Gulfport 3Q – Huge Profit, Focused on Utica, No SCOOP Drilling
Gulfport Energy, the third-largest driller in the Ohio Utica Shale (by the number of wells drilled), emerged from bankruptcy in May 2021 with a new board and top management. In January of this year, the company appointed a new CEO, John Reinhart, the former President and CEO of M-U driller Montage Resources Corporation before Southwestern Energy gobbled up that company (see Marcellus Veteran John Reinhart Joins Gulfport Energy as CEO). Yesterday, Gulfport issued its third quarter 2023 update. The company made a whopping $608 million in net income during 3Q23 versus losing $18 million in 3Q22. Gulfport’s net income was orders of magnitude higher than Chesapeake Energy’s, which is a much larger company!
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DT Midstream (DTM), headquartered in Detroit, owns major assets in the Marcellus/Utica region and other regions (like the Haynesville). DTM issued its third quarter 2023 update yesterday. Items related to the M-U of note is that construction of the Ohio Utica System, a new greenfield gathering system in the Ohio Utica for EOG Resources, is progressing ahead of schedule with an expected in-service date of 1Q24. DTM also announced the NEXUS Pipeline added approximately 50 MMcf/d of additional leased capacity in 3Q.
A problem plaguing the entire country is old conventional oil and gas wells that were never adequately plugged and capped, called orphaned wells, because (supposedly) nobody knows who owns them. In the fall of 2021, President Biden signed into law the so-called Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, some $1.2 trillion in pork barrel spending, passed with the help of turncoat Republicans (see 
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: XTO agrees to pay $16M to resolve natgas royalty underpayments; NATIONAL: Students file complaints against six universities over fossil fuel investments; US oil output hits record as producers boost drilling efficiency; Turquoise hydrogen producers could capture flourishing graphite market; Hydrogen hubs: without huge subsidies the math doesn’t work; INTERNATIONAL: Shell announces commencement of a share buyback programme.
Equitrans Midstream issued its third quarter update yesterday. As you might expect, there was much talk about completing the nearly-done Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project. Near the top of Equitrans’ 3Q official update is this comment from CEO Thomas Karam: “Once in-service, there is little doubt MVP will be one of the most valuable pipelines in the U.S., directly connecting our country’s largest and lowest-cost natural gas resource and the rapidly growing demand of the mid-Atlantic and southeast markets.” MVP remains on track to be completed and online in 1Q24. We learned a few new details about MVP from the update. However, MVP wasn’t the only hot topic during yesterday’s update. We have new info about the Rager Mountain Natural Gas Storage Field incident, Ohio Valley Connector Expansion Project, and MVP Southgate.
In 2018, a man in Clarksville (Green County), PA, turned on his gas stove, and it exploded, catching fire and leveling the entire house (see 
Have you noticed the nice rise in the price of gas? Yesterday, the NYMEX Henry Hub price rose $0.22 to close at $3.58/MMBtu (up 6.24% in a single day). Cool! Better yet, the spot price of natural gas in the Marcellus/Utica region is on the march, too. According to Argus Media, spot natural gas prices across the northeastern U.S. surged to the highest levels in months. Why? Weather. Specifically, cold weather. Example: The Columbia Gas Appalachia index, a “key indicator” for the price of gas from the Marcellus shale in Pennsylvania and surrounding states, more than doubled to $2.37/mmBtu on Monday, the highest since March 2nd. How high will it go?
In March, Chesapeake Energy announced a 15-year deal to provide natural gas for LNG exports to Gunvor Singapore Pte (see 
Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass LNG export facility received Federal Energy Regulatory Committee (FERC) authorization on October 26 to place the final three liquefaction blocks (7-9) into service. The other trains, 1-6, have been online but not officially in commercial service, even though it has shipped over 200 (!) cargoes, claiming it’s still working out the kinks. Venture’s contracted customers are frustrated that they aren’t getting any shipments and have sued (see 
Last week, MDN brought you a list of the 15 proposed projects that are part of the West Virginia-led Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2) initiative (see 
Mama says, “Stupid is as stupid does.” The phrase from the modern classic Forrest Gump perfectly describes a proposal floating in the Pennsylvania legislature called House Bill (HB) 170, which would increase setback distances for shale wells from 500 feet to 2,500 feet — effectively killing any new shale well drilling anywhere in the state. In June, Democrat Party bosses shut down action on HB 170, telling the House to cancel a vote (see