Rice Boys Form Third Blank Check Company to Invest in Energy
In December 2020, Dan Rice IV, former CEO of Rice Energy and member of the EQT board of directors, launched a “blank check” acquisition firm, called Rice Acquisition Corp. I (RAC I), to invest in various energy ventures. Dan found something to invest in just a few months later, in the form of acquiring and merging Archaea Energy and Aria Energy into a single company focused on providing renewable natural gas (RNG) and “green” hydrogen (see Dan Rice Bets $1 Billion that Landfill Gas is the Next Big Thing). The deal was consummated in 3Q21. Dan promptly formed and launched a second “blank check” company, called Rice Acquisition Corp. 2 (RAC II), along with a cool stock ticker symbol: RONI, as in Rice (a) RONI. Read More “Rice Boys Form Third Blank Check Company to Invest in Energy”
New life is being breathed into old, shuttered coal-fired power plants. That’s the focus of an article appearing on the Fortune magazine website. The poster child for converting old coal-fired plants is none other than the former Homer City Generating Station in Indiana County, PA. It will be transformed into a more than 3,200-acre natural gas-powered data center campus, designed to meet the growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC). The new gas-fired plant in Homer City will be THE LARGEST gas-fired power plant in the country, capable of producing up to 4.5 gigawatts (4,500 MW) of electricity (see 
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: FirstEnergy cuts jobs across five-state footprint; Oil and gas royalty owners gather in Cambridge to share insights; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Congressman announces $5.1M pipeline safety grant for New York; NATIONAL: Oil posts first monthly loss since April; U.S. natural gas futures post weekly gains; Comprehensive study settles the debate about the impact of wind turbine noise on humans; Wall Street forecasts oil in the $50s next year; How the NGL overbuild benefits ethane exports; Energy Appreciation Day; INTERNATIONAL: Indian oil minister defends Russian oil imports; We need more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, not less; Colombia’s president orders oil company to cancel US venture over enviro concerns. 
Happy Labor Day to those in the U.S. Labor Day is a federal holiday celebrated on the first Monday of September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements in the U.S. It’s also the unofficial end of summertime. Enjoy this day by doing fun things, having picnics, and spending time with family. MDN is off today. We will return tomorrow to catch you up on all the latest happenings in the Marcellus/Utica. – Jim Willis, Editor
For the week of August 18 – 24, the number of permits issued to drill new wells in the Marcellus/Utica nearly doubled from the previous week. There were 30 new permits issued across the three M-U states last week, a significant increase from the 16 issued two weeks ago. Pennsylvania issued the lion’s share with 14 new permits. Six of PA’s permits went to EQT for a single pad in Greene County. Four permits were issued to Expand Energy for a pad in Bradford County. Three permits were awarded to Sabre Energy for a pad in Sullivan County. And a single permit was issued to Range Resources in Beaver County. 
We finally have some good news to report regarding the NYMEX futures price of natural gas. The price briefly flirted with $3.00 before closing at $2.94 yesterday. However, the cash (spot) price for gas sold at trading hubs around the Marcellus/Utica region didn’t fare so well. We’ll get to that. The NYMEX price went higher due to a lower-than-expected storage build and strong demand from LNG exports. An analyst interviewed by Reuters said the price moved higher because storage numbers were “a little tighter than estimates, which has sparked some short-covering.” The NYMEX has moved up for the last three trading days, up 24.80 cents (9.20%). The $3 level is an important psychological price point. 
Back in May, a prominent Wall Street fund manager (investor) was skeptical that Williams would be able to revive and build two pipeline Marcellus projects: the Constitution Pipeline and the Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) Project. Then he sat down to dinner with Williams executives. He came out of that meeting with his mind changed. “I came out of that dinner pretty optimistic. I went in very skeptical. It changed my mind.” If you had any reservations that maybe, just maybe, antis would once again defeat these two projects, set your mind at rest. People with significant financial stakes don’t invest their money in ventures that aren’t a sure thing. That’s our takeaway. 
Over the past year, gas utilities have increasingly targeted data centers as customers for on-site power generation, driven by rising demand from hyperscale, leased, and crypto-mining facilities, particularly in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Companies, including Atmos Energy, Chesapeake Utilities, National Fuel Gas, and Enbridge, have signed agreements to supply gas or build pipelines to co-located gas-fired or converted coal-to-gas plants. Utilities view medium-sized data centers as a “sweet spot,” but face hurdles such as limited pipeline capacity, equipment backlogs, and coordination challenges across the gas value chain. Smaller turbines and fuel cells are increasingly used, though supply constraints remain a concern. 
ExxonMobil issued its annual Energy Outlook yesterday, a report that peers into the crystal ball to predict where the energy sector is headed from now until 2050. The company bets its future on what it thinks will happen. In this latest report, Exxon projects that global natural gas demand will rise by over 20% by 2050, as it replaces coal in industry and meets growing electricity needs in developing countries. Based on that view, the company plans to grow its production by 18% over the next five years. Exxon predicts that global oil demand will plateau after 2030, although it is expected to remain above 100 million barrels per day. The crystal ball suggests that gasoline demand will drop 25% due to the rise of electric vehicles (we beg to differ). However, demand for distillates for transportation is expected to remain strong. 
This is a “man bites dog” kind of story. EQT Corporation, now the second-largest natural gas producer in the U.S. (not far behind Expand Energy), has been pushing LNG (liquefied natural gas) for years. Since 2022, we’ve called EQT CEO Toby Rice the “apostle of LNG,” spreading the LNG gospel far and wide in an effort to expand U.S. LNG exports (see 
MDN previously brought you the news that Infinity Natural Resources (INR) CEO Zack Arnold was interested in “lower level” deals to buy Utica Shale assets situated near INR’s existing leasehold positions (see 
Data center projects are sprouting like dandelions in Pennsylvania. Along with these data centers come work and business opportunities for the oil and gas industry and related industries, such as utilities. Here’s an example. Essential Utilities yesterday announced its subsidiaries will invest $26 million in a major data center project in Greene County, PA. Essential is one of the largest publicly traded water, wastewater, and natural gas providers in the U.S., serving approximately 5 million people across 9 states under the Aqua and Peoples brands. Both brands are involved in this announcement. 
Just coming to light for us: Freeport Township, located in Greene County, PA, declared a Disaster Emergency on June 23, 2025. The emergency is related to a “frac-out” at an EQT well that happened three years ago, in July 2022 (see