Jamison Cocklin

Rex Energy Corp. said Monday that its estimated proved reserves exceeded 1 Tcfe, thanks in large part to its core operating areas in eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania, where the company has reported increasing success in the last year or so (see Shale Daily, Jan. 16).

Pennsylvania’s Auditor General on Tuesday released a scathing 158-page report criticizing the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for failing to keep pace with the breakneck rate of oil and gas development in the Marcellus Shale. It proposed dozens of fixes to improve regulatory oversight.

Pennsylvania has negotiated a settlement with an environmental group that will temporarily bar the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) from issuing any new subsurface leases in state forests and parks until a Commonwealth Court can rule on a broader lawsuit this fall.

A preliminary report released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) detailing the response of federal, state and local officials in the days after a fire and explosion last month caused significant damage at an eight-well pad operated by Statoil ASA in Monroe County, OH, suggests a broken hydraulic line was likely the cause.

Gulf Oil Limited Partnership, which distributes motor fuels to stations across the country, is moving forward with plans to construct a liquefied natural gas (LNG) production facility in northeast Pennsylvania, where Marcellus Shale dry gas production continues to rise, according to FERC filings.

Antero Resources Corp. said Friday it produced 891 MMcfe/d in the second quarter, a 94% year-over-year increase that set a company record and passed the milestone of 1 Bcfe/d of net production.

Appalachian pure-play operator Antero Resources Corp. said Friday it has signed an agreement with a Cheniere Energy Inc. subsidiary to sell 50,000 MMBtu/d of natural gas to the company’s Sabine Pass liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal in Louisiana.

Rising U.S. onshore production and the oversupply that continues to stoke concerns about near-term drilling economics and price realizations in the Appalachian Basin could slowly be reversed with a basis uplift beginning in 2016 if demand, midstream bottlenecks and new technology improve as forecasted, according to a report from Canaccord Genuity.

A Pennsylvania appeals court on Thursday dismantled the state’s argument that the Public Utilities Commission could still review and challenge local zoning ordinances that did not facilitate oil and gas development in a ruling that preserved a key decision by the state Supreme Court in December.