Energy Companies | Exxon Mobil | Ohio | Statewide OH | XTO
Exxon/XTO Energy Looking to Sell 27K Utica Shale Acres + 61 Wells
In late 2020, ExxonMobil released the outlines of its development plan for the next five years (see ExxonMobil Announces Plan to Divest “Certain” N.A. Dry Gas Assets). Exxon said it had decided to prioritize investing in “high-value assets” over the next five years–namely in Guyana and in the Permian Basin here in the U.S. The company hinted that asset sales for U.S. onshore shale outside the Permian were on the table. The hinting is done. Reuters is reporting that yesterday Exxon launched the sale of shale gas properties stretching across 27,000 acres in the Utica Shale of Ohio.
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Seneca Resources, the drilling subsidiary of National Fuel Gas Company, announced yesterday it has achieved certification for 100% of its Marcellus/Utica natural gas production–over 1 billion cubic feet of gross production per day (Bcf/d)–under Equitable Origin’s EO100™ Standard for Responsible Energy Development. Getting gas certified as “responsible” gives drillers another marketing tool in their arsenal.
West Virginia House of Delegates member Lisa Zukoff (Democrat from Marshall County) is making a bold claim: Some out-of-state property owners aren’t paying taxes on oil and gas royalties, and it is costing the state millions of dollars in lost revenue. Zukoff is (once again) introducing a bill in the annual two-month session of the state legislature that requires gas and oil companies to subtract any taxes from the royalty check before it is sent to the property owner.
We return, once again, to the story of New England (and New York) blocking new natural gas pipelines and in the process, hurting the residents of New England. Not only are residents harmed economically, but the environment is also harmed. As of 10 am yesterday morning, a full 20% of all the electricity generated in New England used either dirty oil or coal to do so. Normally the oil/coal generation number is less than one-half of one percent (<0.5%), not 20%. The price for electricity in New England is out of sight high right now too. Actions have consqeuences.
Last week 24 permits were issued to drill new shale wells in the Marcellus/Utica. Pennsylvania had the lion’s share with 19 new permits–most of those (10) were issued for two Chesapeake Energy well pads in Bradford County in the northeastern part of the state. Ohio had just two new permits, both on the same Southwestern Energy well pad in Monroe County. West Virginia had three new permits, one in Pleasants County and two in Marshall County.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Utica Shale to create outdoor welding lab; Erie lawmaker invites National Fuel Gas to relocate to Pa.; NATIONAL: Upstream dealmaking to almost certainly rise in 2022; Coal will account for 85% of U.S. electric generating capacity retirements in 2022; INTERNATIONAL: Russia’s natural gas threat is far from subtle; Germany’s new tool for achieving 2030 climate goals – stop using energy.
Our friends at NGI (Natural Gas Intelligence) are running an excellent series providing expert forecasts for the global natural gas and oil markets in 2022. The latest installment interviews several experts about the prospects for the Marcellus/Utica. With the Shell ethane cracker plant coming online sometime this year, the prospects for NGL sales in the M-U have picked up. Also in the discussion: capping Pennsylvania’s orphaned wells, drilling in the Wayne National Forest, and the Mountain Valley Pipeline coming online.
BCCK Holding Company (BCCK) has been granted a contract to upgrade a cryogenic gas processing plant in the Marcellus/Utica, in southeastern Ohio. The name of the customer was not disclosed but we’re guessing it is MarkWest Energy (now MPLX). BCCK says it has developed a simple and effective modification to improve the existing cryogenic plant design and equipment with the aim of increasing propane recovery.
What is it about leftist Democrats that compels them to want to control everyone else’s lives (but their own)? Pennsylvania State Sen. Katie Muth is one of the worst offenders of this disorder. So too are PA State Rep. Dianne Herrin and Rep. Danielle Friel-Otten. The trio of Dem ladies are asking the odious PA Attorney General, Josh Shapiro (who is running for governor) to “halt construction of the Mariner East Pipeline.” Why? Because they don’t like it.
The Pennsylvania legislature recently passed a resolution against joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) carbon tax and sent it to Wolf, who had promised to veto it (see 
It happens every winter, but the frequency and severity are increasing. We’re talking about the spot price of natural gas sold in large, northeastern cities, which experience price spikes during cold snaps. The reason for the spike is there is not enough gas to go around when it gets really cold, and there’s not enough gas because the northeast has blocked new pipelines that would provide enough. With the current cold snap, prices are spiking right now, once again. The spot price for natural gas being delivered at the Iroquois Zone 2 hub near New York City is $28.55/MMBtu. At the Dracut, Massachusetts hub (north of Boston), the price has hit $30/MMBtu. And the price at the Algonquin Citygate (Boston proper), is $20-$22/MMBtu.
There is a clear delineation in the U.S. Constitution that says anything not specifically enumerated in the Constitution is left up to the individual states to govern and regulate. Leftists have for years tried to chip away, and under Joe Biden dynamite away, that distinction. Especially with regard to nationalizing the regulation of oil and gas drilling. The left’s favorite tool to regulate O&G is the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is charged with regulating and enforcing various laws including the federal Clean Air Act (CAA) and federal Clean Water Act (CWA). In a case that will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court next month, West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency, the “potential ramifications” are “profound” according to anyone and everyone paying attention.