EOG Shifts Capital to Oil-Weighted Utica, Adds 10 Wells
EOG Resources is one of the largest crude oil and natural gas exploration and production companies in the U.S., with proved reserves in the U.S. and Trinidad. The company bought and merged with Encino Energy’s extensive Ohio Utica operation last August, making EOG one of the largest drillers in the Buckeye State (see EOG Closes on $5.6B Purchase of Encino Assets in Ohio Utica). The deal made the Utica one of EOG’s “foundational plays” with a total core acreage position of 1.1 million net acres and associated resource potential net to the company of 2-plus billion barrels of oil equivalent. Last week, EOG issued its first quarter 2026 update, including details on its Utica program. Read More “EOG Shifts Capital to Oil-Weighted Utica, Adds 10 Wells”
It’s been nearly a year since we last wrote about WhiteHawk Energy (now undergoing a rename to WhiteHawk Minerals), a natural gas mineral and royalty interest owner in the Marcellus and Haynesville plays, with over 3.4 million gross acres under lease for drilling (see 
In March 2025, the Wall Street Journal reported that Shell is “exploring a potential sale of its chemicals assets in Europe and the U.S.,” which includes the Monaca (Beaver County, PA) ethane cracker complex (see 
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: NY City official rallies investors to block ExxonMobil move to Texas; NATIONAL: U.S. natural gas futures little changed on week; INTERNATIONAL: Crude settles higher on Gulf clashes; Brent oil price futures understating physical market stress; LNG carriers test Iran blockade in Strait of Hormuz; IEA head calls on Canada to move faster on energy; EU awards $1.3B in subsidies for cleaner hydrogen production; Oil and gas trade will never be the same after the Iran war. 
The Marcellus/Utica region received 19 new drilling permits last week, Apr. 27 – May 3, up from the 12 permits issued two weeks ago. Pennsylvania issued 5 of last week’s permits. Ohio issued the lion’s share, with 13 new permits (four of which were from two weeks ago). West Virginia issued just 1 new permit last week. The drillers who received new permits included: Ascent Resources, Campbell Oil & Gas, CNX Resources, EOG Resources, Gulfport Energy, and Range Resources. 
In February, MDN brought you the big news that Devon Energy is buying out and merging with Coterra Energy, paying $21.4 billion in Devon stock (see 
You have to hand it to Dominion Energy, the company has brass… courage. In June 2023, Dominion announced plans to build four small “peaker” electric generating plants in Chesterfield County near Richmond (see 
Kinder Morgan’s Elba Island LNG, which accepts and liquefies Marcellus/Utica molecules just offshore from Savannah, Georgia, received approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in November 2024 to expand the facility to produce an extra 0.4 million metric tons/year (see 
In April, MDN reported that anti-fossil fuel fanatics had not yet given up on trying to block construction of the Williams Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline, a $1 billion+ project designed to increase Transco pipeline capacity and flows of Marcellus gas heading into New York City and other northeastern markets. Even though there was an official groundbreaking ceremony at Brooklyn’s Floyd Bennett Field in New York City in April, antis are still doing their best to block this project. They pinned one of their last hopes on a relatively obscure state agency in New Jersey, pressuring it to refuse to issue a license for the project (see 
UGI Corporation’s UGI Energy Services and Prime Data Centers yesterday announced a strategic partnership to develop natural gas supply infrastructure in Pennsylvania’s northern tier for a proposed gas-fired power facility serving future hyperscale data center operations. Under the deal, UGIES will sell Prime some of its property while retaining about 15 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of underground storage capacity and related oil and gas rights. Prime’s gas demand is expected to exceed 100,000 dekatherms per day (100 MMcf/d) within three to five years. A major new customer for PA Marcellus gas!