurian hires financial adviser; Chatterjee Fund Mgmt boosts stake in LNG developer Tellurian; NATIONAL: The one simple reason electric vehicles are doomed to fail; U.S. shale growth could exceed forecasts in 2024; Is U.S. shale too big to fail?; A shale oil CEO’s second act – going green; Climate “protesters” vow to take fight to “cowards” of US politics; INTERNATIONAL: OPEC+ can’t cut oil production enough to push crude prices higher; Runaway greenhouse effect fully simulated, and it’s “hell”; US tries to reassure shippers of Red Sea safety.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Tue, Jan 2, 2024”
Antero Resources | Apex Energy | Armstrong County | Ascent Resources | Belmont County | Centre County | Doddridge County | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Greene County (PA) | Guernsey County | Gulfport Energy | Monroe County | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Ritchie County | Seneca Resources | Snyder Brothers | Southwestern Energy | Susquehanna County | Tioga County (PA) | Washington County | Weekly Permits | West Virginia | Westmoreland County | XPR Resources

35 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Dec 11-17
December 22, 2023January 24, 2024

New shale permits issued for Dec 11 – 17 in the Marcellus/Utica continued the trend up over the previous week. There were 35 new permits issued last week versus 27 issued two weeks ago. Last week’s permit tally included 17 new permits in Pennsylvania, 13 new permits in Ohio, and 5 new permits in West Virginia. The company receiving the most permits last week was Ascent Resources with 8 new permits in two different counties: Guernsey and Belmont counties in OH. Antero was second highest with 5 new permits in Ritchie and Doddridge counties in WV.
Read More “35 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Dec 11-17”
Cambria County | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania

Cambria Gas-Fired Power Plant Shows Grace in Tax Refund Due
December 22, 2023January 24, 2024

Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) Fairview Energy Center is a 1,050-megawatt natural gas and ethane-fueled two-by-one combined-cycle electric generating plant 60 miles east of Pittsburgh (Cambria County) that came online in December 2019 (see CPV Marcellus-Fired Power Plant in Cambria “Ahead of Schedule”). It is the only plant of its kind, using both natural gas and ethane, in the world. Unfortunately, the local taxing authorities got a little too zealous in collecting and spending tax revenue from the plant. The county used a company to perform a tax assessment that was found to be factually wrong, using an incorrect methodology for the appraisal, resulting in CPV paying WAY too much in tax — $5.7 million too much. CPV is showing grace to the local school district in stretching out repayment of the $3.7 million it owes back to the company.
Read More “Cambria Gas-Fired Power Plant Shows Grace in Tax Refund Due”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA

Baker Hughes U.S. Rig Count Loses 3 @ 620, M-U Drops 1 @ 40
December 22, 2023January 24, 2024

The venerable Baker Hughes U.S. rig count turned in its totals a day early this week. Likely because workers were heading for the exits early (we can’t blame them). The overall rig count lost ground again last week, as it has for the past couple of weeks. The count went from 623 active rigs last week down to 620 this week. The Marcellus/Utica lost a rig (in Pennsylvania) to end up at 40 active rigs, while our main competitor, the Haynesville, added another rig and now stands at 44 active rigs. Bummer. Not that many weeks ago, the M-U was running more rigs than the Haynesville.
Read More “Baker Hughes U.S. Rig Count Loses 3 @ 620, M-U Drops 1 @ 40”
Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Regulation | Statewide OH

Ohio HB 201 Adds Fee to Utility Bills to Upgrade NatGas Pipes
December 22, 2023January 24, 2024

Ohio House Bill (HB) 201 was recently passed by both the state House and Senate and now sits on the desk of Gov. Mike DeWine (a somewhat swampy Republican, although far superior to governors like Kathy Hochul and Josh Shapiro). HB 201 started life as a bill to block the Buckeye State from following California’s lead in adopting emissions that are stricter than national regulations and call for the phaseout of the internal combustible engine by 2035. Somewhere along the way, the bill added an additional measure allowing the state’s natural gas utilities to recover the costs of installing new pipelines by tacking a fee on utility bills. It is the pipeline amendment that has the radicals going nuts in the state.
Read More “Ohio HB 201 Adds Fee to Utility Bills to Upgrade NatGas Pipes”
Energy Services | Keystone Clearwater Solutions

PA Shale Water/Wastewater Company Expands to Texas Permian
December 22, 2023January 24, 2024

It’s been a few years since we reported on Keystone Clearwater Solutions, a company that provides water services (clean water for fracking and wastewater hauling) for shale drillers in the Marcellus/Utica. At last check, in 2021, the company purchased the operations of competitor ECM Energy Services, based in PA, further expanding Keystone’s operations in the Keystone State (see Keystone Clearwater Buys ECM Energy’s PA Water Transport Biz). We’re happy to report Keystone is expanding to the Texas Permian oil play.
Read More “PA Shale Water/Wastewater Company Expands to Texas Permian”
Commodity Price | Industrywide Issues

Bernstein Analyst Predicts Average NYMEX HH Price in 2024 Mid-$2
December 22, 2023January 24, 2024

It is that time of year when various analysts, agencies, organizations, and everyone else offer their predictions for 2024. When it comes to what will happen with the price of natural gas, we like to select various predictions that we think are interesting and offer a view we find compelling. We spotted such a prediction about the price of natural gas in 2024 from an analyst with Bernstein. She makes the sobering prediction that the average price for NYMEX natural gas futures contract (THE price most quoted, from the Henry Hub) will be…
Read More “Bernstein Analyst Predicts Average NYMEX HH Price in 2024 Mid-$2”
About MDN

