Jamison Cocklin

Magnum Hunter Resources Corp. said it was encouraged by early well results in the Appalachian Basin, where it continues to focus on accelerating drilling. Inclement weather, coupled with heavy liquids volume and a bevy of infrastructure activity in the region has delayed midstream construction in Ohio and West Virginia.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision to overturn a foundational provision of the state’s most comprehensive oil and gas legislation has put a rather large question mark over just how the new regulatory framework could hinder future Marcellus Shale development, leaving the industry scrambling for answers.

State prosecutors called six witnesses to the stand on Wednesday in a preliminary hearing at the trial court-level on the unprecedented criminal charges brought against XTO Energy Inc. in September by Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane, who maintains that the company should be held liable for a 2010 wastewater spill at one of its drilling sites in the state.

Billing its plan to drill 45 Marcellus wells at the Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) a “flagship endeavor,” Consol Energy Inc. outlined plans on Tuesday to use electric engines to power both its vertical and horizontal drilling rigs in order to comply with federal environmental guidelines.

EQT Corp. outlined a $2.4 billion capital expenditure (capex) budget on Tuesday, lifted by plans to resume drilling operations in Kentucky’s Huron Shale formation and intent on putting the $740 million it earned from selling its gas utility toward boosting liquids volume and further developing its expansive Marcellus Shale position.

Halcon Resources Corp. said Monday it was lowering its 2014 capital expenditures budget by 14%, bringing it from a previously announced $1.1 billion to approximately $950 million — most of which will be spent in the Bakken and Eagle Ford Shale plays.

Even with about 60% of the company’s production and capital spending still tied up in the Barnett Shale, EV Energy Partners LP (EVEP) CEO Mark Houser wasn’t shy about calling Ohio’s Utica Shale play the “key driver of the EVEP story” last week at the Wells Fargo Energy Symposium in New York.

Heavy investments and a strong focus in the Marcellus Shale play have landed Range Resources Corp. a place in the 1 Bcfe/d club.

Rice Energy Inc. unveiled sound prospects in documents filed for an $800 million public offering, shining a light on the small independent’s prime acreage in the Appalachian Basin where it plans to step on the gas in the years ahead, starting with a $1.08 billion capital budget next year.