Marcellus Drilling News

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”
Best of the Rest

Other Stories of Interest: Thu, Dec 21, 2023
December 21, 2023January 24, 2024

OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Court rules Oregon’s landmark climate change regs invalid; NATIONAL: Rockefellers still heavily invested in oil companies; How gas pipeline rates are really set and why you should care; INTERNATIONAL: ING plans to phase out of oil and gas financing after COP28; Oil edges up as rising US stockpiles dim Red Sea chaos.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Thu, Dec 21, 2023”
Energy Services | Equitrans/EQT Midstream | Industrywide Issues | North Carolina | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

FERC Approves MVP Southgate Request for 3-Yr Extension to Build
December 20, 2023January 24, 2024

In July of this year, the Democrat Governor of North Carolina, Roy Cooper, sent a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) asking the four commissioners to deny Mountain Valley Pipeline’s (MVP) request for a time extension to build the MVP Southgate expansion project into his state (see NC Leftist Gov. Cooper Asks FERC to Deny MVP Southgate More Time). A month later, 28 Democrats in the U.S. House did the same thing (see 28 U.S. House Democrats Ask FERC to Reject MVP Southgate Project). We’re happy to report FERC ignored them all and yesterday granted the Southgate project a three-year extension to build.
Read More “FERC Approves MVP Southgate Request for 3-Yr Extension to Build”
Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

New Drilling Under “Gasland” Dimock Coming Sooner Than Thought?
December 20, 2023January 24, 2024

A year ago, in December 2022, MDN brought you the great news that Coterra Energy (formerly Cabot Oil & Gas) would be allowed to restart drilling in a nine-square-mile area in Dimock, PA (Susquehanna County) following a “no contest” plea deal with PA’s then-Attorney General, Josh Shapiro, on a misdemeanor charge (see PA DEP Allows Coterra (Cabot O&G) to Resume Drilling in Dimock). After reviewing the DEP consent order, we discovered a provision that says Coterra can’t restart drilling in the Dimock/Carter Road banned area until a new water system for local residents has been installed, which is estimated to happen around the end of 2027 (see PA DEP Consent Order Delays Restart of Coterra Drilling in Dimock). However, maybe that interpretation is wrong. A new article by the left-leaning Associated Press implies that drilling in Dimock could restart anytime.
Read More “New Drilling Under “Gasland” Dimock Coming Sooner Than Thought?”
Diversified Energy | Energy Companies

4 U.S. House Democrats Launch Witch Hunt Against Diversified Energy
December 20, 2023January 24, 2024

Democrats play dirty. At least, four Democrats from the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee are playing dirty. On Monday, Diversified Energy, with major assets in the Appalachian region (including the Marcellus/Utica), began to trade its stock on the New York Stock Exchange alongside of continued trading on its “home” exchange, the London Stock Exchange. The very same day, four Democrats — Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Kathy Castor (D-FL), Diana DeGette (D-CO), and Paul Tonko (D-NY) — sent a very public letter to Diversified CEO Rusty Hutson launching a probe into the company, implying that Diversified will never be able to plug all of the old wells that it owns (when it comes time to retire them), essentially accusing the company of planning to defraud the public. News of the Democrat smear job hit like a hammer, causing Diversified’s stock price to plunge by more than 15% (although it has since somewhat recovered).
Read More “4 U.S. House Democrats Launch Witch Hunt Against Diversified Energy”
Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

EIA Dec DPR: Another Big Production Drop Coming in M-U, Haynesville
December 20, 2023January 24, 2024

The latest monthly U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) Drilling Productivity Report (DPR) for December, issued Monday (below), shows EIA believes shale gas production across the seven major plays tracked in the monthly DPR for January will *decrease* production from the prior month of December. This is the sixth month in a row that EIA has predicted shale gas production will decrease for the combined seven plays. EIA says combined natgas production will slide by 200 MMcf/d (million cubic feet per day). The Marcellus/Utica, called “Appalachia” in the report, is predicted to decrease by 135 MMcf/d in January compared with December, the biggest decrease in gas production for any of the seven plays.
Read More “EIA Dec DPR: Another Big Production Drop Coming in M-U, Haynesville”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Statewide NY

Big Green Pressures NY Democrats to Reject CO2 Fracking in Upstate
December 20, 2023January 24, 2024

