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…

Read More...

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…

Read More...

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…

Read More...

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…

Read More...

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…

Read More...

PA EHB Allows “Narrow” Appeal of 2 Apex Energy Well Permits

A leftist anti-fossil group calling itself Protect PT, in Penn Township (Westmoreland County), PA, backed with big money from Big Green groups, has for years challenged Penn Township ordinances that allow Apex Energy and Huntley & Huntley (now Olympus Energy) to drill and operate shale wells. Protect PT finally struck out legally at the Pennsylvania…

Read More...

New Federal & State Methane Emissions Regs Discourage PA Drilling

There is no doubt that recently issued regulations by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) aimed at reducing methane emissions are having a deleterious effect on the Marcellus industry in the Keystone State. The Bidenistas are proposing a huge tax on oil and gas drillers that will…

Read More...

Range Releases 4Q Production & Pricing Numbers, Proved Reserves

Two days ago, Range Resources, the very first company to sink a Marcellus shale well (back in 2004), issued fourth-quarter 2023 expectations for production and pricing along with details about the company’s proved reserves. Range doesn’t issue its official 4Q update until later this month (Feb. 21). The preliminary numbers show the company, when converting…

Read More...

Look for O&G Jobs to be Trimmed Later in 2024 Due to Mergers

Although oil and natural gas output is still increasing ever-so-slightly, according to experts like Rystad Energy, the rate of production growth has slowed. And because production is slowing, “investments in the shale patch are not expected to grow in 2024, keeping activity and output relatively flat” this year. How does slowing activity in 2024 affect…

Read More...

Shell PA Cracker’s First Birthday – One Unit Still Not Online

The Shell ethane cracker plant in Monaca, PA (Beaver County) just hit a milestone: It’s been up and running (in a manner of speaking) for one year. Except during that one year, quite a bit of the time was spent NOT running due to various technical and equipment issues. According to a review done by…

Read More...

20 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jan 15 – 21

There were 20 new permits issued to drill in the Marcellus/Utica during the week of Jan. 15 – 21, versus 24 permits issued during the prior week. Pennsylvania issued 11 new permits last week. Ohio issued 9 new permits. West Virginia had a big, fat zero new permits last week. Ascent Resources scored the most…

Read More...

CNX Drilled Only 4 Wells in 4Q, Rev. Down 39%, Prod. Up 4.5%

Yesterday, CNX Resources issued its fourth quarter and full year 2023 update. The company’s earnings totaled $537.83 million, or $2.89 per share in 4Q23. That compares with $1.17 billion, or $5.68 per share, in last year’s fourth quarter (down 54%). CNX’s revenue for 4Q23 fell 39% to $999.56 million from $1.64 billion last year. On…

Read More...

BKV Still Planning to Launch an IPO – When the Time is Right

About one month ago, the Wall Street Journal published an article about BKV Corporation (Banpu Kalnin Ventures), the American arm of Banpu, Thailand’s largest coal mining company (see Bumpy Financial Road for BKV – Company Bets on Carbon Capture). The article pulled the curtain back to give us a better view of what happened with…

Read More...

Activist Investor Attacks Diversified, Tries (Fails) to Tank Stock

Ever heard of short selling? It’s a trading strategy of speculating on a stock’s decline in price. According to Investopedia, “In short selling, a position is opened by borrowing shares of a stock, bond, or other asset that the investor believes will decrease in value. The investor then sells these borrowed shares to buyers willing…

Read More...

Black Gold: Ascent & Encino Drill Oil Gushers in Ohio Utica

Yesterday we brought you the latest update on EOG Resources’ oil drilling program in the Utica Shale (see Black Gold: EOG Resources Drills Gushers in Ohio Utica). Today we have details about two more companies and their Utica oil drilling programs: Ascent Resources and Encino Energy. Last summer, we told you that Encino, which picked…

Read More...