30 New Shale Well Permits Reported for PA-OH-WV May 25 – 31
The Marcellus/Utica region received 30 new drilling permits last week, May 25 – 31, up from 15 permits issued two weeks ago. However, not all 30 permits reported last week were issued last week. Ohio, which is occasionally tardy in updating its public reports, included permits in last week’s report that should have been included in the previous week’s report. Last week, Pennsylvania issued 8 permits. Ohio issued 17 new permits, of which 9 were from last week, and 8 were from the week before but not reported until last week. West Virginia issued 5 new permits last week. The drillers who received new permits included: Antero Resources, Ascent Resources, Clean Energy E&P, EOG Resources, Expand Energy, Grenadier Energy, and Range Resources. Read More “30 New Shale Well Permits Reported for PA-OH-WV May 25 – 31”
In a significant ruling for Utica and Marcellus shale landowners, the Ohio Seventh District Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court’s decision denying a motion by Ascent Resources to compel arbitration in a lease-expiration dispute. The court ruled that when an oil and gas lease expires by its own terms without active production or drilling operations, the lease’s arbitration clause does not survive the lease’s expiration to govern subsequent disputes—such as claims of trespass and unauthorized drilling. To force arbitration on post-expiration events, a lease must contain explicit “survival” language or involve rights that accrued/vested while the lease was still active. 
Google has partnered with Voltus to fund a three-year, 100-megawatt (MW) so-called “virtual power plant” in the PJM Interconnection (roughly the Marcellus/Utica region). VPPs are designed to address soaring data center demand. Voltus will “aggregate” distributed energy resources from residential, commercial, and industrial customers. We call foul. So-called VPPs are fake—they don’t actually exist. They simply use existing grid electricity taken from other sources. Creating a VPP just takes a little software and a lot of apathy from citizens to make it work. Google will, in essence, pay other electricity consumers to shift or forgo energy use. Google says it’s faster and more cost-effective to buy electricity from other electricity users rather than build an actual, honest-to-God power plant. 
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AI (artificial intelligence) data centers are vital to both the natural gas industry and the national security of the United States. Yet, many Americans (a majority?) have turned against data centers. Sure, sometimes the builders of these facilities have shot themselves in the foot by not being more transparent and attempting to build facilities too close to population centers. Our thesis is that reasonable people can compromise, address issues, and move forward with data centers. But that’s not happening. Why? 
OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Lombardo backs natural gas pipeline expansion for data centers; NATIONAL: U.S. natural gas futures rise on weather, storage data; AI power boom revives natural gas as infrastructure bet; Leftist climate zealotry means never having to say you’re sorry; Enemies of energy – saving the earth; INTERNATIONAL: Oil retreats on truce optimism; Putin urges Germany to make decision on buying Russian gas again via Nord Stream; Supermajor warns oil prices could hit $160 within weeks; How long can demand destruction keep a lid on oil prices?; Europe is stockpiling enough gas to avoid another energy crisis. 
Although there are legitimate concerns over data centers locating in populated communities (noise, water use, etc.), make no mistake: The anti-data center movement is nothing more than the anti-fracking movement in new clothes (see 
In mid-April, MDN brought you the great news that a major lawsuit had been filed against New York State alleging a “taking” of private property by the state via the state ban on fracking (see 
The Democrats who rule New York State with an iron fist recently signed a new budget bill into law (57 days late). In New York, the sleazy politicians who run the state slip all sorts of legislation into bills unrelated to the budget. They operate on the “throw as much crap against the wall as you can to see what sticks” theory of legislating. This year, the legislature and governor finally had to face the reality that the state’s 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) was not feasible. So they changed it, much to the distress of the radical environmental left. As part of the budget bill, the Dems lightened up on requirements in the CLCPA. The end result is that natural gas infrastructure, including new gas pipelines, is once again on the agenda. 
ISO New England’s Internal Market Monitor reported that total wholesale electricity costs in New England reached $15 billion in 2025, up 48% from 2024. The increase was driven by higher natural gas prices, tighter supply, changes in the resource mix, and shifts in market design. Day-ahead energy prices averaged $71.81/MWh, up 73%, while real-time prices rose 67% to $65.89/MWh. Natural gas prices more than doubled to $6.27/MMBtu. Carbon taxes added $1.1 billion to energy costs. Boiling it all down, aside from carbon taxes, high natgas prices are the main culprit. The report (full copy below) has some thoughts about why natgas prices are so high in New England. 
The U.S. House Judiciary Committee has issued its first subpoena in a probe of what it calls a coordinated climate litigation campaign against energy companies. The subpoena targets Roger Worthington, attorney for Multnomah County, Oregon. Multnomah seeks more than $51 billion from energy companies (and if they prevailed, Worthington’s law firm would get one-third of that, making every person working the case an instant millionaire). Chairman Jim Jordan and Rep. Darrell Issa are investigating possible coordination (collusion) between Worthington, the Environmental Law Institute, and its Climate Judiciary Project, despite CJP’s supposed neutrality. 
Yesterday, the Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) released its latest quarterly Natural Gas Production Report for January through March 2026 (full copy below). There were 101 new horizontal wells spudded (drilled) in 1Q26, an increase of 7 wells (+7%) compared to 1Q25. Natural gas production volume was 1,928 billion cubic feet (Bcf) in 1Q26, down less than 1/10th of a percent from 1,943 Bcf produced in 1Q25 (down 15 Bcf, -0.8%). The average Pennsylvania spot hub price was $5.22, a huge increase of $1.53 (+41%) from the prior year’s $3.69. 
Homer City Generation announced the early completion of demolition and excavation work at its Indiana County, Pennsylvania, site, marking a major milestone in transforming the former coal-fired power plant into a gas-fired power plant and AI data center complex. Over nine months, partner Independence Excavating led 130 union workers and 65+ pieces of equipment to recycle over 112,000 tons of scrap material and excavate approximately 3 million cubic yards (comparable to the Great Pyramid’s volume), all while maintaining zero safety incidents.