Pioneer CEO Waves White Flag, Says Days of Independent Shale Over
Do you know what the single most responsible force was in liberating the United States from the grip of the dictator thugs of OPEC? Independent shale oil companies. Over the past decade, companies like EOG Resources, Apache, Continental Resources, Concho Resources, and Pioneer Resources broke the grip of OPEC over U.S. oil supplies. Pioneer, as we told you yesterday, has agreed to sell itself to Exxon Mobile for $64.5 billion (see Shale Megadeal: Exxon Buys Pioneer Natural Res. for $64.5 Billion). A few hours after that major announcement, Pioneer CEO Scott Sheffield said in an interview, “Shale companies cannot survive on their own long term,” and “They’re going to have to merge up, consolidate, and be part of diversified companies.” Et tu, Brute? Sheffield has raised the white flag of surrender and plunged a dagger in the back of shale. What a shame.
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OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Charleston’s climate suit is a stalking horse for the Green New Deal; NATIONAL: Pete Buttigieg chased from event by climate protesters; Biden admin issues regs impacting air conditioners, refrigerators; INTERNATIONAL: Qatar inks 27-year gas supply deal with France’s TotalEnergies.
Sometimes, news comes along in the oil and gas world that is so big, even when it doesn’t directly involve the Marcellus/Utica, we feel a responsibility to report it. Today is one of those days. The rumor mill has been swirling for weeks that Exxon Mobil is interested in buying Pioneer Natural Resouces, the number one producer in the Permian Basin. Exxon is currently the number five Permian producer. This morning, a deal was announced. Exxon is buying Pioneer in an all-stock deal valued at $59.5 billion, plus assuming $5 billion in debt, for a total deal value of $64.5 billion.
In 2015, Kelsy Warren and his Energy Transfer Equity (now just Energy Transfer) company pursued Williams, wanting to merge Williams into its operation. Williams initially fought ET tooth and nail, but in the end, caved and cut a deal (see 
Nearly one year after EQT announced a deal to buy privately-owned Tug Hill Operating’s West Virginia shale assets for roughly $5.2 billion (see 
We remember (years ago) hearing Rush Limbaugh postulate this observation about liberals: “Liberalism is spreading misery equally.” Instead of cutting taxes, which boosts economic prosperity for everyone, including those at the bottom of the economic ladder, liberals seek to make more people pay more taxes. Spread the misery. Instead of allowing people to choose their form of energy, force them to use only certain (very expensive) forms, or force them to cut back on the energy they use (Jimmy Carter’s “throw a sweater on in the winter” comment in the late 1970s). Spread the misery. We now see this truism playing out with liberal Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro concerning the so-called Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) — a clever name for an obscene carbon tax.
Penneco Environmental Solutions wants to site a second injection well in Plum Borough (Allegheny County), PA, next to an existing one. Penneco’s first wastewater injection well in Plum finally opened for business in mid-2021, overcoming all sorts of smears, slanders, and lawsuits by the enviro-left (see 
“May the odds be ever in your favor.” – Hunger Games. For nearly two years, we have covered the topic of the Bidenistas’ Hunger Games contest to award $7 billion to some 6-10 “hydrogen hubs” across the country. Each winning hub will receive $500 million to $1 billion of government largesse to help build a hub in a given region. The money for the hub projects was allocated as part of the so-called Infrastructure Bill, passed in November 2021 (see 
Investors are voting with their money that unreliable renewables are not worth it. Investors dumped renewable energy funds from July through September at the fastest rate on record. Renewable shares “took a beating” from higher interest rates and soaring material costs, which are squeezing profit margins. In the six months from January through June, investors poured $3.36 billion into renewable shares. Investors took $1.4 billion (nearly half) out of renewables in the three months from July through September. That is the biggest-ever quarterly outflow. Investors are dropping renewables like a hot potato.
The U.S. rig count dropped again last week, for the third week in a row. The count shed another four active rigs, now down to 619 — the lowest point since February 2022. The count in the Marcellus/Utica, after falling by one two weeks ago, held steady last week at 38, which is the lowest it has been since the beginning of this year. The national rig count is down 143, or 19%, below this time last year. There’s no indicator the trend will reverse anytime soon.
Marcellus/Utica natural gas producers and marketers are adapting to a new status quo. We live in a world where new pipeline takeaway capacity out of the Northeast is hard (almost impossible) to come by and is more or less capped permanently. That’s the reality. Without pipeline expansions, drillers no longer drill with abandon in hopes that the capacity will eventually get built. Reality has sunk in. Instead, drillers practice restraint by (1) slowing drilling activity, (2) delaying completions, and (3) choking back producing wells to manage their inventory during periods of lower demand and prices.
Last November, MDN told you about a lawsuit filed by a family in Washington County, PA, against Chevron (now EQT) for drilling and fracking done in 2011-2012 near the family’s home (see