Facts & Rumors # 643
June 6, 2026
Marcellus, Utica, Permian and Eagle Ford Plays
‘Tank bottom’: Oil Industry Warns Trump Admin That Drained Inventories Threaten to Spike Gas Prices. E&E News. The oil industry is warning the Trump administration that a Hormuz-sized hole in the world’s petroleum market is steadily draining inventories to levels that are likely to send global energy prices surging in the next several weeks, according to four executives. Industry executives have flagged the issue to senior White House officials and Cabinet members in recent weeks as part of the Trump administration’s ongoing dialogue with the U.S. energy industry, the people said. NOTE: Financial Times, Reuters, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, and Politico a
Record NatGas Consumption 2026 and 2027. EIA forecasts U.S. industrial natural gas consumption will set consecutive annual records in 2026 and 2027. Energies Media. U.S. industrial natural gas consumption already set a record in 2025, averaging 23.6 billion cubic feet per day — and the Energy Information Administration expects that mark to fall twice more. In its May Short-Term Energy Outlook, the EIA projects consumption will rise another 1.2% in 2026 and 1.7% in 2027, pushing the sector to consecutive annual records. The 2025 record of 23.6 Bcf/d edged past the previous high of 23.4 Bcf/d set in 2023. The EIA’s May Short-Term Energy Outlook now forecasts consumption will climb by 0.3 Bcf/d (1.2%) in 2026, then by another 0.4 Bcf/d (1.7%) in 2027.
DUCs at Record Lows. Thanks, MDN. U.S. Shale DUCs at historic low, set to begin rapid growth. U.S. shale producers face limited ability to rapidly boost crude output because drilled-but-uncompleted wells, or DUCs, have fallen to record lows. DUCs can bring production online in six to nine weeks, faster and cheaper than drilling new wells, making them a key industry buffer during supply shocks. Since the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran disrupted Middle Eastern oil flows, U.S. exports and refinery runs have surged, drawing down crude inventories sharply. But years of DUC depletion have reduced shale’s flexibility. Operators are now adding rigs and completion crews, especially in the Permian, to rebuild inventories as higher future oil prices support new drilling.
U.S. Crude Exports Hit Record High in May as Iran War Tightens Global Oil Supplies. Reuters. U.S. crude exports climbed to a record 5.6 million barrels per day in May as the Middle East crisis pushed up demand for the country’s oil from Asian and European refiners, ship tracking estimates showed on Monday. The U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran triggered the largest-ever disruption to the global energy market with refiners globally scrambling for alternatives to Middle Eastern supply. Around a fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies passes through the Strait of Hormuz. a key waterway that effectively closed when the war started at the end of February.
U.S. Oil Output Expected to Average 14MM Bpd in 2027. Rigzone. In its latest short term energy outlook (STEO), which was released back in May, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projected that U.S. crude oil production, including lease condensate, will average 14.10 million barrels per day in 2027. U.S. crude oil output has never averaged 14 million barrels per day or above annually, or even monthly, according to EIA figures. A data page on the EIA site showing annual U.S. field production of crude oil – which was last updated on May 29 and includes data from 1859 to 2025 – showed that the highest average annual U.S. field production of crude oil figure was seen in 2025, at 13.586 million barrels per day.
Permian Production Boost. Independent oil companies eye Permian production boost. E&E News. Three months after the war in Iran sent crude prices soaring, oil producers in the biggest U.S. oil field are starting to ramp up their production. The catch: The new push may only boost production by about 250,000 barrels a day, too little to lower the price of oil or provide relief for drivers. Independent drillers have begun adding rigs in the Permian Basin, albeit slowly, according to the data analysis firm Enverus. And the same companies are working through a backlog of wells that can be brought online quickly.
TX Drilling and Completion Stats. Texas drilling permit and completion statistics for May 2026. Odessa American. The Railroad Commission of Texas issued a total of 753 original drilling permits in May 2026. The total includes 655 to drill new oil or gas wells, 11 to re-enter plugged wellbores, 2 field transfer, 84 for re-completion and 1 reclass, a news release said. The breakdown of well types for total original drilling permits in May 2026 is: 151 oil, 73 gas, 475 oil and gas, 43 injection, and 11 other permits. In May 2026, Commission staff processed 914 oil, 313 gas, and 146 injection completions.
