Facts & Rumors # 636
April 4, 2026
Marcellus, Utica, Permian and Eagle Ford Plays
NatGas Prices Not Spiking. Why natural gas bills aren’t rising like prices at the pump. Politico. There is a place in the United States where gas prices are steady and trending downward: Erath, Louisiana. But what’s cheap isn’t gasoline — it’s natural gas. Erath is home to about 2,000 people and the Henry Hub pipeline, where the U.S. market price of natural gas is set. And U.S. natural gas has reacted very differently than oil to disruptions caused by the Iran war, holding steady around $3 per million British thermal units because of the country’s vast supply.
8,700 Hundred Acres in OH Open to Drilling. Why natural gas bills aren’t rising like prices at the pump. Politico. There is a place in the United States where gas prices are steady and trending downward: Erath, Louisiana. But what’s cheap isn’t gasoline — it’s natural gas. Erath is home to about 2,000 people and the Henry Hub pipeline, where the U.S. market price of natural gas is set. And U.S. natural gas has reacted very differently than oil to disruptions caused by the Iran war, holding steady around $3 per million British thermal units because of the country’s vast supply.
NatGas and Oil Generate $14.7 Billion in WV. West Virginia natural gas and oil industry generates $14.7 billion for state economy. WV News. West Virginia continues to cement its status as a major national energy player, ranking as the fifth-largest natural gas producer in the United States and supplying roughly 10% of the nation’s total natural gas output. The latest Gas Facts 2025 report, released by the Gas & Oil Association of West Virginia (GO-WV), shows the state produced a record 3.27 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural gas in 2024.
EQT Eyeing Upper Burrell in Westmoreland County, PA. Thanks, MDN. Upper Burrell residents (Westmoreland County, PA) recently received notifications from consulting firm Verdanterra regarding upcoming surveying for natural gas lateral wells. These horizontal wells will be drilled from EQT’s Hermes well pad in neighboring Murrysville (also in Westmoreland County), following EQT’s recent acquisition of Olympus Energy. While Township Supervisor Chairman Ross Walker described the process as a standard, “innocuous” procedure conducted by foot without land disturbance, the project highlights the increasing length of well laterals in the Appalachian region.
Fuel Exports Hit Record in March. U.S. fuel exports hit record in March as Asia, Europe sought to replace Middle East supplies. Reuters. U.S. refined products exports hit a record high in March as the Iran war left Europe, Asia and Africa scrambling to fill supply shortfalls created by the near-complete closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has been disrupting shipping in the strait, through which oil and fuel exports flow that represent a fifth of global consumption. The loss of these supplies has forced production cuts at plants in those regions, causing price spikes and threatening an economic slowdown.
Google Moving to NatGas to Power AI Data Centers. A Big Move!! Google eyes natural gas as AI power demand outpaces clean energy. Axios. Google is weighing greater use of natural gas to power its AI ambitions than previously known, according to a report released Wednesday. Google has earned a reputation for prioritizing clean energy in the rush to build data centers, but new findings from a market intelligence firm suggest it may also lean more on a fossil fuel. Google and Crusoe Energy are partnering to build a data center campus in North Texas called “Goodnight,” powered largely by a massive on-site natural gas plant alongside a wind farm, according to permits, satellite images and other documents reviewed by Cleanview, a market intelligence platform.
Crude Oil Inventories Rise Unexpectedly. U.S. crude oil inventories see surprise 10-million-barrel spike. Oil Price. The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States rose by a staggering 10.263 million barrels in the week ending March 27. In the week prior, US crude oil inventories rose by 2.3 million barrels. Analysts had expected a draw of 1.3 million barrels in the current reporting period. Inventories in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) drew down for the first week in many, sinking by 300,000 barrels to 415.1 million barrels as of the week ending March 27. This is 310.4 million barrels shy of maximum capacity.
U.S. Crude Oil Production Rose in 2025, Setting New Record. EIA. U.S. crude oil production grew by 3%, or 350,000 barrels per day (b/d), in 2025, setting a new annual production record of 13.6 million b/d, according to our latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO). Production from the Lower 48 states excluding the Gulf of America (L48) accounted for 11.3 million b/d, or 83% of the total U.S. crude oil production in 2025. The rest of the production came from Federal Gulf of America (GOA) and Alaska.
FERC Approves TX Terminal’s Request to Export LNG. E&E News. A Texas facility can export liquefied natural gas it’s producing during its commissioning phase, federal regulators said Wednesday. In a short letter, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission granted Golden Pass’s request to start exporting the super chilled gas from the terminal in southeastern Texas. FERC’s green light came only two days after Golden Pass, a joint venture between QatarEnergy and Exxon Mobil, announced the project had achieved first production of LNG at the facility.
TX O&G Production Statistics for January 2026. Odessa American. Statewide and county crude oil and natural gas production for January 2026 reported in the tables below came from 154,772 oil wells and 83,365 gas wells, a press release detailed. The RRC reports that preliminary total Texas reported production for January 2026 was approximately 123 million barrels of crude oil and 1.02 trillion cubic feet of total gas. Updated total reported production for January 2025 was approximately 144 million barrels of crude oil and 1.11 trillion cubic feet of total gas.
PA March 23, to April 2, 2026
County Township E&P Companies
1. Bradford Sheshequin Expand
2. Bradford Sheshequin Expand
3. Bradford Sheshequin Expand
4. Washington Buffalo Range
OH March 22, to Mar 28, 2026
County Township E&P Companies
1. No New Permits
WV March 16, to March 20, 2026
1. Wetzel EQT
2. Wetzel EQT
3. Wetzel EQT
4. Wetzel EQT
5. Wetzel EQT
6. Wetzel EQT
7. Wetzel EQT
8. Wetzel EQT
9. Wetzel EQT
10. Wetzel EQT
11. Wetzel EQT
12. Wetzel EQT
13. Wetzel EQT
14. Wetzel EQT
15. Wetzel EQT
