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Southwestern Pennsylvania and West Virginia have formed an “integrated region” for natural gas drilling, an area where well drilling increasingly has been focused in the Appalachian Basin, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

A biannual production report posted by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) shows the state’s stable of unconventional gas wells produced a record 1.42 Tcf during the first six months of 2013.

Antero Resources LLC, preparing to become a publicly traded explorer, already oversees one of the biggest operations in the Appalachian Basin, and it wants to keep it that way by building a 150-mile-long water sourcing and distribution pipeline that would feed drilling sites across West Virginia and into Ohio.

The elephant named Marcellus that has been sitting on Northeast-Henry Hub basis isn’t about to move along, and what used to be a premium market will see trades discounted to the U.S. gas benchmark for a while, analysts at Credit Suisse said in a recent note.

The mining and transport of proppant sand are drawing controversy similar to that related to the content and handling of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) fluids if recent events are an indication.

Warmer-than-normal temperatures are expected to be in place in the Northeast and across the south-central and western areas as well in September, while the Southeast and north-central areas will average cooler than normal, according to forecasters at Weather Services International (WSI).

Exploration and production (E&P) companies remain enthusiastic about the U.S. onshore, in particular the Permian Basin, Niobrara formation, Utica Shale and the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS), based on observations at the recent EnerCom Consulting oil and natural gas conference, said two analyst teams who were there. However, Marcellus Shale pricing appears to be a “real concern for the buyside.”

The energy security risk faced by the United States as quantified by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce fell 6.6% last year from 2011, ending a two-year run of increases, thanks mainly to oil and natural gas production from shale plays, the Chamber’s Institute for 21st Century Energy said last week.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported last week that while end-of-refill-season working natural gas storage levels are expected to be ample, inventories could enter November at the lowest level in three years.