Expand Energy Cut $100M Yet Maintained Production @ 7.2 Bcfe/d
Expand Energy, formed by the merger of Chesapeake Energy and Southwestern Energy, is the largest natural gas producer in the U.S. with approximately 1.9 million leased net acres. The company operates in three distinct regions: Northeast Appalachia (Pennsylvania), Southwest Appalachia (mostly West Virginia, but also Pennsylvania and Ohio), and the Haynesville (Louisiana). The company issued its second quarter 2025 results yesterday. In 2Q25, Expand operated an average of 11 rigs, drilling 49 wells and turning 59 wells in line to sales, resulting in net production of approximately 7.20 Bcfe per day (92% natural gas). Notably, the company has cut $100 million from its capital budget this year, yet says it will maintain production at current levels. Read More “Expand Energy Cut $100M Yet Maintained Production @ 7.2 Bcfe/d”
NOTE: We owe Pin Oak an apology. We got this one wrong. In our original post, we implied that Pin Oak was guilty (or at least tardy) of not restoring multiple wells it had purchased from Geopetro. In fact, the exact opposite is true, as you will read below. MDN spoke to Pin Oak after publishing this post, and the company was kind enough to send us a clarification.
In January 2023, Ohio House Bill (HB) 507 became law with the signature of Gov. Mike DeWine (see 
The Commonwealth Court in Pennsylvania is extremely important. It is one of two intermediate appellate courts (the other being Superior Court). The jurisdiction of the nine-judge Commonwealth Court is limited to appeals from final orders of certain state agencies (including the Department of Environmental Protection) and certain designated cases from the Courts of Common Pleas involving public sector legal questions, government regulation, and certain matters involving not-for-profit organizations. There is an open seat on Commonwealth Court. The Republican running, Matt Wolford, would be a great addition. 
In January, Constellation Energy (a huge power-generating company) announced a deal to buy out and merge with Calpine (another huge power-generating company). Calpine owns 79 energy facilities across the country, generating some 27 gigawatts (GW) of electricity, with a large number located in the eastern U.S. Many of Calpine’s facilities use natural gas to produce electricity. The two companies combined would own almost 60 GW of nuclear, natural gas, geothermal, hydro, wind, solar, cogeneration, and battery storage. Although several regulatory agencies must sign off on the deal, the primary agency that needs to clear it is the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Last week, FERC gave its stamp of approval. 
NATIONAL: Last year’s U.S.-Canada energy trade was valued around $150 billion; Will the One Big Beautiful Bill increase the price of electricity?; Electricity has no color, let’s stop pretending it does; Trump’s permitting chief wants to take ‘yes’ for an answer; All spin aside, emerging AI data centers will rely on natural gas; INTERNATIONAL: WTI breaks out as Trump targets Russian oil buyers; The World Court rules against fossil fuels. 
In the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Today in Energy online publication, the EIA lays out the case that more Marcellus/Utica molecules will help supply Gulf Coast LNG export facilities in the future. The EIA says the economics of producing more gas in the Appalachian Basin are more favorable. It’s just cheaper to produce natural gas in the M-U. The EIA’s models show that natural gas is and will transit through the Eastern Midwest region on the way to the Gulf Coast. Pipelines will carry our molecules over (to the Midwest) and then down (to the Gulf Coast). It’s a beautiful thing! 
In 2009, during the Obamadroid administration, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) adopted a major regulatory rule called the “endangerment finding.” The finding concluded that six so-called greenhouse gases — carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) — constitute an endangerment to public health and welfare due to their contribution to global warming (which is a complete hoax). The finding gave the EPA the power to regulate those gases under the Clean Air Act. Yesterday, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin released a proposal to rescind the 2009 endangerment finding, which has been used to justify over $1 trillion in regulations, including President Autopen’s electric vehicle (EV) mandate. 
“The haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate…shake it off, shake it off.” – Taylor Swift
In December 2022, Louisville Gas and Electric Company (LG&E) and Kentucky Utilities Company (KU), both subsidiaries of PPL Corporation, announced a plan to replace 1,500 megawatts of aging coal-fired generation (nearly one-third of Kentucky’s coal fleet) with two 645-MW natural gas combined-cycle units along with several unreliable, intermittent solar projects (see 
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) yesterday released a new report, “A Critical Review of Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on the U.S. Climate” (full copy below), evaluating existing peer-reviewed literature and government data on climate impacts of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions and providing a critical assessment of the conventional narrative on climate change. The report was developed by the 2025 Climate Working Group, a group of five independent scientists assembled by Energy Secretary Chris Wright with diverse expertise in physical science, economics, climate science, and academic research. Among the key findings, the report concludes that CO2-induced warming appears to be less damaging economically than commonly believed, and that aggressive mitigation strategies may be misdirected. Additionally, the report finds that U.S. policy actions are expected to have undetectably small direct impacts on the global climate, and any effects will emerge only with long delays. 
Here we go again. We can see the headlines now: Dimock II…Paging Josh Fox!…Shale Drilling Contaminates Water Wells, Again. Coterra Energy is responsible for methane migrating more than a mile away to 13 “water supplies” (wells?) located around a nearby lake, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The offending nine wells sit on the Housel R Well Pad 1 in Susquehanna County’s Lenox Township. Coincidentally, Lenox Township is not all that far from Dimock Township. 
Two pipeline kingpins are engaged in a scuffle with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to get their competing pipeline projects approved. One is Williams’ Transco Southeast Supply Enhancement Project, the other is EQT’s MVP Southgate project. Both projects would be built in the same general area, starting at the same point near Chatham, Virginia, and ending near Eden, North Carolina. Both claim they have customers ready to take their gas. In a recent FERC filing, Williams said that its project could easily handle Southgate MVP’s capacity by adding meter tubes and regulation at an existing station. EQT is not pleased with the attempt to undercut Southgate. The question is: Will FERC approve both, or just one?