PA Natural Gas Production Hits Another All-Time High in 4Q17
Pennsylvania ended 2017 with a bang–at least with respect to natural gas production. Yesterday, the PA Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) released their latest quarterly Natural Gas Production Report for Oct-Dec 2017 (full copy below). It shows natgas production rose 9.8% compared to the same period last year. It also shows the number of producing wells is up 9.2% from last year. Total natural gas production volume was 1,401.8 billion cubic feet (Bcf) and the number of producing wells in 4Q17 was 8,268…
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As MDN reported last Friday, the very first cargo of LNG (liquefied natural gas) left the Cove Point LNG export facility in Lusby, Maryland (see 
A brand new midstream (i.e. pipeline) company called Mettle Midstream Partners has just launched. Two private investment firms, Pearl Energy Investments and Natural Gas Partners, are investing a cumulative $100 million in the new venture. Quite a vote of confidence! Mettle is based in Dallas, TX, but is looking to buy or build “first-class midstream assets in resilient unconventional plays across the U.S.” Will one of those areas be the Marcellus/Utica? Consider this: The company’s president and chief commercial officer has worked in a number of shale plays, including the Marcellus/Utica. While the company doesn’t specifically say they are targeting our region, we think it’s a pretty safe bet they are…
In the ongoing effort by Democrats and their sycophantic, servile media partners to oust Donald Trump from the White House by using a concocted, false story of “Russian collusion” in the elections–the REAL Russian collusion story is missed. That story is how Russia, using social media platforms and funding American anti-fossil fuel groups, has tried its best to interfere with and change American energy policy. Specifically, the Russians have targeted shale natural gas production–hoping to curtail or even stop our prolific production of natgas from shale plays like the Marcellus/Utica. The REAL story of Russian collusion and tampering in our politics can be found in a report recently released by the United States Congress, a report ignored by the so-called press…
The “best of the rest”–stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading: Atlantic Sunrise Pipe gives $10K to Lycoming College; Athens, OH frack ban charter now in hands of Appeals Court; Trump’s steel tariff doesn’t hurt oil & gas nearly as much as industry is saying; Wall Street wants to be paid–by drillers; oil from shale “resilient” at $50 according to Hess CEO; natgas storage math; moving tribute to natgas friend Nick Grealy; sorry OPEC–shale is about to turn a profit this year; U.S. emerging as India’s new energy partner; and more!
Late last week Southwestern Energy, one of the biggest drillers in the Marcellus (4th largest natgas producer in the country), issued its fourth quarter and full year 2017 update. Southwestern drills in two plays: The Marcellus (i.e. Appalachia), and the Fayetteville (in Arkansas). The big news coming from last week’s update is that Southwestern signaled it wants to sell some–or all–of its “underperforming” Fayetteville assets, and use the money to pay down debt and drill more in the northeast. Largely on the back of prolific production in the Marcellus, Southwestern had a dramatic financial turnaround last year. In 2016, Southwestern lost $2.75 billion. In 2017, the company made $815 million in profit. That’s a swing of $3.5 billion in a single year!…
On Saturday, the full West Virginia Senate voted on House Bill (HB) 4268–the “co-tenancy” bill–passing the measure by a vote of 23-11. This is tremendously good news–for both landowners and drillers. Although WV Gov. Jim Justice had previously threatened to veto the bill because he wanted it tied (like a millstone) to the neck of another bill (joint development), Justice backed off that position after getting a lot of blowback, from virtually everyone (see 
In February, Sunoco Logistics Partners agreed to pay a massive (historically high) $12.6 million fine to the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) for “permit violations related to the construction of the Mariner East 2 pipeline project” (see 
The Japanese recently found out more about the Marcellus/Utica and the region in the Mid-Ohio Valley called the “Shale Crescent.” In June 2016, MDN told you about an economic development group of business and government leaders from Ohio and West Virginia (the Mid-Ohio Valley) called Shale Crescent (see 
We recently dodged a couple of legal bullets with respect to building pipeline projects. A recent Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals case brought by anti-fossil fuelers against the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) would have gutted the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) ability to grant eminent domain powers to pipeline companies. Whew, dodged that bullet. In Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court, THE Delaware Riverkeeper and other antis tried to upend the centuries-old principle that federal law trumps state law, and state law trumps local law. Riverkeeper argued local laws should stop the Mariner East 2 project. Whew, dodged that bullet too…
Last week MDN editor Jim Willis had the pleasure of moderating two panels at the 2018 Northeast Oil & Gas Awards’ Northeast Industry Summit. As in the past, we enjoyed the opportunity to meeting the pros in our industry, to say hello so a number of MDN subscribers, and in general soak up knowledge about this great industry. The evening was a gala ceremony to recognize and announce this year’s winners of the 2018 O&G Awards. A hearty congratulations to all of the winners. We have the full list of who won…
Events related (or of interest) to the Marcellus and Utica Shale, primarily pro-drilling events. To have your event included (or if you are aware of a worthy event you believe should be on this page), please send the details and/or a link to have it included to the calendar@marcellusdrilling.com email address. Thank you!