Antero 3Q – Production Up, Profits Way Up, No Mergers
Antero Resources, which is 100% focused on the Marcellus/Utica with over 500,000 net acres under lease (and the largest M-U driller in West Virginia), issued its third quarter 2023 update last week. The company reports net production averaged 3.5 billion cubic feet equivalent per day (Bcfe/d) during 3Q23, an increase of 9% year-over-year. Of that production, liquids (NGLs) averaged 202 thousand barrels per day (MBbl/d), an increase of 18% from the year-ago period. Natural gas production averaged 2.3 Bcf/d, up 4% from the same period last year. The company made $560 million in 3Q23 versus a profit of $18 million in 3Q22 — a huge lift from last year.
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TransCanada Corporation, which renamed itself TC Energy in 2019, bought out and merged in U.S.-based Columbia Pipeline Group (now Columbia Gas Transmission) in 2016 (see 
The U.S. rig count rose last week for the third week in a row, albeit by just a single rig. The national rig count added one for 625 active rigs. We remain near the lowest point of active rigs running since February 2022. As we said last week when two rig were added, it feels like a dead cat bounce to us. We’ve reached the bottom, and the count may go up a tiny bit here and there, but overall, we’re at the bottom. The count in the Marcellus/Utica, after gaining one rig three weeks ago (in Pennsylvania), remained steady at 39 active rigs last week. However, the mix changed. PA picked up another rig last week, but WV lost one, so net-net, it stayed even at 39 rigs.
The mental gymnastics leftists go through to justify their anti-freedom, anti-capitalist views is truly a marvel to behold. Take the so-called Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a carbon tax scheme aimed at shutting down coal- and natural gas-fired power plants. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf could not get the Republican legislature to agree to enroll the state in RGGI, so he seized dictatorial powers and tried to do it himself. Which hasn’t worked out (Republicans sued to block it, still tied up in court). Joseph Otis Minott, President of the Clean Air Action Fund (far-left Big Green group in Philadelphia), is trying to justify RGGI with a new argument: It reduces racism (otherwise called “environmental justice”).
Freeport LNG’s export terminal with three liquefaction “trains” shut down in June 2022 after an explosion and fire (see 
According to RBN Energy, the “responsibly sourced gas” (RSG) space is going through a transformation. It’s no longer OK to claim you have responsibly sourced gas; you now have to prove it is responsible via a certification. According to RBN, the two primary certifiers of natural gas are (so far) Project Canary and MiQ. We have covered both of these initiatives extensively over the past few years.
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Georgia Power asks for state OK to tap more fossil fuels; NATIONAL: Michael Bloomberg’s $1 billion assault on the electric grid; Biden energy policies reducing America’s global influence.
We finally have a list of the 15 proposed projects that are part of the the West Virginia-led Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2) project. Earlier this week, officials with the Dept. of Energy Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) and Battelle, the technology lab headquartered in Columbus Ohio that is quarterbacking the ARCH2 project, held an online briefing about ARCH2 (see 
Sometime in the next few months, Murrysville (PA) Council members will make a decision about leasing land for shale drilling under Duff Park (234 acres) and Murrysville Community Park (305 acres). Murrysville is located in Westmoreland County in the southwestern part of the state. Olympus Energy is interested and has pitched proposals to lease under both parks, using their adjacent leased acreage (on private land) to set up rigs to drill under the parks. However, Murrysville Solicitor Wes Long advised council members to seek bids from other companies as well. What did Olympus offer for a signing bonus and royalties? We have the numbers.
EQT Corporation, currently the largest producer of natural gas in the U.S., provided its third quarter update yesterday. And wow! There is plenty to talk about. The company set another drilling world record of 18,264 feet in 48 hours, beating the existing world record set by EQT in the second quarter (see 
New shale permits issued for Oct 16 – 22 in the Marcellus/Utica rebounded. There were 22 new permits issued last week, versus 14 the week before. Last week’s permit tally included 17 new permits in Pennsylvania, 5 new permits in Ohio, and no new permits in West Virginia. Chesapeake Energy was the top permittee for the week, drawing 7 permits between two counties in PA: Susquehanna and Wyoming (northeastern part of the state). EQT had 5 permits across two PA counties: Greene and Washington (southwestern part of the state). And Ascent Resources had 5 permits in Ohio in two counties: Guernsey and Harrison.
Range Resources Corporation, the very first company to drill a shale well targeting the Marcellus Shale layer in Pennsylvania (in 2004), issued its third quarter update yesterday. In prior guidance from earlier this year, Range said it would drill between 60-65 wells in 2023. However, with this latest update, that number was revised down to 51 new wells in this latest update. The reason for drilling fewer wells, according to the Range officials, is that the company is drilling longer wells, achieving the same amount of lateral feet with fewer holes in the ground. Even though fewer new wells are coming, the ones that are drilled produce more.