Utica Shale

Three of the Appalachian Basin’s leading upstream and midstream operators on Wednesday announced a new coalition aimed at better monitoring and reducing methane emissions throughout the Marcellus and Utica shales.  Chesapeake Energy Corp., EQT Corp. and Equitrans Midstream Corp. launched the Appalachian Methane Initiative (AMI). The coalition said it would work to identify and fix…

Houston-based Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. expects to record net income of $100 million-plus for 4Q2022, a sharp turnaround from year-ago losses as Lower 48 drilling expands. The oilfield services company, which previewed earnings on Wednesday, had reported net losses for the fourth quarter of 2021. “In contract drilling, average rig revenue per day benefited primarily from…

Natural gas should be viewed not as a bridge fuel, but as a catalyst to the energy transition domestically and abroad, according to the new “Appalachia First” vision unveiled by CNX Resources Corp. The Pittsburgh-based firm, which produced 1.67 Bcfe/d from the Marcellus and Utica shales during the third quarter of 2022, is arguing against…

A bill qualifying natural gas as green energy and allowing state agencies to lease land to develop oil and gas has passed the Ohio legislature and was awaiting a signature from Republican Gov. Mike DeWine.  Under current Ohio law, state agencies are not automatically required to lease land for oil and gas exploration and production…

EOG Resources Inc. expects the Utica Shale in Appalachia “to be its next large-scale premium resource play” following the acquisition of 395,000 net acres and 135,000 mineral acres for a combined cost of less than $500 million, management said.  The Houston-based exploration and production firm unveiled the acquisition alongside its third quarter earnings. The acreage…

Shell plc’s long awaited Pennsylvania petrochemical project, the first major polyethylene manufacturing complex fueled by natural gas liquids in the Northeast, has begun operations, with designed output of 1.6 million metric tons/year. The Shell Polymers Monaca (SPM) facility by subsidiary Shell Chemical Appalachia LLC is northwest of Pittsburgh, adjacent to the Ohio River on 384…

Zero emissions transportation-centered Nikola Corp. is partnering with Keystate Natural Gas Synthesis LLC to bring what may be Pennsylvania’s first blue hydrogen and chemicals production facility.  KeyState’s planned 7,000-acre production facility is to feature commercial-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) for a blue hydrogen, ammonia and urea production facility. Nikola and KeyState are in the…

Supply chain issues, midstream constraints and adverse weather combined to curb EQT Corp.’s third quarter natural gas output and are likely to impact the company’s operations through the middle of next year, management said last week. “These third-party constraints, along with water restrictions due to drought conditions in parts of the [Appalachian] basin, negatively impacted…

Range Resources Corp. is “in the best position in the company’s history” amid a tightly supplied global natural gas market, CEO Jeff Ventura said Tuesday. Fort Worth, TX-based Range is among the country’s largest natural gas producers, with nearly one million net acres in Pennsylvania targeting the Marcellus, Utica and Upper Devonian shale formations. “As…