The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) released production numbers for the second quarter of 2024 yesterday. The story the numbers tell continues to be about Utica oil, which continues to rise each quarter. Ohio’s total oil production during 2Q24 was 8.01 million barrels, up 23% from 2Q23’s 6.5 million barrels and up 11% from…
Read More...In July 2022, MDN brought you news of a possible frac-out, or “inadvertent return” that happens when drilling mud pops out of places where it’s not supposed to — places outside the borehole being drilled (see Possible Frac-Out Reported at EQT Well Site in Greene County, PA). A landowner who lives near a well being…
Read More...The RealClear Media Group has a suite of online publications that are just terrific. Among them is RealClearEnergy. Back in June, RealClearEnergy hosted the Energy Future Forum in Washington, D.C. Among the luminaries speaking (or being interviewed) was Toby Rice, CEO of the country’s largest natural gas producer, EQT Corporation. Toby addressed the role of…
Read More...We never thought we’d see the day when we would write the headline that Coterra (nee Cabot Oil & Gas) was pulling all of its active rigs in the Marcellus in Susquehanna County, PA. But today is that day. It makes us profoundly sad (and the primary reason we opposed the merger of Cimarex and…
Read More...The Board of Supervisors for Cecil Township in Washington County, PA, caved to pressure from radical leftists and, by a vote of 3-2, instructed the town’s solicitor to prepare a new zoning ordinance that increases setbacks from “protected structures” from 500 feet to 2,500 feet (a half a mile!), and add a setback of 5,000…
Read More...(From left) Graduate student Peidong Liu and mining and minerals engineering Associate Professor Wencai Zhang analyze water samples in the lab. Photo by Hailey Wade for Virginia Tech. Researchers at Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering have developed a “novel method” for direct lithium extraction from Marcellus produced water to contribute to the high demand for…
Read More...For the week of Aug. 26 – Sept. 1, a total of 32 permits were issued to drill new shale wells in Marcellus/Utica, nearly matching the previous week’s 34. It’s nice to see the numbers returning to higher levels. The Keystone State (PA) had 18 new permits. PA’s top recipient was EQT (and its subsidiary…
Read More...Shell is putting numbers to the gross transgression of Venture Global in screwing over its contracted customers for LNG shipments. Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass LNG export facility received Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) authorization to place the final three liquefaction blocks (7-9) into service in November 2023 (see Venture Global Gets FERC OK to Commission…
Read More...There’s just no way to sugarcoat the fact that the low low price for natural gas is having an impact on shale drillers in the Marcellus/Utica. According to an analyst with RBN Energy, a price plunge to near the $2/MMBtu level in early 2023 “crippled” financial results for the companies RBN monitors that are gas-focused…
Read More...As you know, the Biden-Harris administration has been a big promoter of hydrogen energy, even though (a) it’s expensive to produce and (b) there are no customers (currently) who want more supplies of it. Because hydrogen is “clean” energy, the left is pushing it as energy nirvana. (Most leftists alive today don’t know what the…
Read More...We’ve been waiting for this! For the past few years, since EOG Resources acknowledged it had quietly amassed nearly half a million acres of leases in the Ohio Utica Shale, the company has been experimenting with crude oil drilling in the Utica. Each quarter EOG’s managers have sung the praises of the Utica (see EOG…
Read More...In 2015, a group of nearly 60 landowners in northeastern Pennsylvania who had leased their land for fracking filed a lawsuit against Chesapeake Energy, Anadarko, Statoil (now Equinor), Mitsui E&P, and Access Midstream (later bought by Williams), alleging the companies had improperly deducted post-production costs (e.g., gas gathering and transportation expenses) from royalties owed to…
Read More...The Board of Supervisors for Cecil Township in Washington County, PA, has caved to pressure from radical leftists and is floating a plan to effectively ban all new shale drilling in the township by increasing setbacks from “protected structures” from 500 feet to 2,500 feet (a half a mile!). The supervisors will hold a special…
Read More...For the week of August 19 – 25, a total of 34 permits were issued to drill new shale wells in Marcellus/Utica. The Keystone State (PA) had 16 new permits. PA’s top recipient was Chesapeake Energy, with six permits in Bradford County. Coterra Energy was a close second, with five new permits issued in neighboring…
Read More...On May 1, a section of the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) ruptured during final pressure testing in Roanoke County, Virginia (see Section of MVP Ruptures Near Roanoke Under Water Pressure Test). An independent metallurgical test identified a defective weld in an elbow joint as a cause of the failure. No internal or external corrosion…
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