MVP Asks FERC for More Space at Several Locations as Work Continues

Anti-fossil fuelers and some residents with portions of the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) traversing their land are flooding the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) with comments asking the agency to delay permission for MVP to be placed into service. The latest in-service date MVP outlined to FERC in a recent request for startup permission…

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Baker Hughes U.S. Rig Count Drops 4 @ 600, M-U Drops 3 @ 37

Yeah, the bottom pretty much fell out of the rig count last week, both nationally and for the Marcellus/Utica region. We’re hitting new lows with both counts. For the M-U, Pennsylvania stayed the same with 21 active rigs, but Ohio lost one rig, and West Virginia lost two rigs last week, for a net loss…

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16 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 13 – 19

Permits issued in the Marcellus/Utica continue to bounce up and down. One month ago, there were 26 new permits in the M-U for a one-week period. Three weeks ago, 16 new permits were issued. Two weeks ago, just ten new permits were issued. And last week, May 13-19, the number increased to 16, but only…

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26 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Apr 22 – 28

Two weeks ago, during the week of April 15 – 21, there were 16 new permits issued to drill in the Marcellus/Utica. Last week, for the week of April 22 – 28, there were 26 new permits issued. Finally! A little good news on the permit front. Snyder Brothers took the top prize with eight…

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Antero Midstream Picks Summit Midstream’s Final M-U Assets for $70M

Antero Midstream, a separate company from Antero Resources (at least on paper, although it is managed by the same people), issued a press release yesterday to announce it had purchased a bolt-on acquisition of gathering and compression assets in the Marcellus Shale for $70 million from Summit Midstream Partners. The assets acquired include two compressor…

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WV Adds Citigroup, HSBC, TD Bank, Northern Trust to ESG Banned List

In February, West Virginia State Treasurer Riley Moore sent notices to six financial institutions warning them of potential inclusion on the state’s Restricted Financial Institution List (can’t do business with the state) after his office made an initial determination that the institutions appear to be engaged in boycotts of fossil fuel companies as defined under…

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Federal Court Tosses Challenge to WV’s 2022 Forced Pooling Law

Hopefully, we’re now at the conclusion of an effort to overturn a bill passed in early 2022 by the West Virginia legislature, Senate Bill (SB) 694, which finally brought forced pooling for shale wells to the Mountain State after eight years of trying (see WV House Passes Forced Pooling Bill, Done Deal When Gov Signs)….

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U.S. NatGas Production Grew by 4% in 2023; M-U Grew 3% – 1.2 Bcf/d

According to the data geeks at the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), U.S. natural gas production grew by 4% in 2023, which was similar to the growth in 2022. U.S. gas production in 2023 averaged a whopping 125.0 Bcf/d (billion cubic feet per day). In 2023, more natural gas was produced in the Appalachia (Marcellus/Utica)…

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16 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Mar 11 – 17

There were 16 new permits issued to drill in the Marcellus/Utica during the week of Mar. 11 – 17, down 3 from 19 permits issued the prior week. Pennsylvania issued 9 new permits. Ohio issued 4 new permits. And West Virginia issued 3 new permits. Penn Production Group (PPG) and EOG Resources tied for most…

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18 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Feb 19 – 25

There were 18 new permits issued to drill in the Marcellus/Utica during the week of Feb. 19 – 25, up from 13 permits issued the prior week. Pennsylvania issued 8 new permits last week. Ohio issued 9 new permits (after issuing none the week before). West Virginia issued just 1 new permit last week. Encino…

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WV Warns 6 More Banks They are in Danger of Blacklist re ESG

West Virginia State Treasurer Riley Moore has sent notices to six additional financial institutions warning them of potential inclusion on the state’s Restricted Financial Institution List (can’t do business with the state) after his office made an initial determination that the institutions appear to be engaged in boycotts of fossil fuel companies as defined under…

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WV Legislature Votes to Keep Flawed O&G Valuation Formula in Perpetuity

Members of the Wet Virginia State Senate voted on Friday to permanently retain a flawed oil and gas well valuation formula. The Senate vote comes after the House had previously voted to do the same thing (see WV’s Botched NatGas Property Tax Gets Messier with House Vote). The formula used has been the cause of unending…

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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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Layoffs Hitting the Gas Fields, Including Marcellus/Utica

According to Reuters, oilfield service companies and drillers have put the brakes on hiring and “further job cuts could loom” as natural gas producers respond to sliding prices by slashing spending on new wells to reduce excess production. We told you yesterday that Chesapeake Energy announced a coming rig and frac crew cut in the…

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Equitrans Looking at Potential Buyer; MVP Now Delayed Until 2Q

Two really big (huge) pieces of news are coming from yesterday’s Equitrans Midstream fourth quarter and full-year 2023 update. The first bit of news is that Equitrans is actively considering a buyout offer. The company doesn’t use that exact language, but that’s what’s happening. This should come as no surprise, given the rumor mill on…

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