Facts & Rumors # 639
April 125, 2026
Marcellus, Utica, Permian and Eagle Ford Plays
U.S. Oil Executives Expect Crude Output to Rise as Iran War Continues, survey shows. Reuters. U.S. oil executives expect domestic production to rise as the ongoing war in Iran upends global supplies and pushes crude and fuel prices higher, according to a Dallas Fed survey. The survey collected data from April 15 to April 20 from 120 oil and gas firms, of which 78 were exploration and production firms and 42 were oilfield services firms. NOTE: Financial Times, Politico, and Bloomberg also report.
On-Site NatGas Generation Gains Favor with Hyperscalers as Bridge to Grid. Natural Gas Intelligence. A year after a flood of off-grid natural gas proposals emerged to bypass lengthy interconnection queues, hyperscalers and data center developers now signal that behind-the-meter (BTM) power is a bridge to the grid, not a long-term solution. The message marks a shift from 2025’s heavy emphasis on natural gas-fired BTM projects as a solution to sidestep interconnection queues delaying grid access toward the end of the decade and beyond.
Arsenal Exploring Sale. Arsenal Resources, a privately held pure-play natural gas explorer and producer focused exclusively on the Marcellus Shale, is exploring strategic options—including a potential sale that could value the company near $1.5 billion—according to sources familiar with the matter. The company has engaged financial advisers to gauge buyer interest, as the Marcellus basin continues to see consolidation amid strong dry gas fundamentals and rising demand from LNG exports and power generation.
Arsenal emerged from a pre-packaged bankruptcy in late 2019 and remains owned by its creditors. It operates primarily in northern West Virginia and Pennsylvania, where it has built a substantial footprint through leasing and acquisitions. The potential transaction comes as larger players like Antero Resources recently closed multi-billion-dollar deals to expand their Marcellus holdings, highlighting ongoing M&A momentum in the basin.
EQT Bullish on AI Data Center Development in the Appalachian Basin. Thanks, MDN. EQT Corporation delivered its latest quarterly update yesterday for the first quarter of 2026. EQT sees the materialization of “in-basin demand growth” improving Appalachian market conditions through the end of the decade. The company says it is positioned as a preferred partner for large-scale power, midstream, and data center projects in the region. EQT plans to continue drilling and completing a significant number of wells throughout 2026, indicating ongoing development in the Marcellus and Utica regions. However, the company is curtailing (restricting) 10-15 Bcf (billion cubic feet) of production during the second quarter due to current low prices.
Halliburton CEO: U.S. Oil Is in the ‘Early Innings’ of a Rebound—and a Drilling Ramp-up Is Coming. Fortune. The U.S. oil sector has entered the “early innings” of a rebound with more growth to come, Halliburton chairman and CEO Jeff Miller said Tuesday, explaining that the Iran war is forcing countries to prioritize energy security by capturing more barrels both domestically and from other regions outside the Middle East. Amid the pain of higher prices at the pump and in supply chains, there are bright spots for oilfield services companies like Halliburton, which conducts drilling and fracking work (hydraulic fracturing), as oil production ramps up around the world to make up for disruptions caused by the war and the standoff over the pivotal Strait of Hormuz, through which some 20% of global energy supplies flow.
U.S. Natural Gas Extends Gains on Global Oil, Gas Price Increase. Bloomberg. US natural gas futures ended higher for a fifth consecutive session as traders monitored potential talks between the US and Iran, pushing up the price of oil and European natural gas and triggering financial inflows into baskets of energy products including US gas. The US gas contract erased earlier losses caused by mild weather and above-average stockpiles.
Kindle Energy Broke Ground on Power Plant in Harrison County, WV. Thanks, MDN. How many times over the years have we reported on gas-fired power plants to get built in West Virginia? MANY times. Dozens, maybe hundreds of posts about this topic. Yet, in all the time we’ve been writing MDN (since January 2009), not a single, solitary *new* gas-fired power plant has been built in the Mountain State (although there are four existing, older gas-fired plants). Not one new plant! Until now. Kindle Energy yesterday announced it has broken ground at Wolf Summit Energy, a previously announced fully contracted, 600-megawatt greenfield combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power generation facility in Harrison County, WV.
TX Producers Still Reluctant. Difficult to see’: Texas oil producers remain hesitant to increase output amidst volatile prices. Houston Public Media. Addressing Texas oil and gas leaders at a committee hearing Tuesday, State Representative Eddie Morales Jr. raised one of his final questions for the panel. “Are we entering a cycle of prolonged volatility?” Morales, a West Texas Democrat, asked. The House Committee on Energy Resources had spent nearly two hours hearing from the state’s energy leaders and analysts, assessing the impacts of the war in Iran on the industry.
Texas Oil Pipes Are Running All-Out to Supply War-Driven Overseas Demand. Bloomberg. Texas oil pipelines are running above designed capacity in some cases amid rampant overseas demand for US crude to replace cargoes stranded by the Iran war. Pipeline flows from the Permian Basin to Gulf Coast export terminals have climbed to an all-time high, according to research firm Wood Mackenzie Ltd. Last week alone, the volume of crude pumped through those networks rose by 1.5% to a daily average of 5.27 million barrels, Wood Mackenzie figures showed.
PA April 13, April 23, 2026
County Township E&P Companies
1. Tioga Delmar Seneca
2. Tioga Delmar Seneca
3. Tioga Delmar Seneca
4. Tioga Delmar Seneca
5. Tioga Union Repsol
6. Tioga Union Repsol
7. Tioga Union Repsol
8. Tioga Union Repsol
9. Washington North Strabene Rice
10. Washington Robinson Range
OH April 11, to April 18, 2026
County Township E&P Companies
1. No New Permits
WV April 4, to April 10, 2026
1. Barbour Arsenal
2. Marshall Expand
3. Monongalia CNX
4. Monongalia CNX
5. Monongalia CNX
6. Monongalia CNX
7. Tyler Antero
8. Tyler Antero
9. Tyler Antero
10. Tyler Antero
11. Tyler Antero
