PennEnergy Develops Burket Shale Wells Alongside Marcellus
There’s a shale layer above the Marcellus in some regions we’ve mentioned just a few times over the years: The Burket Shale. The Burket is an organic-rich black shale that rests just above the Tully Limestone member of the Mahantango Formation. The geographical extent of the formation includes southern New York, Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, and West Virginia. The Burket is also known as the Geneseo in New York and parts of Northern Pennsylvania. Speaking at the DUG Appalachia event two weeks ago in Pittsburgh, PennEnergy Resources President Ben Bates revealed that his company is co-developing both Marcellus and Burket wells, calling the Burket “incredibly economic.” Read More “PennEnergy Develops Burket Shale Wells Alongside Marcellus”
Two weeks ago, Marietta, OH, officials, including the city’s Republican mayor, law director, water superintendent, and a majority of city council members, asked the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Oil and Gas Chief Eric Vendel to deny a permit application from DeepRock Disposal Solutions for the Stephan #1 injection well, which would be the company’s fifth injection well in the area (see 
There is a disagreement brewing between those who operate the PJM Interconnection power grid and Big Tech, including Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and others, regarding the issue of adding data centers to the PJM grid. PJM recently proposed a fast-track stakeholder process to develop rules by the end of the year for interconnecting data centers to its system while ensuring the region has enough power supplies. The proposal would treat new data centers over 50 megawatts (MW) as “non-capacity-backed load” (or NCBL). Under the proposal, PJM could curtail (reduce or cut off) power deliveries to data centers with NCBL status before the grid operator moves to pre-emergency load curtailments for other electricity users. Big Tech doesn’t like it one little bit. 
According to the doom and gloomers at Bloomberg, U.S. LNG developers are “racing” to cash in on the nation’s natural-gas export boom while they still can, as global LNG supply will exceed demand by 2027. They’ve got to grab the money now before it disappears, according to Bloomberg. Four U.S. LNG projects with the capacity to export 63 million tons of LNG a year are still awaiting final investment decisions, while $35 billion in U.S. plants already under construction “face headwinds.” To add tension to the article, it points out that by 2030, rival Qatar will have finished its own years-long LNG buildout. By 2031, a massive pipeline expansion by Gazprom PJSC could begin funneling more of Russia’s natural gas to China. Yes, these LNG exporters along the Gulf Coast may as well hang it up right now because, you know, it’s all doom and gloom. 
We’re still waiting for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to gain two new members, which would give the commission its full complement of five members (with three of them Republicans). In June, President Trump nominated Laura Swett of Vison & Elkins to replace Republican Mark Christie, who had been elevated to Chairman under Trump (see 
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: Natural gas-powered tractor to boost ag science research at Penn State; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Albany’s energy plan is a direct threat to rural New York; NATIONAL: Natural gas rally stalls below resistance as fundamentals weigh; Who are the top USA land drillers and customers?; INTERNATIONAL: Oil drops to lowest since May ahead of OPEC+ talks; OPEC+ agrees further oil output boost from October to regain market share; Panama launches canal gas pipeline project for interoceanic energy corridor; India will keep buying Russian oil, FinMin says; EU vows to cut off Russian gas within three years. 
For the week of August 25 – 31, the number of permits issued to drill new wells in the Marcellus/Utica decreased from the previous week. There were 19 new permits issued across the three M-U states last week, down from 30 issued two weeks ago. Pennsylvania issued just six new permits, with two going to CNX Resources in Greene County. Another two went to EQT (including Rice Drilling), also in Greene County. Seneca Resources and Formentera Operating both received a single permit in Cameron and Lycoming counties, respectively. 
Last week, MDN brought you the news that Freeport Township, located in Greene County, PA, declared a Disaster Emergency on June 23, 2025 (see 
Upper Burrell (Westmoreland County, PA) town supervisors have historically been receptive (or at least tolerant) to the Marcellus Shale industry that has so blessed their town and Westmoreland County. But attitudes seemed to change last December, at least with respect to wastewater injection wells (see 
Unlike Ohio, with its over 200 oil and gas wastewater injection wells, Pennsylvania operates just 18 such wells (
We’re not sure how to feel about this story. Outrage. Relief. Sarcasm. Befuddlement. All of those emotions swirl in our heads. For years, we have chronicled the radical/left position of former Attorney General (and now Governor) Maura Healey in Massachusetts with her opposition to pipelines and natural gas energy (here’s one of many examples: 
Hardly a day goes by without a story about AI data centers here on MDN. Why? Data centers use electricity either from the local grid or generate it themselves on-site. Either way, the electricity almost always comes from gas-fired power plants. Increasingly, the data centers themselves are opting to host their own gas-fired power plants on-site. Whether the power is coming from the grid or on-site, M-U molecules power it. But there’s a problem for data centers with on-site gas needs: Either there isn’t a pipeline (yet) to the site, or if there is a pipeline, it’s not big enough to flow the gas required. A company in Houston, Texas, has developed a brilliant solution for data centers that require gas and are ready to build now… 
Yesterday, the Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) released its latest quarterly Natural Gas Production Report for April through June 2025 (full copy below). There were 105 new horizontal wells spud (drilled) in 2Q25, a huge increase of 42 wells (+67%) compared to 2Q24. Natural gas production volume was 1,954 billion cubic feet (Bcf) in 2Q25, up 162 Bcf (+9%) from 1,792 Bcf produced in 2Q24. The average Pennsylvania spot hub price was $2.38, an increase of $0.90 (+61%) from the prior year. All in all, it was a great second quarter for the PA Marcellus.