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EQT Looks to Sell Non-Op Assets in Northeast PA for $3 Billion
Reuters is reporting a rumor, based on “people familiar with the matter,” that EQT Corporation, the largest natural gas driller in the United States (by production), is shopping its 25% non-operated interest in a number of producing gas wells in northeastern Pennsylvania for $3 billion. Chesapeake Energy is the majority owner and operator of the wells.
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Pennsylvania assesses an impact fee (PA’s version of a severance tax) on shale drillers, raising revenues that are paid to local municipalities and to the black hole of Harrisburg politicians. Yesterday, the PA Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) issued an estimate for how much the impact tax will raise this year, to be distributed next year. The IFO says it thinks, based on the price of low natural gas and number of new and existing wells, that PA will generate $174.0 million from the impact tax in 2023, a decrease of $104.8 million (38%) from 2022. What the heck happened?
Earlier this week, Pennsylvania State Senator Katie Muth, a virulent anti-shale hater from the Philadelphia suburbs, held a press conference with a so-called investigative reporter from the Public Herald and two former employees from the Eureka Resources’ Williamsport frack wastewater treatment facility. The employees and reporter leveled some extremely serious accusations about the safety and working conditions at the facility. Exposure to toxic substances and even to low-level radiation is alleged. Four former workers sent a letter to the Lycoming County District Attorney asking him to launch a criminal misconduct investigation.
Once a month, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) analysts issue the agency’s Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), their best guess about where energy prices and production will go in the next 12 months. Last month, the report predicted the price for Henry Hub natural gas futures would average $3.40 this winter (see 
Riddle me this: Why is oil and gas production rising when rig counts are falling? The U.S. is poised to set new oil and natural gas production records in 2023. Yet the rig count crashed this year! And the rig count continues to stay loooooow. So, how do we square these two seemingly contradictory facts? Robert Rapier, a chemical engineer in the energy industry for 25 years, tackles that question and answers it in an article on the Forbes website.
Free speech, the freedom to say (and think) what you want, is the bedrock, the foundation of a free society. The founders of the United States understood this and enshrined it in the U.S. Constitution under the First Amendment. Unfortunately, due to a lack of education (or worse, miseducation) in our country, many of our fellow citizens no longer believe in the First Amendment and its right to free speech. Free and open ideas are a threat to the left, especially when free speech contradicts their views. For example, we have the God-given right to believe that mankind is NOT catastrophically warming the earth into a cinder, and to say so publicly. And to offer evidence to support our beliefs. But if the left gets its way, they will take that right away. Preparatory to denying you your free speech rights are attempts to brainwash you. Hey, if they can get you to believe in global warming without having to resort to violence, so much the better. To that end, researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) have developed and tested six “psychological interventions” on nearly 7,000 participants from twelve countries, designed to make people believe in man-made, catastrophic global warming.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Gov. Shapiro wants unilateral power to commit state to RGGI; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: ExxonMobil pushes back timeline for startup of Golden Pass LNG; Japan energy companies seek US approvals for CP2 LNG; Leftists petition Bidenistas to block Calcasieu Pass 2 LNG; NATIONAL: Turning the problem into the solution in natural gas power plants; US helps forge global group to measure natgas emissions.
Spanish-owed Repsol owns (at last check) around 214,000 net acres of leases in the Marcellus Shale, primarily located in northeastern Pennsylvania in Bradford, Susquehanna, and Tioga counties. Early last year (in January 2022), Repsol closed on a deal to buy Rockdale Marcellus out of bankruptcy for $222 million, adding Rockdale’s 66 producing wells on 42,897 net acres to Resol’s extensive Marcellus portfolio (see 
At the end of October, MDN told you about a company called 
A press release issued yesterday by UGI Corporation, a diversified energy company with midstream (pipeline) operations in the Marcellus and one of PA’s largest utility companies, opens this way: “UGI Corporation announced today that Mario Longhi, incoming Chair of the Board of Directors, has been named interim Chief Executive Officer. Roger Perreault has stepped down as President and Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the Board, effective immediately.” What the press release doesn’t mention, but we discovered in a company filing with the SEC, is that “The Board treated Mr. Perreault’s departure from the Company as an involuntary termination other than a Termination for Cause.”
The Energy Workforce & Technology Council, based in Houston, TX, is the national trade association for the global energy technology and services sector. The Council reports jobs in the O&G sector increased in November, adding 1,286 jobs. The O&G industry employs 652,398 jobs across the country, just 54,130 jobs away from returning to pre-pandemic levels. And how much do those jobs pay? The average hourly earnings for frontline oil-and-gas workers rose 1.3% in October from the previous month to $44.11, according to a Labor Department report released last week.
Yesterday, the Republicans who sit on the Pennsylvania Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee got work done while the Democrats tried to block work. The committee advanced legislation to establish an Independent Energy Information Office by a party-line vote, with Republicans supporting. There was also a party-line vote advancing Paul Bruder, an environmental attorney nominated by Gov. Shapiro for the Environmental Hearing Board (EHB) after Democrats failed to table the nomination. That’s right, the Dems tried to block a Shapiro (one of their own) nominee!
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is reporting there are eight natural gas pipeline projects either currently under construction or in advanced planning, totaling 20 Bcf/d (billion cubic feet per day) of capacity to carry natural gas to LNG export facilities either up and running or planned for the Gulf Coast. Considering the country currently produces around 95 Bcf/d in total for all purposes, adding another 20 Bcf/d (nearly 20%) is huge!
According to powerhouse consulting firm Ernst & Young (EY), it’s been a successful 2023 for the oil and gas industry. In 2023, O&G continued to win back investors and position itself as a key player in the so-called energy transition. Looking ahead, 2024 will be full of opportunities and challenges as everyone looks to “decarbonize” and supposedly move away from fossil fuels. EY offers four trends to watch in O&G for 2024.