Profits (Earnings) for Most M-U Drillers Plunged in First Quarter

While oil-focused and large diversified drillers in the U.S. made healthy profits during the first quarter of this year (January through March), such was not the case for natural gas-focused drillers. RBN Energy tracks 43 exploration and production (E&P) companies that are publicly traded and reports of those 43 that the 16 oil-focused and 15…

Read More...

Appalachian Methane Initiative Concludes 2023 Test, Expands in 2024

In January 2023, three Marcellus/Utica companies — Chesapeake Energy, EQT, and Equitrans Midstream — launched the Appalachian Methane Initiative (AMI), a coalition committed to further enhancing methane monitoring throughout the Appalachia Basin and reducing methane emissions throughout the region (see EQT, Chessy, Equitrans Form M-U Methane Monitoring Club). The initial pilot campaign from 2023 is…

Read More...

SRBC Approves 8 Water Withdrawal Requests for Fracking in NEPA

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 Thursday, the SRBC approved 23 new water withdrawal requests within the basin, eight of…

Read More...

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…

Read More...

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...

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...

Seneca Gets “A” Grade Certification for 100% of Its M-U Production

Another noteworthy achievement for Seneca Resources, the wholly-owned shale drilling subsidiary of National Fuel Gas Company (NFG). All of Seneca’s natural gas production, approximately 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day (Bcf/d), has received an “A” letter grade under Equitable Origin’s EO100™ Standard for Responsible Energy Development certification. In August 2022, Seneca’s production…

Read More...

Stock Performance for Gas-Focused E&Ps (M-U Drillers) in 2023

How was 2023 with respect to the return on investment (ROI) in the stocks of gas-focused (largely Marcellus/Utica) drillers? Of the three classes of O&G companies — oil-focused, diversified, and gas-focused — it was the gas-focused drillers who had the best stock returns in 2023, according to an analysis by RBN Energy. Gas-weighted E&Ps posted…

Read More...

35 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Dec 11-17

New shale permits issued for Dec 11 – 17 in the Marcellus/Utica continued the trend up over the previous week. There were 35 new permits issued last week versus 27 issued two weeks ago. Last week’s permit tally included 17 new permits in Pennsylvania, 13 new permits in Ohio, and 5 new permits in West…

Read More...

25 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Nov 27 – Dec 3

New shale permits issued for Nov 27 – Dec 3 in the Marcellus/Utica were much improved over the previous few weeks. There were 25 new permits issued last week versus 14 issued two weeks ago and just one new permit three weeks ago. So the trend is our friend! Last week’s permit tally included 15…

Read More...

14 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Nov 20 – 26

New shale permits issued for Nov 20 – 26 in the Marcellus/Utica was anemic but better than the prior pathetic report of just a single new permit (see 1 New Shale Well Permit Issued for PA-OH-WV Nov 13 – 19). There were 14 new permits issued last week. Last week’s permit tally included 7 new…

Read More...

M-U Driller Profits Bounce Back into the Black for 3Q23

It’s been a financial roller coaster for oil and gas drillers over the past 15 years. Investors in shale oil and gas companies suffered for years with little or no returns for their invested money. Five of eight large Marcellus/Utica drillers saw their share prices decrease by an astonishing 85% or more from 2008 to…

Read More...

NFG & Seneca Announce New Tioga Pathway Pipeline Project

National Fuel Gas Company (NFG), headquartered in Buffalo, NY, is the parent company for Marcellus/Utica driller Seneca Resources and the parent of midstream company National Fuel Midstream (formerly Empire Pipeline). Last week, NFG issued its latest quarterly update. NFG operates on a weird fiscal year system. This latest update is for the company’s fourth quarter…

Read More...

NFG’s Midstream Gathering Unit Achieves EO100 Responsible Gas Cert

In August 2022, Seneca Resources, a subsidiary and the drilling arm of National Fuel Gas Company, announced it had achieved an “A” certification grade under the MiQ Standard for Methane Emissions Performance (MiQ Standard), the highest available certification level MiQ awards, for all of the company’s 1+ billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural…

Read More...

SRBC Approves Water Permits for 34 Shale Well Pads in NE Pa.

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…

Read More...