An important decision was recently issued in a federal court case (in Ohio) that has the potential to affect landowners and drillers with shale leases throughout the Marcellus/Utica. At least, we believe it has broader implications. The case is known as Grissoms et al. v. Antero Resources Corporation. The case revolves around the issue of…
Going back at least 10 years, MDN has referred to the way Coterra Energy (then Cabot Oil & Gas) was seemingly able to spin golden profits from the straw of low gas prices in the northeastern PA Marcellus (see Cabot Spins Gold from Hay with Low Cost Drilling). Coterra was formed in 2021 when Cabot…
In August, the Executive Director of the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) approved 34 water-use permits for individual shale gas well drilling pads in Bradford, Lycoming, Sullivan, Susquehanna, and Tioga counties. We’re just learning of the action via an official notice published in the Sept. 23 edition of the Pennsylvania Bulletin. The approvals, which are…
Last week, the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners announced it had cut two different deals with Pennsylvania General Energy (PGE). Both deals involve land swaps with the prospect of new shale drilling by PGE on the way in both Lycoming County and Sullivan County. The Game Commission’s remit is “to protect, propagate, manage and preserve…
The highly functional and responsible Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), unlike its completely dysfunctional and irresponsible cousin, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), continues to support the shale energy industry by approving water withdrawals for responsible and safe shale drilling. Last week, the SRBC approved 22 new water withdrawal requests within the basin, eight of…
Investors in shale oil and gas companies suffered for years with little or no returns for the money they invested. Five of eight large Marcellus/Utica drillers saw their share prices decrease by an astonishing 85% or more from 2008 to 2019 (see Former EQT CEO: Shale Revolution a “Disaster” for Investors). Just before the COVID…
New shale permits issued for Sep 11 – 17 in the Marcellus/Utica rebounded. There were 22 new permits issued last week, up from 14 issued two weeks ago. But the increase came from an unlikely source. Last week’s permit tally included 9 new permits in Pennsylvania, 1 new permit in Ohio, and 12 new permits…
We spotted an announcement from Ascent Resources that piqued our curiosity. Ascent, 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 (356,700 leased acres) and the 8th largest natural gas…
Gulfport Energy, the third-largest driller in the Ohio Utica Shale (by the number of wells drilled), emerged from bankruptcy in May 2021 with a new board and top management. In January of this year, the company appointed a new CEO, John Reinhart, the former President and CEO of M-U driller Montage Resources Corporation before that…
In early August, MDN told you about trouble brewing along the Gulf Coast between Venture Global LNG and its biggest customers: BP, Shell, Edison International (an Italian utility company), Repsol, and GALP Energia (see Shell, Edison, BP File for Arbitration Against Venture Global LNG). Venture Global is building the Calcasieu Pass LNG export facility in…
We continue to monitor the price of natural gas, which has remained mired in the mid-$2 range for months on end. Every time it seems like it might make a run for $3, the price slides–as it did yesterday (down $0.12 to close at $2.73). We spotted two somewhat contradictory stories about the price of…
Every time we read about peak oil or gas (demand or supply), or that there are no more good places left to drill for shale and drillers are now left to scrape and claw at less desirable locations, or that the decline curves are killing shale, etc. — we laugh. How many times over the…
Commonwealth LNG is developing a 9.3 MTPA (million tons per annum) liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal project located on the Calcasieu River in the Gulf of Mexico near Cameron, Louisiana. Commonwealth anticipates a final investment decision for the project in the first quarter of 2024, with the first cargo deliveries expected in 2027. According…
Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future is a 501(c)(4) advocacy group launched in August 2020 to promote natural gas as the best solution to support so-called renewable energy and the best solution to lower greenhouse gas emissions. The leftist rag, The Guardian, reported that Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future has budgeted over…
The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) continues its delay strategy with a request by PennEnergy Resources to draw water from Big Sewickley Creek for use in fracking operations. More than two years ago, PennEnergy requested permission to draw water from the creek. So far, with the help of anti-fossil fuel groups like FrackTracker and…