Southwestern Spent $2.1B in 2023 to Drill 110 Wells Incl. 67 M-U

Southwestern Energy, with major assets in the Marcellus/Utica and Louisiana Haynesville, issued its fourth quarter and full-year 2023 update yesterday. You may recall that Southwestern recently agreed to a deal to be acquired by and merged into Chesapeake Energy (see Deal is Done! Chesapeake & Southwestern Announce $7.4B Merger). Because of the impending merger, Southwestern…

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Chesapeake Dropping 1 Rig in Marcellus as it Waits to Merge with SWN

Chesapeake Energy issued its fourth quarter and full-year 2023 update yesterday, complete with commentary on what’s coming in 2024. And yes, there was some big news coming from that update. Some of the biggest news (that moved the entire market) is that while Chesapeake produced an average of 3.66 Bcfe/d (billion cubic feet equivalent per…

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Promised Cutbacks in Production/Drilling Lift NYMEX Price 11%

Finally, here’s a little good news to write about regarding the price of natural gas! The NYMEX front month futures contract yesterday started the day with a bang based on announcements from the previous evening (in advance of a conference call) from Chesapeake Energy that the company plans to scale back production by roughly 1…

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LNG Exports Figure Big in Antero’s Future Starting This Year

Last week, Antero Resources, which is 100% focused on the Marcellus/Utica with over 500,000 net acres under lease (and the largest M-U driller in West Virginia), issued its fourth quarter and full-year 2023 update, which we covered (see Antero 4Q – Production Up 6%, Profits Down 87%, 21 New Wells). While we picked up and…

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19 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Feb 5 – 11

There were 19 new permits issued to drill in the Marcellus/Utica during the week of Feb. 5 – 11, versus 20 permits issued the prior week. Pennsylvania issued 13 new permits last week. Ohio issued 4 new permits. West Virginia issued 2 new permits last week. Range Resources scored the most new permits with 5…

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Antero 4Q – Production Up 6%, Profits Down 87%, 21 New Wells

Antero Resources, which is 100% focused on the Marcellus/Utica with over 500,000 net acres under lease (and the largest M-U driller in West Virginia), issued its fourth quarter and full-year 2023 update yesterday. The company reports net production averaged 3.4 billion cubic feet equivalent per day (Bcfe/d) during 4Q23, an increase of 6% year-over-year. Production…

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Smoking Gun Discovered – Rockefellers Behind NY AG Exxon Lawsuit

In December 2019, New York Attorney General Tish James and her highly-paid associates were thoroughly, completely, 100% humiliated in court when their case against Exxon Mobil, accusing the company of screwing shareholders by keeping secret knowledge they are toasting Mom Earth, was itself toast (see Judge Finds Exxon Not Guilty in Fraud Case – NY…

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Low Gas Price May Cause EQT to Shut-in Production, Curtail Drilling

EQT Corporation, the largest natural gas producer in the U.S. (100% focused on the Marcellus/Utica) released its fourth quarter and full-year 2023 update yesterday. According to CEO Toby Rice, 2023 was a big year for the company which “set multiple drilling world records” and achieved its highest completion efficiency pace ever. Last year, EQT closed…

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Is Coterra Energy Headed for Buyout and Split Back to Oil & Gas?

From time to time, we bring you news of the latest merger and acquisition (M&A) deals happening, especially the deals that impact the Marcellus/Utica. Often, we don’t highlight large M&A deals if they are exclusively between companies operating in other shale plays and regions. One of those deals we ignored was announced on Monday, a…

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NAPE Speakers Say Carbon Capture & Sequestration a Risky Business

Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is coming on strong everywhere, including the Marcellus/Utica. Two days ago, we told you that Tenaska is looking to lease 80,000 acres in the M-U for CCS (see Landmen Knocking Doors in PA, OH, WV to Sign for CCS, Pore Rights). We also told you about a Marcellus driller, BKV,…

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NFG Lawsuit Alleges Fraud, Counterfeit Parts Used at Compressor Stn

Here’s the kind of thing you don’t want to read about. Utility giant National Fuel Gas Company, headquartered in Buffalo and parent to Seneca Resources and NFG Midstream (and Empire Pipeline), is suing a former employee and several vendors for buying and installing counterfeit parts at several compressor stations. One such part caused the temporary…

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Gassy Northern Utica in Ohio Turns Oily Thanks to Encino Energy

Encino Energy purchased Chesapeake Energy’s Ohio oil and gas assets (including Utica Shale assets) in 2018 for $2 billion (see Encino Takes Over from Chesapeake in Ohio Utica; Big Plans). A few months later, Encino CEO Hardy Murchison and COO Ray Walker (formerly of Range Resources) told attendees at a conference they would do oil…

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PA DEP Finally OKs Use of Big Sewickley Creek Water for Fracking

In 2021, PennEnergy Resources made a request to the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) to withdraw up to 3 million gallons of water a day from Big Sewickley Creek and one of its tributaries for shale fracking (see Dem PA Lawmaker Wants to Block Use of Creek Water for Fracking). In March 2022, PennEnergy…

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Penn Twp Zoning Bd Going on Field Trip to Proposed Compressor Site

Hyperion Midstream LLC, a subsidiary of Olympus Energy, is seeking a special exception to a Penn Township (Westmoreland County) zoning ordinance to build a six-generator compressor station along Wilderness Road over the next four years. In early January, Hyperion representatives and witnesses testified at a township zoning hearing in favor of the plan (see Olympus…

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20 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jan 29 – Feb 4

There were 20 new permits issued to drill in the Marcellus/Utica during the week of Jan. 29 – Feb. 4, versus 27 permits issued during the prior week. Pennsylvania issued 12 new permits last week. Ohio issued 6 new permits. West Virginia issued 2 new permits last week. We had a tie for the company…

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