Warmer Weather Forecast Sends NYMEX NatGas Futures Below $4 Again
You knew it had to happen. After the meteoric rise of the NYMEX “front month” futures contract from bumping along under $3 just a couple of months ago to hitting a 52-week high of $5.289 on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, the drop has been almost as rapid. We first crashed back into the $4 range, and as of yesterday, the price sank below $4, closing at $3.8860. The stated reason is a warm weather forecast for the rest of this month. The NOAA Climate Prediction Center (what an oxymoron that is!) shows that the vast majority of the country will experience much warmer-than-average temperatures through Dec. 30. Read More “Warmer Weather Forecast Sends NYMEX NatGas Futures Below $4 Again”
In October, we told you that completion of Ohio State University’s Combined Heat and Power Plant (powered with Utica Shale gas) would be delayed until April 2026 (see 
In June, Duke Energy announced that it plans to apply to the Public Service Commission of South Carolina (PSCSC) to build a 1,400 megawatt gas-fired power plant in Anderson County (see 
U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright yesterday signed an amendment order granting an additional 44 months for Woodside Energy to commence LNG exports to non-FTA countries from the Woodside Louisiana LNG Project under construction in Calcasieu Parish, LA. The project was formerly called Driftwood. Once fully constructed, the project will be capable of exporting up to 3.88 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas as LNG. 
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The bidding war is heating up for those interested in buying Ascent Resources, a privately held company focused 100% on the Ohio Utica Shale. Ascent is Ohio’s largest natural gas producer and the 8th largest natural gas producer in the U.S. Kimmeridge Energy, a private investment firm focused on the energy sector (sometimes called an “activist investor” and/or corporate raider), has put an offer on the table to buy out and take over Ascent: $6 billion. This is the first hard number we’ve seen since the whole bidding war began last week. 
In early April, MDN brought you the exciting news that pipeline giant Williams, via its newly-minted subsidiary, Will-Power, is planning to build two Utica/Marcellus gas-fired power plants in the New Albany International Business Park in Licking County, Ohio, near Columbus, to power a massive new Meta (Facebook) data center complex (see 
Pipelines in West Virginia (like most other states) pay property taxes. It’s a significant revenue generator for counties. There are many pipelines in Wetzel County, including three NGL pipelines owned and operated by MarkWest (aka MPLX) that connect to the Mobley Gas Plant. In 2022, MarkWest filed a tax return for the pipelines showing a 35% reduction in value due to less-than-forecasted pipeline usage, a concept called “economic obsolescence based on inutility.” The County Assessor for Wetzel County challenged MarkWest’s claim. 
Hancock County, WV, is located in the tippy top of the northern panhandle of West Virginia, surrounded by Pennsylvania on one side and Ohio on the other. Yet somehow Hancock County has been left out of the Marcellus/Utica bonanza happening all around it. It’s not like there isn’t good rock under Hancock. Every other county that touches Hancock has drilled M-U wells within the last year. However, we can’t find any permits for a single shale well in Hancock. Ever. What gives? 
In October, National Fuel Gas Company, a large utility company headquartered in the Buffalo, NY area with both upstream and midstream subsidiaries (Seneca Resources and NFG Midstream), announced a deal with CenterPoint Energy to acquire CenterPoint’s Ohio natural gas utility business (CNP Ohio) for $2.62 billion (see 
The Marcellus/Utica rig count gained a rig last week in the Ohio Utica. The combined count hit 39 total rigs, the most it has operated in more than a year. That’s great news! It means drilling is picking up in the M-U. Pennsylvania has held at 18 active rigs for four consecutive weeks. Ohio picked up one and now operates 14 rigs. Before last week, Ohio had held the same number of rigs at 13 since September 26. West Virginia maintained its 7 rigs, which it has operated since May 30. There were 24 rigs targeting the Marcellus and 15 targeting the Utica, for a combined 39 rigs in the M-U. 
Eastern Gas Transmission and Storage (EGTS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy Company (Warren Buffett’s company), filed a new project with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in July (see