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34 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jul 28 – Aug 3
For the week of July 28 – August 3, the number of permits issued to drill new wells in the Marcellus/Utica more than doubled from the previous week. There were 34 new permits issued across the three M-U states last week, 20 more than the 14 issued two weeks ago. The Keystone State (PA) issued 15 new permits. Both EQT and Range Resources received six permits each for single well pads in Westmoreland and Washington counties, respectively. Expand Energy received three permits for a pad in Bradford County. Read More “34 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jul 28 – Aug 3”
Ascent Resources, founded as American Energy Partners by gas legend Aubrey McClendon, is a privately held company focusing 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 second quarter 2025 update yesterday. Net production for the quarter averaged 2,034 MMcfe/d (2.0 Bcfe/d), consisting of 1,738 MMcf/d of natural gas, 13,033 bbls/d of oil, and 36,385 bbls/d of natural gas liquids (NGLs), putting liquids at 15% of the overall production mix for the quarter. 
Well, isn’t this interesting! Just yesterday we told you that Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has plugged a little over 300 old orphaned (no current owner) wells over the past three years, but that Ohio’s Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) had plugged over 700 in the same period (see 
In January 2024, MDN told you about a long-closed landfill that seeks to reopen in Liberty and Pine Townships in Mercer County, PA (see 
The parents of four children under the age of 18 (from three families) filed a lawsuit on their kids’ behalf against EQT subsidiaries EQT Production Company and EQT XL Midstream Operating, claiming that emissions from a nearby compressor station and nearby shale wells operated by EQT have led to severe health-related problems for the kids. The families used to live in the rural hamlet of Knob Fork in Wetzel County, WV. They all have since moved. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and money for ongoing monitoring of the kids’ health. 
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Gulfport Energy is the third-largest driller in the Ohio Utica Shale (by the number of wells drilled). The company emerged from bankruptcy four years ago with a new board and new management in May 2021 (see 
Something is clearly wrong in Pennsylvania. Over the past three years, PA has plugged a little over 300 old orphaned (no current owner) wells (see 
Three members of the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, Arvind Venkat (Democrat from Allegheny County), Elizabeth Fiedler (Democrat from Philadelphia), and Craig Williams (Republican from Delaware/Chester counties, Philly suburbs) are planning to introduce legislation to “establish regulatory clarity” to encourage the development of Enhanced Geothermal Systems in Pennsylvania. There’s a lot to unpack in that opening statement. First, this is a bipartisan effort. Second, they want to encourage more geothermal energy development in the state. When you understand that Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) uses the same method of fracking used for natural gas and oil well drilling, it makes this bipartisan effort a real eye-opener. 
What is it about progress and expanding the use of energy for that progress that “progressive” Democrats, like those at the FracTracker Alliance, hate so much? The same group of Dem radicals who have sought to block shale energy in the Keystone State (and beyond) for years has turned its sights on opposing new artificial intelligence (AI) data centers in Pennsylvania and beyond by launching an online mapping tool that shows where planned facilities will be located. Not only will data centers (and the gas-fired power plants that run them) pollute the atmosphere to be unbreathable (say the nutters), AI data centers are racist. Who knew? 
PJM Interconnection is the electrical grid operator covering Pennsylvania, along with all or parts of 12 other states and the District of Columbia. For months, the Democrat governors of PJM states have been hammering PJM, blaming PJM for higher electricity prices, even though it is their own policies that are driving electricity prices higher (see 
Coterra Energy, formed by the merger of Cabot Oil & Gas (drills for natural gas in the Marcellus) and Cimarex Energy (drills for oil in the Permian and Anadarko basins), issued its second quarter 2025 update yesterday. Two things stood out for us: (1) A group of Dimock wells that came online in December are superstar performers, and (2) while resurrecting the Constitution Pipeline project is “top of mind” for the company, that project is taking a back seat to another Williams pipeline project right now. 
Pipeline giant Williams issued its second quarter 2025 update yesterday. Williams is a huge company with many fingers in many pies. Of greatest concern to us are those projects that will flow Marcellus/Utica molecules. The big news of the day was that Williams has officially signed up customers for the Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) project, which triggers a series of next actions. Primarily, the company expects a reissued certificate for the project from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). CEO Chad Zamarin answered a question about timing and stated that he expects a water permit from New York State to be issued “in the next few months.” That’s sure to spark protest from antis! Also of note: the Transco pipeline hit a new all-time flow rate on July 29 of 16.1 Bcf/d.