At the end of October, MDN told you about a company called Southern Tier CO2 to Clean Energy Solutions, based in Binghamton, NY, sending fliers to landowners in Broome, Tioga, and Chemung counties (along the border with Pennsylvania, where there is no doubt large amounts of Marcellus and Utica gas beneath the ground) inviting landowners to sign up for what appears to be an exciting opportunity to sell gas rights (see Company Seeks to Lease New York Mineral & Pore Rights for Flat $10). Last week, we told you about several local politicians (Democrats) and several Big Green groups now gearing up to oppose the plan to “frack” (which is a misnomer) with CO2 (see Big Green, Democrats Launch Effort to Block NY CO2 “Fracking”). It’s time for Food & Water Watch and other nutball green groups to fundraise before the end of the year, so they launched an all-out assault on the Southern Tier Solutions plan yesterday.
Read More “Big Green Pressures NY Democrats to Reject CO2 Fracking in Upstate”
Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania General Energy | Regulation | Repsol | Seneca Resources | Statewide PA

SRBC Approves Water Withdrawals for 7 PA Shale-Related Projects
December 20, 2023January 24, 2024

The highly functional and responsible Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), unlike its completely dysfunctional and irresponsible cousin, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), continues to support the shale energy industry by approving water withdrawals for responsible and safe shale drilling. Last Thursday, the SRBC approved 19 new water withdrawal requests within the basin, six of them for water used in drilling and fracking shale wells in Pennsylvania (and one for a gas-fired power plant). The Marcellus/Utica shale drillers receiving a green light from SRBC included EQT, Pennsylvania General Energy, Repsol (two requests), and Seneca Resources (two requests).
Read More “SRBC Approves Water Withdrawals for 7 PA Shale-Related Projects”
Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Regulation

American Gas Assoc. Sues to Block Biden Reg Against Gas Furnaces
December 20, 2023January 24, 2024

At the end of September, the Biden Dept. of Energy (DOE) published a new rule that cracks down on gas furnaces in homes, essentially phasing out many existing models and requiring new ones to meet onerous new standards (see Bidenistas Attack Your Gas Furnace with New DOE Regulations). The DOE now requires a 95% annual fuel efficiency standard, up from the 80% that was on the books before the new rule was published. On Monday, the American Gas Association, several other trade groups, and a manufacturer filed a legal challenge to the rule.
Read More “American Gas Assoc. Sues to Block Biden Reg Against Gas Furnaces”
Best of the Rest

Other Stories of Interest: Wed, Dec 20, 2023
December 20, 2023January 24, 2024

OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Chesapeake Utilities Corp. expands propane services in NC; Consumers Energy continues billion-dollar natural gas investment; NATIONAL: Bridger Photonics partners with CSU on methane emissions measurement; It’s increasingly difficult to get U.S. LNG to Asia; The era of flat power demand is over.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Wed, Dec 20, 2023”
CNX Resources | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

CNX Delivers on Promise to Shapiro re Chemicals List, Air Results
December 19, 2023January 24, 2024

In early November, CNX Resources CEO Nick DeIuliis signed a voluntary deal with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro to expand drilling setbacks and several other regulatory steps not mandated for shale drillers under PA law (see CNX Signs Deal with PA Gov. to Increase Setbacks, Other Changes). Gov. Shapiro’s office yesterday blew the trumpet to announce that CNX has begun to deliver by providing a list of the chemicals used in fracking and by posting air monitoring results in real-time for two of its well pads, with plans to expand the program across its operations statewide.
Read More “CNX Delivers on Promise to Shapiro re Chemicals List, Air Results”
Belmont County | Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Processing Plants | PTT Global

PTT Working on Plan to Build Petchem Plant…in Thailand, Not Ohio
December 19, 2023January 24, 2024

This is your friendly (somewhat snarky) semi-annual reminder from MDN that the PTT ethane cracker project in Ohio is dead (see Facing Reality – PTT Ohio Cracker Plant Project is Dead). We periodically look for signs of life in the project, and it has been a flat line for YEARS. Nothing. Local and state leaders in Ohio sometimes pop their heads up to tell us to have hope; it will still happen. BUNKUM. Earlier today, PTT Global Chemical Public Company, the parent that would build an ethane cracker in Belmont County, OH, announced a deal with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries “to explore the utilization of hydrogen, ammonia and CCS technology to develop a large-scale petrochemical plant to achieve Net Zero.” However, the location of the plant will be in Thailand, PTT’s home country, and NOT in Ohio. We’ve pointed out for years that PTT has all sorts of money to work on big, multi-billion-dollar petrochemical plant projects elsewhere, but apparently there is not enough money for the Belmont ethane cracker. Why?
Read More “PTT Working on Plan to Build Petchem Plant…in Thailand, Not Ohio”