Marcellus

The first three months of 2014, in which Rice Energy Inc. completed a $594.5 million initial public offering (IPO), also brought the Canonsburg, PA-based company good news out of the Marcellus and Utica shales.

The Ohio House of Representatives late Wednesday afternoon voted 55-35 in favor of a bill that would levy a 2.5% severance tax on oil and natural gas produced from horizontal wells.

A top official from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on Tuesday told hundreds of members from one of the state’s largest oil and gas trade associations that it could be two years before a comprehensive package of new environmental regulations is implemented. It was not what they wanted to hear.

Magnum Hunter Resources Corp. continued to focus on divesting non-core assets in the first quarter, as it looks to shore-up its liquidity and narrow its focus on two core areas in the Appalachian and Williston Basins that continue to slowly drive production gains.

Appalachian pure-play operator Eclipse Resources Corp., which has been rumored since last year to be considering an initial public offering (IPO), has filed a Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission indicating that it intends to raise $100 million on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in the coming months.

Little changed for Appalachian pure-play operator Antero Resources Corp. during the first three months of the year, as production continued to steadily climb and the company kept realizing strong natural gas prices as the result of cold weather and its sharp focus on firm transportation.

Range Resources Corp. has earned the cooperation of Allegheny County, PA, to drill for natural gas underneath the 1,180 acre Deer Lakes Park, about 20 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

Midstream operators MarkWest Energy Partners and DCP Midstream Partners each had strong first quarters, opening a plethora of infrastructure and processing facilities in U.S. shale plays, and recording significant earnings increases, the companies said in separate announcements this week.

In response to requests from Appalachian producers, MarkWest Energy Partners LP on Tuesday said it would add another 400 MMcf/d of rich gas processing capacity by building two cryogenic plants at existing facilities serving Marcellus Shale production in West Virginia.