Data Centers Drive Midstream Growth. Thanks, MDN. Data center growth is driving new investment in natural gas midstream in 2026, especially for behind-the-meter gas-fired generation as grid interconnection delays persist. S&P Global Energy CERA has tracked 130 North American data center projects planning on-site generation, with more than 80% relying on gas. Major activity is emerging in Marcellus and Utica-adjacent markets, including UGI’s Pennsylvania deal with Prime Data Centers, National Fuel expansions in western Pennsylvania, and Williams’ Ohio Aristotle and Neo projects.
MarkWest Get Air Permit for Harmon Creek NatGas Processing Plant in Washington County. Thanks, MDN. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection issued an air quality permit on May 18, 2026, to MarkWest Liberty Midstream, authorizing the expansion of its Harmon Creek Natural Gas Processing Plant in Washington County. The MarkWest name is still used, although the company is now MPLX. The DEP permit approval allows the addition of a third cryogenic plant and a second de-ethanization plant. A number of Big Green groups colluded in an attempt to block the permits, but their demands were ignored.
TX Pipeline Boom. War, gas prices, and AI are fueling a Texas pipeline boom. Texas Monthly. As ongoing threats to oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz drive petroleum prices to near-record highs, energy companies in West Texas are enjoying one windfall—and hoping to take advantage of another. Oil that just six months ago sold for $60 a barrel now goes for nearly $100, and producers are pumping at record levels. But when that black gold is pulled from the ground in the Permian Basin, a mix of gases bubbles up alongside it. The region lacks the infrastructure to deal with all that natural gas. There aren’t enough pipelines to ship all of it off to power plants and petrochemical plants, so companies are having to pay to have the gas removed.
Cal Berkeley Study Identifies NatGas Consumer Savings. UC Berkeley: U.S. shale gas delivers huge consumer savings. The American Oil & Gas Reporter. Between 2007 and 2025, the emergence of shale gas plays has saved U.S. gas consumers at least $3 trillion, according to research by the Energy Institute at Haas, which is affiliated with the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. “Shale gas has saved U.S. natural gas consumers a total of $3.1-$4.3 trillion since 2007. This is equivalent to $164-$227 billion annually, or $494-$685 annually per capita,” the Energy Institute’s Lucas Davis writes in a working paper, “How Much has Shale Gas Saved U.S. Consumers?”
PA May 16, June 4, 2026
County Township E&P Companies
1. Bradford Overton Expand
2. Bradford Overton Expand
3. Butler Middlesex PennEnergy
4. Greene Gray Rice
5. Greene Gray Rice
6. Greene Gray Rice
7. Tioga Delmar Clean Energy
8. Tioga Delmar Clean Energy
9. Washington Cecil Range
10. Washington Cecil Range
11. Washington Cecil Range
12. Washington Cecil Range
13. Washington Cecil Range
14. Wyoming Meshoppen Expand
15. Wyoming Meshoppen Expand
OH May 10, to May 30, 2026
County Township E&P Companies
1. Belmont Warren Grenadier Energy
2. Belmont Warren Grenadier Energy
3. Belmont Warren Grenadier Energy
4. Belmont Warren Grenadier Energy
5. Belmont Warren Grenadier Energy
6. Carroll Brown EOG
7. Carroll Brown EOG
8. Carroll Brown EOG
9. Carroll Brown EOG
10. Carroll Brown EOG
11. Guernsey Center EOG
12. Guernsey Center EOG
13. Guernsey Center EOG
14. Guernsey Center EOG
15. Harrison Monroe EOG
16. Harrison Monroe EOG
17. Harrison Monroe EOG
18. Harrison Monroe EOG
19. Harrison Short Creek Ascent
20. Harrison Short Creek Ascent
21. Harrison Short Creek Ascent
WV May 11, to May 29, 2026
1. Doddridge Antero
2. Marion EQT
3. Ohio Expand
4. Ohio Expand
5. Ohio Expand
6. Tyler Antero
7. Wetzel EQT
8. Wetzel EQT
9. Wetzel EQT
10. Wetzel EQT
11. Wetzel EQT
12. Wetzel EQT
