13 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Feb 12 – 18

There were 13 new permits issued to drill in the Marcellus/Utica during the week of Feb. 12 – 18, versus 19 permits issued the prior week. Pennsylvania issued 11 new permits last week. Ohio issued no new permits. West Virginia issued 2 new permits last week. Chesapeake Energy landed the most new permits, with 5…

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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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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…

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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…

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23 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jan 8 – 14

There were 23 new permits issued to drill in the Marcellus/Utica during the week of Jan. 8-14, versus 18 permits issued for the prior week. Pennsylvania issued 13 new permits last week. Ohio issued just 2 new permits. West Virginia issued 8 new permits — for the second week in a row. EQT scored the…

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18 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jan 1-7

There were 18 new permits issued to drill in the Marcellus/Utica during the first full week of 2024 (Jan. 1-7), versus 24 permits issued for the final two weeks of last year (Dec. 18-31). Pennsylvania issued 9 new permits last week. Ohio issued just 1 — which was to drill a Marcellus (not a Utica)…

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Haynesville & LNG the Main Driver of Chesapeake/Southwestern Deal

Even though separately (and together) Chesapeake Energy and Southwestern Energy own MORE assets in the Marcellus/Utica than in the Haynesville shale play, the main driver to do a merger between the two companies is the Haynesville and that play’s close proximity to LNG export facilities along the Gulf Coast. That is the conclusion of most…

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Deal is Done! Chesapeake & Southwestern Announce $7.4B Merger

This morning, Chesapeake Energy Corporation and Southwestern Energy Company announced that the two companies agreed to merge in an all-stock transaction valued at $7.4 billion, or $6.69 per share, based on Chesapeake’s closing price on January 10, 2024. Under the terms of the agreement, Southwestern shareholders will receive 0.0867 shares of Chesapeake common stock for…

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Chesapeake + Southwestern Merger Would Face Regulatory Hurdles

Interest in and speculation about a potential mega-merger between Chesapeake Energy (CHK) and Southwestern Energy (SWN) continues to build. On Monday, MDN told you about a story in the Wall Street Journal citing sources who say a merger is close and could be announced this week (see Chesapeake & Southwestern Very Close to Announcing $17B…

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Chesapeake & Southwestern Very Close to Announcing $17B Merger

In mid-October, the rumor mill kicked into high gear with talk that Chesapeake Energy was sniffing around a merger with Southwestern Energy (see Chesapeake Energy Exploring a Merger with Southwestern Energy). Both Chesapeake and Southwestern have significant, long-time Marcellus assets (in Pennsylvania), and both have added new assets in the Louisiana Haynesville in recent years….

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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…

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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…

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27 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Dec 4 – 10

New shale permits issued for Dec 4 – 10 in the Marcellus/Utica were up by 2 over the previous week. There were 27 new permits issued last week versus 25 issued two weeks ago. However, there was a major surprise! Last week’s permit tally included 8 new permits in Pennsylvania, 9 new permits in Ohio,…

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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…

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Ohio Utica Shale Production 3Q23 – Top Wells, Drillers & Counties

The Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) released production numbers for the third quarter of 2023 late last week, and nobody noticed…except MDN (thanks to a tip from a good friend). ODNR no longer issues a press release to summarize the results as they once did. We’ve got the full spreadsheet with oil and gas…

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