MDN Will be Off for Holidays from Dec. 25 Through Jan. 1
December 22, 2023January 24, 2024

We wish you a Merry Christmas…and a Happy New Year! MDN will take off (i.e. no new stories posted) between Monday, Dec. 25th, and Monday, Jan. 1st, in observance of the holiday season. Don’t worry, we’ll still keep an eye on the news, and if anything earth-shattering happens, we’ll post about it. However, our intent is to take a break from writing for an entire week. We will see you again on Tuesday, January 2nd. A brief note to thank you, our loyal readers, from the bottom of our heart. Thank you for subscribing and resubscribing year after year. We take our responsibility seriously to bring you the news — in context — throughout the year. We look forward to 2024 with eager anticipation for what it will bring in the Marcellus/Utica.
Best of the Rest

Other Stories of Interest: Fri, Dec 22, 2023
December 22, 2023January 24, 2024

OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Alaska Democratic Party considers a call to end all oil production; NATIONAL: USGS updates database for O&G wastewaters with 23 new datasets; GOP report highlights 2023 energy; The needs of the grid are changing, infrastructure must change too; Republicans hold hearing ‘to prevent energy poverty’ in America; INTERNATIONAL: Startup of Russian LNG project delayed over US sanctions.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Fri, Dec 22, 2023”
Energy Services | Equitrans/EQT Midstream | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide VA | Statewide WV | Virginia | West Virginia

FERC Grants MVP Request to Double Transportation Rates
December 21, 2023January 24, 2024

The 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project will be completed and go online sometime in the first quarter of 2024 (see Equitrans Admits the Obvious – MVP Won’t be Online Until 2024). In September of this year, MVP filed a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to amend its original certificate (that established the rates it could charge) to increase the rates it charges for new customers (not existing/already contracted customers). Earlier this week, FERC granted MVP’s request to raise rates.
Read More “FERC Grants MVP Request to Double Transportation Rates”
Ascent Resources | Belmont County | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Gulfport Energy | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Ohio | XTO

Court Orders Ohio Drillers to Produce Documents in Royalty Dispute
December 21, 2023January 24, 2024

Back in the summer of 2020, MDN told you about a lawsuit brought by an Ohio rights owner called TERA, an organization that appears to own the royalty rights for a number of leases with wells in Belmont County, OH, drilled by different producers, suing the producers for drilling into the Point Pleasant shale layer when the lease only mentions the Utica layer (see OH Landowners Sue Rice, Ascent, XTO, Gulfport for Drilling Too Deep). That lawsuit continues to grind on. Last week, a judge ruled the drillers being sued must produce certain documents sought by the plaintiff (rights owner).
Read More “Court Orders Ohio Drillers to Produce Documents in Royalty Dispute”
Geothermal | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Project InnerSpace Conducting PA Geothermal Study Aimed at O&G
December 21, 2023January 24, 2024

In September, MDN told you about a non-profit organization called Project InnerSpace, which has been reaching out to public officials, academics, and oil and gas interests in Pennsylvania, pitching a transition from fossil fuel extraction to geothermal energy using the same workers and potentially, the same infrastructure (see Siren Song of Geothermal Calls to PA Conventional & Shale Drillers). In January, Project InnerSpace published a “first-of-its-kind, landmark study” titled “The Future of Geothermal in Texas.” The organization has now turned its sights on two more O&G states: Pennsylvania and Oklahoma. Project Innerspace announced yesterday it will research and publish reports for PA & OK in the summer of 2024.
Read More “Project InnerSpace Conducting PA Geothermal Study Aimed at O&G”
Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Regulation

FERC Republican Commissioner James Danly Stepping Down Dec. 31st
December 21, 2023January 24, 2024

And then there were three…Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Commissioners, that is. Currently, there are two Democrats and two Republican commissioners. Lately, the “Acting” Chairman of FERC, Willie Phillips (a Democrat), has voted more with the two Republicans than with Big Green sock puppet Democrat Allison Clements (a former attorney for the far-left National Resources Defense Council). However, it was good to have the option to block something (via deadlock) with two Republican votes if necessary. That opportunity will now be gone with the departure of Republican FERC Commissioner James Danly at the end of this year.
Read More “FERC Republican Commissioner James Danly Stepping Down Dec. 31st”
CNG/LNG | Exporting | Industrywide Issues

Charif Souki Exits Tellurian & Driftwood LNG with $8 Million Payout
December 21, 2023January 24, 2024

Last week, Charif Souki, an Egyptian-born but naturalized U.S. citizen, was booted from the company he co-founded, Tellurian (see Tellurian Fires Charif Souki – Out as Chairman & Executive Officer). The board fired Souki but let him keep a board seat. Souki is now gone from the board, too. He worked out a deal to leave the company with a severance package worth roughly $8 million.
Read More “Charif Souki Exits Tellurian & Driftwood LNG with $8 Million Payout”
Commodity Price | Industrywide Issues | Research

Morningstar Natural Gas Price Outlook 2024: Recovery Coming
December 21, 2023January 24, 2024

DBRS Morningstar is a leading provider of independent rating services and opinions for corporate and sovereign entities, financial institutions, and structured finance instruments globally. Rating more than 4,000 issuers and 60,000 securities, DBRS Morningstar is the fourth-largest credit rating agency in the world and a market leader in Canada, the U.S. and Europe in multiple asset classes. The agency published a commentary on Monday that will be of interest to the MDN audience: “North American Natural Gas Market Outlook: Price Pressures Through Early 2024 Followed by a Recovery” (full copy below).
Read More “Morningstar Natural Gas Price Outlook 2024: Recovery Coming”