Pa. shale gas permits dip in February with prices below $5/MMBtu

Natural gas prices dipped below $5/MMBtu in February, and Pennsylvania's shale gas drillers pulled back on permitting requests. Shale gas well permits declined 8% compared to the same month a year ago and 23% from January.

February saw a pronounced shift in activity to the dry gas window in northeast Pennsylvania, the latest data from the state's Department of Environmental Protection showed April 4. Northeast Pennsylvania counties including Susquehanna, Tioga and Lycoming were the focus for 47 permits pulled, while 13 permits were issued for the liquids-rich counties in the southwest.

Spanish supermajor Repsol SA led the state with 15 permits for wells in Tioga and Susquehanna counties. Coterra Energy Inc. was right behind Repsol with 14 permits, all in Susquehanna, the state's top-producing county. Coterra's Pennsylvania operations were the shale gas wells of Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. and Cimarex Energy Co. until the two companies merged in October 2021.

The state's five largest producers — EQT Corp., Chesapeake Energy Corp., Coterra, Range Resources Corp. and Southwestern Energy Co. — accounted for 42% of the permits pulled, compared to 55% a year ago. Private operators, whose activity increased in the spring of 2021, showed a noticeable decline in winter activity, accounting for 8% of permits pulled in February.

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