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OH Judge Denies Class Action Status in Antero Gas Royalty Lawsuit
Here’s a lawsuit that had (until now) escaped our radar screen. It’s a lawsuit dealing with the issue of post-production deductions. The case is Kirkbride v. Antero Resources Corp. and is being litigated in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. On March 6, 2026, Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Preston Deavers denied a motion to certify the case as a class action. This is a significant development in the ongoing legal friction between Ohio landowners and energy companies over how royalties are calculated. Read More “OH Judge Denies Class Action Status in Antero Gas Royalty Lawsuit”
Chesapeake Utilities (CPK) is a diversified energy company with businesses in natural gas distribution, transmission, marketing, electricity distribution, propane distribution, and wholesale marketing (nothing to do with Chesapeake Energy). The company issued its fourth quarter and full-year 2025 update 10 days ago. The company and its subsidiaries move (and use) a lot of Marcellus/Utica molecules. We took the opportunity of this update to analyze what’s happening with CPK as it relates to the use and flow of M-U molecules through its systems. 
Even a leftist liberal putz like Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro can have a good idea every now and again. (Credit where credit is due.) Shapiro is introducing what he calls GRID (Governor’s Responsible Infrastructure Development) standards to incentivize Pennsylvania data center developers to voluntarily adopt higher environmental and transparency benchmarks. In exchange for committing to water conservation, local hiring, and independent power generation, projects can access “Fast Track” permitting to accelerate construction. 
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Oklahoma rally opposes massive wind projects; NATIONAL: U.S. natural gas futures settle lower; Gates-backed green energy fund collapses as funding dries up; U.S. LPG terminaling rates soar; INTERNATIONAL: Oil slides late after massive price swings; Saudi Arabia starts oil cuts; Trump teases early end to Iran war; Taiwan will see US natural gas imports increase from June; Europe and Asia battle for LNG as Iran war chokes supply. 
Last week, the Marcellus/Utica saw a realignment in rig counts, at least in Ohio and West Virginia. Pennsylvania kept the 20 rigs it has had since early February. Ohio lost two rigs, from 13 to 11, the fewest active rigs in the Buckeye State since last September. And perhaps the biggest news was that West Virginia picked up one rig, from 7 to 8 rigs, for the first time since last May! Overall, the M-U region had a net loss of one rig last week, going from 40 to 39 active rigs. The M-U’s biggest competitor, the Haynesville, gained one rig, from 52 to 53 rigs, some 14 rigs more than the M-U. It wasn’t all that long ago that the M-U ran more rigs than the Haynesville. 
Ascent Resources, formerly American Energy Partners, was founded by Aubrey McClendon, a gas industry legend, and is a privately held company that focuses 100% on the Ohio Utica Shale. Ascent, headquartered in Oklahoma City, OK, is Ohio’s largest natural gas producer and one of the largest natural gas producers in the U.S. The company issued its fourth quarter and full-year 2025 update last week. The company plans to expand its 2026 drilling program, increasing land spending by 40% to nearly $225 million. The company aims to strengthen its long-term inventory and supply natural gas to power-hungry Appalachian data centers. 
If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Similarly, if a pipeline being drilled loses 28,500 barrels (1.2 million gallons) of nontoxic drilling mud into an abandoned coal mine void, does it matter? The environmental left is attempting to make a big deal out of MarkWest Liberty Midstream’s drilling project in Washington County, PA, in which the company has, over a series of 19 different episodes, lost a cumulative 28,500 barrels of nontoxic bentonite drilling mud into an old coal mine void as it drilled the Chiarelli to Imperial Pipeline Project, between October 2025 and January 2026. Bentonite is the same stuff used to make kitty litter and toothpaste. 
Thanks to the work of David Hess at the PA Environment Digest Blog in tracking Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) notices published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin, we spotted three new water pipeline projects related to drilling new shale wells in three different northeastern PA counties: Lycoming, Bradford, and Wyoming. Water is used for fracking. New water pipelines mean new fracking is on the way in those locations. 
Just coming to light now, more than a month after it happened, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is investigating whether there is any connection between a low-level earthquake (“seismic event”) near Murrysville in Westmoreland County, PA, and the Penneco Environmental Solutions LLC Sedat 3A injection well in Plum Borough in Allegheny County. Operators of injection wells in PA are (usually) required to maintain on-site seismometers. On Feb. 7, the seismometer at the Penneco Sedat 3A site registered a “seismic event” about six miles away near Murrysville. 
The Marcellus/Utica region received a combined 11 new drilling permits last week, Feb. 23 – Mar. 1, down 6 from the 17 permits issued two weeks ago. Pennsylvania issued 10 of the 11 new permits. West Virginia issued the other permit. Ohio got skunked last week. The drillers receiving new permits last week included: Antero Resources, CNX Resources, EQT, JKLM Energy, and STL Resources. 
Hope Gas is a Local Distribution Company (LDC, i.e., utility company) that provides gas service to approximately 140,000 residential, industrial, and commercial customers in 39 West Virginia counties. The company monitors and maintains over 7,000 miles of pipelines that safely deliver West Virginia natural gas to many homes and commercial and industrial sites. In September 2023, Hope Gas asked the West Virginia Public Service Commission for permission to build a new 30-mile pipeline in Monongalia County (see 
A Syracuse University study (full copy below) reveals that conventional oil and gas extraction in Pennsylvania poses a greater long-term threat to stream biodiversity than modern shale fracking. By analyzing over 6,800 aquatic samples, researchers found that legacy infrastructure (old conventional oil and gas wells) is more strongly linked to declining ecosystem health and the loss of sensitive species. While public concern often centers on newer fracking methods, these findings highlight the persistent impact of older, conventional wells. The study, titled “